Murderer

Chapter 34: Ryan

I woke up in a hospital bed, the lights dimmed as the sunlight shone through the blinds of the windows. Next to my bedside was flowers and balloons. My body ached for some reason and I was sore all over. I couldn't remember what happened. I couldn't remember anything. What am I doing here?! My heart began to pound against my chest, but as soon as I was about to hop out of bed, a nurse came in through the door.

She gasped when she saw me. "You're awake! Oh my goodness! Hang on, sweetheart."

She stuck her head back out in the hall and called out to a doctor. "Ryan Ross is awake!"

Ryan Ross. The name was foreign to me as it rolled off my tongue. What a weird but simple name. Two Rs, each name four letters long. I whispered it, amazed by the fact of my identity, but I wasn't sure what to do with it. I still couldn't remember anything.

"Thanks!" I smiled at her as she left, glad that I was finally going to find out what was happening.

I looked down, seeing the cuts and bruises on my arms. Did I do this to myself? Did somebody do this to me? Why would somebody do that? Maybe I deserved it.

A young slim tall man in a white coat walked into the room with a clipboard on his hand.

"Hello, Ryan! I'm Dr. Weekes." He pulled up his chair and sat next to me. "How are you feeling today?"

"Achy and lost. I can't remember anything. What happened to me?" I asked, a little scared of the response to come.

He took my hand and looked into my eyes. "Ryan, you were in a small accident with your father. He didn't make it. But you did, and we are going to make you all better. The problem is that you banged your noggin up and have long term memory lost, that's why you can't remember anything."

My father is dead. I couldn't remember a thing about him, but I started to cry.

"D-D-Do I have a mother?" I hoped that I could still be held tight by the arms of my mother, maybe I would remember things in her arms.

But he shook his head. "I'm afraid not. But there's a couple here who want to adopt you and take care of you so you have a home. Would you want to meet them?"

Even in the ugly state that I was in, someone actually wanted to adopt me and call me theirs. Someone wanted to take care of me and give me a home. I couldn't have been happier, even in the wake of the lost that I had just experienced. I nodded, smiling even though I was sad about my actual father dying.

Dr. Weekes wrote down a few things on his clipboard before giving me a high five and leaving. He's a pretty cool doctor, I have to admit that.

I got out of bed and walked over to the mirror. It was like seeing myself for the first time. I was thin with long legs. My hair was cut in a spikey emo fashion, with long bangs on one side of my face. I had big hands and feet to match my long legs and arms. It was normal, except for the fact that there were cuts and bruises all over me and lines across my back. It must have been a terrible incident, but I was thankful for no broken bones. But the fact that I lost so much of my life memories made me uneasy.

A few minutes after I sat back down, a couple came in with smiles on their faces. They looked really nice, and the lady was holding a tall glass of apple juice with a straw along with a teddy bear.

"Hi Ryan!" She said, handing me the apple juice and teddy bear. I immediately drank the juice out of thirst, and hugged the teddy bear in my other arm.

"We're the Urie's, we were friends of your father. We are so sorry for your lost. We would love to take you in though, so you can live a good life surrounded by people who love you and already know you as a person." She sat down on the side of my bed, rubbing my hand in hers.

I couldn't help but smile. She knew my father. She knew me. She could tell me stories! I was already excited to go live with them. Maybe things aren't so bad after all.

"Will you tell me stories about my father and I?" I asked excitedly.

"Of course, sweetie." She said, fixing my hair so the bangs weren't blocking my eyes.

I instantly leaned forward and wrapped my long arms around her, and she wrapped hers around my frail body, tightening her grip.

"We won't let anything this bad ever happen to you again." She whispered in my ear before kissing the top of my head.

No matter how lost I was in this world, I would always have them to guide me in the right direction. For the first time in my few first minutes as a person with long term memory lost, I felt loved.

***
A few weeks after I was released from the hospital, I was healthy again. The bruises have cleared up along with the cuts. I had scars on my back, a reminder of my old life. I was still thin, but a normal thin. My hair was trimmed a bit neater, and it was clean.

I spent a lot of time reading while I was recovering, along with listening to music. I even started writing my own lyrics in a spiral notebook, something my parents said I did in the past. I was glad that my old self wasn't completely gone. Maybe that part of me was something amazing.

Today was special because it was my first day at school since the accident. I was apparently going to a completely different school than I had gone to in the past to ensure that I would make new friends and build onto my personality in my own way, not from what somebody tells me.

I ate my pancakes with maple syrup covering them, just the way I liked it, before hugging my parents goodbye. They wished me good luck, and told me to do good work in school, and I would. There isn't anything that could stop me from learning.

I walked out of the house, letting the slight breeze hit my face. The sun shone in a slightly cloudy blue sky. I began walking to school, which was only a few blocks away in a safe neighborhood.

Sometimes I think about who I could have became if I didn't forget who I was. Would it had been completely different from what I was about to become, or the same. Either way, I was given a second chance on life, and I wasn't going to waste it.