Simply Forgotten

Saturday, August 29th, 2020

Hello. Hey there. How are you?

That's how normal people start a conversation. I remember that. I remember words, and how to use them too.

Today, I woke up in a hospital. There were tubes sticking out of many places on my body. You know those patches they put on people's brains in movies? They are totally real. I remember those too.

But you know what I can't remember? Who I am... or who I was.

I can't remember my name, age, or anything. Odd. I can't remember my family if I have any. I can't remember what type of flow I have. Or my favorite ice cream. Not even my height. Before looking into the mirror I couldn't even remember what my face looked like. Eye color, hair color, hair type; nothing. But the funny thing is, I remembered that I had a face. And hair. It's strange what the mind chooses to erase under duress.

When I woke up, the doctor tried to get me to tell him who I was, to contact my family. I told him that I had no clue.

"What do you mean, you have no clue? Do you not have a family to contact? A friend would work just fine. If anything, just give me your name so that we can bill you after staying for a few more tests. You were in quite the accident" she said. It was more like rambling. I'm sure she had plenty of other people to check on.

"But, I don't remember who I am" I stared blankly. I was shocked by my own voice like I'd forgotten that I could speak.

"Oh no. That's not good. Look, honey, you've been in a coma for about 4 days. You hurt your head pretty bad, but it's much better now" the lady doctor said, her eyes softening.

"How did it happen?"

"What honey?"

"The accident. What accident was I in?" I asked, again blankly.

"Oh my. Are you saying that you don't remember it at all?"

I shook my head. The wrong move, because it started throbbing almost immediately. The doctor must have seen me wince because she told me to rest.

"I'll be back later with one of our specialists. See if you can jog your memory on your own. Stay away from the TV though," she said as she left the hospital room.

I remembered that that's where I was.

So I let myself drift off to sleep. The next time I woke up, the lady doctor was accompanied by a dapper young man. Or at least he looked young.

"Hello there! My name is Doctor Fields. Do you remember me from earlier?" the lady doctor asks. She had a pen poised over a clipboard, identical to the one the man doctor was holding.

"Yes"

"Good! That means that Doctor Quint can rule out short-term memory loss. Right well, Dr.Quint will be interviewing you to see how extensive the damage to your memory is, alright? Alright," she smiled and made her way out.

The second doctor, Dr.Quint, pulled a chair up to the side of my hospital bed. And so began the interrogation. Another thing I'm surprised to remember.

"So, let's start with the easy stuff. Name?"

"I don't know"

"Address? Phone number? Country? State?" He asked. Each was followed by a brief head shake.

"Is there anything you do remember? Maybe we can use it to rule out a complete Jane Doe," Dr.Quint asked. He looked absolutely exhausted, having made his way down the entire list.

"I don't think so," I said blankly.

"Well, from what you gave in answer, it seems that you only remember the bare basics of functionality. How to speak, and comprehension. But you can't name any public figures, or anything personal; and most concerning, your lack of vocal infliction means that you don't have a full range of your emotions. I'm guessing that you can name the emotions, but you can't just feel them. It's almost like a baby, but not quite." The doctor looked from me to the clipboard.