Memory Loss

Chapter Four

Katie

At school the next day I finally find out what really happened to Chris, Brett held a sort of impromtue assembally in the common room and told us all. I couldn't believe it when he said he had Amnesia; Post Traumatic Retro something he said, but then when he went on to tell us he had forgotton not just a few months but three years of his life I was in total shock. Chris wouldn't remember me, at all, we'd only met the year before, I'd only started at this school at the begining of year 12. Most of the sixth formers were shocked but unlike me they didn't have to worry most of them had know him since year 7, he would remember them all. It was only me and a handful of others that had started new and I don't think any of the others were really all that bothered.

"What am I going to do?" I said out loud.

"About what Katie?" Cassy asked turning to me.

"Chris." I said without thinking.

"Oh you mean because of work?" She asked as the common room cleared out and everyone went off to lessons or exams.

I looked at her confused for a moment and then nodded because work was the furthest thing from my mind. How was I going to get the one thing that meant more to me than life itself back, how was I going to convince the man I loved that he loved me too he just didnt remember, and he couldn't ask his friends because they didnt know. As I sunk into my chair I wished that I had let Chris tell everyone about us, that everyone knew what I was going through so I didnt have to suffer in silence.

I needed a game plan, I knew that. The first thing I would do was research, then I would know where to go from there I decided.

As soon as I got home I went straight upstairs to my room and fired up my laptop, I opened my faveorite search engine and typed in Amnesia. I had to search through alot of things that came up but then I found a promising page and read:

Retrograde Amnesia is when previously formed memories are lost. In some cases the memorey loss extends back decades, in other cases the person loses only a few  months of memory.

I skipped over Anterograde Amnesia which was about forming new long term memories and stopped on Post - Traumatic Amnesia

Generally due to a head injury, the extent of the injury will sometimes give an indication of recovery functions. Paintent will have no memory of the accient or just before. Sometimes they can lose the knowlege of who people are, even close relatives such and parteners and parents.

I stopped reading, Brett seemed to have told us that Chris had a combination of both, so that must mean that due to the head injry Chris obtained in the car accident previously formed memories were lost, and instead of decades or months like the extract I read suggested Chris had lost three years.

I kept reading trying to find out if there was a cure.

Treatment is never 100% garanteed, the best thing for the paintent is to talk to people and try and do things they normally would in hope to jog their memory back. However its sometimes the case that those lost memories never come back and family and friends shouldn't preasure the return of said memories as it can have an adverse affect on the paintents recovery.

I stopped reading. Ok so it sounded like the best thing for Chris was to go back to life as normal but not get bombared with information. I sat there for ages just staring at the screen, I wanted Chris back I did, with out a doubt in my mind, but I didn't want to hurt him further. I had my plan, I would try (and this was easier said than done because I hadn't seen him yet) and just be his friend, make him happy and try to help him gain his memorey in a non pushy way, I just hoped I was stronge enough.