Chapter 2
Ellis
A light filled my vision, and my eyes watered as I struggled not to blink. The light came and went quickly, and a moment later the doctor was stepping back from where she’d been leaning close to me.
It wasn’t the first time she’d examined me. Not even the tenth time by now. Yet, despite all the examination and testing, the diagnosis never changed.
Amnesia.
That single word summed up a complex diagnosis. Apparently, I’d been camping in an area of the forest where a logging company had been working, and a tree had fallen on me. Why I was camping in a restricted area, or how long I’d been there, no one could tell me.
They couldn’t even tell me my full name. There’d been no identification on my body, and so far authorities hadn’t been able to track down any clues as to my identity.
My name was Ellis. That much I knew, but I wasn’t even sure if that was my first name or last. The rest of my mind was completely blank, with just that single word bouncing around in my otherwise empty skull.
“Well, Mister Ellis,” the doctor said as she scribbled something on my chart. “You’re doing well. The swelling in your brain has gone down, and the cut on your head is healing nicely. No signs of infection or other symptoms. If not for the amnesia, you’re practically in perfect health.”
“Other than the amnesia,” I repeated, unable to keep myself from scoffing.
“Yes,” she nodded in understanding. “I understand that this must all be very confusing. Head injuries are tricky. Your memories may eventually come back, or they may not. You have a lot of factors in your favor, since you’re in otherwise good health, so I have hope that the memory issues will resolve themselves, but all we can do for now is wait and see. ”
“Wait and see.” I felt like a parrot, just repeating everything I heard. “Where am I supposed to do that? Am I staying here, or…”
I trailed off, not even sure what the rest of that statement would be. Surely I couldn’t stay at the hospital. Hospitals were for sick or injured people, and as the doctor had said, I was mostly fine.
Was there a place for people with no memories to go?
I’d never heard of such a thing, but considering my lack of memory, maybe I’d forgotten about it.
Even a hotel was out of my reach. Hotels required money, and if I had any, I didn’t remember how to access it.
Without an identity, I had nothing. Even the clothes off my back weren’t worth much.
An attempt had been made to clean them up, but the incident with the tree had left them so stained and torn that I’d elected to stay in the hospital gown for as long as possible.
I literally had nothing.
I expected the doctor to give me more bad news, but to my surprise her voice suddenly brightened. “Actually, I think the answer to that question just walked through the door.”
A moment later, a familiar figure stepped into the room.
“Hey, you ready to go?”
Brody Stark had visited me several times since I woke up. Each visit was more awkward than the last.
What was I supposed to say to this stranger that had literally pulled me out of the mud?
Yet, at the same time, the sight of him also brought me a sense of security.
He was the first thing I saw when I woke up.
Maybe people with amnesia were similar to baby birds, and I’d imprinted on the first thing I saw, but some instinct inside me said that I could trust him.
Everything else around me felt foreign and hostile, but this large redheaded man was an island of safety.
Oh, wait. He’d asked me a question.
What was it?
I’d been too busy staring at him and completely forgot what he said.
“Um… sorry. What?”
Rather than get upset, he simply laughed and repeated himself.
“Are you ready to go. I brought you some clothes since yours were destroyed. I hope they fit.”
“Clothes?”
I really wasn’t doing much to break the parrot imagery as I continued to repeat everything that was said to me. There was so much I wanted to say, so many questions I wanted to ask, yet the words wouldn’t come.
“Oh.” Blue-green eyes stared at me, wide with concern. “Have they not told you yet?”
This finally gave me a question I could actually ask, but before I managed to say anything, the doctor spoke up instead.
“I was just getting to that. Mister Ellis, since your injuries are otherwise fine, you’ll be discharged from the hospital soon. The authorities are still trying to identify you, so in the meantime Mister Stark here has offered to let you stay with him.”
Offered?
The doctor said that as though I had any other choice.
I gave some vague words of agreement, and before I knew it, I’d been discharged from the hospital and shuffled off into an unfamiliar truck.
