Lucy.
Lucy is the name that they told me was my birth name. I guess it felt right, it felt weirder when they started crying over it though. I suppose it's some kind of grief towards the person I used to be. I guess it's kind of sad, no one likes seeing another person cry, but to me... I didn't feel anything towards it. To me it's just two strangers crying over someone they didn't know, instead of- apparently, my parents crying over the loss of their daughter. I didn't die, but I feel like that would be easier for them to handle. supposedly, I have something called uh... Am-nez-iac... It sounds familiar but I can't remember what it means.
"A-are you sure you d-don't recognize us...?"
The blonde one spoke up, she seems pretty upset about this, but... I can't feel any attachment for her to try and comfort her.
Lucy silently shakes her head no.
The adults started crying again, the man especially. He seems more sensitive than the woman. She's the only one who's able to talk to me.
"W-Well... My name is-"
She stopped briefly, she seems to have a hard time speaking right now- well, not as badly as the man holding onto her.
"My name is R-Rita... A-and I'm your... I'm your m-mother."
That would explain all the crying, I suppose. Well, if she claims to be my mother, then...
Lucy raises her hand and points at the man.
"So does that mean he's...?"
The woman- err, Rita, nodded her head, before introducing the unknown man to me.
"Y-Yes... This is your f-father... Lynn S-Senior."
It seems there's a lot more to that sentence than she realized... after saying that she got an even stronger look of dread on her face.
"Oh my God... how are we gonna tell the kids..."
Her voice was broken up as a new wave of tears started rolling down her face. I guess that means I have a couple siblings. I hope they're nice to me.
*Thud*
Oh.
The man just fainted.
He really is a sensitive one, isn't he.
Lucy let a giggle escape her mouth, amused at the clumsy man who was apparently her father, earning a very shocked look from Rita.
Uh oh. I guess I shouldn't have done that. I guess I should apologize.
"Sorry, I thought he looked funny when-"
"D-Did you just giggle?"
She cut me off before I could finish my apology, looking incredibly confused.
"Uhh... Yea. I'm sorry, I realize it was inappropriate."
Rita picked up her husband and placed him in a nearby chair, seems like he even cries in his sleep. Then she just... Stood there. Frozen.
"Lucy never giggles at... Anything..."
I couldn't make out what she said, it was barely a whisper, but she's probably mad at me. Not that I could find out anyways, she walked out of the room before I could speak up again. I guess I really ticked her off, but oh well, it gives me an opportunity to take in my surroundings.
Lucy looks around briefly. She's in a hospital room, clearly, she's wearing one of those teal gowns, and a cast has been slung across her right arm. She's laying in a bed... Theres a book across the room, laying perpendicular to the chair it's resting on, as if it's trying to get her attention.
Hmm... That book... It feels familiar to me, like it's a long lost relative that I haven't seen for years.
Lucy sat up, dangling her legs off the side of her bed, only to realize her right leg is in a cast as well.
Hmm... I must've been in an accident, and something happened to the right side of my body. I guess that would explain why only one side of my head hurts.
Despite the setback, Lucy pressed on, trying to get that book. She placed her good foot down onto the floor, and is prepared to put her other one down, only to get caught by her heart monitor machine.
Uggghhhhh...
She groaned, grabbing the machine with her good arm and trying to walk with it. She managed to get a step in, but... didn't make it far though, almost instantly falling onto her side, causing the machine to fall on top of her.
"Oww..."
As if on cue, Rita came back into the room with a doctor.
She seems to have calmed down.
Rita then saw her baby on the floor, and immediately went back to her panic, rushing to her side to help get her up.
Nevermind.
"Oh my goodness, L-Lucy! Are you okay?! What happened? W-Why are you out of bed?!"
She bombarded me with questions. I think it's normal for her to worry about her daughter but... that doesn't mean it doesn't feel any less weird to me.
Rita lifted the machine off her daughter, and helped her up to her feet, being sure to be slow and careful as to not hurt her further. Lucy rubbed the right side of her head, before pointing to the book.
"I was trying to get that book."
Rita seems like a nice lady... But she's also really touchy. I can't remember if she's like that to all my siblings, but she has been really affectionate towards me, this past hour alone. Oh man, I think I said the wrong thing again, she has that shocked look on her face, and froze. At least she got me back in bed before that.
"Y-your poetry book..."
'My' poetry book? Maybe that's why it's so familiar to me, but I couldn't place it... My poetry book... I must be a writer then. I wonder what books I've made.
"I'm a writer?"
The doctor shook his head, he seems like he's seen this exact thing play out before, and walked up to the side of my bed.
