"Hey, are you alright?" A strong pair of hands gripped onto my shoulders, but my vision was still dark. I felt a few fingers pressed the pulse point on my neck, then a quiet curse. Darkness started to fade into a blurred image of the silhouette that has been gripping to my shoulders.
"Valentine! Quit lollygagging!" I could hear someone calling in the distance. What I could only assume was that 'Valentine' must be this figure's title. His body tensed as the words caught his ear.
"Damn it," his voice whispered anxiously. He rested me carefully back onto the moist forest floor. "I will be back when my orders are taken care of," he said it as if he was certain that I'd make it without any form of armor or means of protection.
I squinted after the mysterious man as he took one last look at me, then ran back to his group. I could feel my breathing turn into flustered inhales and short exhales. Panic struck my mind. Where am I? My thoughts started to slur together in meaningless nonsense as my vision quickly turned back to darkness. The cold beginning to consume me and chilling my muscles and bones.
"Nurses! She's finally awoken!" A burly tone called as my eyes began to flutter open. "This is a miracle!" He continued to sputter jibber as what seemed like a whole medical staff invaded the room. The heavy-set doctor removed the breathing tube from my throat quickly, but carefully.
The doctor with the emphasized widow's peak of chocolate hair took my left hand in his, "Ma'am, if you understand what we're saying, squeeze my hand." I understood what he was saying, but I wasn't going to squeeze this man's hand. I wasn't fond of the thought of him touching me as it was.
"Valentine," I spoke as loud as I could that could still remain audible. The sound was minute in the end. My throat felt weak, like I hadn't had anything to drink for ages.
The burly doctor grew a quizzical expression. My eyes locked onto his, and then I repeated the word, "Valentine." The word came out much more clear this time and I heard one of the nurses gasp.
"She can't possibly mean 'him'," she piped in loudly. "Someone, go find 'him', tell him it's urgent," she demanded of one of her colleagues.
My head started to spin erratically. My expression must have read it because the burly doctor moved swiftly and picked up a vial of an anonymous fluid. He injected some of the fluid into my IV and within seconds, the spinning slowed.
"Are you feeling alright?" he asked.
My vision was starting to blur indefinitely as the fluid made its way through my system. My head fell to the side as the word slipped soundlessly from my lips, "Valentine…"
The darkness caved in for what seemed like only moments, but the face of the wall clock proved that wrong. I felt someone's hand on my own once again. This hand, though, was not the kind of a doctor's that was covered in latex.
"5 years," the voice trailed off as I turned my head to the left to find that mysterious silhouette. That silhouette now had a face. A Face that possessed terrifying, blood red eyes. His hair was loose and a dark shade of ebony with ends coming together is soft points. "Usually, I wouldn't have ever come back to save a person whose fate was very obvious, but there was something there," his raspy voice commented quietly, yet loud enough to be heard.
I blinked a few times to assure myself that this wasn't a medication-induce hallucination. "Valentine?"
He scoffed then shook his head, "Your memory is sharp, but I prefer Vincent." He ran a hand through my blonde hair, which had grown a considerable amount since I had last kept track. He removed his hands and placed them into his pockets, "At least your color has returned."
I sat up as much as I could; unaware of how much strength I had actually lost in my time in a coma. I barely made it sitting up, but it was worth it to get an extra look. I turned my head slowly towards the shadowed man, "Vincent…" The name just felt so familiar on my tongue, I just didn't know how or why.
Vincent's expression went dark, "What are you called by?"
My eyes widened considerably, it suddenly hit me. I couldn't recall anything about myself. My name, my age, my birth date, I couldn't remember any of it, "I… I don't know."
Vincent's expression grew intrigued, "You don't know?"
I started to clasp and unclasp my hands in an anxious manner. It hit me, "5 years?" It hit me, my hands were bone thin and my skin was ghostly translucent.
"Are you alright?" Vincent asked as he pressed his hand to my forehead, checking my temperature.
My eyes widened even further, "Those words." My eyes caught those blood red orbs. My breathing hitched, "Those words."
"What do you mean?" he questioned, confused. A sharp pain riveted my lungs. I couldn't breath a single breathe. The volume of pain only increased the more I tried. There grew an extreme ringing in my ears which soon blocked out the sounds of the medical equipment that surrounded me and kept track of my vitals.
Everything around me grew to be overwhelming to the senses. The smallest of noises bashed into my ears. The buzz of the lights grew to the sound of 600 hertz. My eyes started to search aimlessly for a soothing sight, but the darkness was invading quickly. I caught one last glimpse of Vincent's blood eyes before everything in my mind shut down.