Chapter 1

Christian awakes from a coma he has been in for 5 months. He has woken up with retrograde amnesia and a series of operations that leave him unrecognisable.

Christian hears the muffled sounds of the nurses whispering amongst themselves barely able to hear over the sound of the machines bleeping.

Opening his eyes for the first time in months, it takes a few minutes for Christian to realize where he is. He can’t speak as he feels the uncomfortable endotracheal tube down his throat, panic erupts through him as he tries to pull it out. The nurses rush around him as one of them removes the pipe and the others try to comfort him. Finally able to speak he asks for some water before asking 'what happened'

'You don't remember ' the soft angelic voice of one of the nurses a dark red-haired girl 'I'm Cheryl and I'll be your nurse' she introduces herself. 'The doctor will be doing his rounds soon and he will be able to talk to you some more and find out what's going on!'

Christian explains how he doesn't remember anything not even his name. 'You were in some sort of accident, you were dropped of here by a friendly couple who said they had found you in the water, we have had to do a lot of surgeries. You've suffered terribly, four broken ribs, a broken jaw and a fractured skull. You suffered a nasty infection in your Jaw which meant you had to have a transplant. We have also had to give you surgery on your skull. Your injuries were so extensive we had to re- build your face!

Christian then asks for a mirror. As he looks at his reflection, perplexed, he doesn't recognize himself, he is still heavily bandaged, he convinces himself he will recognize himself when the bandages come off. 'How long have I been here' Christian asks trying to clear his throat 'well I'm afraid You've been here for a while, about five months, we had to keep you under sedation so your body could cope with the surgeries.



That afternoon Christian was visited by Dr Chan, he had been practicing medicine for 20 years and presented well, with a good bedside manner. He had been watching over Christian for a while and was hoping he would pull through; he had come to be rather invested in this patient. Not that he hadn’t always showed a high level of care to all his patients, just that sometimes there would be one’s that pulled on his heart strings more than others.



‘Afternoon, do you remember anything from the accident you were involved in?’ ‘No’ explains Christian. ‘Ah it seems like you are suffering from retrograde amnesia, this is where a person can remember new information but cannot remember previous events before your accident. I see this a lot in patients who have suffered from a head injury like yourself.’ Will I ever get my memory back?’ asks Christian. Dr Chan looks at Christian and smiles ‘one step at a time, I can’t be too sure but over time you should start to remember something, they may be hazy at first but I'm confident you will regain something. Let me organize an MRI and a CT scan and see how things have changed now you are awake and talking?’ Thanks Christian says as he begins to process what he has just been told.

The next morning Christian awakes to the nurses checking his observations, he thinks to himself they must have changed over through the night as Christian notices Cheryl is no longer working and a new nurse, quite plump in appearance with a harsh voice has taken over. She isn’t so sweet and gentle as Cheryl and Christian is rather taken back by her no-nonsense attitude. She grabs Christian's arm and slides the blood pressure cuff up to his biceps. She then pulls out the thermometer and pushes into his ear. Once she has finished doing his observations she mumbles ‘breakfast’ and before Christian can say anything she shoves a bowl of lumpy porridge and a carton of orange juice onto his tray.



Looking in the mirror Christian looked at himself wondering what his story was behind his hollow eyes. Had he been married, did he have a family somewhere out there, so many questions yet still no answers. Seeing his face without bandages, he felt a mix of thoughts feelings and emotions, pickets of information flashed before his eyes, he couldn’t make out if they were memories or just by what he had been told. ‘I suppose I’d better give myself a name’ he said out loud before he had noticed. ‘That's a great Idea came a sweet and calm voice’ ‘Cheryl, I hadn’t noticed you there, it's good to see a familiar face’ echoed Christian. Cheryl had been on vacation and her skin was glowing even more than usual and her warm colour skin made all the patients yearn for a holiday of their own. Afterall anywhere was better than then on the ward He was pleased to see her, especially as he remembered the unpleasant experience with the other nurse. ‘I’ve bought you some things, just some old clothes my brother left before he moved out, I thought they would come in handy, you will be discharged soon and can’t walk around in that gown forever, even if blue is your colour’ ‘err er thank you, what do you think of the name Christian?’ ‘Christian’ repeated Cheryl. ‘Such a strong name, Christian its is’ and with that Christian smiled.

