It's Me, Again

Ch. 1 (Kate)

2.5 Years Later

Beep...beep....beep...

Why does my whole body hurt?

I slowly open my eyes.

Where am I?

I look around and realize I'm in the hospital. I can see the machines and smell that sickening smell hospitals have. A nurse walks in with a friendly smile. She's wearing light purple scrubs and looks nice.

"Oh good, you're awake!"

She checks my vitals and is writing on a clipboard that was at the end of my bed. My vast TV medical knowledge tells me that this is my "chart".

I'm finally awake enough to verbalize my questions.

"What happened to me? Why am I here?"

"You were in a car accident, dear."

The look of panic must have been written all over my face.

"You're going to be fine. From what I understand, a car ran a red light and t-boned you, but you're going to be okay," she says soothingly. "You have a pretty nasty bump on your head though."

I gingerly touch my head and wince at how sensitive it is. I can feel the gauze wrapped around my head.

"How long have I been here?"

"A few days. You've been in and out of consciousness. The doctors had to put you in a medically induced coma for some swelling in your brain, but they began easing you out of it this morning. Let me tell the doctor you're awake," she gently pats my arm.

A moment later a man in his late 30s walks in.

"Ahh good to see you're awake! I'm Dr. Francis. Let me just check a few things first." He looks at my chart, checks my pupils, and head wound. He doesn't say much, but he looks satisfied.

"So Nurse Peters told me she filled you in on your injuries - namely your head injury?" he sits in the chair next to the bed.

I nod slowly, "Car accident? And that I was in a medically induced coma."

"Yes, but the swelling has subsided and all of your vitals and scans look good. As long as you're able to get up and move around, I believe you can be discharged soon. Maybe even as early as tomorrow," he says with a reassuring smile.

"Oh that's a relief," I say gripping the blanket.

"You luckily didn't break anything and didn't have any internal bleeding, but you're going to be very sore for a while. Your body went through a trauma. Now, let me ask you some questions to assess your cognitive skills and memory. What's your name?"

"Katherine Weber, but I go by Kate."

The doctor makes a mark on his clipboard.

"Where do you go to school?"

"I'm a freshman at Jersey State."

Again another mark, but he seems concerned.

"What year is it?"

"It's 2017." What a silly question.

"Kate, don't be alarmed, but you seem to have a memory problem. This is very common after a head injury like yours."

"How can you tell I'm having memory issues? I answered your questions." I was so confused. I answered all the questions he asked me and didn't hesitate.

"It's 2020 not 2017. And when we ran your ID in the system it said you're a junior, not a freshman." Dr. Francis said this in the most calm voice ever. I'd be calm too if I wasn't the one who apparently forgot the past 2 to 3 years.