Amnesia

Chapter Two - Don't be silly

Her mother laughed. "Don't be silly. I'm your mother. Do not play games with me, Isabella, I am not up for it today." Her eyes shone when she warned her.

"Isn't my name Marley?"

"Isabella Marley Rose Ramson, actually." She sounded proud with a glazed look. Then she caught herself. "What kind of game are you up to?" The shrill voice had started to sound edgy, like her mother's patience had run out.

She shook her head softly, biting her lip when pain shot through her body. "I'm not playing..."

"That's enough! Until you start acting like a mature woman, I will not be here to have you laugh at me." With that she stood and left the room, leaving her alone.

She stared after the woman who said she was her mother, and who had said that her name was Isabella. But the doctor and the nurses had called her Marley... Hadn't they?

As if on cue, the door opened and Nurse Sophie looked inside. "How are you feeling, Marley? I saw your mother storm out and decided to check up on you." She smiled as she walked into the room. "You look a lot less pale then you did two hours ago."

"Who am I?" she asked as loud as she could, causing nurse Sophie to stop on the way over to her bed.

"Your name is Isabella Marley Rose Ramson, but you prefer to be called Marley", she answered after a long, awkward silence. She noticed that the nurse was looking at anything but at her. "Please, excuse me, I'm going to go talk to doctor Madison. I'll be right back."

She stared at the door after nurse Sophie had left. Lying in a bed, alone in a sterile room, made her nervous. It reminded her of the blackness that had surrounded her before she had opened her eyes. The loneliness and helplessness was the same. Who was she? What had happened?

Millions of questions whirled through her head, causing it to throb. Slowly, she pressed her hands to her forehead. Tears formed in her eyes. What was happening to her?

"Please, don't hurt yourself, Marley", a calm voice said as hands formed shackles around her wrists.

Confused, she opened her eyes and looked straight into a cold, blue blizzard. Doctor Madison stared at her as he slowly lowered her hands. Her gaze followed his as he lowered his head. A gasp escaped her lips. Her fingers were red with blood. Strangely, she couldn't feel any pain. "What...?" A sob wretched itself from her throat. What had she done?

"Shh. Breathe, Marley," a soft voice whispered in her ear. She looked up and met Nurse Sophie’s calm, worried gaze. "This might sting", she added, as she lowered a white cotton pad to her forehead. Sure enough, it stung. When Nurse Sophie drew her hand back, the cotton was a deep red color.

She focused her gaze on what was going on in front of her instead, and watched as the other brunette slowly cleaned her hands. Nurse Mary smiled kindly at her when she noticed she was watching her.

Her eyes continued to wander, and she saw that doctor Madison was talking to another man in a white robe. They spoke to low for her to hear, but she noticed the worried looks they sent her. When both nurses stepped back, the new doctor took place at the foot of her bed.

"Hello, Marley. I'm doctor Philles. I have some questions that I would like to ask you, is that okay?" He smiled kindly, showing white, even teeth. "I promise it won't hurt, and it's not particularly hard questions either", he added when he noticed she was hesitating.

Moving around the bed, he sat down in the chair that her mother had abandoned. "First of is a very simple question, do you know what year it is?" "2012?" Actually, she had no idea she knew that until he had asked her. "Good. Do you know who the president is, and who the former president was?" The questions continued like that.

She knew every single answer. It came instinctively, but it felt good to know that she hadn't forgotten everything. It was when they got to the personal questions that it got tricky. She could answer almost every question, but something was amiss.

Like, she knew she had learned to ride a bicycle when she was 5, but didn't remember who taught her, where it happened and what happened during. She also knew that she was 24 and that she had thrown a huge party, but she couldn't remember who was there or how the party went. Not where it was held either. That was the pattern. She knew she lived in Los Angeles, but not where and how she got there.

Thankfully, doctor Philles asked her straight up questions, which was a huge relief for her throat and head. Not all questions were easy, but he didn't stress her, and pushed her just far enough, right to the edge of snapping, but never crossing the line. "Last question for today, Marley. Do you know who Mr. Davisport is?"

She nodded slowly. "He is my fiancé", she answered. That was all she knew him as. She had heard him talk to her while she was down under. Doctor Philles smiled kindly and shook her hand. "I will let you rest now. Dinner should be on the way up. Make sure to eat and sleep properly now, Marley. I will see you tomorrow."

That she would see him tomorrow didn't surprise her. It felt like a part of her was missing when she couldn't recall who she really was. She remembered nothing of her past that involved shaping her to the woman who was her.

"Thank you", she whispered to doctor Philles as he turned at the door to get one last look at her. He waved to her before leaving.