Chapter 35: Remember

The light hurt. It threatened to burn her eyes out of her skull.

The bed- at least, she thought it was a bed- was uncomfortable. It creaked when she tried to twist.

Where the hell was she?

She tried to crack open her eyes, but her muscles wouldn't respond. She tried to speak, but her throat was dry. She tried to move, but only caused the slightest bit of creaking in the bed sheets and mattress.

She listened.

There was a tiny beeping sound from the right, at a constant ping. Maybe a heartbeat. Her heartbeat? Why would it be for herself? Was she injured? Dying? Check up? What was it? Maybe it wasn't for her at all. Maybe it was an alarm of sorts.

She heard the occasional set of footsteps, walking from her right to her left. Somewhat muffled. Behind a door, maybe?

She heard no one else in the room with her. She was alone, unless someone was hiding.

Successfully, she cracked open her eyes, blinking away the bright light that came from the long bulbs across the ceiling. She craned her neck up, waiting as the world shifted into focus, as the light stopped clouding her vision.

A small room, a lone door at the end, a meter away from the foot of her bed. She was laying on white sheets, dress in a faded white... hospital gown? Was that where she was? A hospital? What did she do?

She surveyed herself. She had a cast along her right arm, from her hand all the way up to her bicep, locking her elbow in place. She had tight pads covering her shoulder and elbow, hooked in with a few straps. It was numb. It looked like she'd broken it. Or dislocated it. Or both.

Nothing else seemed to be broken. The beeping on her right had indeed been a heart monitor, with little suction cups pressed to her left wrist and the side of her neck.

She was about to try and figure out how to get herself out of the room when there was a polite knock and the door swung open. A female nurse with midnight black hair tucked into a bun popped in, beaming at her. "Ah, miss. You're awake."

Again, no words came out. "If you need water, there's a cup here," the nurse said quickly, grabbing one from a nearby table.

She drained the glass and set it down.

"Miss," the nurse said seating herself in a chair next to the bed, "can you tell me your name?"

That was when she started to panic.

What's my name?

How can I not know my own name?

She brought her left hand up to her head and winced. This hurt her brain. What the hell happened to her?

"Miss, you had a bad accident. We found you on one of the streets. Your shoulder was dislocated and your elbow shattered, as you can see." She gestured to the cast, jotting little notes down on a clipboard that she was dying to see.

She didn't like it here. She wanted to get out.

"You also hit your head," the nurse continued quietly. "The back of your skull will be bruised, but you've got a thick skull. It was close to a fracture. However, your brain might've been jostled around a bit. You scraped your forehead, so there was a lot of blood, but we cleaned it all up. Can you speak?"

She tried to take all this in at once. The nurse is trying to help. The nurse is trying to help. "Y... Yes," she managed, surprised at how crackly her voice was. At the sound of her voice.

The nurse beamed at her. "Perfect, miss. Can you raise your left hand for me?"

She did.

"Can you lift your right foot?"

She did.

"Perfect, miss."

She wanted to leave.

"I," she tried, only to find her voice clogging up again. "I want to leave."

She tried to think. What was her name? Her family? Pets, hobbies, jobs, age? What did she look like?

The nurse smiled sympathetically. "I understand, sweetie, but unfortunately we can't. We have to make sure you're perfectly well before we let you go."

No, she wanted to leave now. She decided she did not like being called 'sweetie'.

She reached up and patted her head. Hair. She ran her hand down the length of it, surprised at how long it was, and pulled it in front of her line of vision. Black, as black as night. She liked it.

The only thing she could deduce was that she had no memories. The idea made her want to curl up and cry.

"Miss, can you tell me your name?"

"I..." her throat dried up. She cast her mind around, trying to find anything that could get her out of here. She tried to think; she tried to remember anything, anything at all.

Someone calling something to her.

A distant memory, maybe?

"Ali," she tried, "my name... my name is Ali."

The nurse relaxed visibly. "Wonderful, Ali. Is that short for anything?"

She was absolutely positive that she had gone by Ali at some point in her life. But the only name she could think of that Ali could be short for... "Allison," she managed. "I like Ali, though."

"That's great," the nurse pushed. "What about your last name?"

Anything that will help me get out of here, she thought desperately. "M- Marin," she made up, cursing herself for how weird that name sounded together.

"Do you know where we are, Ali?" the nurse tried.

She smiled, thanking the fact that there was a sign just outside the door's window. "Yorknew City Hospital," she said proudly.

The nurse smiled even wider. "Brilliant. It seems you don't have amnesia, but we'll need to do a few more tests to find out. Wait here, and I'll be back-"

Suddenly, the door flung open. A man in a long white coat burst in. "Lilia, you're got to get out here."

"What is it?" the lady replied, standing up.

"Huge ruckus in the lobby," the man rushed, turning already to leave. "We've got to..." his voice trailed off. The man was staring at her with intense fascination, studying her face. It made her want to squirm. "Who is this?"

"She says her name is Allison Marin," the nurse, Lilia, said, moving to the door. "She's the patient from last night, the one who someone called in from the street."

Last night? The clock said 10:36. So she hadn't been here long...

"Allison Marin?" the man said, frowning. "But she's-"

But I'm what?!

"Let's go!" someone called from the hall. The man was still watching her as he ran off, Lilia right behind him. Her blood was running cold; was she famous? Infamous? How had he recognized her? She knew he had.

