Monday| 10:22| September 4, 2017
[THREE WEEKS EARLIER]
Baden restlessly tossed and turned in his sleep. His head burned up and his heart throbbed inside his chest. Flashbacks the of recent past played in his mind... but nothing more.
***
Red and gold head lights and tail lights swayed around in the dissipating city traffic. The water beneath the upcoming bridge gently rippled a reflection of the night sky.
Baden found himself in the backseat of a car. The driver and passenger's faces were distorted, but both had the builds of middle-aged men. The vehicle began to pick up its pace as it zoomed over the bridge. The man in the passenger seat turned around with a pistol in hand and fired the weapon through the back windshield. Baden lunged forward, burying his head under his arms for protection. Four more shots were fired.
A loud ring pierced the air as the vehicle swerved; the car went airborne. Tires skidded and gravity seemed to toss them in every direction. The car slammed against what seemed to be a solid surface, setting off the airbags, then proceeded to slowly sink into the darkness.
Water rushed into the vehicle collecting at towards the front of the car. The two other men in the car were limp and unresponsive to the crisis around them. Baden unbuckled his seat belt and tugged at the severely damaged side door, but it wouldn't budge. He took one last gasp of air and continued to pull, but it was no use.
Baden could feel his body burning up with panic. Pressure built inside his chest as his every move seemed to consume more oxygen than was available. His head grew light and fuzzy and his senses went numb. Sounds became muffled and lights became blurs.... everything else was dark.
***
Baden shot upright to find himself in a small, quiet room. It gave off the general appearance of a hospital room, but it looked more personalized. The bed that Baden was on didn't have that cheap, disposable, paper sheet. In fact, very few disposable materials were in sight. One of the walls was nothing but cabinets, shelves and drawers which held personal belongings and the like. Baden found himself in a recovery room.
The room was void of any motion, but sounds seemed to fill the room with activity. A feint beeping sound of a monitor echoed from down the hall, a clock ticked on the wall across the room, and heels clicked nearby, steadily growing louder.
A figure turned the corner and entered into the room where Baden lie. The person was average in height and rather slim in build. They wore a white lab coat over their casual business attire and their straight blonde hair was held back in a tie. The doctor that had walked in carried a clipboard under her arm and wore a expressionless look on her face. She held her wrist with her other hand as she glanced up at her patient and cleared her throat.
Baden had already noticed her in the room even before her audible entrance. He'd had no people visit him regularly, making her presence in the room somewhat abnormal. She was of the first people to enter and address him directly in some fashion.
"I need to ask you a few questions" she said in a professional tone, "may I have a seat?"
The doctor gestured to the stool that stood in the corner of the room.
"Uh yeah," Baden replied, "Sure."
Baden was confused and slightly dazed from his sleep, the dream still fresh in his mind. The lady took a seat on the stool and set the clipboard on her lap. She looked up from her lap and made eye contact with her patient before jotting a few things down.
"So-" Baden began.
He was promptly interrupted by a, "Just a moment."
Baden pursed his lips in silence as her pen scribbled across the page.
"What can you remember?" she asked.
"A car crash" Baden recalled, "I remember lights-"
"Any faces?" the doctor cut him off.
"No?" Baden replied, "but I remember people."
"Who?" she asked as she continued to write.
"I- I don't know" Baden replied, "Everything's blurred."
"Do you remember any details?" she asked, "Anything else?"
"No" he replied, "just the crash."
"Hm," the doctor let out with amusement before continuing to write on her notepad.
Baden repositioned himself on the bed and inhaled as though he was about to say something.
The doctor paid no attention to him and continued to scribble on her notepad.
He released a breath of air and along with it went his confidence to speak. The longer the silence went unbroken, the harder it was to break. So Baden just sat there as her pen danced across the paper.
"Do you remember anything more?" she asked without looking up from the clipboard, "Anything from your childhood?"
Baden hesitated, which drew her attention up from her clipboard. His gaze was stolid as he tried to press further into his mind, but nothing came to him. His memory was a blank slate.... all except for that blurred scene. The city.... the car..... the lights..... and the darkness....
"Eh hem," the doctor cleared her throat.
Baden blinked and redirected his attention to her sharp, impatient, yet curious face.
"Um... no," he said with slight disappointment.
Inwardly he was dying. It hurt not to remember his past or who he was. After all, a person's identity is all they take with them; it's what defines them... What was he without it?
Baden sighed before frowning a little.
After writing a few more things down, the doctor stood up, thanked him for his time and exited the room.
Baden was once again alone...
All he could remember were the past three days of his life.... that and his reoccurring nightmare.
Baden was promised a normal life after his recovery from the car accident, but he didn't even know how to relate to a "normal" life. He was promised a new home with a secure family in a quiet area somewhere. Of course, his therapy sessions would continue even after the transition.... how could anyone recover from something like that? His arm was expected to heal within the week, but his head... there was no telling how long it would take.... and even so there was no guarantee it would heal.
Baden felt hopeless.... Who was he? Where would he go in life? Did he have any friends? Family?
He was told the answers to some of these questions, but hearing the answers and discovering them for himself were completely different. Simply being told the answers to his questions didn't satisfy him.... he wanted to know for himself, to find out firsthand.
As he sat in his room alone, with the occasional doctor or therapist stopping by, thoughts drifted through his mind; mostly just causing deeper depression or anxiety. Baden was done with the hospital... he just wanted to get back into the world.... he was ready to rediscover who he was. The room that kept him was his cage, preventing him from the only thing he wanted... everything he wanted... he wanted himself back... whoever that may be...
