Take A Picture

I wake up in a tiny room, with white bedding, a crowd of people standing around and a drip in my arm. Where the fuck was I? I started to panic instantly, I couldn't remember how I had gotten here, who these people were, or where I was. I sat up and looked around for a second time, trying to work out what was going on, when a man with tattoos and long hair walked up close to me and tried to grab my hand. I pulled away instantly and tried to turn away from him, but he sat on the side of the bed and put both arms around me. I sit awkwardly, staring down his back trying not to move a muscle as he sobs into my back.

"I thought I lost you Laura... My baby... I'm so glad you're okay..." He whispers to me.

His baby? I threw his arms away from me and tried to get out of my bed, I didn't know who he was, or what kind of joke this was. He must have been confused, as I didn't know him or recognise him in the slightest. "Get the hell away from me. I don't know you." I said, trying to stay calm but I could feel my pulse speeding up. "Where am I?"

He calmly looked over at me, gestured as though he was going to hold my hand but then he pulled away with a look of despair. "You're in the hospital. You fell. Do you remember the fall?"

I stood there silently. "What fall? Is this some kind of joke?" I stared to get slightly angry now, as I didn't know what the hell was even going on, and I felt like these people were trying to wind me up, or play a prank on me.

The boy with the tattoos spoke again. "The fall. You fell from a four story building, and you hit your head hard. Nobody could believe you even survived, but you hit a tree on your way down, and the doctors are saying that it must have slowed you down and when you hit the floor, it wasn't enough to kill you." He smiled generously. "You're okay now." He said.

I was still so confused. "What are you talking about I said? Who are you?"

He looked blankly at me, and then turned away to cover his eyes while he cried. "She doesn't remember..." He looked over at the other people in the room, standing there completely shocked. "Get the doctor..."

Some time passed while the group of people who were standing in my hospital room, fussing over me, left to find a doctor. I was alone for the first time now since waking up, and I felt strange. I could remember anything about what they were talking about. And who even were they? I had no idea what was happening. Eventually a doctor strolled into the room, pulled up a stool and sat by my bed.

"Hi there." He said. I looked at him in silence. "We need to ask you a few questions, because we think you might have lost some of your memory. Okay?"

I nodded.

"Whats your name?"

"Laura." I said.

"Where do you live?"

"Brighton." I replied. I saw a girl with dark brown hair sob slightly in the corner, right after I answered.

"Where do you work?" He was noting this all down calmly.

"I don't work. I'm at University, in Brighton. I know that. I'm studying Photography for my degree. I'll graduate in a few months... See, I'm fine." I said firmly to him.

He shook his head. "Alright, Laura. The trouble is..." He hesitated. "The trouble is, that you actually graduated a year ago, and moved to London. This is a hospital in London, and these people are your friends, that you met after you graduated and moved here. Do you remember anything about graduating or moving in the last year?" He seemed slightly nervous.

"No?" I said, still really confused.

The doctor stood up. "She's fine to go home. She's completely stable, and healthy. But she's forgotten a lot of the things that have happened this year, so you guys, I suppose you are her friends, will have to look after her very carefully. Do you have any photographs? You'll have to help her try and remember. We will do regular check ups on her to make sure. But you can take her home now." He left swiftly.

After signing some documents and being given some clothes to change into (Which apparently were mine, but I had no recollection of ever wearing or buying them), the group of people walked me out of the hospital and drove me to my house.

I remember pulling into the driveway, and looking at this small, semidetached house and thinking, wow, that's apparently my house. They took me inside and let me sit on the sofa, and offered to make me some coffee.

"How do you like your coffee, Laura?" The unknown girl asked me.

"I don't know." I replied, sadly. I never drank coffee at university, I hated it. Since when did I drink coffee after graduating? I can't even imagine myself doing that.

The boy sat down next to me and pulled out a bunch of scrambled photographs. "We need to start at the beginning, okay? I'll show you every photograph and tell you exactly what happened in each one. These are all of your photographs. You took all of these. I'm hoping it will help you to remember. Remember me, and Alice and Mercedes, okay?"

The names meant nothing to me. I sat there and waited for him to pull out the first photograph, nervous to see everything I had forgotten...

Notes