"Lucy, I'm doctor Mark. I'm not typically good at delivering dramatic news but... What you just showed me, and what your mother was concerned about, is that you have amnesia-"
There's that word again.
"What does that mean, Dr. Mark?"
I need to know the answer, it feels like they keep avoiding telling me- well, despite me not asking in the first place.
"Well... It means you can't remember anything from your past. You have memory loss."
Memory loss... That's rough, plus it explains why they're so torn up about it. I feel a bit dumb for not catching on earlier, but I was too wrapped up in these new people in my life to really think about it. Wow, what the hell is this feeling in my stomach? Am I gonna barf? I feel awful suddenly...
Lucy's head fell back against her bed, writhing in an invisible pain. She lets out pained groans, as if a wave of guilt had just washed over her, her heart rate monitor climbing in speed.
"I know this may be hard to process but-"
"M-memory loss?! How am I supposed to deal with that?! W-what if I lose all my friends- or- or people try to take advantage of me cause I can't remember them?! What happened to me?!"
I guess it's all rushing in now. I don't know why I'm suddenly panicking about it, as if it was easier to deal with when there wasn't a name attached to it.
Rita walked over to her panicking daughter, and placed a hand on her leg.
"Lucy, honey... I'll tell you what happened. But please calm down first."
She's right. I'm overreacting, I need to know what happened to me first. That's really important to me right now.
Lucy slowly steadied her breathing back to a normal rate, the heart monitor slowing down it's erratic beeping.
"What happened to me Rita?"
Rita swallowed, she almost seemed upset at me calling her by her first name. But i'm not ready to call her mom yet.
"I don't want to go into too many details sweetie, I think it would overwhelm you right now but... You were hit by a truck, and run over by two of it's front wheels."
Tears are starting to flow out of her eyes again.
"W-We thought you died... Lynn was so panicked we had to calm her down too..."
Calm 'her' down... Probably just misspoke, she seems shaken up by what happened.
"We rushed you to the hospital... You were out for nearly 4 weeks! L-Lynn was getting scared that you were going to get b-braindead..."
Rita let out a pained chuckle.
"It took 4 medical staff to calm him down and assure him you weren't..."
Lucy rubbed the right side of her head again.
"Did my head get hit too?"
Dr. Mark nodded.
"You suffered some pretty bad brain trauma on that day, we weren't sure what exactly happened-"
Dr. Mark leaned over, and flicked the machine he was next to, chuckling.
"The technology here isn't exactly modern... But it is apparent now what you're suffering from. however..."
15 minutes passed, or something. It feels like an eternity since I started to zone out whatever Rita and Dr. Mark continued to say to me, it all just flew past my head. I don't even want to process what I'm hearing, all it's doing is making my head hurt.
"Lucy?"
The third adult finally spoke up, after being passed out for nearly the entire time I woke up.
"Do you remember... Anything?"
Hmm. I suppose I haven't tried to recall much of anything, but he seems pretty torn up over it so I might as well try. I guess he is my dad, after all.
"Uhh... I remember...
Something Snowy...
A big grass field...
An eclipse...
A ringing telephone...
A tool box...
A gross diaper...
a crown...
A glass vial filled with... Something...
A circus tent...
A sewing spindle...
And a quill with black ink."
These are the only things I can remember. I don't know what memories they're from, but it's all I know. Maybe I haven't forgotten everything after all. Atleast, that's what the look on Lynn's face says to me, before he passed out again. The rest of the night is a blur to me, so many questions with little answers to give. The doctor said I need to go through physical therapy to walk or use my arm properly again. That truck must've done a real number on me, I feel a little stinging every time someone mentions it. Apparently Dr. Mark told Rita I need to stay for another day or two for further evaluation, and then I can go home since my arm and leg have healed to a point that I don't need to stay in the hospital anymore... hmm...
Home.
I can't seem to remember anything about it, I have no recollection about where I live or anyone that lives with me. I don't even know what my room looks like.
Lucy yawned, before closing her eyes.
What a rude awakening this has been, too much has happened in just a couple hours... I've done too much thinking at once, and now I just want to get whisked away by sleep. I guess I should get started on that... I don't know if I wanna go home... But I'll think about... That... Later...
Lucy soon hit the hay, as the hospital closed for the day.
Before she left, Rita had arranged for Lynn to stay the night so he wouldn't have to explain to the kids why he keeps crying, she would rather do it while Lucy was there too, thinking it would be easier for the kids to understand.
All she could do for now is muster up the courage to send a single text to her whole family, locking her phone as a flood of texts started pouring in.
'Lucy is awake.' - Rita, 11:03 pm
