Shadowveil - The Forgotten

Chapter 12: Awakening

"...okay?" Patrick picked up the sound of muffled words from somewhere.

"...he hurt?" Other words echoed in his mind, or were they real? He slowly opened his eyes and looked through a fog that temporarily blurred his vision. With a little help from what felt like a human hand, he eventually rose up to a sitting position.

"I'm fine," he heard himself respond, but he was still in a daze.

"Are you sure?" another voice asked worriedly. He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus his senses, but a heavy headache kicked in when he made the effort. He chose to keep his eyes shut for the time being since everything seemed blurry. During the few seconds before the headache started, he realized that he was on the floor of a train and he noticed two women, one of them seemed to be staff and the other was someone whose face he didn't catch.

"I'm the conductor on this train, or maybe I should say that I was. Anyway, please grab my hand." The female conductor offered her help and got Patrick up on wobbly feet. The train car had been through the wringer. Documents, bags, clothes and other belongings were strewn around and everything was in a general disorder.

"He doesn't appear to have any external injuries," the other woman continued. Her voice somehow sounded familiar somehow.

"Let's get him out to the train station. We can contact his relatives there. Are you sure you'll be okay to drive him to the hospital?" the conductor asked.

"Yeah I think I'll be fine. I'm in need of some medical attention myself after those damn sharp-edged suitcases fell down on me when I went into one of the train cars. I'm sorry that I didn't mention it before, but I'm actually a nurse at a hospital close to here. I'm off work today though," the other woman explained.

"That looks quite painful. Please take care of yourself on your way there. This is his bag. Don't forget to bring it with you," the kind train conductor urged. Together, the two of them helped Patrick out from the wrecked train onto the platform. They put him on a bench and used his bag as a temporary headrest. The conductor excused herself and left to help some of the relief workers who had been called in due to the train incident. The nurse sat down beside Patrick, who still couldn't see clearly after the rough wake-up.

"Is it okay if I borrow your phone? You can tell me a number to one of your relatives so we can tell them about what's happened before we go to the hospital. Is that all right?"

"Sure," he replied with a shaky voice.

*

He told the nurse his parents' number and she called to inform them about what had happened and that their son was alive. Patrick could hear that they offered to pay her for her help but she declined any monetary compensation for doing what, in her own words, was a decent act any mindful person would do. Even though the winter air was cold and gusty winds brought with them a chilling atmosphere, the train platform was lit up by the bright morning sun; spreading a trace of warmth across the area.

After a short walk, being supported by the female nurse all the way, the dazed Patrick was put in a car as they set off towards the hospital. A soft, mellow vocal tune with guitar strings was playing on the radio. After falling asleep for a while, Patrick noticed that his vision had almost been restored. He wanted to get a good look at the person who was going out of her way to help him. A shock surged through him when realized who she was. It was Samantha, but how was that even possible?

The beautiful woman whom he recognized all too well smiled warmly as their eyes met. After they started talking, Patrick was utterly confused by the fact that she didn't seem to recognize or remember him at all. It seemed as if the roles were completely reversed compared to when he met her in Cordale. He decided not to bring up any of the things that had transpired, both out of consideration but also because they were so far-fetched that he was still piecing them together himself. He managed to strike up a conversation when the surprise of her change in behavior had somewhat sunk in.

"So, are you a head nurse or something?"

"Nah, just a regular one, but I like that more than having all that pressure on me, you know? Like I said before I'm off work today, but I was at the grocery store just by the train station when the accident happened and thought that I'd probably be able to help out with something," Samantha answered and tuned in another radio station.

"Why did you go out of your way to bring me with you?" he asked as a follow-up question.

"To tell you the truth, that's a pretty weird story. You were the only one we found in that train car. Even though there were a lot of other passengers' stuff scattered everywhere, no one else was found either inside or outside of it." She explained the circumstances with a brooding look on her face and scratched her head.

"Uh... I see. Yeah that sounds pretty damn weird to say the least." Patrick was startled by the news and felt the headache coming back just thinking about it. What had happened to all the other passengers?

"I hope the federal agents I saw earlier might be able to find out what caused the incident. But right now I'm just happy I could be of a little help to someone, even though I don't know you." Her words comforted him, but he still felt highly uneasy about the whole situation, including the fact that she didn't recognize him at all. She turned up the radio a notch to try to brighten the atmosphere. "I'm sorry if I'm talking too much. This is an amazing song, by the way."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Patrick said and waved his hand in the air. "My mind's all sorts of jumbled right now anyway, so I'm just trying to keep my thoughts in order."

"Hehe, yeah. It's not everyday you wake up in a train wreck as the sole survivor in a car where everyone else is gone. That's just so surreal. It was really nice to meet so many people at the train station though. Can you imagine how it must feel to have social phobia or something like that? I'm not making light of other people's issues, but just think how many encounters and possibilities you'll miss staying cooped up inside your own head out of fear. There are so many things to experience just around the corner, and we're the only ones who can make the choice. Oh, on that note, I've considered maybe opening my own clinic sometime soon. There's a city with some allegedly good opportunities to the north. What do you think?"

"Well, I think you should follow your integrity. I myself run a real estate company with an old friend of mine at the moment. Oh, I just want to say that I insist on treating you to dinner when we're done at the hospital, as thanks for your help." He implored Samantha to let him repay her kindness.

"That sounds great. I'll have to take you up on that offer, Patrick," Samantha's joyful response was met with a raised eyebrow from her passenger. "Oh, sorry, I kind of saw your name before on the ID badge in your bag."

"Hey, no worries. And thank you. Even if you don't want any money for your trouble, you at least need to eat," he said and continued: "By the way, what's that city you mentioned, to the north?"

"It's a place with some rumored rough spots in its history. I really don't know much more about it other than some hearsay," she stated and shrugged her shoulders. "It's known as Cordale City."

"Oh." Patrick was stumped but tried to hide the unrest bubbling inside upon hearing that name again. "On second thought, maybe you should lay low for a little while and see how things pan out at the hospital. If you like it there you can just try to enjoy things without putting too much pressure on yourself. You can cultivate yourself and your dreams at work and in your private life as well."

"You know, I think you've got a point there. I might've been too absorbed with unnecessary things recently. I need to focus on my personal development too, so I can be someone that people can rely on."

"Yeah, that sounds like a great plan. As for me, I'm going to take some well-deserved rest from my job and focus on my own growth too for a change. I'll put one step in front of the other for now and won't be rushing into anything too quickly. It's just pretty great to be alive, don't you think?"

"Mm-hmm, that's for sure!" Samantha replied with determination and continued humming along with the vocal song on the radio.