team free will • 5sos au

Chapter 1

I woke up abruptly, trying to catch my breath, feeling I was chocking my life to death. I let my head fall back to, what I supposed was, a pillow. I was respiring really hard, like I had just awaken from a terrible nightmare. I took a look around me; I was lying on a portable bed, covered by ciel sheet and duvet. I was in a room completely unfamiliar to me, next to my bed there was an electronic screen, picturing wavy, red and yellow lines and a digit number at top right of the screen, and a thin stanchion, from which hung a small transparent bag with a white tag on it which said “Iv” on it and another bag with red liquid in it; that one was surely blood. These bags were connected to two tiny tubes, which ended on my body, filling me up with the Iv-y thing and the blood. I gazed a bit more, my eyelids getting heavier with every second that passed by; there was also a bed opposite to mine. Someone was sleeping in it, because the sheet was in the shape of their body. I rested my head on the pillow again, closing my eyes, evaluating the whole situation. I didn’t know where I was, or why I was here, or where I was going after I was getting the hell out of here.  I needed answers. I felt my shoulder blades aching, like they needed to be expelled from my body. I sighed a few times pretty heavily, biting my lower lip, thoughts swirling in my brain.

“That’s a hospital you’re in, if that’s what you’re looking for”, a squeaky voice spoke. I opened my eyes, balancing my torso on my elbows. The person from the bed opposite to mine was a caramel skinned boy, short, fluffy, curly hair and dark brown, slanted eyes (he had a really big nose, but his face was rounded enough to make it look cute actually), his lips were plump and succulent.  He was sitting on the bed, the sheet was tugged at the bottom of the bed, his legs showing, being crossed into each other. There was a smirk formed at the end of his lips, his eyes never losing contact with mine. I looked around in distraction, because I basically didn’t know what to say.

“My name’s Calum”, he said again, but a bit more silently. “I’m talking quietly ‘cause Electra’s sleeping next to you and she had a hard day, I don’t want to wake her up.” He added, pointing next to me, me turning my head to see a girl, sleeping heavily, her chest rising up and down, her head turned to the other side, so I couldn’t see her face, which was covered by her dark brown wavy hair. I looked back at Calum, whose eyes found mine again. I remembered that I had to reply him sometime today.

“I’m Persephone”, I trailed off. I was feeling very ashamed for some reason. Maybe because I was not wearing a bra and my boobs were hanging under my oversized hospital dress. Maybe because I was being a complete ass and I couldn’t engage a conversation. I was furious because I didn’t know what was happening.

“Miss Josephine will be coming in a couple of minutes to examine us; if we’re lucky enough we will be able to leave probably tonight or tomorrow morning.” He was very talkative for my standards, but it was an advantage; he could be my friend and teach me a few things about existing.

“Who’s Miss Josephine?” I asked curiously.
“It’s the doctor for our case.” He answered more excitedly this time, as if he was a puppy and I offered him a treat for being obedient.
“What do you mean when saying our case?” What case was I in? I indeed couldn’t recall anything, but did Calum and Electra were in the same condition as me? He seemed more sane than me, I’m jealous.
“Seriously, you don’t remember anything?” He sounded like he knew something I didn’t.
“No, would you like to enlighten me a little?” I had started feeling a bit more comfortable with him.
“Okay, so basically, me, you and Electra were diagnosed with temporary loss of memory - you can call it amnesia, as well - we are only able to bring back simple, basic things, like our name or age and even everyday things we do. For example, miss Josephine told me I was found lying out of consciousness near a gas station – Ι don’t know how and why, though – and I woke up here, not knowing who I was, or where I am, if I have a family, a girlfriend, siblings and stuff, you know. Turns out, we live in Sydney of Australia, I have no family and, apparently, I’m 18 years old. Oh, and my surname is Hood.” It was very sad to see him narrating his story, but smiling. He was really strong. But I had to know more about me.
“That’s… interesting, I guess. Do you know anything about my backround story? Eavesdropped or something like that, I mean.” I brought my pillow up to the headboard so I could sit properly without hunchback.
“As you said very correctly, your name’s Persephone Purple, you also live in Sydney, you have one sister, but for some reason the hospital couldn’t contact with her, so you’re alone-housed and you were saved by a hot young lifeguard, who found you floating deep in the sea, when you hit your head harshly on a giant rock. And I reckon that you’re 19.” I laughed when he said “hot young lifeguard”, as he goggled his eyes and made an impressed expression jokingly. I was older than him; maybe he’s into older women, that’s why he’s talking to me so much. Or he was just trying to be friendly and help. The thing is that when he mentioned the word “sea”, I felt a pain strike in my chest, which ended up in my head too. I had an illusion of me drowning but I couldn’t understand. I was going insane. I shook my head unconsciously, dissipating the weird contemplation from my brain.
“Are you alright?” he stuttered worriedly.
“Yeah, kiddo, I’m fine, I just had a stroke attack. So, how do you know all these things, both me and you?” The real question was how was he capable of bottling up all these information?
“If you want to know how I’m aware of all these, it’s because since I was brought here, I wasn’t really in the mood for sleeping, so whenever the doctors were prying us, I was more likely to keep my eyes shut and hear everything they said, not necessarily perceiving their talks.” He was probably able to read my mind, there was no other explanation for responding to my own thoughts without even subjecting them.
“I should keep you close, you know too much”, I joked.

