Well everyone, here is chapter 3. I'm sorry for the delay, life once again struck. I will be making sure chapter 4 is out in a more timely manner.
Chapter 3: Awakening Anew
The soft clinking of glass echoes across the hospital room as the duty nurse places yet another set of flowers in the vase.
"Every day that man brings in flowers and yet I tell him each time that he's wasting money on the flora." Grouses the nurse in disdainful jealously.
The man in question was once again in the hallway, awaiting news on whether the patient he had admitted two weeks previous would regain conciseness. He was some kind of rocker in a new band out of Townsville that was going with a bad boy image and furthermore, the nurse found his green skin and pointed teeth unsanitary and just plain nauseating.
The man must have been exposed to some kind of radiation or ingested too much food dye as a child.
The woman is so deep in thought that she fails to hear the rustling of the bed sheets behind her as the girl that was splayed there finally rises from her sleep, "Where am I? Hey lady, who are you?"
Shocked out of her thoughts by the voice, the nurse spins on the spot, clumsily knocking the vase to the floor.
"Hey," A loud voice from the hall cries and the man with the green skin pokes his head into the room, "you best not be breaking any…," He stops speaking upon seeing the raven haired girl awake in the room, "So you're finally awake. The doctors thought you would be out for good."
"I…I'll go fetch one of the doctors." the nurse stutters, stumbling out of the room in an excited rush.
With the nurse gone, the man lowers himself onto the bed, gazing into the girl's green eyes. The girl doesn't even react to him being so close, "So, who are you exactly?" She demands, her fingers slowly fumbling with the blanket that is covering her legs.
"What? You don't remember old Ace? Come on you know me. We're friends from way back."
"Well I don't remember who you are. How did I even get here and what happened to me?"
Ace sighs slightly, pondering how to answer the questions that were put to him, but after a short silence he finally states, "Well, I was out fishing near Citysville with my pals when we found you floating on the water. You didn't look so good and you had a bad head injury. I brought you here as fast as I could once we got to land."
Loud footsteps reverberate outside the room before the girl has a chance to inquire about other information and a tall blond haired doctor enters the room.
The man smiles at the woman, giving the chart in his hands the once over, "I am Dr. Pond; I've been assigned to make sure you make a fully recovery."
His voice is soft, but kind as the man turns his attention to Ace, "Can you please leave the room? I want to chat with her alone."
Ace's eyebrow twitches upon the request; he didn't want to leave, but knew he would have to. "Sure doc, I'll be outside with my pals."
Flashing a smile at the black haired girl, Ace struts from the room, closing the door with his foot.
"Now," Dr. Pond begins, gazing at the chart once more, "you've recovered from a terrible accident or some kind of trauma. Do you remember anything from when it happened and can you tell me your name?"
"I really don't remember anything from when it happened," The girl confesses, looking rather befuddled because she wanted to remember, "but my name…I think…," She stops for a moment, remembering that her name begins with a B, "it's…my name is Belladonna. I…I don't remember my last name."
The good doctor scribbles Belladonna's name onto the chart, then looks back up at her. "I do have several more questions, so please bear with me for this."
Bella nods to the doctor, ready to answer the best she can.
For the better of ten minutes, Ace walks around the hospital floor, waiting to be told he could return to see the girl he knew.
"Man this bites, I should be in there to set the record straight. I bet she doesn't even remember what her name is. I need help her remember, but now my plan is all messed up."
What plan is messsed up bossss?" A voice hisses softly from behind.
The band leader glances over his shoulder, grinning as his gang approaches, "A plan to help her Snake. What did you think I meant?"
"We thought it wasss a plan to use her againssst her sistersss. The same plan we agreed to yearsss ago."
Snake's forked tongue protrudes past his lips every other word.
"Duh, that's what we all thought boss. Use her to beat the other two silly."
The words from his cohorts' surprise Ace, causing him to frown and shake his head at Billy and Snake, "We aren't vengeful anymore, nor are we stupid young teens. We're adults who have to make sure she gets what help there is to give. We'll take care of if we have to."
"Boss," Little Arturo shouts, bounces up and down to get Ace's attention, because of an idea that happen to strike him, "We can make her join the band. I bet she would be good with a guitar or something else."
"I'm not gonna force her to join us. She has to want to join of her own volition."
