Departed Memories

Chapter 2- In the Hospital

The loud clang of a metal plate hitting a tile floor jolted her awake. She couldn't tell where the sound came from, but she knew it was loud. The lightbulbs were off in the room she was in and only natural light poured in, which was strangely soothing. The woman looked around, noticing bleak white walls, a few modest pieces of art depicting strange shapes.

Abstract.

It took her a moment to realize she was in a hospital. The IV tube in the crease of her arm was probably the giveaway. The building was strangely silent after the loud crash earlier, but the woman supposed that was a good thing. Silence could help get her bearings of what was going on. To her right, a small wooden table sat next to her bed with a food tray, which contained an empty pudding cup and a dirty paper plate. She could tell the plate was biodegradable, which strangely pleased her.

I don't remember eating that.

I don't remember anything.

She sat up just the slightest and observed the rest of the room. A lightweight baby blue sheet covered her up to her waist, but she still felt cold in the hospital's air conditioned room. She wore a white gown with small blue dots speckled across it. A newscaster on a projection in front of her near her feet seemed to be discussing something frantically, but she paid no attention. To her left, a strip of thin, horizontal windows lined the wall. Beneath it were a row of navy blue chairs, one of which had a pile of clothes and a plastic bag of what looked to be money.

"How are we feeling today?" A nurse barged into the room without knocking, causing the woman to jolt up. She wore a white uniform with colorful dots in circular patterns. The woman was strangely mesmerized by the pattern. Something about it drew her eyes in and refused to let them leave.

"How long have I been here?" The woman asked, still observing the uniform. Her voice sounded scratchy and hoarse. Clearly it had been a while since she had said anything. The words felt like they had been held captive in her throat and actually saying them was strangely foreign.

"You don't remember?" The nurse gently pushed her back into a lying position on the bed and pulled the baby blue blanket up over her. "You've been here for five days. I guess you've been pretty foggy the past couple days." Her pale brown eyes were riddled with concern. The woman could tell that the nurse thought her not remembering was something out of the ordinary.

"H-how did I get here?"

"You don't remember that either? Apparently you collapsed in the middle of the street. Witnesses said you had a dazed look in your eyes." The nurse picked up the metal tray containing the remnants of her last meal and placed another tray down with contents exactly identical to the last, a pudding cup and paper plate of applesauce and potatoes. She didn't understand why it was all soft foods, it's not like she had her wisdom teeth extracted.

Why was that the first thing that came to my mind?

The red clay bowl was filled with homemade applesauce-

A memory blinked past her eyes and faded. It caused her head to throb. The woman rubbed her eyes slightly and sighed. That was the first thing she slightly remembered.

"I guess I don't remember that, either."

The nurse gave her a concerned look. "Maybe we should run some tests."

"That won't be necessary."

"We need to check if you have any sort of brain damage from your fall. From what it sounded, it was a nasty one. I'll go get a doctor in here." The nurse turned to walk from the room. She seemed to be in a hurry to get the doctor.