Beep. Beep. Beep.
'That must be my alarm,' Irene thought, as she reached out and swatted at the alarm clock on her bedside table, but it wasn't there…. Something sharp pinched the inner crook of her elbow. "Ow. What the–?" She yelped silently and opened her eyes.
The room she was in was sterile and cold, unfamiliar to her. Irene looked down at the source of pain in her arm and saw a long plastic tube feeding fluids into her veins. The beeping came from a machine next to her bed, monitoring her heart rate.
"Irene? Somebody, come quick! She's awake," a woman with short blonde hair exclaimed, looking worriedly at Irene.
The darkness rose once more, dragging Irene back to unconsciousness, and she mused silently, 'Please let me sleep for five more minutes.'
A lady doctor in white scrubs entered the room and checked on Irene. "Her heart rate is steady."
"She woke just a few seconds ago. I had just gotten up to get some coffee when I saw her eyes flutter open," the blonde woman said to the doctor, while Irene grasped her consciousness this time, trying to hang on to it as she opened her eyes.
"She's awake again. Irene… you're okay," the blonde woman exclaimed softly.
"She's a fighter! Do you know where you are, Irene?" the doctor said, and Irene shook her head. She honestly couldn't remember ever being in this room in her life.
"What does that mean, Doctor?" the blonde woman asked, her face now etched with worry.
"Just give her a minute, Ashley. Irene, my name is Doctor Martinez, and you are in Blackwood Hospital," Doctor Martinez said, while Irene looked at them blankly. Neither name rang any bell. "Do you remember how you got here?"
"No," Irene croaked out. She swallowed, feeling her parched throat. When she spoke, her voice came out scratchy. "Water?"
"You want some water, sweetheart? Doctor, can she have some water?" Ashley said, as she looked at the doctor.
"Fine, but give her a straw. Small sips, Irene, okay?" Doctor Martinez said, and Irene nodded at her. With the two women fixated on her, neither of them noticed the middle-aged man who entered the room with a cup of water.
"Got a cup right here, ladies. Freshly poured," the man said, while the air in the room changed noticeably. The man was smiling, but the two women were not.
Irene grabbed the cup and gratefully took a sip but noticed the blonde woman—Ashley—looking wounded.
"I could have gotten that just fine," Ashley said, shooting the man a glare.
"You could just say thank you, you know," the man shot back, and as Irene watched them, she couldn't help but muse to herself, 'Huh, they must know one another.'
Ashley and Doctor Martinez turned their scowls back to the strange man. "I thought I told you we would call you when she woke up, Detective," Doctor Martinez grumbled, clearly not pleased to see the man in the room.
"You did, but I decided to stick around. Like you said, she's a fighter," the detective commented.
"Couldn't they have sent someone else? You questioning her like this, it's not appropriate," Ashley said, glaring at the detective.
"There isn't anyone else. The station has its hands full, if you recall. I just need to ask Irene here a couple of questions," the detective said, while the doctor scowled at him.
"Well, you are interfering with my medical evaluation," Doctor Martinez commented.
"What evaluation? I was standing just outside the door when you said she was fine. Now it's my turn to ask questions," the detective responded.
"Wait," Irene's voice was suddenly heard, and the three of them fell silent, looking at her. "If anyone should be asking questions, it's me. What is going on? What am I doing here?" she asked, while Ashley's eyes suddenly turned worried, and she turned to the doctor.
"Doctor?" Ashley called out.
"It's going to be alright… Temporary memory loss is unusual for these types of situations, but not unheard of," Doctor Martinez assured.
"How are you feeling, honey? Be honest with us," Ashley said, looking at Irene.
"My head hurts," Irene answered.
"Also not unusual, given that you were found unconscious."
"That's enough, doctor. I'd really like for Irene to give me a picture of what happened without hearing the story from someone else first," the detective chimed in.
"Right, and who are you again?" Irene asked, while the man looked at her, surprised. Irene looked over at Ashley and Doctor Martinez, who appeared clearly shocked as well.
"Irene… Do you know who this woman is?" Doctor Martinez asked, nodding toward Ashley.
"You said her name was Ashley," Irene answered.
"When you woke up, did you know her name?" Doctor Martinez asked Irene clearly again.
"No, I didn't," Irene responded.
"I'm Detective Diego Rogovesk, with the Blackwood Police. Irene, you don't remember your Aunt Ashley?" Diego said, while Irene shook her head as Ashley put a hand over her mouth and gasped.
'Are we related? Why can't I remember her?' Irene wondered, fixing her gaze on Ashley.
Looking at the confusion on Irene's face, Ashley snapped her head to the doctor and said in a loud voice, "You said she was fine!"
"The scan we took didn't reveal any head trauma… This doesn't make any sense! Irene, what can you tell me about yourself?" Doctor Martinez asked.
"Well, that's easy, I'm—" Irene tried to say something about herself, but the words just didn't come.
"Where are you from?" Doctor Martinez asked again, and Irene looked thoughtfully at her.
"You said this was Blackwood Hospital, right? I must be from Blackwood," she answered.
"But do you remember that, or did you just hear the doctor say it?" Diego questioned, making Irene frown, and her heart started beating faster as she realized that she didn't remember anything or anyone, causing her to panic internally. The faces surrounding her were supposed to be familiar, but all she could see were strangers.
"Where are my parents?" Irene blurted out, and her panic only worsened as Ashley's expression paled to one of horror at what she had just asked.
"Did something happen to them? What happened to me? Why can't I remember anything?"
"Honey, it's okay, just take deep breaths," Ashley said, while the strange machine that woke her up started to beep faster and faster. Somewhere outside her room, an alarm sounded.
"Her heart rate is increasing… You two need to leave, now!" Doctor Martinez said, but Ashley shook her head stubbornly.
"No, I'm not leaving her! She needs me," Ashley said as she grabbed Irene's hand. Irene struggled to remember something, anything about the woman, but her mind just came up blank. Nurses rushed in to help Doctor Martinez stabilize Irene, as she felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest.
"Ashley, let the doctor do her job," Diego said, and Irene watched as he forced a panic-stricken Ashley out of the room.
Irene didn't notice Doctor Martinez injecting something into her IV, something that made her feel suddenly powerless against sleep, and she slumped back against her pillows.