I Forgot

1. My Name

Beep beep beep.

My eyes flutter open. At first, everything is a blinding white. Then some skin is painted in the picture. Then brown eyes.

A murmur. I turn my ears on and my eyes off for a moment.

"Thank God."

I open my eyes again. Another pair of eyes. Blue.

I swallow and turn my voice on. "Where am I?"

"Darling." Before I have the chance to turn my feeling on, someone touches my hand. I flinch, and the person's fingers instantly draw away.

Suddenly, a surge of energy radiates throughout my body. I feel myself sit up with bloodshot eyes.

"Doctor!"

I do not realize that I am screaming until the nurse injects me.

Let's try this a second time. My eyes flutter open. Different eyes looking down at me.

"Hi, there."

I clear my throat. "Hi. Where am I?"

"Saint Therese Hospital. I am Doctor Spieler. Do you remember your name?"

"No."

Faintly I hear a sigh of disappointment. I look around. There are three other people in the room. Someone is sobbing soft, muffled tears.

I mumble, "Doctor Steerer-"

"Spieler."

"Doctor Spieler, why am I in the hospital?"

"You were in an accident. I'm sorry."

I nod and squeeze my eyes shut. "Is it Mary?"

The doctor takes notes and mumbles something to the nurse. People start to cry and shout at the doctor and nurses.

I listen to the noise but not the words within them. My mind has a sudden explosion. Familiar faces run through my mind. They appear in the room. My family.

I hear myself whisper, "Savannah."

The loud rumble ceases. Everyone's heads turn to me.

The doctor smiles. "You got it."

"Mom. Dad. Nick. Where's Chase?"

Mom runs to the bed and swings her arms around me. She kisses my cheek repeatedly. I feel a rough hand push my hair away from my forehead. Another pair of warm lips kiss my head. Then another large hand holds mine hanging limp off the bed.

A husky voice whispers, "You're back."

The strong hand holding mine belongs to Nick. He kneels on the floor next to me and makes it clear that he is not letting go.

Mom almost crushes me. Her warm tears soak my hospital gown. She says, "I thought I lost you."

The doctor leaves for awhile, giving us some time alone. I whisper, "I remember you. That's good enough."

_____

"Are you ready?"

"Yes." Mom holds my hand tightly.

"Are you sure you want to see this?"

"I need to know what happened."

The doctor nods. He presses a button on the remote. Footage starts to play on the TV.

Someone had recorded a car crash. There are firefighters extinguishing a small fire by a delapidated car in a lake. The video is taken from a highway above. The recorder was driving by, so he only got a few seconds.

"I didn't see me."

"The footage didn't get you. You were badly injured, though. You