Chapter 17
Mia
With each week that passes, I get a little bit stronger. I’ve started to walk with the help of physiotherapists and a lot of determination on my part. My bones are fully healed now thanks to the operations I had while in a coma and the bed rest I have had for the last six weeks. Unfortunately, having hardly moved for those weeks, my muscles have pretty much disintegrated. I’m now trying to build them up. I need to be careful with my skin, as it’s still healing from the burns, so I can’t overdo it, but the sooner I can walk, the sooner I’ll feel more myself, I’m sure.
My memory still hasn’t returned. The doctors aren’t sure it ever will. But I’m not giving up hope. Unlike my husband Eric, who seems unbothered by the fact I have no memory of our wedding and life together before the accident. He just keeps saying we are going to make new memories. Which is fine, as I know he’s trying to cheer me up. However, I’m not giving up.
“So tell me about our school. What did it look like? Where was it?” I ask Eric. Everyday while eating our lunch he tells me about our past, hoping it will jog my memory.
“We went to St. Mary’s. That’s where we met. It’s a big school, primary and secondary. In primary school we didn’t really know each other. It was secondary when we were made lab partners in science,” Eric explains while eating his sandwich with his mouth open, and bits of egg mayo shoot from his mouth as he speaks.
I’m trying so hard, but I just can’t see what I ever saw in him.
“It was love at sight for both of us.”
That has me barking a laugh, much to Eric’s annoyance. But I mean, come on. I’ve looked at myself in the mirror, and even with these scars, which are thankfully fading now, I am so far out of his league.
Trying to defend himself, he adds, “You had a mouth full of braces and a face full of acne, but I loved you anyway.”
I roll my eyes at his comment and continue questioning him. “And what about my friends? I know I had two who died in the accident, but I must have had more. Am I still in touch with any of them?” I continue hoping someone else might be able to help me.
“No. You don’t keep in contact with anyone from school.”
“Let me get this straight. I don’t have any friends from school, and I haven’t worked since I left school. My parents died when I was a baby, and I was brought up in care, where I had a terrible time. I have no other relatives?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Eric confirms, spitting a piece of egg across the room.
“Do you think the family of my friends—what were their names again? Alice and Brooke? Do you think they might speak to me?”
“No, not for a while, anyway. It’s too soon, what with you surviving and them not,” Eric explains.
I suppose that is understandable.
“So all I have is you?”
“Yes, it’s all we’ve ever needed. Each other.” He smiles, showing his teeth, which have food all stuck in between them.
I’m just not buying it. I can’t for a minute believe I would have a life that only consisted of him. I can’t wait to get out into the world to be free. I feel trapped in here, only seeing the same faces. Surely I must have felt like that before my accident. Unless the event has completely changed my mindset.
“Arianna, Eric, great—I’m glad you’re both here. I have some good news.” my doctor announces while tapping the file in his hand.
“Brillant. I could do with some good news, Doc,” I confess.
“I’ve been speaking to your physios, and they are really impressed with your progress. I think we can start arranging for you to go home.”
“Excellent news,” I agree.
“There are some things we need to arrange to ensure that you will be safe and comfortable at home, but that will only take a week or so. And you need to be able to walk up and down steps safely, which the physios assure me you’ll be able to do any day now. If we aim for a week’s time, will that be okay for you both?”
“That’s good for me. Is that okay for you, Eric?” I ask, trying to read his expression.
“Yes, wonderful. I can’t believe I actually get to take you home,” Eric says enthusiastically, as if he can’t believe his luck.
“Ahh, yes, Eric, it’s been a very worrying time for you both,” the doctor sympathises. “Any development with your memory, Arianna? Has looking at photographs helped at all?”
I look at Eric in annoyance. Every day, he has had an excuse as to why he hasn’t brought any. “I still haven’t seen any.” I glare at Eric.
“Like I keep telling Arianna, we were in the process of moving when she had her accident, and all our belonging were in storage, so I haven’t been able to get hold of them.”
The doctor looks at Eric in confusion. Then he opens his file and turns a few pages. “So you no longer live at this address?” The doctor shows the file to Eric.
“No, we’ve moved. Well, I’ve moved us.”
“Ahh, that’s a shame. I was hoping when Arianna returned home, she would recognise it. Never mind. Having all her things around her should have the same effect. Let’s get your new address down, and then we can start arranging for Arianna to go home. Do you not have any photos on your phone, Eric?”
“You’d think that, wouldn’t you,” I reply for Eric. “Only Eric has a brick of a phone from the medieval era, by the looks of it. It doesn’t even have a colour screen.”
“How unfortunate,” says the doctor. “I’m sure once you’re home things will come back to you.”
Eric follows the doctor out of the room, leaving me with Donna, who I’ve become quite close with.
“So how do you feel about going home?” Donna asks, seeming concerned.
“I’m definitely ready to get out of hospital, I’m not sure how I feel about living with Eric. I’ve tried to see what I must have seen before, but I just can’t,” I admit.
Donna nods in agreement, clearly not surprised by my confession. “I think the best thing you can do is concentrate on getting yourself better and that baby of yours. I’m sure in time, everything will sort itself out one way or another.”
Sitting on my bed deep in thought, I eat the chocolate bar Eric brought me as part of my lunch. The hospital food is okay, but after this many weeks, I’ve had enough. The chocolate bar is a Snickers. Eric said it was my favourite. I have to admit, it is pretty amazing. It’s funny, though—I don’t recognise the taste. Although my memory is completely gone, when I’ve eaten other food, I knew what they would taste like before I ate them. But with this, it’s like a brand-new experience.
I read the wrapper as I devour the last piece. Nougat topped with caramel and peanuts, all encased in milk chocolate. That was a good chocolate bar—my mouth is even tingling. While I’m thinking about finally leaving the hospital and what my future will hold, I start to feel strange. The tingling in my mouth has moved down to my throat.
Donna is at my side, sorting out my medication when she puts her hand on my arm. “Arianna, are you feeling okay? You look a little flushed.” Donna retrieves her thermometer and places it in my ear.
When I go to answer, my breath is caught by a tightness in my throat, and I start to cough. “My throat… tight.” I sit up in panic as I struggle for each breath.
“Don’t panic. I’m going to get you some help.” Donna presses a button at the side of my bed, and a high pitch alarm sounds immediately.
A doctor and two nurses rush into my room.
“I think she’s going into anaphylactic shock,” Donna informs them.
“We need adrenaline now,” the doctor instructs one of the nurses, who quickly exits the room. “Get her lying down.”
Donna gently pushes me back and drops my bed into a lying position. “It’s going to be okay, Arianna. Just lie back and try to relax.”
I try to answer, but my tongue is swollen and won’t let me respond. My chest is now convulsing as it fights for oxygen. The room around me starts to spin. My eyes fill with bright twinkling lights. I hear the nurse return, and the four of them speak quickly and loudly to each other, but I am unable to make out what they’re saying. It’s like my head is under water. Everything is muffled and there is a strange echoing sound. They must administer some sort of medication, as I feel my body start to rest slightly. My eyes close of their own accord, and I drift into darkness.