Unremembered |H.S|

5.0 - Empty

It takes a little over an hour, but my locket is finally brought to me in the late morning.
        Dr. Schatzel sets it down on the tray next to my bed and rotates the swinging arm so that the tabletop is directly under me.
         "Unfortunately the police weren't able to figure out where it was purchased so I'm afraid it's another dead end," he explains, taking a step back as though to give me time alone with my one and only known possession on this earth. I carefully reach out and lift the necklace by the chain. I extend my finger, allowing the glossy black heart-shaped charm to swing like a pendulum in front of my face.
        I study it carefully.
        On one side of the amulet's surface is a curious symbol carved out of a matte silver metal. It's a series of interwoven loops, swirling around each other, with no beginning and no end. I turn the locket upside down but the design doesn't change.
        "What kind of symbol is this?" I ask the doctor. "It's actually an ancient Sanskrit symbol. Called the eternal knot." "Does it represent something?" I ask, disliking the contemptuous quality of my voice. He forces a smile. "The Buddhists believe it symbolizes the interweaving of the spiritual path, movement, and the flowing of time."
        I frown, feeling disappointed. I was hoping his answer would be more helpful than that. "But to put it simply," he offers, almost sounding sympathetic, "it represents eternity." Kiyana squints at the locket. "It almost looks like two hearts," she asserts with a confident nod of her head. "One on top of the other." She smiles. "Pretty." I stare at the symbol, trying to see what Kiyana sees. It does kind of look like two hearts. One upside down and the other right side up. Intersecting at the cores. "It is beautiful," I agree. "Yes," Dr. Schatzel concurs, although the sharpness in his voice is back. "At first the police believed it might be an antique. But I'm told it wasn't registered in any databases so that can't be confirmed."
        Like me, I think, instantly feeling a special affinity to the necklace. I reach for the tiny clasp on the left side and manage to pop open the locket with the edge of my fingernail. My hopes fall once more when I see that the hollow space carved inside is empty. "Was there something in here?" I ask, shooting an accusatory look at Dr. Schatzel. He shakes his head. "It was empty when they brought you in. I assume if there was anything inside it must have fallen out during the crash." Another piece of me. Lost. I close the locket and give it a flick, sending the empty heart into a spin. The silver-link chain twists and wraps around itself, winding all the way up, threatening to strangle my finger. It's not until it slows and eventually starts to unwind that I notice something on the other side.
        An engraving.
        I catch the charm midtwirl and bring it closer to my face so I can read the small calligraphic letters etched into the back.
        S + Z = 1609.
        Kiyana and Dr. Schatzel watch me carefully, awaiting some kind of reaction. "What does this mean?" I ask. The doctor appears disappointed. "We were hoping you could tell us that."
        I can feel the frustration start to build up inside me again. "Why does everyone keep saying that to me!?" I yell. "Does no one around here have any answers to anything?" He shakes his head regretfully. "I'm sorry. It's not a mathematical or scientific formula that we're familiar with."
        "S + Z = 1609."
        I enunciate carefully, reading the text letter for letter, number for number, hoping it will trigger something in my memory. Something in this black void I have in place of a brain. And after five long, quiet seconds, it does. "1-6-0-9," I repeat slowly. Familiar images start to snake into my mind. Rapid flashes of faces.
        I can feel excitement building in the pit of my stomach. Am I having a memory? Is this what it feels like? Yes! I remember. I remember water. I remember bits of floating debris. Bodies. A bright white light. Voices. "What is your name? Do you know where you are? Do you know what year it is?"
        And then suddenly, like a whoosh of air exiting the room, the excitement is gone. Thrust out of me by a single disheartening realization. I'm recollecting what happened after the crash. After I awoke among the wreckage of a plane that I don't remember boarding.
        "That number, 1-6-0-9—does it mean anything to you, love?" Kiyana asks, clearly interpreting the strange progression of emotion that must be registering across my face.
        "Yes," I answer with an unsettling sigh. "I think it's a year."