On the Ledge of Retrograde

Chapter 3 Retrograde Amnesia

Shannon POV
By the time we reach the hospital my mom has basically explained this to me:
1. The girl who tried to commit suicide the other day name is Cammie Scott.
2. Her parents cannot be contacted so her care was put in the hands of her brother Lee.
3. Lee is studying abroad so he can't be here to take care of her
4. Casey went to high school with Lee and the were somewhat of friends.
5. Remembering that Casey's family still lives in Dallas he called her and asked if we could take care of his 18 year old sister.
6. No one knows why Cammie tried to commit suicide and we also don't know the extent of her injuries yet.
7. She'll be ready to come home in a few days.
With that I realized the rest of my summer was going to go a little different to be expected. In all honesty, I really don't want to have a stranger staying with us. For all I know she could be insane, I mean didn't she try to kill herself?
I let out and audible sigh in the car before we get out causing my mom to give me a harsh look and say, "Please just try to be nice, the poor girl has been through a lot and I really don't mind helping someone out. She can stay in Casey's old room until all of this gets worked out with her parents."
"Ok mom." 'Bye bye summer' Walking in to the building gives me bad flashbacks. I've always hated the doctors office, but if you don't somethings probably wrong with you. The mass amounts of white everywhere make everything seem too fake I guess. Like the walls are saying it's safe here but the shot sitting in the cart over there is giving you the death glare. I shiver thinking about it.
"Ok, Miss Camden Scott is right this way," a young looking nurse says as we begin to follow her down the fake hallway. 'Wait, I thought her name was Cammie, must be short for Camden. I think I would want to be called Cam if I had that name. Granted, it does rhyme with Shan.'
"Okay so Miss Scott is asleep right now but the doctor is in their right now to explain her condition to you." The way she said condition makes me fear the worse. 'What if she's paralyses. That would be absolutely horrible' When the door is opened I see what I presume is Cammie sleeping on the hospital bed. At first glance she doesn't look that bad just a bruise on the side of her head with a bandage on it. But on further inspection I she that her arm is in a cast to just past the elbow and her left foot is wrapped with some medical tape. Her face still looks really pretty though. 'Wait, what? I mean pretty in like a friendly way. Not at all like in the other, I don't think. I mean she is really pretty though. Just stop Shannon, stop'
My thoughts are luckily halted by my mother whispering, "Aww that poor girl, what happened to her..." pausing to read the doctors name tag, "Dr. Thomas."
"Well she was found outside her house on the ground with a broken arm, sprained ankle, and a slight gash on her forehead. We assume that she jumped out of her second story window attempting to commit suicide." My mother gasps interrupting him briefly. "When Miss Scott was brought here she was still knocked out from the fall so we treated all of her physical injuries.
"What do you mean physical injuries are there any other ones besides physical," my sister chimes in showing a slight bit of concern for the first time.
"Well you see after Miss Scott came to she couldn't recall why she was in the hospital or why she was injured. Actually, she couldn't, and still can't, recall much of anything. Based on this we've diagnosed Miss Scott with Retrograde Amnesia.
"Oh my God," I say aloud scaring everyone including by Dr. Thomas. I don't know what Retrograde Amnesia is but I do know what just Amnesia is and I don't this this is any better. 'To loose all of your memories at the age of 18 I can't imagine.' "What exactly does that entail?" I ask next.
"Retrograde Amnesia deals with the loss of memories that happen before the time of a traumatic event. It doesn't effect a Persian  ability to create new memories as would Anterograde Amnesia. The memories closes to the event are more likely to be lost because the haven't been as "processed" in you're brain yet."
"Well can she do anything," my mom asks.
"That's just the thing, Retrograde Amnesia only effects Declarative memory, which is the intentional recollection of factual information, previous experiences and concepts. While it leaves intact Procedural memory which is the performance of tasks with out conscious awareness of it.
"So she can read I book, but can't remember her 13th birthday," I add.
"Exactly. We won't know yet how bad her RA (Retrograde Amnesia) is until we have more time to observe her. With patience memories can come back to a person in dreams sometimes or in just being in a familiar surrounding. And most of the time social cues and a persons emotional state are returned pretty quickly because they are constantly exposed to them."
"Well how can we help her." I say.
"Once she goes home with you, showing her movies and books can help jog her memory and also exposing different sports can help her find what she was good at. Someone with RA is left in a very, very raw state, basically just what their genetics coded them to be like. So just listen and be nice. Anything you say could have a drastic effect on her compared to what it might do you you and I. Think of her as a 3 year old child that believes everything. Luckily, I think that Miss Scott's memory will eventually return but it will take time.
"When will she be released exactly," my mom asked somberly.
"Probably in a few days but you guys are encouraged to visit so that she can be more comfortable with you." After that we're escorted out of the room and my mother tells us we're going to eat lunch at home. I'm not really that hungry any moe because during the whole car ride home all I can think is, "What the fuck just happened."

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Aww man they still didn't get to really meet yet. Thanks for reading and feedback is always appreciated. I am by no means an expect of Retrograde Amnesia this is just my rough understanding of it. I'll try to keep the story updated frequently and I can believe it already has 40 views. Thanks a bunch. 😊😊😊
-MW