𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚊 ~ 𝙰𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚎

.2.

She's learned many things about herself in the past few days. Her mind was running in a loop, trying to remember all the details Beatrice told her. It was strange, having someone else tell you about yourself. So many people who knew so much more about her than she did. Her name was Ava Silva. She was 19 years old. The reason she was here? Everyone refused to tell her anything about that. The doctor said it would be better if they waited to see if she could remember some things herself. This was one of them. She even tried to get Beatrice to talk. But the girl always went silent.

"Shouldn't I be the one to decide whether i want to know or not?" Ava asked, looking at the black screen.

"Yes. But you should also be the one to remember first." Beatrice answered from behind the curtain. Yes, it was still there, even after a few days. It was kind of their thing now. All that mattered to her was that the room wasn't silent. Plus, she hasn't really talked to anyone but the doctor in the past few days. It was better to not mention anything about talking to the girl. But she was sure that talking helped both of them. She felt bad for Beatrice. In the few days she was conscious, noone ever showed up to visit her.

"This sucks." She sighed, sinking further into her pillow.

"I know." Said the other girl before doctor Salvius made her way into the room. Ava looked at the clock. 10:15am. Earlier than usual.

"Good morning, Ava" The doctor said with a light smile, taking a seat in the spin chair next to her bed.

"Morning doc" Ava nodded.

"How are you doing? Anything new?" Asked Salvius as she looked at her. Ava just shook her head.

"Nope."

"Alright. Would you mind answering a few questions?"

Ava shrugged.

"If I have an answer?-" She said, unsure. The woman nodded lightly.

"Good. Don't force it. And don't worry, everything you say is confidential." She assured her, knowing that her mother was still making her feel uncomfortable.

"Well... obviously not that confidential." She said jokingly. Salvius tilted her head a little in confusion at hearing that.

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking at Ava.

"Beatrice?" She said, looking over at the curtain before looking back at the woman. Salvius frowned when she heard the name.

"Beatrice?" She asked, seeing Ava look at the curtain again.

"Uh...yeah?" She said, pointing at it. Salvius got up from the chair and walked up to the curtain.

"Ava...there's noone there. Have you been talking to someone?" The woman asked, now removing the curtain and revealing an empty bed.

Ava's blood ran cold as she stared at the freshly made sheets, her eyes quickly moving to look at the black screen she saw Beatrice in earlier. Or...did she. She kept staring at the black screen, shaking her head.

"No, that's- that's not...I heard her. I saw her-" She started rambling, looking at doctor Salvius, who seemed concerned.

"Are you feeling alright, Ava?" What a fitting question. Obviously, she was feeling fantastic.

"I'm NOT making it up, there was someone there!" She said, sitting up.

"Ava, you need to calm down." Salvius said as she walked back to the chair and sat down. "There was noone in this room but you. Maybe you dreamt of something at night?" She tried, trying to figure out what was happening. This didn't seem to help Ava's current state of mind though.

"It wasn't a dream- I...I talked to her- I talked to her right before you came in, why...why was the curtain there?" She suddenly trailed off, still looking around even though it was obvious that there was noone.

"I put it there before you woke up. Patients after coma tend to be quite sensitive to light." The woman explained. Ava stayed silent for a few seconds.

"But...I saw her. In the screen..." She said as she looked up.

"In the...the TV?" The doctor asked, also looking up at the black screen.

"Yeah, in the black screen. I saw her reflection. She was in the bed-"

"Well, what did she look like?" Salvius asked, recieving a confused look.

"...I don't know. The reflection was blurry. But she was...she was moving. I saw it. I saw her." She repeated, still looking at the screen.

"Okay. Ava, I'm gonna need to make a call now, but I will be back in a few minutes." The woman said, standing up. Ava looked at her now.

"Yeah, confidential my ass." She said, knowing that the doctor didn't believe her and was about to call the woman who so desperately kept calling herself her mother.

Salvius didn't react to that, simply walking out of the room and going to her office while thinking about what might be happening. She walked into her office and pulled her phone out of her pocket, calling Ava's mother. She didn't have to wait long before the woman picked up.

"Hey doctor. Is everything okay with Ava?" She heard from the other side, hearing the concern in the woman's voice.

"I'm not sure. I'd like to talk to you in person. As soon as possible."

"You're worrying me. What happened? I'm at work, how urgent is it?"

"We'll find out once you're here. I went to check on Ava and...I'm not sure what happened. I'm hoping you might help both of us understand." She tried to explain.

"Understand what exactly?" The woman asked, her concern spiking.

"Does the name 'Beatrice' ring a bell?" She asked, not hearing anything for a bit. "Miss Silva?"

"...I'll be there in thirty minutes." Was all the woman said before hanging up.