Memories - An AU Emerald x M!Reader book (Multiverse AU)

Chapter 3

924 AF1 - (y/n)'s POV

"I swear! I didn't make her up!" Exhaustion laced my voice. Not because I'm tired, but because I've had to repeat myself a thousand times. I guess it's kinda like I'm tired. Tired of repeating myself. More mentally exhausted than physically exhausted. "It's like past lives, y'know? Alternate realities. Whenever I'm here, she's here too."

Dr. Arc, not to be confused with Miss. Arc, though they're probably sisters, sat across the table from me, clipboard in hand. This Arc is a little older than the tech. "Past lives?" Her voice remained suspicious, as it has been for the past ten minutes I've sat in this room. "So you've lived here before?" She leaned back into her leather seat, tapping her pen on the clipboard.

"Well... no. Not 'here'..." I paused to sift through my thoughts. In my head, it made perfect sense, but it's hard to explain it to someone who clearly doesn't believe you. My eyes constantly looked out the office window, landing on patients, techs, nurses, and doctors who passed by the room. "Like here... but not 'here'. It's always Remnant, but things usually unfold... differently..." I scratched my head, trying to find the right words to articulate my predicament.

Dr. Arc sat up straight in her chair and adjusted her glasses. She then cleared her throat. "Alright." Her eyes scanned her clipboard, probably reading through some notes she made on me. "So this 'Em' has always been with you. Ever since you were young?"

I nod in confirmation. "Yeah... but not physically..." My hand gripped my knee hard in frustration, still sorting through my words. "They're memories of her..."

"So she's not here?" Dr. Arc bit the tip of her pen before writing something down.

I felt myself instinctively roll my eyes. It's a cycle: she asks how I know Em, I tell her she's a part of my memories, she writes something down, asks how I know Em again. Something tells me Dr. Arc isn't understanding any of this. Well, knowing a certain Arc from some past memories, they aren't the brightest of people.

"She's never been here in this life, physically, at least. I just know these things. They're memories."

Dr. Arc nodded her head. "So, these 'memories'. How do they present themselves? Are they auditory, visual?"

"Neither. They're like any other memory... Kinda like how you'd remember what you had for breakfast or whatever."

The doctor nodded again, though this time, a sense of understanding came from her. "So, you say every time you're brought into this world, she is too?"

"Yeah."

"Do you believe she's here physically in this life?"

The thought has definitely lived in my mind many times. The possibility of her not existing in this life scared me. "Yeah... I think so."

"Are you on any drugs? Prescription or otherwise?"

I felt myself roll my eyes at the question. The doctor reacted to my reaction by writing stuff down on her clipboard. A little bothered by that, I leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse of what she was writing. "What are you writing on there?"

"A clinical assessment. Mostly about your mental status. Hopefully, it'll give us a starting point." She responded to my question and then followed it with one of her own. "Drugs?"

I leaned back into my chair and let out a semi-frustrated sigh. "No." A quick and straight-to-the-point answer. Emerald was definitely not a drug-induced hallucination.

"Nothing at all?" Dr. Arc's eyes looked over the rim of her glasses.

I responded with a bored expression. "Nothing." A little frustration in my voice hopefully pushed my answer far enough for the doctor to stop considering drugs as a source of my problem. I then realized the second time she asked the question wasn't for confirmation, but to see my reaction. On cue, Dr. Arc started writing something down.