6

Here's the next bit, please R&R

The room was white; which was painful to eyes that had grown accustomed to the dark. It was also sparse of furniture and very quiet. He blinked a couple of times and tentatively licked his dry lips. That was when the dull throbbing took over; Ouch! My head! Vigil looked down at his hands above the white sheets to see an IV protruding out of his skin. What happened? Why am I here? A panic started to swell in him but he couldn't work out why. His thoughts were interrupted by a stranger sat at his bed; he turned to face the man. 'Virgil? Hey buddy its ok. Your safe now, can you remember what happened?' Virgil didn't reply. The man had a soft American accent, much like his own and sounded like someone who should be familiar to him. Virgil drank in the details of the stranger. He was around five foot eight and of a slim build with a shock of auburn almost ginger hair with caramel eyes and defined cheek bones. He would guess that he was in his early twenties. Why couldn't he remember what happened? The more important question sprung from his mouth. 'Who are you?'

He watched the shock register on the younger man's face. 'Virgil, you don't remember me?!' Gordon was trying to contain the alarm in his voice but failing.

'I'm sorry, should I?'

'Virgil you're my brother, one of my many brothers. It's me Gordon'.

'I have brothers? If that's true then why I can't I remember? I suppose everyone must have a family?' Virgil paused with a pained expression as he strained to remember his family's faces but there was just blankness, no… a blockage in his mind? He couldn't see past it… his breathing quickened. 'I…I..I don't remember! Why can't I picture my family? Who I am I? Oh god I can't remember!' involuntary tears flowed with no purpose to Virgil's jumbled mind. Why am I crying, I don't understand!

The stranger had jumped to his feet and placed a hand on his shoulder, he was shouting for a doctor loud and clearly. 'Hey, don't worry. You had an accident but the doctors are here to help you. The accident is probably why you can't remember.'

The man called Gordon had turned to the doctor at the corner of the room and was talking quietly but rapidly. The Doctor came over to the bed, clipboard tablet in hand.

Gordon watched the consultation with a feeling of dread, his own injuries quite forgotten thanks to the pain of his brother not registering who he was. He couldn't describe what he was feeling; confusion, fear even. grief? His brother had looked upon him as a complete stranger. Virgil could always be read by his eyes, they were so emotive. Once they had been filled with love and affection on sight of his brother but just then they had been glassy and unseeing and it terrified Gordon. It was like seeing an impostor in his brother's body. He looked the same but even now Virgil kept glancing over the doctors shoulder with a look of fear and..,and mistrust? Gordon smiled to reassure Virgil but inside his heart was breaking at the concept that his brother might never remember him.

Gordon was broken out of his reverie as the Doctor called in a team of porters. He walked over to Gordon, his white coat tails flapping gently in the breeze. The Doctor asked him to sit; he did as he was told. The doctor leant forward and made full eye contact with his brown eyes. The doctor gripped the clipboard; the bronze colour of his skin in stark contrast with the illuminated screen. This was going to be an honest and frank conversation. 'I know by now that you are aware that your brother has likely suffered a type of brain trauma in the accident.'

'Attack' Gordon sharply corrected. He had to clarify that. Some bastard had done this to his brother. His good hand tightened on the steel handle of the chair.

'Well, we have taken him for further CT scans - now he is awake to determine the full extent of the damage. From the questions I have asked him he can identify today's date, memorise number sequences and recall sounds played to him with ease. What he can't remember is the longer-term information; like when he was born, who his father is, where he was raised. It's called retrograde amnesia. I know it sounds scary but it is rare for a patient to never regain their memories. The memories may not be as defined or ordered as they were before but there are things we can do to help your brother.

Gordon nodded mutely. 'I know it's a lot to take in but your injured yourself so try to rest and I will let you know as soon as we know more.' The doctor offered his hand to help Gordon up and back to his own room, he refused. He wanted to know when Virgil made it back. The doctor had a bed brought into the room instead in case Gordon wanted to take his advice and rest.

'Approaching the base now Father'.

'F.A.B son. They're going to arrive awhile after you in the carrier so I want you to liaise with the teams there and to find out how Virgil and Gordon are. I need to know how they are more than anything. It's been quiet for too long.'

'I'll be in touch as soon as I know, over and out.'

