The never ending Chase

Nathaniel Theodore Harrison (PART TWO)

You've got to be kidding me! For real? I mean seriously?

"You don't know who I am?", I asked coming closer and staring into his eyes. One thing about Nathan, he always flinches when he's trying to hide something. He just stared at me like I was crazy. I probably was.

"Look I don't know you are and I'm beginning to doubt who I am. So if you don't mind, .....I'd like some space", he said a little defensively. I didn't really know what to say so, I walked out the room, into the hall.

Ok, wow. Was it actually possible? I mean the doctors said that he would be fine... Just ho to show you, you can't trust doctors.

My mind was filled with mixed emotions and I needed time to process it all. There was no way I could attempt to wrap my brain around this new situation with Nathan staring at my like I was an alien. I left the room and paced from one end of the empty hallway to the other.

Firstly I was beyond happy to see my brother gain consciousness, but at the same time, I was a little sceptical as to whether his 'I've lost my memory thing' was a hoax. What he truly had lost his memory? Did he really have no idea who we were?

I didn't know if this was a dream come true or a total nightmare. All the times I had ever fought with him or messed up his things were now erased from my record, but all the fun we had ever had together or all the times he had listened to my sad sob stories were lost in the process too.

My head was reeling from all this new information I was being forced to process, that the only thing keeping my steady was the hospital wall. I sank into a bench outside the room, leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes.

"Coffee?", a voice spoke causing my open eyes and stare up. Cole stood next to me, holding a cup of coffee towards me. "No thank you. Wh- What are you doing here?" "Nathan was my baby sitter when I was a kid. When i heard about the shooting, I thought that I should come over and check on him.", he answered taking a seat next to me on the bench.

" I didn't know that."

"Yeah.", Cole said, with a chuckle. "It was a long time ago and he made me swear not to tell anyone. How is he any way?"

"Better. He was unconscious for some time, but now he's gained consciousness." I didn't have the heart to tell him that Nathan probably wouldn't remember him.

I had never seen him outside of school. I could make out that he was very uncomfortable. He looked like a fish out of water. His eyes were looking down and he kept fidgeting with the lid of the coffee cup, opening and closing it.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to. I totally get how you can feel uncomfortable here."

"It's alright.", he said looking up and for the first time I saw him, and I mean actually saw him. I never realised this before, but he had grey eyes. Grey not like a cloudy sky, but like a sky expecting a downpour of rain, with thunder and lightning, deep and threatening, but it  didn't scare me. In fact I felt a certain solace in looking into his eyes.

"What's wrong?", he asked, breaking my train of thought. "You were looking at me like as if you had seen heaven..."

"I think I just did...", I mumbled under my breath.

"What ?"

"Nothing. I said you can go in. If you want to."

"Nah..... It's probably better if he spends time with family before he sees friends. He'll need time to adjust...."

All of a sudden a loud sound was heard from the room. Both of us stood up and rushed in. The ectocardiogram attached to Nathan was causing the sound. He was moving about in the bed in jerky motions, like he was having seizure. The heart rate displayed on the ectocardiogram showed erratic lines rising and falling. Doctors and nurses flooded the room and we were pushed out the way. They began speaking all at once and putting things on Nathan's body.

One of them yelled "Clear", and pressed a pair of paddles onto his chest causing his body to jump with the impact of the force and the charge being applied.

I struggled to see Nathan as the nurses tried to send us out of the room. When I had finally had enough of being pushed away from him,  I yelled at one of the nurses "There is no way I am leaving my brother like this." . He left me alone.

His heart rate fell to a flat line, seeing which the doctors began to panic and worked faster.

Finally he let out a gasp and opened his eyes. He clutched the sides of the bed and the doctors finally gave us space to come closer to him. He let out a few deep breaths and finally relaxed and released his grip on the bed. He looked a little shaken.

"Nathan?", I said coming closer to him, but he backed away, like he was scared of me. Like he was scared I might hurt him.

I couldn't hold it in any longer. I left the room and  kept running as far away as possible from the hospital. I turned the corner leading to a busy street, but even with the hustle and bustle around me, all I could hear was the thumping of my heart against my chest and the pounding of my footsteps against the pavement. I kept running till I began struggling for breath.

I sat on a bench in front of a café and tried to calm myself by letting out slow breaths.

I had no idea what was going on or how I was to react. All I knew was that my brother, Nathaniel Theodore Harrison, did not know who I was. I have heard of a person losing their memory only in movies or cheesy soap operas but to see fro real is a little hard to grasp.

I kept my face between my hands and willed the throbbing pain at the back of my head to stop. Just when I was on the verge of yanking my hair in frustration, I heard footsteps come in my direction and finally stop about a foot away from me. "Dad, I'm fine. I really am.", I said my eyes still closed.

"Actually, your dad had to make sure that Nathan was fine. So I came instead.", a different voice spoke. My eyes opened and I stared down at his shoes. I watched his shoes fidget nervously. "Victoria, its not uncommon for stuff like that to happen. Its going to take time for all the memories to come back to him. You need to be patient.", he said soothingly. I lifted my face to look at Cole. "I'm trying. Its not easy fro me to see him like.....

Just then, I heard a loud sound to my left. I felt the earth vibrate under my feet . In the distance, I saw a large explosion take place, the flames and ash forming clouds, that rose high into the sky. Before we had time to recuperate from the mini earthquake and blast, a strong wind blew from the direction of the explosion, knocking us onto the ground and causing the glass windows to shatter.

I opened my eyes slowly and immediately I became aware of a pain emanating from the left side of my temple. Something wet seemed to be dripping down my face. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, after being knocked down. My eyes first landed on Cole who was struggling to get onto his feet. The pain from the temple was beginning to grow in intensity. My eyelids began to close. The last sound I heard was that of sirens coming closer and closer.........

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It was a week after the freak accident at the hospital, and my family and I had gathered for the funereal of Nathaniel Theodore Harrison. The sky, filled with clouds of varying shades of grey, seemed to reflect my most inner thoughts.

As my father read my brother's eulogy, I stared at the coffin lying before me. How could he have died? I simply could not accept that fact. Next to me, Anna reached out and squeezed my hand. I couldn't bring myself to look up. When it was time for us to pay our respects, I clutched the single lily in my hand tighter and slowly placed it on the coffin. Lilies were Nathan's favourite flowers. He used to say that if he ever fell in love, he would give the girl of his dreams lilies. I had never seen him give lilies to any girl so far. He was so young, just finishing his internship at a law firm.

Before walking away from him the last time I looked at the headstone inscription in front of his grave, and a tear rolled down my cheek. It read:

In Loving Memory Of Nathaniel Theodore Harrison.

A Dearly Loved Son, Truly Cherished Brother And Irreplaceable Friend.

Deep In Our Hearts You Will Stay, Loved And Remembered Everyday.

Rest In Peace.