Chapter 1
Who am I?
Eyes flutter open and a confused mind awakens. The young girl's head begins to pound and she forces herself to try to sit up but her body aches. Something heavy rests upon her bed and she strains her neck to see a head resting beside her, a hand resting on hers. The body stirs as she removes her hand and a tanned man rubs his eyes. She watches them go wide as he realizes she's awake.
"Dr. Ayame!" He staggers to his feet and rushes out of the room. The girl looks around, confused and scared. Where was she? Some sort of hospital? A tube of clear liquid hands on a hook beside her, a long vein connected to her arm. What happened to me? Where am i?
The boy appears again. Beside him is a beautiful woman with short black hair pulled behind her ear. They both rush to her side, the boy more quickly than the supposed Dr. Ayame.
"I see you've recovered, Lillian. I'm glad to see you're up and awake." The woman smiles at the young girl, and something about it makes her feel at ease. "Do you know what happened?"
The young girl shakes her head gently to prevent any dizziness she started to feel. She had no idea what happened and why she was here. "Was I in some sort of accident?" She says, her quiet voice coming out hoarse.
The doctor squints her eyes in suspicion. "Can you tell me your name?" She asks.
"Lillian," the girl responds, although unsure if that really was her name or not.
"When is your birthday?" The doctor asked, her suspicion growing. She waits for the girl to answer, but unfortunately only gets silence. "I was afraid of this," she says quietly. The boy looks at the doctor, realizing what she was thinking of. Fearing the doctor is right, he grips the edge of the chair.
"Do you know who I am?" He asks with desperation in his voice. The girl winces at the boy's loudness but doesn't reply. The boy slams his fist on the chair in anger or frustration; the girl can't quite tell.
"Kana! That's enough!" The doctor places a hand on the boy's shoulder, trying to calm him down. "I need you to wait in the hall. I'll be with you in a moment. I need to talk to Lillian." The boy, looking rather upset, obliges and steps out into the hall. The doctor sits beside the girl in the chair Kana slept in. "I'm sure all of this is confusing to you."
The girl makes eye contact with the doctor and nods. "Is he someone close to me?" She asks quietly. The doctor looks surprised by the girl's question but chuckles in response. "I believe he is. Or at the very least, you are to him. He found you hurt on the side of a tall ledge in the mountains. He blames himself for what happened."
The girl feels an ache in her chest. She had no recollection of said accident and already she felt sad for the boy. "What did happen? How did I get injured?"
The doctor glances at the door before answering. "He said he challenged you to a race on both your horses. He said he was going so fast that he lost sight of you. When you didn't reach the summit, he got worried and went back to look for you. That's when he found you."
The girl's mind races and her body aches at the story, as if it remembers the incident quite well. "How long ago did this happen?"
"A few days ago; you've been in a slight coma since. We've been running tests and monitoring you every day. Nothing was critical so it was only a matter of waiting for you to wake up."
"I see." The girl closes her eyes, forcing her mind to search for any memories, but instead her head starting to pound.
"I'll let you rest some more. We'll be keeping you overnight just to be sure you're well enough to return home tomorrow." The doctor stands at her feet and gives a brief nod before exiting the small room. She closes the door behind her and faces the tall man before her. His eyes are red and swollen, as though he had just cried.
"She has amnesia." The doctor says bluntly. She knows kana already figured it out, but she felt better saying it out loud. "The scans showed a slight concussion, so her memory loss shouldn't be permanent. I believe after a while her memories will start to return. Until then, I suggest not pressuring her to remember anything."
Kana paces around the hall, his mind a mess. "This is my entire fault. Her memories… gone because of me!" He clenches his fists and his shoulders tense. "No one is blaming you, Kana. We don't know what happened, but it's not healthy to beat yourself up over this. If anything, you're her hero. You saved her and brought her here."
"Hero? How am I a hero if she got hurt because of some stupid race? I shouldn't have run ahead. I should have stayed behind or not even have suggested the idea in the first place."
"Kana!" The doctor reaches out but the young Kana has already stormed out of the hospital.