Until recently Cheryl had lived with her brother, in the home she had inherited from her mother and Father. She had a happy childhood, memories full of love and laughter and when her mother passed away from cancer she was left to care for her father until he too passed, she had always liked the thought her dad had passed away from a broken heart rather than a heart attack. Her mother and father were still madly in love even at the very end. Cheryl always thought everyone deserved a second chance sometimes even a third sometimes, even when they didn’t always deserve them. She was very street wise and could look after herself and she certainly wasn’t naive. She just had a beautiful way with people, perhaps this is why she became a nurse.

Cheryl’s brother Stan had wanted to see the world and was happy for Cheryl to take over the management of their home, it was what seemed to make the most sense. Neither of them ready to let go of the home that held so many cherished memories. Cheryl had not long been a qualified nurse, when her father passed away, she was only 33, she gained her degree a Batchelor of science in nursing and took four years to complete at Seattle University USA. She enjoyed a good social life but wasn’t one who loved to drink, in-fact a hangover was something she really despised. She preferred to get lost in a good book, usually some sort of romantic novel. Although she supported her brother in his own dreams, she hadn’t thought beyond her dreams of becoming a nurse and now that she had accomplished that she often felt as though something was missing.

(Christian, a handsome man, with his broad shoulders like titan, thick brown locks, and dark brown eyes. Eyes you could get lost in if you looked to deeply into them for any length of time, with warm olive skin. He carried a chiseled jaw, with prominent cheek bones, and was strong in structure.) Not sure if this will go here!

‘Ready to be discharged’ Doctor Chan had been on his rounds and the final stop was Christian. Christian was sat upright on the bed, looking a far cry to what Dr Chan had last seen him looking like. ‘Christian gave a nervous nod; he wasn’t quite sure where he was being discharged too and knew he had nowhere to go. Dr Chan could feel Christians nervous anxiety just as Cheryl popped her head around the door. ‘Is it ok if I come to have a quick chat to Christian’ Dr Chan nodded and smiled as he left the room. It was Cheryl's turn to be nervous, and she wasn’t sure if what she was about to say would be the right thing for her to do, but she couldn’t help but she knew she wanted to help, and nothing was about to change her mind. ‘My ...my brother has recently just moved out so I....I... I have a spare room and well its yours if you want it’ she said hurriedly finishing her sentence, her face pink and warm to the touch. Christian is grateful to accept, partly knowing he has nowhere else to go, and partly intrigued as to why she would be so kind and open her home up to a stranger.


‘Here we are, it's not much, but er well it’s mine and it's all I have left’ ‘Chery lived in a small modest three-bedroom terraced cottage, the walls covered in childhood photos and mirabilia from their favorite holiday destinations, school photos neatly positioned in order one by one up the stairs. A flowery green carpet lines the floorboards, and the smell of home cooked stew fills the air. You can sense Cheryl's apprehension for change, she loves that home mainly for what it stands for. Love and family! she can’t bring herself to renovate it just yet, even though she knows it needs to be done at some point but now isn’t the right time. A quiet street a few minutes' walk away from the town center and a short bus ride to work, tall blossom trees line the streets, giving you the feeling of being in a romantic movie as you walked down the road.

Christian was just grateful to have a place to stay and as it happened, he instantly felt at home, perhaps he could feel the warmth and love that once filled this place as he looked around, he smiled to himself something he thought felt familiar, he couldn’t quite remember what, it was like he just knew. ‘I’ll show you to your room’ ‘Thankyou’ exclaimed Christian. As Christian settled himself in, all he could think about was what his life had been like before, had he been wealthy? did he have parents still alive? Did he have kids? A wife? Answers he had no way of knowing until his memory returned, if it returns!

Author's Note

First draft ...I'll worry about grammar and punctuation later

Reviews

[eliot.carter]

The story is taking shape nicely, it includes elements of suspense with what happened prior to accident. the question of explaining the features of Christian can be from POV of Cheryl.
Love to see how the next chapter turns out. Cheers