Halo (Etrian Odyssey Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

"It will definitely leave a scar," Dr Stiles explained as he wound bandages around Sage's head to keep the carefully mended skin covered, "but it shouldn't hinder your abilities in any significant way."

Sage just kept his hands folded tightly in his lap, his eyes lowered so he wouldn't have to look around the large hospital area where he was sitting. After getting Sage to the hospital, Dr Stiles had been the one to offer his assistance, and luckily the wound on his head wasn't nearly as severe as all the blood made it out to be.

It wasn't deep enough to require any surgery, though it was jagged enough to warrant a possible scar, and it took Dr Stiles quite a bit to mend the damaged skin before handing Sage a bottle of medica to drink while he cleaned up the rest of the blood and set about winding bandages around his head to keep the tender scar tissue covered.

"I want you to keep it covered for at least a week, just to be sure, and if the headaches become unbearable, then come back to the hospital," the senior medic took a step back and pulled a chair up to the cot, sitting down in front of Sage, "Now that we know there's no concussion, I'd like to ask a few questions to assess your amnesia. May I?"

Sage tensed up and looked over at where Dyria was leaning against the wall, arms folded. The protector gave a reassuring nod, so Sage looked back at Dr Stiles and whispered out an uncertain, "Okay."

"Can you tell me what day of the week it is?" was the first question, and Sage searched his mind before shaking his head, and Dr Stiles scribbled the answer onto a file he had clipped to a clipboard in his hands, "How old are you?"

Sage cringed a little, "I don't know..."

"Hm," Dr Stiles lifted Sage's chin up to look over his face, "By eye, I'd say you were around nineteen or twenty. Does that sound right?" Sage just shrugged, and Dr Stiles smiled, "We'll go with nineteen. Now, can you remember your name?"

"Sage," he answered, brightening, and Dr Stiles shook his head.

"That's what Dyria and his guild are calling you. Do you remember what your name was before Sage?"

The question had him nibbling on his bottom lip, again searching his mind for the answer, but everything from before was a blank, so he just shook his head, "I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize, this isn't your fault at all," Dr Stiles smiled and reached out to squeeze Sage's hands, "Let's try something a little different. What's your favorite color?"

"How is that going to help?" Iliad asked, and Emery sighed from beside him, head rolling to the side.

"It's to get a base on what Sage can and can't remember, whether it's specific things or just a giant chunk of missing information."

"Correct," Dr Stiles nodded, then smiled up at Sage, who looked willing, but still a little confused, pulling at a section of hair that had fallen over his shoulder and staring down.

"Green," he decided finally, looking at his hair and holding it out, "Like this."

"Favorite food?"

Sage seemed to brighten a bit, "Salmon, cooked with fresh lemons and pepper, and raspberries."

"How do you like your coffee?"

"I like tea, black tea, no sugar, a little milk."

"He can remember all of that but he can't remember his own name?" Iliad asked skeptically, and Sage hunched down a little, chewing on his nails and tugging on the bottom hem of his shirt uncomfortably.

"Well, it isn't uncommon," Dr Stiles said, leaning back and scribbling a few more notes onto the page, "The wound on his head doesn't seem to be severe enough on its own to cause this level of amnesia, so I would theorize that the trauma of what caused the injury played a part in boosting what I'd like to call selective amnesia."