The Truth About Us

1. Marlene

When I opened my eyes all I could see was a blinding white light. Blinking didn't help, nothing helped. The whiteness completely obstructed my vision. I was helpless, confused. Panicking I realized I didn't know where I was. Every part of my body hurt fiercely and it took all the self-control I could muster to stop myself from screaming out in pain. I heard a murmur of frantic voices and the beeping of several machines, before everything went black.

The next time I woke up, I could see, but not much better than before. Blinking rapidly I realized that the light came from the stark white walls and ceiling of the spotlessly clean room I was in. I looked around the unfamiliar room and saw that it was small and sparsely furnished. I was lying down on a plain white bed with blue sheets and a rickety looking chair sat next to the bed.

As I regained most of my senses I found that the pain wasn't as bad as before, and gingerly I tried to prop myself up on the bed, stopping every time I felt pain shooting through different parts of my body.

Suddenly a woman hurried into my room, seemingly attracted by the sound caused by my attempt to sit up. Closing the door behind her, she walked over and assisted me in sitting up before plumping up my pillows and sitting down on a chair next to the bed.

"Good morning, how are you feeling?" she asked. I didn't know how to reply, and my throat felt dry and cracked, so I remained silent. "That's ok," the woman replied soothingly, "We'll try again later." Try what later? 

I slid back down under the blankets and pulled them up as if to shield myself from the woman. I looked down at myself and saw I was dressed in a knee length, blue, shapeless dress. My whole body was covered in huge cuts and burn marks and I could feel a stabbing pain in my side that was making my vision slightly blurred.

Suddenly a wave of panic flew over me when I realized why I felt so confused. Nothing seemed familiar to me, nothing at all. It was like I was in some sort of dream. "Where am I?" I managed to gasp, leaning forward so I could hear her answer, but regretting the move as soon as I made it. "You're in a hospital honey" she replied her face suddenly looking grave and concerned.

Clutching my side I sank back into the pillows and tried to steady myself to stop my head from spinning. I looked down at myself again and realized I was in the hospital because of the ugly, red wounds all down my body. Where did all this come from...?

The woman seemed to sense my unvoiced question and leaned forward, taking hold of my hand. I tried to jerk out of her grip but she held on firmly.

"Two days ago you were in a car crash with your parents. You were in the back seat so you didn't get hurt too badly, but both of your parents got the maximum impact. I'm sorry, there was nothing we could do for either of them." She wore a sympathetic expression as she said this, but strangely the news didn't seem to affect me.

Maybe it was because I had no idea who my parents were.

"From what I can judge" the woman continued "you've lost your memory entirely. You have no idea who you are or where you are or what happened to you. Do you remember what your name is?" she asked tentatively. Stunned, I shook my head, realizing I had no idea. The woman looked like she'd expected me to answer like this, and ploughed on.

"I expected as much. Your X-ray's show severe trauma to the head. Memory loss is often a result of trauma to the head and it can be short term or long term. At the present moment we are unable to tell which it will be. My name's Marlene" she said quietly. "I'm here to help you".

"How are you supposed to help me if I don't even know who I am?" I asked, struggling to speak.

"It's alright honey, you don't have to worry," she said kindly before getting up and walking softly towards the door.