CHAPTER 8

Chapter 10

The girl finally awakened after two months of waiting. The three young men dashed over to the girl's location. Kheed was overjoyed with the news, not because of the mission, but because he could finally meet and talk to the girl. While Luke and Luther were both thinking about the mission. It's been a long time for the young man, and now that she's awake, he's not going to waste another year.

"Where is she?" Kheed asked the doctor, who had just emerged from the woman's room. The doctor was taken aback, not expected the young men to appear immediately. "She's inside, but she's — wait! You need to know something first!" the doctor yelled at the three impatient men.

They entered quickly and noticed a young woman sitting on the edge of the bed. She was wearing a bandage on both her head and arm, and a cast on her legs. Some scars can still be seen, though they have faded. Nonetheless, her beauty is stunning, leaving Kheed speechless. "Shit...She's even better in person,"

The lady felt someone enter the room and slowly turned around seeing the three handsome young men.

The first man who entered has a happy aura around him, while the second man seemed to be strict. The third and final young man to enter was surrounded by a dark aura. It scared her, but she couldn't help but admire its handsomeness.

"Hello!" Kheed said, waving his hand. The girl did not respond, instead staring at him. Luther couldn't help himself; he walked past Kheed in front of him and then said, "Tell me what you see."

The girl didn't understand what he was saying because her gaze was fixed on the young man in question. "Is she deaf?" Lucas asked. "What a waste of beauty," Kheed responded with a shake.

Luther's jaw clenched, irritated at wasting time. "I hate repeating," he said.

The girl's eyes are filled with fear, reclines in her seat, "W-who are you?" 

"She doesn't know us, dude," Kheed whispered to Lucas. To lighten up the atmosphere Kheed smiles and waved again as he approached the girl, but the girl was scared because of Luther. She once more retreated to her seat. 

 "You don't need to fvcking know, now tell me what you see," Luther said, his jaw clenched.

The girl was terrified once again. She attempted to stand but was unable to do so due to the cast on her leg. The doctor they had seen earlier entered the situation. "Please, let her rest; she just woke up, and this kind of tension would cause her further trauma."

"No, I need to fcking talk to her," Luther said, his annoyance growing. "I know you have a lot of questions for her, but she will never answer them."

"Then I'll force her to talk," the young man said as he was about to re-enter the room. "I think you don't understand; what I mean is that no matter what you do or force her to talk about, she will never answer any of your questions because she has amnesia."

The three were baffled by what they heard, then turned to look at the girl, who was curled up and crying on the bed. "What do you mean?" Lucas inquired.

"This is what I should have said if you hadn't rushed in," the doctor replied with a shake of her head. "She had completely lost her memory."

Kheed's mouth dropped open as he looked at the girl. " Shit..."  

"But how?" Lucas asked, perplexed, as Luther thought quietly. " Just like I told you on the phone, the collision was so severe that she suffered a brain injury. " The doctor responded, "I will explain; when you bumped your head and body, it rattled your brain around in your skull damaging delicate tissues. Damaging some parts of the brain can cause problems in connectivity regions called diaschisis that has been linked to an imbalance in brain chemistry, specifically in the neurotransmitter acetylcholine which helps regulate signaling in the brain and plays an important role in attention and motivation"

"Wait a minute, doc, don't you have a simpler explanation? My brain is bleeding and I still can't understand what you're saying," Kheed said, his hands on his head. The doctor chuckled, "Brain injury isn't like a broken bone or laceration. Brains are much less predictable. Sometimes due to the way the swelling tissue presses against the skull, it can cause some impairment. And swelling can cause confusion or memory loss,"

"There are two types of amnesia: retrograde and anterograde amnesia," the doctor explains. "Retrograde means you've lost your ability to recall events that occurred just before the event, while anterograde means you've lost your ability to form new memories. In her case, she has Retrograde amnesia; she can't remember anything, even her name."

"Is it permanent?" Lucas finally inquired. "No one knows; it may be temporary, but it still depends on the patient and her surroundings; if her family supported and guided her throughout her treatment, there may be a case where she can regain her memories," the doctor responded. Kheed and Lucas both nodded in response. While Luther appeared to be deep in thought.

"If you don't have any more questions, I'm leaving but please, refrain from asking her. She needs rest." the doctor said to the three gentlemen. The two said their goodbyes politely. He returned his gaze to the young woman, now sleeping soundly in the room by the window. "Poor her, she lost her memory," Kheed said pitiful towards the girl. 

"This actually works in our favor," Lucas said, drawing their attention. "If she really did have amnesia, we don't have to keep her; and be our problem."

"You're right about that but... Aww, I still want to keep her company." Kheed said weakly.

 " No, we're still going to keep her," Luther said, surprising the two. "What? What for?" 

"There's no guarantee that she has those; anyone can pretend to lose their memories, and I know for a fact that she is one of those people," the young man explained solemnly as he looked at the girl.

"The doctor said it, Luther," Lucas said, sighing. "I saw her eyes, she's scared, which means she knows something, and she saw me."

"Dude, anyone who saw you earlier will be terrified; you look like you could eat her alive." Kheed shook his head, trying not to laugh.

"How are you going to keep her then?" Lucas asked, knowing that no matter what they said, his friend's mind would not change. "If she can fake her illness, then I can, too," Luther said looking seriously at the woman.

"What do you mean?" the two were perplexed.

" Pretend to be her lover."