Hometown | Twenty One Pilots

3

Tyler couldn't believe it.

He heard the woman who was sitting across from him cry, and the other man was rubbing her back trying to calm her down. Why were they crying?

"A drunk driver hit you and three others, ran through a red light."

Tyler didn't know what to say. He was speechless.

"Who was with me?"

"All I know is three others, that's all it says on here." The doctor looked back at his notes. "The police should know."

The doctor proceeded to do a few tests on Tyler to see if his sight was fine and his jaw was okay. He checked his left arm and the wounds on his head. Because it was hurting so much the doctor gave Tyler some pain medication. Once he was done he asked a few more questions. He didn't want to ask them all at once because the doctor didn't want to overwhelm Tyler.

"Do you remember who you were with on New Years?"

"Friends, classmates... I think."

"Any specific names?"

"I can't remember much." Tyler said honestly.

"Tyler, do you remember these people?" The doctor pointed at the two people across from Tyler.

"Can't say I do, sorry. But they do look extremely familiar."

The woman cried quietly even more. More tears ran down her face and the man gave her a napkin.

"These are your parents, Tyler."

Tyler went blank. Were those really his parents? He couldn't remember anything. He didn't know what else to say. He was still at a loss of words. How could all of this happen?

Before the doctor could ask any more questions, someone else knocked on the door. It was a nurse along with some food. Tyler was glad, he was starving.

"We will be back Tyler, get some rest kid." The doctor smiled at him and left the room along with his parents.

Both of Tyler's parents were worried sick. If he can't remember them, then what does he remember? Will his memory return? This was the time to ask questions.

"Is he going to be okay?" The mom asked once they were out of the room out of Tyler's sight.

"So far I'm seeing symptoms of retrograde amnesia. This means that he lost most of his memory before his head injury. He doesn't remember anything about what happened the day of the accident or events leading up to it." The doctor explained to them. "He hit his head really hard."

"Will he ever get his memory back?"

"It's possible. It may return slowly during the next few days, weeks, months even years. We can't really know for sure. All I ask for is that you give him time to recover. It's a miracle he's still alive."

Tyler's parents just nodded in response with tears in their eyes. They didn't know what was going to happen now.

They kept asking questions like what is going to happen to his basketball reputation and if he can return to school.

"He can return to school but as I said, he needs time. It all depends on him. He can return home tomorrow afternoon."

"Thanks doctor, for everything." The dad shook the doctor's hand, and they went back to Tyler's room to be with him.

The doctor had a big worry at the back of his mind that he didn't want to tell the parents to not sadden them. He was also glad they didn't exactly ask.

Because Tyler hit his head so hard, most of his memory might never even return.