I woke to a bright white light and soft, murmuring voices. I lifted my arm to cover my eyes, and the voices stopped all of a sudden. Above me, the face of a woman in her thirties appeared and smiled.
"Ah, you've woken up! Fantastic!" she exclaimed in an overly cheery voice.
"What's going on?" I tried to ask, but the words got caught in my throat. It felt like I hadn't drank anything in days.
"Relax, dear," the woman said. "All will be explained in orientation here in a bit. For now you need to rest."
My eyes had adjusted by that time, and I saw another woman, this one much younger, bringing over a tray of food. I easily sat up in my bed. The room I was in looked like a hospital room, but I didn't appear to be injured at all. I tried to remember what had happened to me and was overcome by an overwhelming sense of vertigo.
I doubled over and clutched my stomach and my ears began to ring as I desperately racked my mind for any memory at all. But there was nothing.
"Calm down, dear," the older woman rubbed my back. "I know it's unsettling to try to think about your past at first, but don't worry, you'll get used to it...or at least you'll subconsciously stop trying. Here, have a drink."
After a few sips of the water she handed me, I was able to talk.
"I-I don't understand," I said helplessly. "What-where-why--"
"I know, I know," she continued to nod understandingly. "Orientation has all the answers. Eat up, get dressed, and I will be back to take you to it in an hour."
With that, she gave me a smile and retreated out of the heavy wooden door.
It was then that I noticed how incredibly hungry I was and dug into my food. I wasn't sure what it was and I couldn't care less how it tasted. Once I had practically licked my plate clean, I remembered what she had said about getting dressed.
I slipped out of the bed and opened one of the drawers on the far wall. It was filled with jeans of every style, all in my size. The next drawer held t-shirts, and the next blouses, and the next skirts...you get the picture. Eventually, I settled on a simple outfit of skinny jeans, a tank top, and a jacket. Upon further investigation, I was thrilled to find a pair of black converse among the shoe choices.
I had no idea what was in store for me or what had happened to me, but at least I had comfortable clothes and a full stomach.
I sat back down on the bed to wait, and my mind ended up wandering a few more times back to my past, or lack thereof, bringing back the horrible nausea and headache. So, I was in a pretty irritable mood when the nice woman came back.
Her cheery disposition made it impossible to be short with her though, so I was polite as I followed her out of the room. The hallway looked like that of a hospital as well. It was completely spotless and empty for the most part. Although we did pass a few teenagers with plastic badges on lanyards around their necks.
Down the hall, we took a two rights, straight into a large room with a few chairs and a couch. On the opposite wall, there was a large screen.
"Welcome to orientation," the woman chimed. "Have a seat, and we will begin the video."
I went ahead and did as I was told. Honestly, as freaked out as I was about all this, I was just so desperate for some information, that I didn't want to delay this "orientation" at all. Although, the word itself sounded like it was going to be a total snooze fest, so I prepared myself for the worst.
