The girl opened her eyes slowly, waking to the sound of rain hitting the window. As she rubbed her eyes, she heard voices talking over her:
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"It would seem so. I've seen cases like hers before, but never as severe."
"But she'll be alright?"
"She will…but the road to recovery will be hard."
The girl looked up as her vision came into focus. She was in a large room filled wall to wall with beds. There was a person in each bed, both young and old, yet all suffering in some way. There was a small group of nurses tending to as many as they could. They wore long white dresses and kept their hair covered with long bonnets. They walked from bed to bed wheeling carts of supplies.
The girl lifted herself up as best she could until a nurse next to her placed a hand over her.
"Please stay where you are, sweety," she said in a soft but stern voice. "You're still recovering."
The girl gave her a confused look.
"I…I don't understand," she said meekly. "What happened? Where am I?"
"I've brought you to a hospital."
A soldier stepped forward. The girl looked at him thinking how handsome and dignified he looked. He was dressed in a long brown coat with red straps and a black cap placed neatly on his head. A copper pin depicting a hammer and sickle was pinned neatly on his coat. He smiled and looked at her with compassion in his eyes.
"How are you feeling?"
The girl looked right back at him and gave a weak smile.
"Fine. And you?"
The soldier laughed. "I'm good thank you," he paused for a moment as he cleared his throat. "I suppose your probably wondering how you got here."
The girl nodded slowly. The soldier sat on the bed beside her.
"Some of my fellow soldiers and I found you at the train station…you were on the ground. You…weren't moving."
He paused for a moment as the girl took it all in. She looked up examining the soldier more closely.
"I remember waking for a moment…and seeing a man looking down at me."
"Yes. That was me," the soldier said.
"When you woke you said you couldn't remember how you got there, or where your family was."
The girl nodded as the soldier looked back at her.
"What about now?"
The girl looked down as she searched her thoughts for the answer. She placed her hand on her head, thinking as hard as she could.
Family…family…
She searched everywhere but her mind was empty. Her memories were lost in an empty void. She looked up.
"I can't remember…I'm sorry…I can't…" she stammered as she began to choke up.
The soldier held her head as she buried herself in his chest.
"Shhh…it's okay. What about your name?"
The girl looked up, her eyes watering. The soldier looked back.
"When you woke for that brief moment I heard you say something. You said "Ana."
The girl looked down. She thought back to that moment. When the soldier asked her name, she could hear something faintly in the back of her mind: A voice, calling to her in a whisper.
Was it her name? She couldn't be sure. Why couldn't she remember?
Frustrated, the girl buried her face in her hands. The soldier let her go gently.
"It's okay," he said as he turned his gaze to the nurse. "What's to be done with her?"
The nurse looked at him, a solemn expression on her face.
"We'll keep her here for the meantime, so she can rest and recuperate. If no one comes to claim her, than she will be sent to the orphanage outside of St. Petersburg."
The soldier looked at the girl and said to the nurse "She'll need a name."
The nurse thought for a moment and then spoke up.
"You said that she said "Ana" when you found her, right?"
"Yes that is correct."
The nurse shrugged. "There you have it. We will call her Anya."
The soldier looked to the girl and smiled. "How does that sound to you?"
The girl thought on it, an intense look on her face. She then looked at the soldier and smiled.
"Yes. I like it!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you Anya," the soldier said, smiling warmly and extending his hand.
"My name is Stepan." Anya smiled brightly and shook his hand.
Stepan stood up and faced the nurse. "I thank you for all your help."
"You're welcome," the nurse replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to."
The nurse smiled at Anya and then back to Stepan and walked away. Stepan than sat back down on the bed beside Anya.
"Before I forget, I have something I've been meaning to give you."
He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a small necklace.
"You were wearing this when I found you. I was worried that someone might try to steal it, so I took it…just to keep it safe."
He placed the necklace in Anya's hands. Anya looked at it. She was amazed by how beautiful it was, especially the way the gold shimmered against the jewels encrusted into it. She turned the pendant and read out loud the words engraved in it:
"Together…in Paris."
Anya looked at the soldier sitting next to her. "What does it mean, Stepan?"
"I don't know myself," the soldier said. "However, that little piece of jewelry may be the only clue to who you were."
Anya looked back down at the pendant and smiled. She put the necklace over her head and held it close to her heart.
"I will treasure this always…thank you Stepan."
The man smiled and stood up. "I have to be going now."
Anya looked at him, a sadness suddenly filling her eyes. "Do you have to?"
"I'm afraid so, dear. My comrades need me out there. I have a job to do."
Anya looked at Stepan, standing tall and proud. "Will I ever see you again?" she asked meekly.
Stepan smiled, and then removed his cap and placed it on Anya's head.
"I pray that we will," he said. "Until then, I wish you all the joy in the world."
As he walked away, he turned once more.
"Farewell, Anya."
Anya gazed at him non-stop, probably afraid that if she turned away she would forget what he looked like.
So she kept her eyes on him, until her first and only friend was out of sight.