As soon as they left, she swung herself out of the bed, ripping the cord with the suction cups off. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she felt dizzy; the world seemed to be spinning around her. Using the bed for guidance, she moved to the head of the room and peered out the door.

It was one long hallway, right to left. People were on both sides. She frowned, backing up and looking around the room again.

There was a vent at the top of the wall that she could probably fit through.

She shut the door and wobbled on her way over. She was just about to hop on the bed to reach for the vent when a boy's hand shot forward, shoved the vent out, and poked his head into the room.

Maybe it was instinct, but she flew out of the way. She back-flipped over the bed like second nature and landed on the far side of the room, pulling her hands up in fighting position.

"Ali!" the boy cried out, wriggling out of the vent and hopping down. He had spiky green-black hair and was wearing a green jacket with matching shorts. "Thank god we found you. Leorio's causing a ruckus outside, so we're getting you out of here. You'll have to tell us how you got away from the Phantom Troupe later, Killua was so upset, and I can't believe you're here. We heard about it and did some research and came straight away. Killua's finding your stuff and getting rid of evidence that you were even in this hospital with Kurapika, who we finally met up with. Let's go."

That was too much to wrap her head around. So much that her hands, which were up and ready to protect her face, almost wavered.

"Give me one good reason I should go with you," she snapped. Even if she didn't know him, they had a common goal.

His face twisted into genuine confusion. "Ali? What are you talking about?"

She flinched- something stirred inside her when he said her name. "Give me a reason!" she repeated, biting her lip.

The boy looked so genuinely upset, but he clenched his fists and stared at her- hard. "Because I'm your friend, Ali," he said, his voice never wavering once as he glared at her. "I'm your friend, and friends don't leave each other behind."

His voice was so truthful and honest that something inside of her just... broke. Her hands dropped, but she wouldn't allow herself to cry. No time for that. "I can't remember anything," she managed, and then the boy reached to wrap his arms around her and she pushed him away. She remembered nothing, she didn't know this boy. There was no way he was allowed physical contact yet. He seemed to understand, and nodded to her.

He led her through the vent and they came out in some odd room that had table on wheels and platters. A blond boy strolled in with a moving table and a tablecloth over top. She was already prepared to run when the boy lifted up the edge of the table cloth to reveal a shelf, hidden under the table. "Get on," he instructed quietly, and the other boy hoped on without hesitation. She followed, hefting her cast with her.

They were wheeled around, who knows where, until the tablecloth was lifted again and they hopped out. An empty corridor later, they were out. She shivered in the cool breeze of the morning as the boy grabbed her wrist and led her down an alleyway, to a secluded spot behind a building.

"Thank god," the blond boy breathed, shedding a hospital coat off and dropping it to the floor. "Nice to see you, Aliara."

Aliara? Was that her name?

It explained 'Ali'.

The younger boy pursed his lips. "Kurapika, she's-"

Kurapika was his name. Interesting.

Another male came running through- this time, an older-looking man in a suit. "They're out for my blood," he said cheerily. "I gave 'em a good run for their money!" He turned towards her, and she almost took a step back, but prevented it. "Hey, Ali! Good to see you're alright!"

Kurapika, the blond boy, rolled his eyes. "Leorio, her arm is broken and her shoulder is dislocated."

"So? She got away from the Phantom Troupe! How'd you manage that, by the way?"

She had no recollection of that. But the small boy had mentioned it too.

More footsteps. How many of these people were there? What did they want with her?

It was a boy, around the same height as her and the other one, with fluffy white hair and brilliant blue eyes. He was carrying a bundle in his arms. When he saw her, his face broke into a huge smile, and he jogged over to the group. "It worked. Ali, are you okay? How'd you get away?"

He reached for her, like he was going to hug her.

She shoved his hands away.

"I don't know you," she said fiercely, her voice cracking and her eyes brimming with tears.

She glanced at her, and the white-haired boy looked shattered.

"I don't remember any of you," she repeated. "I don't remember... remember anything."

havanatitiana: Aha I love Feitan with a passion. Just a regular hospital... I like to think that due to the injury and the blood covering her face that she wasn't recognized by the staff that brought her in. Thanks for your review! :)

xenocannan: You hope she's dead?! Oh my XD If I killed her off now, the story would be done way too soon. I've got too much left that I want to do. Thanks for your review! :)

IamAmazing326: School's a mess indeed. Thanks for your review! :D

K1llua: Aww, thank you so much! Your words make me smile! :D

Night Owl: ANOTHER one of you wants her to die?! Geez, I can't do that! I'm not going to get halfway through developing her and just kill her off! (But that does seem like something I would do...) Thank you for your wonderful review! :)

Reading1Dragon: Well, at least you don't want her to die. Some others do *coughcough* XD Aw, I loved your review. Thank you so much! :D

Guest: Hisoka's insane, but hella fun to write, I must say. He's hard though- his character is really unpredictable. AWW I loved that! 'Your writing skills have set a bar and you destroyed it' made me so happy! That's so sweet of you! I've actually struggled with how Phinks should be related to the Lorvells, and that idea does seem very likely. I might use that, but I'm worried for backlash from reviewers. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEW! GOOD LUCK WITH SCHOOL! :) :D

yachiru-chan92: Aw, thanks so much! :D :)

Here that?

That's the sound of Killua's heart breaking into a million pieces.

(And the sound of my evil cackling as I eagerly await your reviews)