Brody sat behind the wheel, keeping his gaze on the road as he explained that he didn’t live in Rynkirk, but in the next town over called Emberwood, so we would have a little bit of a drive to reach his home.
His words washed over me like waves smoothing over an already clear beach, barely creating a ripple.
I was completely detached from my body, as though I were floating a few feet above myself and watching everything from a third person perspective.
It was all meaningless. I couldn’t even drum up the energy to feel nervous.
My heart was as blank as my head.
Without memories or emotions, did I even count as a person, or was I just a doll pretending to be human?
A sudden touch against my arm jolted me out of my thoughts. We were stopped at a red light, and Brody had placed a hand on my shoulder, but when I flinched, he immediately withdrew back to his side of the truck.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sure this is all very overwhelming. You just seemed upset.”
“I’m not upset,” I shook my head. “I’m not… well, I’m not anything really. I don’t know. Everything feels so distant. I should be grateful that you’re taking me in. I am grateful. I just… don’t know what to say.”
The light turned green, but the car didn’t budge as Brody continued looking at me instead.
“You don’t have to say anything. Hell, it was my crew that dropped a tree on you. I should be the one apologizing. Letting you stay with me is the least I can do.”
The person in the car behind us pressed on their horn, holding it down so the blaring sound rang out through the otherwise empty intersection.
I jumped and covered my ears against the noise, but Brody just sighed and gestured into his rearview mirror.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist. You’re not gonna die if you have to wait a few seconds. Go around if you’re that impatient. Not like there’s anyone coming, anyway.”
He said this, but he still pulled the truck forward anyway. As soon as we started moving, the driver behind us swerved around to cut in front of us. As they passed by, they flipped Brody a middle finger before speeding off with a squeal of tires.
I gripped tight to the handle of the door. The sudden loud noises were irritating, but even worse was the thought that the person in the other car was mad at us. Just thinking about it caused my heart rate to spike and I had to take several deep breaths.
“You okay?” Brody asked when he noticed my reaction.
“Fine,” I said, and I almost managed to keep my voice steady. “It’s just strange being out here after spending several days in the hospital.
“Well, I can’t promise my place will be quiet, but we can at least give you something better than hospital food.”
This did manage to get a laugh out of me, albeit a very small one, until I realized that I didn’t even know my own favorite food.
Was it pasta of some sort?
Maybe lasagna?
Maybe. I was pretty sure noodles were involved somehow. Thinking about various types of Italian food made my stomach flip with hunger, but that might have just been a result of the crappy hospital food I’d eaten for the last few days. Any proper food sounded like my favorite thing right now.
I spent the next several minutes listing every different type of food I could think of in my head.
How strange that I could identify all these different foods, and even recall what they tasted like, but I couldn’t remember which ones I preferred.
As we kept driving, Brody filled the silence telling me about his home in Emberwood. He was retired from the military, and it was a shared homestead that he was in the process of building with his other veteran buddies.
Out of the corner of my eye, I gave Brody a closer look.
When I thought about the concept of retirement, the picture that came to mind was of someone in their later years of life.
Seventies or maybe even eighties. Brody, on the other hand, seemed to be about my age.
At forty-five I wasn’t exactly young, but I wasn’t retirement age, either.
At least, I didn’t think so. Without knowing what I did for a living, I couldn’t be sure.
Either way, Brody didn’t fit the image of a retiree, and hearing such a word from his mouth felt wrong. He was a large man, full of life and vigor. Nothing as depressing as retirement should be part of his description.
The description of his home lasted until we reached the edge of town.
As soon as we crossed the border out of Rynkirk, trees practically seemed to spring up around us, blocking our view of the town behind us.
If I didn’t know Rynkirk was only just down the road, I would have thought we were lost in the middle of nowhere.
The forest around us was mostly untouched by man, practically the same now as it had been hundreds of years ago.
Even in the middle of the day, the trees shaded the road and made everything look like perpetual twilight.
What had possessed me to go camping alone in the middle of such a landscape?
I couldn’t imagine doing such a thing now. Either, I’d turned into an entirely different person when I lost my memories, or my past self had a very important reason for being out in that tent.