He woke up in an alley. He had no idea how he had gotten there but the ache from his head told him it wasn't pleasant.
But what had he been doing? Weird, he couldn't seem to recall. The fall must have jumbled his thoughts around. Well he assumed it was a fall. Seemed like a pretty logical leap to him.
Now if he got out of this alley he could get his bearings and head home. He went to do just that but paused at his sudden head rush. Once it passed he exited the alley and took a look around.
The problem was he still didn't know where he was. Nothing looked at all familiar. How was he going to get home now? He turned again and saw the street corner up ahead had a sign. Maybe if he read that he'd figure out where he was?
He quickly made it to the sign and looked up at it hoping to find something familiar about it. But again, he was at a total loss.
"Darn it." He muttered to himself. "Now how am I suppose to get home?" he paused as a thought struck him 'where was home?'
Panic hit him hard as he began to realize he couldn't remember what street his house was on. He couldn't even remember what it looked like!
"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" he began to pace near the unfamiliar street sign. He didn't just forget how he got hurt, he forgot how to get home!
He knew he couldn't do this alone but who could he go for help? No one was coming to mind? Did that mean he didn't know anyone, or did he forget them too?
He felt the panic race in his chest again when the idea struck him. The police! He could ask them to help! That's what they were there for right? Oh he was so glad to remember that!
He was going to walk to the station but then realized he didn't know where that was either.
In defeat he sat on the curb wondering what to do next when he felt something shift in his pocket. "Hu?" He reached his hand inside and found a phone. His eyes widen in happiness as he quickly flipped it open and immediately dialed 911.
"911 what's you emergency?" a kind female voice asked.
"umm..." he wasn't sure how to put it but couldn't not answer her. "I'm lost." He said bluntly. "I want to go home but I don't know how."
He heard the smile in her voice when she replied, "well we aren't a taxi service. Why'd you call?"
"ummm... well I-i," oh great she was thinking he was pranking her! Well I guess kids his age might do that. Whatever his age was.
He panicked again. His age! What was his age?
"Hon, are you still there?" she asked with concern.
"I-I don't know where I am! I can't remember what happened. I don't know how I got here and I don't know how old I am!" He was in near hysterics by the end of his little rant but he needed her to know how serious this was. Well that and he couldn't really contain how scared he was.
"Whoa, dear you need to calm down. Ok I need to know what you do know. It's the only way I can help you." She said in a way that proved she's dealt with panic before and was meant for her job.
He took a deep breath. "ok ok. Where should I start?"
"How about your name?" she asked almost cautiously.
"My name. Right. That sounds like a good place to start." He paused to think of his name. "My name is -" he paused again. His name... oh not his name too? "I-i can't. I don't know what it is." He was trying really hard not to cry. He was getting so scared but he knew acting like a baby wasn't going to help him any so he took a shaky breath in and continued. "what's next?"
"that's ok. You're doing fine" She paused in thought, "how about where you are? Is there a sign or something that looks like a landmark nearby?"
"Oh yeah!" He perked up know very glad he thought to come to the sign. "I'm on a street corner!" He looked back up and read off the sign to her and could tell she was just as thankful for it as he was.
"ok that's very good. Now I'm going to send someone to get you but can you tell me what happened before you called?"
"Oh, umm yeah." He took a breath thinking it better to leave the freaking out parts and summarized what happened. "I woke up in an alley and my head was hurting. I stood up and then figured if I looked around I could find my way home again. But that's when I started to notice I was lost. So I walked to the sign and well than I called you."
"You sure you aren't leaving anything out?" she pried.
Oh she's good. "well ok, just that I kind of panicked a bit when I was noticing I couldn't remember things that I should. And then I found my phone, I guess it's mine..." he hadn't really thought about until now but for all he knew it wasn't his phone.
He heard a soft chuckle, "well I think that's a safe guess. The EMT's should be there soon. They are going to give you a quick check up and take you to the hospital. Hopefully your memory will come back before you know it" She said the last part with another smile and he was really glad she was there for him.
It wasn't long until the EMT's did show up and they loaded him up into the back. They looked him over and told him that he had hit his head. Which he could of told them that but they seemed to like the fact that they had figured it out themselves. He didn't really like these guys as much as the 911 lady but there was nothing he could really do about that.
