Stolen

Chapter One // The Undying Memory

How was she dead? Have I gone insane?

I was alone, lying down on the hospital bed. My head was pounding & I feel so lost & confused. The door opened, “Ashton!” I see my mother come in worriedly. She runs to me & hugs me tightly. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?” My mother cradled my face. “Mum, A-Amnesia’s gone,” I sobbed. She stayed silent & looked into my eyes for a moment. She gave me another hug. “What happened?” She asks. “We were on a bus, back to the resor-” She cuts me off with her sigh. “Ashton, listen to me, okay? Don’t be upset,” She explains. “She, she was gone long time ago. Now, you just passed out when you were crossing the road. It was probably all just a dream,” She looks at me worriedly. “No, but I saw her, I was with her,” I explained, starting to panic again. “Ash, you need to calm down sweetie. Your anxiety is gonna rise up again,” She says holding my hands. “I want you to think about what happened before you fainted, okay?” She sits down & looks at the lads. They just nodded & left the room. “Where are they going?” I ask, shifting myself up to a sitting position. “They’ll be back, now tell me, what happened?” She asks.

What exactly did happen? I was unsure about it too. I couldn’t remember anything, I can’t even remember when I fainted. Did I even fainted? I just shook my head. “C’mon, close your eyes,” She orders, “& tell me what happened.” I closed my eyes, we were on the bus. “Here we go, you & your cheesy talk,” I hear Amnesia’s voice. “We were on the bus,” I explained whilst still imagining. “Amnesia?” My mom asks & I nod. “Oh dear….” I hear her mutter under her breath. “She told me she wouldn’t le-” “Ashton, I think it’s best if you move back in with us, it’s for your safety,” My mom suggests. “But what about her? She’ll be all alone at home, she doesn’t like being alone, she starts to think & it makes her sad,” I explained, fiddling with my hospital bracelet. I remembered when I came home late to see her crying, she ran up to me once she saw me & gave me a hug. She must be alone at home again, getting worried. “I’m sure she’ll do fine on her own,” My mother holds my hand. “Why won’t you move in with us? That way I can take care of her as well,” I suggest. She sighs, giving in. “Alright, we’ll stay in for a couple of days,” She smiles. “Great! I’m sure Amnesia will be really happy to see you again! What about Lauren & Harry, are they coming?” I asked. “of course, they’re at school right now, we’ll pick them up later if the doctor allows you to,” She says. “Okay,” I reply. 

The door creaks open, “Hi, Good afternoon, Mrs Irwin. Um, is it alright if I have a small private talk with your son?” A doctor asks, holding a file. “I’ll come for you later, alright?” My mom kisses my forehead & fixes my hair. She flashed a small smile to the doctor & left the room. “Hi Ashton, how are you feeling?” He asks me as he sits on the chair next to me. “I’m a bit confused, worried,” I answered. “Alright, so tell me, what do you think happened?” He asks me & leans back. “Doctor-” “Call me Mr Benson,” He smiled. “Mr Benson, I can’t imagine what happened when it actually did happen,” I explain. “Right, sorry, my bad,” He apologizes. “So tell me, what exactly happened?” He asked again. “Well, we were on a shuttle bus. Yeah & we were talking, she was right next to m-” “She?” He cuts me off again. “Amnesia, she’s my girlfriend. So we were talking, she was leaning on my shoulder. The shuttle bus driver was driving really recklessly. Then everything else happened so fast, the bus took a sharp turn & everything was dark, well for me. Then I woke up here,” I explained. “Okay, tell me where this happened?” He asked. “Um, in Florida,” I replied. “America?” He asked & I nod.

   ”Okay, Ashton, do you know how far is Florida from Sydney?” 

   I shook my head.

   ”14 hours away, Ashton,” He answered. “So, how long did it felt like being unconscious?”