I was about to ask him about Electra, but I was interrupted by the door being unbolted. A young, good-looking woman, around her 30’s I supposed, blond hair and grey eyes, freckles underneath them and spread all over her cheeks, walked in. She was holding a large notebook, with a pen inside of it. She reached Calum first, she didn’t see me staring at her.
“Hello Cal, how are you my dear? How do you feel?” she had a really low deep voice for a woman, but that seemed unique to me.
“I’m feeling much better, Miss. And my head’s not hurting anymore. The pain’s gone. When am I going to leave?” He was blinking a lot, I guess he wanted to play it sweetheart. Cheeky move, but I don’t think this was ever going to work on her.
“Well, the tests show that your condition’s fine, so maybe tonight you can go home.” She seemed really glad to get rid of him, judging from the look in her eyes.
“And what about the girls over there?” he pointed with his thumb in our direction, as she turned to look at us.
“Oh, Persephone my dear, you’re finally up!” She clapped her hands enthusiastically, walking closer to us. “How are you, sweetie?” I didn’t like her calling me cute names, it was feeling disgusting.
“I’m good, I guess. Calum kept me nice company since I woke up” I glanced at Calum, who bowed from his seat to me, as if he did me any favor.
“I’m glad you made some friends honey, but I have to know how are you feeling physically; do you have any pain in your head or anywhere else on your body?” She rested her hand on my cheek, caressing it.
“No, I’m fine.” I really was, but if she kept being all nice and sugar-y on me, I would punch her. I noticed Calum laughing silently. He was totally pitying me.
“Alright. Did you notice anything on Electra?” She looked at Calum this time.
“She woke up really early in the morning and then fell asleep until now. But she’s okay.” Was he the doctor’s pet or something?
“I’m glad you’re all good. If everything stays that way, you’ll all leave tonight!” She chuckled, walking towards the door, closing it behind her. Calum fell back, laughing his ass off.
“You should have seen your face when she called you honey, girl! Oh my God, that was like the funniest thing ever, you looked so terrified and annoyed!” He was rolling on the bed, as I tried to keep a serious face, but his laugh didn’t make things easy for me.

Ι suddenly felt my chest burning, like my body temperature rose; I turned around to get some cool breeze and I saw Electra staring at me. Her eyes were light brown, and her petite pink lips were forcing a small smile, which I assume was because of me and Calum laughing. She seemed familiar to me, somehow.

“Hey El, did we wake you up?” Calum asked her, both of us staring at her.
“Yeah, pretty much. But it’s fine, I got enough sleep.” She was very intimidated for some reason, so I tried to comfort her.
“How did you sleep? Do you feel any better?” I questioned too.
“I’m really good actually, thanks for asking.” She closed her eyes, one hand covering her mouth, in order to muffle her yawn, the rest of her body slowly sprawling onto the bed.
“I’m Persephone. Nice to meet you, I love your name.” I praised her.
“Persephone? What a name!” I didn’t know if she was deprecating me or she actually liked my name. I looked at her curiously.
“I mean, it’s really cool, don’t worry. Can I call you Persie, for shorter?” Her cheeks flushed red and I nodded calmly, to show her my appreciation. I liked how we had just introduced ourselves and she wanted to call me by a nickname.

***

After a few hours, we were left free to go to our places. None of us knew where we leaved, so Miss Josephine gave me a little piece of paper, noting down the addresses of our houses. They both wrote them down on their hands and our ways were now separated.

I found myself outside a two floors maisonette, which I assumed was my home. This didn’t feel like home though. I got the keys out of my bag and climbed up the stairs in order to unlock the front door, finally entering the apartment.

It was small, but spacious and cozy. It had multiple windows in the living room, whose walls were painted in a light red color, the couches were beige and there was a fireplace in front of the sofas. I walked further to find somewhere to sleep. I went up the stairs to find three doors; I had to choose one wisely. That one had to be the bedroom. I marched at the end of the hallway, opening up the door; yes! That one was the bedroom. Lucky guess. I got in the room, throwing my rucksack on the trunk in front of the bed. After I laid on the bed, my body relaxed, feeling like I had just quit a war. It was a war though, an emotional one. I swarmed higher on the bed, kicking my shoes off and then stripping off of my clothes, staying in nothing but my underwear. Yes, I had changed in normal clothes, I wasn’t wearing the awful, but much comfortable, hospital dress. I even wore a proper bra, so my boobs wouldn’t be hanging around.

Sure thing, the moment I woke up next morning, I had to phone Calum and hang out with him and Electra so I would finally get some convenient answers. I’m not implying that he surely knows everything, but he definitely had much more knowledge on certain things than I do. He seemed like a really nice guy, very friendly (and much talkative for sure), and willing to help, so he wouldn’t mind us meeting again. I sound like I want to exploit him, but I was completely lost and alone at that. And also, Electra reminded me of someone, she appeared very familiar to me, like I knew her in the past. She was scared of this whole situation, not that I wasn’t, but I was a little bit more confident. I felt like I had to protect her, comfort her, make her feel safe. I couldn’t leave her alone like that. The fact she wanted to call me Persie meant she felt ease with me… She could also be my best friend?! I don’t know. Under these circumstances, I required rest and a clear mind, and torturing myself with more issues was no help at all. I closed the light which came from the bedside lamp and covered my half-naked body with a pink, white-dotted blanket. Sleep heals even the most nightmarish kind of pain.