The Persistence of Memory | ✔

02

“It’s just, lately I’ve been having these strange dreams,” Nina started, still feeling uncertain but needing to tell someone. Nat looked interested, her left eye—the one that had been replaced—seeming to glimmer even in the soft lighting of the shop.

“What kind of dreams? About the accident?”

Nina shook her head. “No, they’re not really about that. Honestly, I don’t know what they’re about. I don’t even know if they’re really dreams anymore.”

The last part seemed to pique Nat’s interest. She sat up straighter, hand drifting away from her drink and gaze fixed unwaveringly on her friend. Nina chose to take that as a sign that she should continue. She struggled for a second, thinking of how best to describe her issue.

How best to tell her friend that she thought she was losing her mind.

“When you had the accident, did you have any strange side effects?” Nina began, hesitant to ask about the event that had cost Nat her eye, but needing to get a better understanding on what was going on. Nat seemed surprised, something Nina expected. She was glad to note that she didn’t also look offended.

“It took some getting used to,” Nat said nonchalantly, fingers idly stirring her coffee. “There was some sensitivity to light the first few weeks, headaches, trouble focusing my vision. Little things. Now a days I don’t even think about it so much. If I strain my sight too much the headaches might come back, but everything else is fine. Sometimes I can almost forget the whole thing ever happened. Why? Are you having issues?” Nina nodded.

“Nothing serious. The headaches are fading, but those I expected,” she said. “But the dreams. I didn’t expect those.”

“It’s not unheard of to have strange dreams after something like what you’ve gone through.”

“No, it isn’t,” Nina agreed, because she’d seen it before. People who’d gone through traumatic experiences often found little respite in their sleep. “At first I thought it was normal, with everything that’s happened. I thought maybe it had to do with the time between the accident and the surgery.”

“The period of time you don’t remember,” Nat said, nodding in understanding.

“Yes, but that can’t be it. Those memories are gone, so I know it’s something else. But I still have no idea what it’s all about. There’s places I know I’ve never been to, and they just keep popping up in my head like triggered memories, and they’re so vivid,” there was a trace of desperation in Nina’s voice that she recognized all on her own. Nat appeared to do so as well, if the expression of gradually growing concern she wore was anything to go by.

“Maybe you should talk to the doctors, see what they have to say about it. It is a new procedure, there’s bound to be things even they don’t know about, or maybe things they forgot to mention.”

Nina had considered that, had hoped that was all it was, but she knew there were others who’d received hippocampal implants before her and had not reported such strange side effects. Still, she’d said enough. She didn’t want to worry Nat any more than she already had.

Mostly, Nina didn’t think she should mention the woman in the mirror.

They left not long after, Nat wearing a smile that Nina was certain was meant to be reassuring. She found no comfort in it, but still put on a smile of her own. Nat gave her one last hug before walking away. Nina watcher her go until she was lost in the crowd. The sickly sweet taste of the coffee Nat had ordered for her stuck to Nina’s mouth and she found her mind wasn’t any clearer than it had been at the start.

Nina was just glad to make it back to her home without the image of the hallway returning to her mind. She was still tired, the exhaustion appearing to reach her very bones. That was how she ended up laying on her living room couch just shortly after arriving. The television was instantly turned on at her command. As was usual for Nina as of late, she had no real interest in the programs currently playing, but the sound served to cut through the overwhelming silence of the apartment. Distracted her from recalling the unsettling silence of the hospital room she’d woken up in all those weeks earlier.

“. . . is currently awaiting sentencing. . . .”

The conversation she’d had with Nat replayed in her head. For a second, Nina found herself wondering whether her friend was right, whether she should simply go back to the research center and ask about the strange memory-like visions that were plaguing her. That was, after all, the most reasonable course of action she could take. If anyone could tell her what was wrong, it was the doctors who’d treated her. Nina might have done that, if it weren’t for some part of her pushing her away from that, telling her that she shouldn’t go back—not yet. Nina’s instincts had yet to give her a reason to doubt them. 

“. . . Fearnley was indicted on the murder of Alice Cassill. . . .”

Nina sat up on the couch, intending to head to the kitchen to start on a somewhat late lunch. Perhaps that would help rid her of the remnants of the overly sweet drink she’d had not so long ago. Her gaze swept across the television screen as she turned towards the kitchen. And then, Nina froze.

There, on the screen, was the face that had haunted her for the last couple of days. Green eyes stared back from a pale face, dark circles giving the otherwise young woman a tired look. Nina felt like screaming—felt like the world around her had fallen away in that instant.

The woman from the mirror finally had a name.  

- - - - - - - - -

Hey everyone, hope you've all liked this chapter! Next one will be out soon, but in the meantime, please comment and vote if you can. As always, thank you for reading and have a great weekend!