Amnesia

Part One: Chapter One

Beep ... Beep ... Beep ...
I hear a beep over my head.
I feel aches and pains all over my body. What the hell happened to me? I can't remember anything except for green, bright eyes. They reminded me of the color evergreen. I try to open my eyes but it takes all of my strength to open them. There's a bright light over my head which makes it even harder to open my eyes.
I try to swallow any remnants of saliva in my mouth that I can get but even when I swallow, it burns my throat. I try not to swallow but I need water.
I squint when I finally get them to open up.
I feel dizzy.
I turn my head to one side and see a woman with long blonde hair, staring out the window. She looks content just looking at the city lights. Almost as if she knew I was looking at her, she turns and those evergreen eyes catch me off guard.
"Oh," she says and quickly gets up from her seat. "You're awake."
"Where am I?" I ask and she smiles. Her lips form such a gentle and easy smile that it's almost infectious.
"You're at Kaiser Permanente in Downtown." She explains but my head can't wrap the new information well.
"I'm going to grab the doctor." She pats my hand gently and leaves before I can ask anything else. I look back to the city lights.
Downtown ...
I can kind of remember now. I was walking through an alley in Downtown. I use it as a shortcut during the day and he ... who is He? He would tell me never to go in the alley at night but I had to. I don't know why anymore.
"Ah, Ms. Jane Doe," a man with short black hair walks in with the blonde and a nurse right behind her.
"Excuse me?" I ask. At least I know that Jane Doe is not my name.
"We give that name to all patients who don't remember their names or have a form of identification on them upon arriving here." The doctor explains. "My name is Dr. Hong and I'm surprised you're up this quickly."
"What do you mean?" I ask. I look to the blonde who smiles at me.
"Well, you're injuries were pretty bad when Ms. King brought you in here and we were expecting you to sleep for at least another day or so." Dr. Hong shrugs and pulls out the medical chart from the end of the bed. Ms. King must be the blonde then who helped me.
"Thank you, Ms. King." I look to her and she shrugs.
"I was just at the right place at the right time." Ms. King waves me off. "And please, call me Daphne."
Daphne ...
"Although your friend here saved you in time for any permanent damage to take place, unfortunately, you still sustained some damages from the injuries inflicted on you." Dr. Hong reads the report and nods his head. "You have acute amnesia which is common when someone conks you on the head pretty hard, two fractured ribs on the left side, one bruised rib on the right, swelling in the throat due to light strangulation, and a dislocated shoulder but we fixed that when you were unconscious.
Woah.
The nurse brings me a small cup of water and I take it gratefully. I drink the whole thing and although it hurts to swallow, I'm relieved it quenched my thirst.
"Ms. Doe," Mr. Hong says, "Because of these injuries, we would like to keep you in here for recovery purposes for two days."
"Two days?" I ask and he nods his head.
"Do you recall any friends or family that we can contact so they can come get you when you're released?" He asks and I try to rack my brain of any memory of someone or a name but I shake my head once it starts hurting.
"I understand," Mr. Hong says. "Although your amnesia is acute, it varies from person to person as far as how long the amnesia will last. It does affect memories from the tiniest memory to the largest one. You must be careful not to force yourself and let the memories come when they do."
I nod my head as he explains cautionary measures to take.
"If you'd like, Ms. Doe, you can stay in the hospital until you regain your memories, or, if Ms. King is willing, she can help?" Dr. Hong looks to Daphne who smiles and nods her head.
"I'd be more than happy to have a roomie for a little bit," Daphne sits on the end of the bed, by my feet and winks at me. Dr. Hong puts the medical papers back in the cubby at the end of the bed and nods his head.
"That settles it," he says. "We'll keep you here for two days, let you recover in the meantime, and discharge you to Ms. King." He leaves and the nurse checks my vitals and blood pressure. When she's satisfied with the results and input's the information into the system, she leaves and shuts the door.
"You don't have to do this," I say now that we have some privacy. She waves me off and looks at the painting hanging on the wall by the door.
"Of course I do," she says without much hesitation. "I'd be guilt ridden if you had to stay in this cold place for more than a week."
"This isn't an animal shelter for lost puppy's." I retort which makes her laugh.
"Man do I like them feisty." She winks at me, making me blush. "Kidding! Kidding. On a serious note, you're not a lost puppy but most certainly a currently homeless one."
"I don't need your pity." I demand and she shakes her head.
"I'm not giving you pity," she says. "I'm simply empathizing for you."
"How could you empathize for me? You look like a well put together person. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time." I explain in annoyance and she scoots closer to me, placing her hand on mine.
I'm taken off guard by her sudden closeness. This is the second time she's placed her hand on mine and it's just as shocking the second time around. I can feel my cheeks going pink and to my mortifying realization, Daphne notices and releases my hand, wearing a smirk on her pretty little face.
"It took me a long time to get where I wanted to be at and I did at one point become homeless but got myself out of it." Daphne smiles and I instantly feel bad for being so rude. "It's ok. I know that you're scared and don't know what to do."
"You're still pitying me." I state and she laughs.
"And you're still arguing." She replies back and shakes her head. "You need to just accept that as your new friend and at the moment, you're only friend, I am responsible for you."
I huff and lay back down on the pillows of the bed. Satisfied, Daphne extends her hand out towards me. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jane Doe."
I reach out to shake her hand and look away. "And it's nice to meet you too, Daphne King."
I definitely need to figure out what my name is. I don't like the name 'Jane'.