The Shadows

Chapter Nine

Days had passed. It had been a week since the accident and Annabella had still not awakened from her slumber. The doctors were starting to give up on hope, and told the boys they may not be able to do anything. Their hearts had been shattered.

Annabella, however, was still hanging on. She had heard what the doctors had been saying when they came to check up on her. She had never lost a fight when she wanted to win it, and she would not start now.

She had been fighting against the darkness that clouded her mind for a while. She didn't know the exact number of days, but she was not giving up. She had started to hear more sounds, and it did not sound like she was underwater anymore. She was beginning to get feeling in her legs.

She tried to wiggle her toes. She heard a gasp, so she was guessing that it worked. She continued to fight her way to the surface of the darkness. She eventually was able to open her eyes, but immediately closed them due to the brightness of the lights above her. Someone quickly dimmed them and she opened them up again. Blinking a few times, she could finally see who was in the room with her.

There was a girl and three boys standing around her. Annabella could not figure out who they were no matter how hard she tried to rack her brain. One of the boys finally decided to speak up.

"You're finally awake!" He said cheerfully, like her waking up was the best thing to ever happen to him. She just laid there confused as to why he would be happy.

"Um... who are you guys?" Annabella questioned weakly. Her throat was sore and sounded raspy as she spoke. The girl went over to a table and grabbed a glass of water and handed it to her.

"Here, for your throat," She had said softly. She seemed upset for some reason. Annbella pushed the thought away and greedily drank the water hoping to soothe her throat.

"You probably would not know us, but you don't even know her?" The oldest looking boy questioned after she had finished the entire glass of water, shocked that she could not remember her own best friend.

"No?" Annabella said, but it sounded more like a question than a statement. She was confused about everything that was happening. Her brain could not handle all of this information and she had begun to get a headache.

"I'll go get a doctor," The girl said quietly. She left while looking towards the floor, not wanting to look at Annabella. The boys nodded and sat down and grabbed their phones to message someone.

Annabella sat there quietly, not wanting to disturb the silence in the room. All that was heard in the room was the beeping of the machines hooked up to Annabella and the typing on the boys' phones. Shortly after she had left, the girl returned with a doctor who began to question Annabella. He was asking her things like her name, the date, if she knew where she was. He then began to ask the harder questions.

"What school do you go to?"

"I don't know."

"Whose house are you living in?" He questioned her.

"My parents?" Annabella questioned back. He wrote down her answers each time, noting each one she had gotten wrong. The entire interaction had made her very nervous. He eventually put his notepad down and looked at her.

"It seems you have memory loss. I don't know if you will get your memories back, but your friends and family can try to trigger them by bringing things that you enjoy to you. I am very sorry." The doctor said before walking out. There was a moment of silence before anyone spoke up.

"The others should be here soon." One of the boys said after glancing at his phone. There was another pause.

"Who are you guys?" Annabella asked after what seemed like hours passed. She felt bad about not knowing who they were, but she could not help it.

"Oh, I am Isabella, your best friend. You moved in with me about a week and a half ago." The girl, now known to Annabella as Isabella, replied. She still seemed upset that Annabella did not recognize her, but she still smiled at her. The boys went next.

"Hi, I am Alessio. These two are my younger brothers Angelo and Armani." He said, but it was like he did not tell her the full truth. What she didn't know was how hard he was holding himself back from blurting that they were also her brothers. 

She just nodded along, then asked what had happened to her. Armani was the one that replied.

"You were in a car accident. It was raining and when you tried to slow down, you hydroplaned into another vehicle. I was the one to find you. It was pretty bad. You made us all scared." He said solemnly.

Annabella didn't know what to say other than sorry. They all reassure her it was okay, and they were just glad she was alive and alright. As they were saying this, three more people walked into her room.

They all looked towards her and had expressions of relief on their faces. The oldest looking one broke out into a smile, but then he noticed her confused expression and quite smiling.

"Hi, my name is Stefano. I'm the father of these boys. The one beside me is Adriano, he's the oldest, and the one sitting down is Alessandro. He is one of the triplets." The older man said.

"Triplets?" Annabella questioned, intrigued by the new information. Stefano smiles once again, happy that his baby girl was speaking to him even if she didn't know how he was to her.

"Yeah. Angelo, Alessandro, and Antonio, who isn't here right now, are triplets." He told her. She glanced over to said boys who were already looking at her. She smiled and turned back to Stefano.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you guys here? I didn't know you did I?" Annabella asked yet another question.

"Well, it's a long story." Stefano replied wistfully.

"I have the time."