Remember Me [Jalex]

.1.

The first thing I noticed was the fluorescent lamp running across the pastel green ceiling. My head was fuzzy. There was a lot of movement and noise. I could hear both humans and machines around me. The bright light was getting too much. I closed my eyes again.

When I came to the second time, I saw a man in a white coat standing by me. He introduced himself but I was too groggy to register his name. He was a doctor, from what I could tell. I was in a hospital ward. I couldn't feel my head.

My thoughts were all over the place as I tried to make sense of everything around me. I realised the doctor was trying to get my attention. So I looked at him and focused all my brain power on him. He asked me a few questions, patiently waiting for my slow answers before moving on to the next one.

The questions were fairly simple. They were all about myself. He asked for my name, my birthday, where I lived, and my age. These were all things I couldn't possibly get wrong so with each answer, I got more confident. The doctor seemed pleased with all my answers until the last one. He tried not to show his true concerns but I caught the small frown that formed on his forehead. He penned down his observations onto the clipboard in his hand. I wondered what he was frowning about. I ran through my answers again to see if I said anything wrong but I saw no fault in my facts.

My name is Alex Gaskarth. I was born on the 14th of December in the year 1987. I live in Baltimore, Maryland. I am seventeen years old... I think. Strange. It felt like I was missing something but I can't possibly have forgotten my own age.

The doctor finished writing and looked at me, stopping my train of thought. "Do you feel any pain or discomfort?" He asked.

I did a mental check of my body. I felt okay, a bit sore in places but that was all. I reached a hand up to my head, which felt a bit heavy. There was a bandage wound around my head, which explained the pressure I felt. However, I started to realise that the pressure in my head was more than just the bandage.

"I have a headache," I told the doctor.

The doctor nodded but didn't seem too concerned by it. "I'll have a nurse get you some aspirin for it," he said calmly. "Do you think you can answer a few more questions for me? Just some routine things to make sure you're okay."

I tried to nod but the small movement made the headache worse. I winced and went for a verbal reply instead. "Yeah, I can."

"Can you tell me what year is it?" The doctor asked slowly, making sure I got every word.

"2005."

"Who is your best friend?"

I couldn't help the small smile that crept up to my lips. "Jack," I replied. "Jack Barakat." I loved the guy, in more ways than one. The thought of him never failed to make me smile. He was the sunshine after a rainy day. We've been friends for a few years now and he has always been there for me like a steady rock in the middle of the rough seas of teenage life. You could say I had a crush on my best friend. I've been trying to work up the guts to talk to him about it but so far, he was completely clueless.

I was getting lost in my thoughts again and the doctor had to call my name a few times to get my attention. When I met his gaze, he started to speak.

"Alex, do you remember how you ended up in the hospital? Do you remember anything on the night you go hurt?"

I racked my brain for an answer. Huh, that's funny. I couldn't remember. Try hard as I may, I came up blank. "I can't remember," I said and the doctor noted it down.