They started asking him questions but they were all things that he just didn't know.
"How did you get hurt?" "what were you doing out here alone?" "Did someone do this to you?" and many other questions like that until the arrived at the hospital.
When suddenly he felt like he shouldn't be here. Something was wrong but he couldn't for the life of him know what it was. Every part of him screamed to get out of there. That this wasn't safe. But if the hospital wasn't safe what was? And why didn't he feel safe here? Had he run away from a hospital? Was he a wanted man, er person. He didn't feel quite old enough to be called a man yet.
They had insisted that he lay on the gurney and then transferred him to a wheelchair despite his attempts to tell him that he could walk just fine. And now that he thought about it, his head didn't hurt any more either.
Eventually he was told that the doctor would be there shortly and to wait there. The EMT's left the room leaving him alone.
He sat in silence for a while when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. A call? Oh! Maybe it's someone who knows him! He quickly answered. "h-hello?" he asked tentatively into the receiver.
"Danny! Oh my gosh, are you ok? I tried calling you earlier but the line was busy. Where are you?" the urgent female voice on the other end asked.
He didn't recognize the voice, but he couldn't tell if that meant it was a wrong number of if he just couldn't remember her. "Danny?" he asked slowly. It was the only thing he could really focus on when she had started talking. She called him Danny. Was that his name? He couldn't tell. He hoped saying it out loud would help. It really didn't.
She paused and he heard her pull the phone away from her ear, maybe to check if she had the right number. Then she came back and asked again slowly, "uhh are you ok? Where are you?"
"I'm at the hospital. I don't know what happened to me and I don't know who you are. Should I?" he cocked his head to the side in genuine confusion despite the fact that this was a phone call.
He heard her catch her breath when he finished and then she rushed to answer. "I'll be right there! Don't let them take any tests on you! Get out of there as quick as you can! You really shouldn't be there Danny!" Before he could ask her what the heck she meant by that she had hung up.
He pulled the phone from his own ear and stared at the display. 'Call ended.' He cleared the screen and went to the recent calls menu to see what if the number would be familiar. 'Sam' and the time stamp were at the top of the list. "Sam?" hu, her name wasn't ringing any bells. But she seemed to know him. Was she his friend? Sister? Did he have a sister? Maybe a close cousin? Or a distant one? He really hoped that she wasn't his girlfriend. Not being able to recognize her by her voice or name sure seemed like relationship ending material to him.
He was struck by inspiration. What about the other people on his phone! Sure it might not tell him what they meant to him, but they might be helpful in some other way. Maybe they could jog his memory more? Or help him figure out why this Sam person didn't think he should be in a hospital?
He scrolled though the names
Dani
Fruitloop
Home
Jazz
Sam
Tucker
Valarie
"'Fruitloop'? Who the heck is 'Fruitloop'?" he was very confused. He also noticed that his male to female ratio on his phone was off. Why did he know more girls than boys? He wondered why 'Fruitloop' was the only entry with a nickname. Was it a term of endearment? Was this his girlfriend?
Looked again and realized that maybe he should call the 'home' entry. They would defiantly know who he was.
He selected the entry and hit send. The phone rang a few times when the answering machine picked up.
"Hello you've reached Fenton Works! We're busy with ghosts right now so if you would like us to call you back please leave a message after the beep." The voice said cheerfully just before the tone sounded.
He wasn't expecting to leave a message and wasn't really sure what 'Fenton Works' was either and that only confused him more. He must have stay-at-home parents? But did she say ghosts? "Uhhh... hi? It's umm... me? I uh, hit my head... I'm at the hospital." He started off slow and unsure but quickly added, "I'm fine though! No need to worry. But if you could come pick me up that'd be great." He paused again wondering if he should add that he had no memoires. That seemed like something parents should know. If that's who was there? "Oh right, you should know that-" the phone beeped again cutting him off and signaling that he took too long.
"Well that's great." He mumbled to himself. Hopefully they'd get the message soon and not be too worried for him.
The doctor was sure taking his time he noted. He went through his contacts again hoping that if he read them enough he'd remember who they were. The 'Fruitloop' name kept stealing his attention. Maybe he'd have better luck calling that one?