A Part of My Memory

Elliot

I braced myself before picking up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Elliot Fraid speaking?" the person on the line asked. I affirmed that it was me and they continued, "we're calling to tell you that Zara has woken up."

My body deflated, the tension leaving at once. "She's awake?"

"Yes, she's just woken up."

"I..." I took deep breaths, overwhelmed by the relief and gratefulness I was feeling. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

I cut the call then and instructed the driver to turn back around and take me to the hospital. I rested my head in my hands, exhaling and taking my first proper breath in ages.

As soon as the car slowed down outside the building I burst out and raced inside. I didn't think before rushing straight into her room.

Whatever conversation she had been having with the nurse stopped because of my sudden appearance. Zara was sitting up and when her chestnut brown eyes found mine, she just blinked at me, there was no recognition on her features.

She looked at the nurse, "is he one of the doctors?"

The nurse glanced at me and then back at Zara but didn't say anything in response.

I swallowed, "You don't remember me?"

"Am I supposed to?"

I had been expecting this, the probability that she might not remember me, but the fact that it was now a reality hurt on a whole new level. I took a breath and looked away from her, finding it difficult to look into those all too familiar eyes that only regarded me with unfamiliarity.

"Zara..." I took a step forward and Zara suddenly coughed, but it sounded a lot like she was trying to cover up a laugh.

"How do you know my name?" She asked, holding her fist against her mouth.

I narrowed my eyes at her and it was then that she lowered her fist and broke out laughing, and even the nurse joined in. I looked at them, baffled.

"I'm messing with you, Elliot," the sound of my name on her lips felt questionably reassuring. "The nurses told me there was a chance I forgot my memory so I decided, why not prank Elliot?" She laughed again, "you should have seen your face, it was—"

I didn't let her finish but suddenly wrapped my arms around her, a gesture that took the both of us by surprise. I immediately pulled back when I realised what I was doing.

"Sorry, I was just... I was so worried about you," I told her.

"I'm fine, Elliot, I mean, I could be better, but I'm fine," she said with a smile, and I didn't realise how much I had missed that smile. "Sure, I've got an aching pain in the back of my head, but I'm alive, and that's what matters, right?"

"Right," I agreed.

"Plus, I can move all my limbs, the nurse already checked that," she went on. "And I didn't lose my memory because I remember you."

"So you're okay physically, that's good," I considered. "But what about emotionally?"

"Emotionally?" She asked, then took a moment to think. "Other than being hurt when I heard you weren't here when I woke up, I'm fine."

"Zara..." I stood up and turned away when my vision started to blur. Did she not remember them? I ran a hand down my face and turned to face her again. "Is that it?"

"Yeah, why?" She asked, concerned, "is there...is there something else?"

I took a deep, long breath and swallowed. "Do the names Serena, Ally and Faizah sound familiar to you?"

She scrunched her brows in thought but she shook her head in the end, "why? Who are they?"

I cursed and leaned against the wall. She didn't remember them. She really didn't remember them.

"Who are they, Elliot?" Zara asked me again, her voice louder and more demanding. "How do I know them?"

"Let me get the doctor," the nurse said and hurried out.

"Elliot," Zara called me again. "Did I—did I lose my memory?"

"No," I said. "No, no you remember me so..." I paused as I considered the situation. "Maybe you just don't remember their names." I hurriedly grabbed my phone from my pocket and went to Zara's social media handle, opening an image of them together. "Ring a bell?"

Zara stared at the image for a long time and eventually took the phone from me to zoom into their faces, but not a speck of recognition flashed across her features. "Who are they?" she asked me quietly.

"Friends, they were your friends," I told her.

She looked at me then, "'Were'?"

I hadn't realised I had used the past tense, and I felt like explaining the event to her wouldn't be a good idea. Just then, the nurse re-entered with the doctor who sat beside Zara on the bed with his binder, but even then Zara didn't look away from me once, not until the doctor started asking her a series of questions about her life and her background. She remembered everything about her life, things like her name and age, but she didn't remember anything about her background and relationships.

"Your parents?" the doctor asked.

"I...," Zara paused, racking her brain for a response.

"Where did you grow up?" The doctor went on when he saw she wasn't going to answer. "Who raised you?"

Zara blinked, trying to remember, but she settled on, "I don't know."

"Where were you schooled?"

"I don't know," her voice broke.

"Where do you live."

"I...I don't know," at this point, her face fell and tears started forming in her eyes. "I don't remember."

"Your friends? Who are your friends?" the doctor went on.

Tears streamed down Zara's face and it pained me to watch, but then she looked at me, "Elliot, Elliot's my friend."

"And who else?" The doctor prompted. "It doesn't have to be a friend, just the name of anyone else you know."

Zara kept her eyes on me as she slowly shook her head, "there's no one else."

The doctors looked at me at the same moment I realised what was happening.

Zara didn't remember anything, she didn't remember anyone...

Anyone but me.