Chapter 21

Stephanie woke up and took in her unfamiliar surroundings. Her brow crinkled with her frown as she realised she was in a hospital room however she had absolutely no clue how she had gotten here. As she tried to recall anything that would explain why she was in this bed, she realised that her mind was completely blank. She couldn't remember a thing and that scared her. Stephanie felt her breathing quicken as she started to panic and began to run things through her head in an attempt to reassure herself. Her name was Stephanie. She could remember that much. Her mother was Linda, her father Vince and of course she had her brother Shane. Shane who had smeared her face with birthday cake when she was five.

As Stephanie realised she still had her brain in there somewhere, she began to calm down a little. Just then a nurse walked through the door.

"Ah. You're finally awake I see. How are you feeling?"

Funnily enough in her panic about her memory, Stephanie hadn't actually felt any pain. But now the nurse had mentioned it, her head was killing her and her neck and back were really sore. As she told the nurse her symptoms, she nodded and smiled.

"You suffered head trauma in the accident and you are maybe experiencing some whiplash in your neck and back. I'll get you started on some medication for the pain. In the meantime, I'll have the doctor come and examine you. Oh and by the way, we'll also have to get you to fill in your details. With you being unconscious, we weren't able to even get your name last night."

She chuckled and left to go and get the doctor. Stephanie lay there and took in the fact she had been in an accident. At least that would explain why she was in hospital. But what sort of accident and what had happened? She was about to try and recall any details of last night when the doctor arrived. He was a small man in an oversized white coat.

"Hello. I'm Doctor Sharpe. Before I carry out my examination, I'll start with the simple things first. I'll take your details."

Stephanie nodded and sat up.

"May I have your name?"

"Yes. It's Stephanie."

"And your last name Stephanie?"

Stephanie opened her mouth to answer and that's when she realised she didn't have an answer. She didn't even know her own name. She felt the blood beat in her ears as she started to panic. "I…. I don't know. Oh my God! I don't know my own name." she cried.

She felt the tears trickle down her cheeks and the doctor took her hand trying his best to calm her down.

"Stephanie, please don't worry. It could be that the bump you took has caused you some short term memory loss but until I examine you thoroughly, we won't know for sure. How about I ask you a few more questions and we can see how badly your memory has been affected?"

Stephanie was scared as it was and didn't want to know how little she actually knew. "No. I can't. I just want to know my name. Why don't I know my name?"

The doctor could see she wasn't going to calm down until she got an answer. The doctor had an idea.

"Listen Stephanie. The gentleman who was involved in the accident with you is here and is awake. How about I get him to tell you your name? Will that help you?"

Stephanie looked at the doctor. She didn't know who this gentleman was but if he could help her then maybe she should see him.
"Okay. I'd like to see him."

The doctor nodded. "I'll be right back."

Stephanie wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath. She was scared. She was struggling to remember anything – hell, she was lucky she even knew part of her name. Just then the doctor appeared with a man standing beside her. She recognised his face immediately and was relieved.

"I know you. Your name is Andrew."

The doctor smiled as did Andrew. "That's right Stephanie. I'm Andrew."

Stephanie smiled back as the doctor looked towards Andrew. "Maybe you could tell Stephanie her name?"

Andrew nodded. "Certainly. Her name is Stephanie. Stephanie Martin. She's my wife."