The boys groan and are about to argue with Ace, when the door open to the sight of Dr. Pond. "Hey doc, how is she?"
"Well…she is perfectly healthy, but she's suffering from amnesia, retrograde amnesia to be exact. She doesn't remember anything from her past except her name. It's the only case I've seen and it's rather severe. Do you have a strategy to help her regain what she's lost?"
Furrowing his brow ever so slightly in sudden though, Ace shakes his head, "Not really. I could show her photos of people she knows, but that's bound to backfire."
"Then I'll leave it to you, but you will have to do so next week. Visiting hours are over for today. I'll escort you to the foyer."
The five green skinned individuals let out audible protests, but Ace agrees anyway, following after Dr. Pond.
"What's the point of looking over all these photos, Ace?" Bella inquires, scrutinizing the man's face for any hint of an emotional hint or cue.
"It's supposed to help ya," Ace begins, places several rows of Polaroids in front of the girl, "These are people I know and some that you've probably meet or seen before. Glance at them and pick out the ones you can distinguish."
Belladonna just scratches her head, crossing her arms with a pout, "This is going to be a waste of time. Let's finish up so we can start."
"There," exclaims Ace as he places down the last photo, "Now we can start. I got to say first through, you look cute when you pout." Ace was of course joking, but he hoped Bella wouldn't take it the wrong way.
The raven haired girls face flushes crimson and she quickly averts her gaze to the photos. Her heart was race and her palms felt kind of sweaty, but why was she feeling this way? Shuffling the minor thought to the back of her mind; Bella returns to the task at hand and glances over the photos.
There are several odd looking people among the photos, including an old man with a monocle and one of a woman with kind face with black hair and blues. The girl's eyes shift down to the next the row directly at a photo of a pink dog.
"Uh Ace, why is there a dog in one of these?"
"No reason other than to keep ya on your toes. I think the mutt lives over in Nowhere with some old grumpy farmer. I think the two of you have met."
"Whatever." Bella mutters, running a finger along the rows of pictures.
None of the people look even remotely familiar to her, although she stops for a moment to glance at a photo of a blond haired girl with pigtails. With her throat tightening, a tear rolls down Bella's check as the innocence of the girl's eyes strikes her.
Why am I acting this way? There is no way I know that person, Bella ruminates, wiping away her tears and continuing onward as if she never had a reaction in the first place.
The raven haired woman presses on; scanning the pictures and tossing several at Ace of people she didn't know, including photos of a man in a scientist jacket and a boy with pink hair.
"I don't know any of these people Ace. Heck I bet this girl right here with the red hair and the bow would piss me off and is a know it all! She just has that look!" Bella roars frustrated that she couldn't find one familiar face, angry hot tears flow from her eyes.
"Babe, it's alright," The green skin man plops down next to Bella, placing his arm around her shoulder in a consoling hug, concern and sadness etched in his eyes, "You'll remember when the time is right, but I have to confess something to ya, I kind of know who your pops is. I should…"
"Ace, don't lie to make me feel better. I know you want to make me happy, but don't say you know my dad."
Ace cringes mentally at what the girl just said and he his heart sank. His plans to try to reunite the girl and her family had failed yet again. No matter what he did, he felt like he would be the bad guy in the end.
Sighing softly, Ace feels a pang of guilt build up in his gut as she looks Bella in the eyes, "I'm sorry babe, I just want to make sure you get better and remember."
Bella smirks at Ace with a glint in her eye and plants a kiss on Ace's check. "I have an idea on how you can do both. I bet if you let me join your band that you told me you had as a backup singer, I could remember something. That means you could keep an eye on me to make sure I recover properly."
Taken aback by the suddenness of the idea that his own gang had mentioned the previous week, Ace blinks several times at the raven haired girl, before breaking out in a smile.
"I don't see why not. I bet you'll make a great singer Bella and really help the band make it big."
Bella fist pumps happily, finally getting her way with something, feeling so light for the first time since she had woken up the previous week, "I'm not gonna let you down Ace."
"I know you won't babe." The man beams in triumph, knowing full well that this could work well in his favor of reuniting Bella with her loved ones.
A/N: That is it for now, but I must thank animegirl for once again helping me beta read. Also, thanks to anyone who has faved my works in the past few months. I would have written something, but like before life got in the way. Well until next time, see you guys.