A Collection of Short Stories

5: Who Am I?

I wake up. I blink. I am in a hospital. How did I know? White walls, hard mattress, constant beeping. Reminds me of a hospital. Have I ever been in a Hospital? I don't know.

A woman in a white coat and two other people come into the room. "Silence," she says calmly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, I guess. Why am I here?"

"What is your name?" she asks me.

"It's- I'm- I don't know," I say. I don't know my name. I panic. I have no clue who I am. Where do I live? Do I have a family? Friends?

I try to calm my hitched breathing. The doctor, I think she's a doctor, places a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "It's okay," she says. "You don't have to panic."

"Okay," I whisper. "Okay."

She leaves and I try to face the other direction. Two people are looking at me expectantly. I blink confusedly a couple of times. "I'm sorry," I say, summoning up the courage. "Can I help you?"

"I told you she's not going to recognize us!" The young boy said to the older woman.

"Jamie, stop it," I say. I wonder how I knew that name. They both gasp. I stare at them with a puzzled expression.

"D-Daniel? Do you recognize us?" the woman asks in a frightened tone.

"I'm sorry. I don't know how I knew that name. I have no clue who- or where I am. I-" I start to ramble on about not knowing anything, except English.

"I'm Fiona, your mother. And Jamie is here too." She pats the small boy on the shoulder. "'He's your brother," she says sadly.

The young boy stared at me with wide eyes. Fiona says, "We'll leave you to recover and think." I watch her sad expression as she walks out the door.

My hands are folded in my lap while I think about what happened. I get a headache, and two images flash in front of me. Two bright beams of light, and then darkness. The aching in my head subsides a little, but I become a bit drowsy. I lie back down again and let the sleep sweep over me. I dream.

In my dream, I am walking along a railroad track. I see two other people besides me. "Where are we headed?" I ask them.

"Towards death, I suppose," the woman replies.

"How do we head towards death?" I ask them again.

"Just follow the railroad track until you get to a station. You must have died early as well. Those who die just right are the closest to the station," the man says.

"Can I ask you for your names?" I ask curiously.

"If you tell us yours in return," the woman says.

"I'm, uh, I- I still don't know. A woman called me Daniel at the hospital," I say carefully.

The man and woman stare at me. "Were you involved in a car accident?" the woman asks.

"I don't know. My head is so confused. Everything comes and goes. I know some strange things that I can't explain. I'm hopeless," I say. "You still haven't told me your names."

"I'm Amanda Downley," the woman says.

"And I'm Jacob Downley," the man says.

My body suddenly feels like it's on fire. Electricity flows through my veins. I choke and gasp. I wake up with a jolt, the burning sensation subsiding slowly. I gasp for more air. My heart races, and slowly calms down. The same happens with my desperate attempts to gasp some air. "Amanda... Jacob..." I mumble softly.

The doctor grabs the nearest phone. Something about those two names must have meant something. Around 15 minutes later, the cops come running in. "Did he say anything else?" I hear a hushed voice say.

"He hasn't said anything else since he woke up. Just those two names," a reply comes.

Moments later, an officer comes close and sits down on a chair next to my bed. "You said two names: Amanda and Jacob," the officer says.

I nod slowly. "What do you know about them?" he prods.

"They died too early," I say. "Too far away from the railway station."

"What railway station?" he asks.

"I don't know. Oh! But they said their last names were Downley," I say absent-mindedly.

"Did they say anything else?"

"They asked me if I was involved in a car accident. Death. They told me we were headed towards death."

The police officer looked at me sceptically. "Did you dream this?"

"I suppose I did. The pain felt so realistic, though. Electricity. A lot of it."

"Okay. Anyway, do you remember anything else from before you woke up at the hospital?"

"Yes. At- at least I think I do."

"What is it?"

I stare off into the distance. "Lights. Bright flashing lights," I say. I nod. More in reassurance of myself, rather than the officer. "Then darkness."

I hear the police officer say something and then walk off just before my vision went dark.

I awake, have check-ups, receive visitors, and go back to sleep. This is my routine for a couple of days.

I fear many things. The officer has shown up multiple times, each time asking if I had remembered anything else. I answer with a shake of my head each time. It is the truth.

I fear many things. I fear spiders. I fear getting arrested. I fear pain. Death is one of the things I do not fear. I fear remembering.

However, I fear never remembering the most.