Remember me.

part three.

Memories were always important to Amelia. They were a significant part of her and one of the most precious things in her life, something that she had always tried to hold on for a long, long time. She always tried her best to memorise every single little detail, even the ones that didn't seem to matter, but that was just the type of person she was. She kept every single one of these memories safe in the back her mind and she revisits them from time to time - only those that meant the most to her though, of course. They were there to make her smile, to remind her of the good times she once enjoyed. They were there to tell her that one day everything is going to be okay someday, even when she didn't know when will that be. These memories were her escape from reality, a way to keep her sane and positive even when times are tough, to transport her back to a time where reality was not something she was trying to run away from.

But when Amelia was 19, the worst thing happened to her. In just one night, some of her most precious memories slipped away from her fingertips effortlessly, dissipating into thin air like they meant nothing. A huge piece of her, gone. The good, the bad, all that she was trying so hard to cling onto were scattered to the wind like ashes, gone within minutes or seconds even.

When she finally woke up, her parents thought that it was a miracle. After all, she had been laying on the same hospital bed, the same ward, at the same exact spot for a little over 3 months. It was torture, watching their precious daughter lay there lifelessly, the only movement was her chest rising up and down ever so slightly. It was torture, seeing all the needles attached to her, the sound of the machines beeping echoing in their heads. It was torture, pacing up and down the hallways, waiting for a moment that they prayed for every night even when the finish line was not in sight.

They often tried distracting themselves by talking to her, playing her favourite music whenever they visited, even though her eyes were still glued shut. But still, they always dreamt of the day where they would see her eyes flutter open and when she would finally wake up and finally, everything would go back to the way it was before. At least that was what they thought for a short while.

"Oh my god!" Her mother shrieked in pure shock and happiness and her father who was once asleep quickly hopped off the small couch pushed up against the window in a split second, jolted awake by the cries of his wife. "Amelia, you are finally awake!" Her eyes had fluttered open, squinting a little at the sudden brightness as the smell of sanitizer and latex gloves invaded her nostrils.

To say that Amelia was confused was an understatement. She hadn't got a clue as to what was going on, definitely no clue that what was going to happen next would change everything. All she knew was that she had finally woken up. "What?" This was all she could say for a while as she stared at the pair of familiar faces in front of her eyes, silence stretching between the three of them. "Ma? Pa?" She had not fully registered what was happening when she watched their faces lit up, the corners of their lips twitched upwards into a full-blown smile. And before she knew it, she was pulled into a big warm embrace, her parents' arms wrapped tightly around her body, her mother's soft sobbing ringing in her ear. For a while, it seemed as though everything was perfect, it was as if nothing had changed. But alas, that moment only lasted ever so briefly.

When the doctor returned with her test results, his facial expressions looked grim and serious but the three of them managed to convince themselves that maybe he was just tired. Amelia watched from her bed as he pushed up the glasses that was sitting on the bridge of his nose and how his eyebrows were furrowed together in concentration. She noticed the dark circles sitting right under his eyes and the tired look on his face, momentarily distracting her from the fact that bad news was awaiting her- one that she would rather not know if given the chance.

All she heard were the words 'brain damage' and 'amnesia' as she drew a ragged breath. Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears, drowning out every other sound and word that came after. To Amelia, everything else became muffled, just a string of gibberish and nonsense. It was also as if every other person in the room had disappeared and she was the only one there, all alone. She lost sight of everything that was occurring at that time. She had not even noticed her mother balling her eyes out or the sad look plastered on the face of her father as he comforted his wife. The way his arm was slung around her shoulders as she leaned into his chest, burying her face.

Amelia did not even know how or when but the tears that were once glistening in her eyes were now trickling down her pale face, dripping onto her thighs. She was scared, afraid of what this may bring upon her as a million thoughts ran in her mind. She was afraid to find out what she had forgotten, what she had lost. She was afraid that they would mean so much to her. And so, she planned on never finding out the memories she left behind.

That very night, she found herself laying wide awake. Her eyes were fixated onto the ceiling above her, her mind a hurricane of thoughts. Of course, she couldn't sleep. The same few words echoed in the back of her mind almost every other minute with no mercy. 'Brain damage' and 'amnesia'. She had fought hard to shake all the terrible thoughts and words off her mind but she couldn't escape them. They were remained stuck there, permanent, imprinted onto the back of her mind.

She never thought that one day she would hear those very words with her own ears. She thought that these things belong in a movie or a book, but never in real life, at least not in her life.

A/N:

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing fine and staying safe. I will be uploading 2-3 chapters a week depending on my writing. Do let me know what days you would prefer if possible! Don't be afraid to leave a comment, sharing your thoughts and how I can improve or what you would like to see in future chapters :) Don't forget to vote, comment and share if you enjoyed it, they mean a lot to me <3

Also, special dedication to @34tanjingwen for showing some love hehe <3 Thank you so so much!!

With love,

Rachel