AMNESIAC

Chapter three

Agatha looked out of her window, contemplating the strident noises that came from her neighborhood. It had never been a quiet one; she could always listen to the children playing in the dusty yard, screaming and laughing, the mothers always chatting and gossiping, and men complaining and whining.

She turned to look at the sleeping girl in her bed. It had been two weeks now since she had found the wounded stranger. Dr Arcelio paid her a visit now and then, making sure her condition was stable.

To say that taking care of her was complicated was an understatement. The bullets in the stomach, back and legs were deep and severe, quite possibly fatal. Fortunately for the girl, the bullets had remained where they had dodged. Extracting them was nowhere near as dangerous as it might have been. However, the head injury caused the real problem. 

When Dr Arcelio saw the girl's head, he immediately assumed that a bullet hit her, or she had a traumatic collapse. In both cases, the brain tissues were severely damaged, and after spending nearly thirty hours working on the patient's head, with, of course the help of Agatha, Dr Arcelio wasn't sure whether the girl will survive this or not.

He was amazed as well as relieved when he checked her pulse and found that it was stable, meaning that the stranger miraculously managed to come through the surgery. The long hours the doctor spent working on this stranger were the most perplexing and delicate piece of work he had ever done in his medical career.

He and Agatha have done their best; and all they could do for now was waiting for the girl to open her eyes. They had to be patient; especially Agatha who was sheltering her.

Any day now, any hour perhaps, the patient would focus her eyes and intelligible words would emerge from her lips.

Even any second. 

The words came first. But they were muffled sounds, in an incomprehensible language, not even French, thought Agatha who despised this language.  It was clear that the girl spoke in a foreign language, a language that was coming far, far away from where they were.

Agatha chose not to disturb and preferred to call for the doctor.

A few seconds later, the girl calmed down, her eyes were wearing a puzzled expression as she glanced upward, her mouth pursed but slightly open and loose. Her gaze was fixed as if she was looking at something a yard behind Agatha's head.

"Who are you? Where am I?" The girl finally spoke. Her voice was unexpected. It was low, with an agreeable trace of huskiness and with a hint of a more power than the frail body would suggest.

"My name is Agatha. I helped you out."

"Do I know you?"

"No, I just took care of you. You were pretty messed up when I found you."

"When you found me?" The girl asked in a barely audible hum.

"You speak English, I thought you would. I assumed you were American or Canadian; maybe European. But your dental work is North American. How are you feeling?"

"I'm not sure. My body is hurting and I feel dizzy." She said taking her head between her hands and clenching her eyes.

"It's normal. You'll get used to it. Do you need something? Maybe some water or go to the bathroom? You've been in a coma for sixteen days."

"Sixteen days?" The girl gasped, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I am glad you are okay. To be completely honest, Dr Arcelio and I didn't think you'd survive this. As I told you, you were pretty messed up; three bullets in the leg, two in the back, two broken ribs. But that wasn't the worst. Your head, it was... chaotic."