Scott yawned and jumped down from the pilot's seat, the day and now night were catching up with him. He didn't like the fact that he was approaching thirty and the way he felt only served to reinforce his resentment towards the inevitable onset aches and tiredness. To be fair he was more likely exhausted from the worry that his brothers were injured after being attacked by an unknown entity that was targeting their organisation.

Air Marshall Thompson was on hand to greet Scott as he disembarked.

'Greeting's international rescue, may I first say that we are sorry you were attacked. Despicable business, we have teams investigating the incident now.'

'Thank you. First of all, I would like to know how our operatives are after the incident. They're like family to us.' Scott implied in a military sense of the word family.

'Of course, I will take you to see them first and we can discuss business later.'

Scott followed the Air Marshall apprehensively over to the medic wing. He had been worrying the entire 30 minutes it took him to get over here. He couldn't get the images of two falling out of the sky in a fireball and the feeling of helplessness as he couldn't reach his brothers. When would the memory stop replaying?

He was shown into a room. He was immediately concerned that he hadn't been shown through to see his brothers directly. Despite the number of empty chairs in the waiting room, Scott took to trying to pace out the anxiety by burning a path in the waiting room floor, the clock on the wall painfully reminding him of the seconds and minutes passing. He tensed at the echo of footsteps in the corridor and the twist of the handle. He stopped and tried to restore his professional demeanour. A tall doctor with dark brown close shaved hair and kindly face entered.

'Ah another international rescue member. I understand that you have come to collect the aircraft?'

'And our operatives if they are well enough to travel.'

'That needs to be discussed, please take a seat'.

'Are they ok? I saw them go down and I need to know'.

'I understand, first of all have their family members been informed? I know they are brothers but they refused to give me their surname.'

'That's protocol we are a secret agency but I understand there will be an element of doctor/patient confidentiality here?'

'Yes, I am duty bound'.

'Good.' Scott opened the file on his tablet as they talked.

'In an event such as this, the field commander is entitled to disclose details of our operatives if it is deemed a medical emergency. My Name is Scott and I am the field commander and they are my brothers by blood.' Scott let that sink in.

'Ok, well let's not delay with the formalities any longer then. Gordon was conscious on arrival but suffering from acute shock and a severe whiplash injury. He needs a week's rest and gentle physio but will recover. I notice from x-rays that he has had previous trauma to his spine but luckily the additional injury sustained to his neck this time has not opened old wounds so to speak.'

Scott couldn't help but release a sigh of relief. He always worried that Gordon would be injured on rescues because thanks to the hydrofoil accident he had a higher susceptibility to spinal injuries than the rest of them did.

'Then we have our next patient'.

'Virgil' Scott supplied.

'Yes, Virgil was found unconscious at the scene and your brother reported he had been that way since the initial impact around 40 minutes before they arrived here. Virgil is awake and we have run some CT scans. Unfortunately, he has suffered a brain injury.' Scott's face lost all colour and composure, my little brother has a brain injury?

'It is most likely caused by trauma to the frontal lobe of the brain which in this case is swelling. It is hoped that this is temporary as it is in most cases. The difficult thing to judge is the recovery period and the depth of that recovery. Some patients will start to remember things quickly, others it can take considerably longer.'

'What kind of memory loss?' Scott managed to whisper.

'Well at present he has complete short-term memory so he knows the date and can memorise information for a time. What he doesn't have is his long-term memories. We discovered this when he didn't recognise Gordon.'

Scott stood up abruptly and staggered back.

'I'm sorry what did you say?'

'That he didn't know your brother, in fact he can't recall any of his family or friends. He can't recall yesterday or even where he lives.'

Scott covered his mouth and looked back at the doctor. 'Are you sure?'

'I'm afraid so.'

'Well what do we do, how can we help him?'

'It's very important not to push him to remember as it will likely be painful and frustrating for him. He may be prone to bouts or anger or depression in the early days but you need to remain positive for his sake and try to stimulate his memories gently. Ask him to keep a journal. The memories if and when they do come are likely to assault his senses and he will struggle to process it in his mind so it's better if he logs it. We will give you a full set of instructions and help with regular check ups'.

Scott nodded numbly a man that had arrived so confident now so shattered by unthinkable news. 'Can I see them now?'