Woman in white dress

"I will...look...for you..."

A soft, cold and sticky feeling rubbed against Stellar's cheek, unusual wind penetrated her nostrils and her body was stiff as if it had just moved for the first time in centuries. Her eyes then flickered, slowly opened to see a white Persian cat licking her right cheek.

"Meow?"

Just standing up took her a huge amount of effort. Groggily, her eyes scanned the unfamiliar place around her. A small dead-end alley, huge garbage bin beside her and not to mention the awful smell welcomed her consciousness. She tried to dig into the depths of her consciousness what happened and how she ended up in this filthy place but nothing rang a bell. As her nose began to distinguish the foul smell engulfing the place, a set of small coughs escaped her lips. She then covered her nose and mouth.

"Where am I?"

Though she wasn't sure where to go, the first thing that came into her mind was to escape the unpleasant rotten smell beside her. She started walking out of the alley but stopped on her tracks when the Persian cat playfully scratched her feet, bouncing from left to right. She then knelt down.

"Hello, little one. Do you want to come with me?" A smile crawled against her lips as she patted its head, admiring its beautiful soft white fur that looked well-maintained. It doesn't even look like a stray cat.

The cat meowed, jumped into her arms without further hesitation as if agreeing and licked her cheeks. The tickling feeling made her giggle.

"Okay, okay, I understand. I'll take you with me." She said between soft laughs.

Stellar muddled its fur before finally lifting it into her arms and walked outside the alley. But to her surprise, all her eyes could see were tall structures, bustling vehicles that came from both directions and a swarm of people, striding, bumping into each other like the whole world is in chaos. She felt light-headed just by looking at them. She was confused and fear started to flow in her nerves. A few people scowled and scanned her from head to toe. Those judging stares were familiar, stripping her naked, strangling her in the neck. She moved a step backwards.

Where am I?

Her eyes fell to the huge glass window across her and witnessed how awful she looked. Long, white off-shoulder dress hugged her slim figure, barefoot, her light brown hair was chaotic like she was harassed by a thousand men and her small face was full of dirt.

Her heart raced with the confusion of what happened. Everything around her seemed new to her and she has no single idea of what to do or where to go. Her mind was a blank slate. Though trembling, she grasped the small tinge of courage she had left, lowered her head as she left everything to her feet, scrubbing against the cold cemented floor, wherever hell it would wish to take her.

She, however, accidentally bumped into an elder man with shabby clothing, "Look where you're going!" he yelled at her.

And into another, "Hey, watch out!"

"Ew, weirdo!"

Stellar continued to walk, without any maps, arrows or compasses to help her reach the right destination, until a huge, rough hand gripped her arm, digging deep into her skin. The cat in her arms hissed, its blue eyes went to a vertical thin line.

When she looked up, she saw a middle-aged man towered at her, his grin was menacing, a gold tooth shined from the upper part of his discoloured set of teeth, "Hey, beautiful. Why are you alone? Want to come and play?"

The guy smelled danger like a devil's advocate and Stellar knew she had to get away from him as soon as possible. She pulled her arm from his grip but the guy held her tighter, his grin widen.

"Let go of me!" she growled at him.

The guy didn't budge. Instead, he started walking, pulling her to follow him. Then at that moment, the cat jumped from her arms upon sensing her rage. As if it was her second nature, Stellar held the filthy arm on her and spun it around. She heard a bone cracked before tossing the man in the air until he landed on the floor. She was even surprised herself that she was able to topple down a man twice her size. The man screamed in pain as it left him a broken arm.

Stellar heard someone shriek and murmurs filled the previous bustling street. She then lifted her gaze to a crowd eyeing her like she was a monster, someone who doesn't belong to their world.

Those eyes...

She stood up and the crowd backed away from her as if she carried an infectious disease. Cold sweats trickled against her temples, her stomach churned as people whispered, "She's crazy!", "Call the police", "Monster"

Stellar ran as fast as she could. She wanted to be away from everyone, from those sharp stares that stabbed a thousand knives into her chest. Her breaths were heavy, the soles of her feet started to ache but it was nothing compared to the pang on her chest.

Until a sharp honk of a vehicle caught her off guard and she jumped backwards.

Stellar lost her balance and her ankle bent to the side, snapping her bones and she was knocked over to the cemented road. She covered her ears and shrieked. The salty liquid then flowed against her cheeks. She doesn't know what to do. All she could muster at that moment was to cry her heart out. The fear, the confusion, all of it.

What happened to me?

Where will I go?

"Good heavens. Are you okay?" asked by a woman's voice but Stellar couldn't find the strength to stop and lift her head. Huge commotion surrounded her in an instant but her body trembled so bad that all the people didn't matter anymore. She just wanted to cry until she felt numb.

A soft warm hand held her shoulder that she jerked. It made her wince as the pain pricked her right ankle. It was then that she lifted her head to a sophisticated woman which Stellar guessed was already in her early thirties. Her dark brown hair was cut into a short bob cut, wearing a red dress, dark denim jacket and black pumps.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?"

Though the woman gave Stellar a strong impression, she didn't fail to notice how her voice faltered. There was a hint of both fear and compassion in her deep-set eyes.

Instead of responding, however, Stellar's gaze fell on her familiar eyes. Those chocolate brown eyes that though she felt like she had seen it a thousand times, never would she get tired of admiring it. Right there she knew she had finally found someone recognizable in the middle of that traumatizing place. And in just a blink of an eye, ignoring the throbbing pain in her ankle, she jumped on the lady's arms and wailed so hard as if a little girl crying in her older sister's arms.

The woman stiffened, unsure of what to do. She gazed at both sides of the crowd as if asking for help but when no one dared to move closer, she heaved a deep breath and caressed Stellar's back saying, "Hush. You don't need to be scared. You're safe now."

Loud honks hollered from a few vehicles around them and spectators gathered together, eyeing them. Though this time, it didn't intimidate Stellar as it did earlier because of the woman's comforting presence. She then saw a few people lifted their phones, directed towards their direction, followed by a few sets of blinking light.

The woman held Stellar's arm and slowly lifted her to stand up. When she flinched, the woman looked around, "Can someone please help me? She's hurt."

Thankfully, a blonde, short-haired guy, probably in his early thirties as well stepped forward from the huge crowd. He held Stellar's feet and softly pressed it by the ankle. When she writhed in pain, he said, "She broke her ankle. We need to get her to the hospital."

Without another word, he lifted her into his arms, bridal style. Stellar was then forced to grab him on the neck to prevent herself from falling, his strong chest scrubbed against her beneath his black shirt.

"Our hospital is the nearest one from here. We could go there." He directed towards the woman which just nodded in response.

The woman opened the door of a small yellow vehicle where she came out earlier and the guy with a soft gaze, tall nose and thin lips like someone attractively blessed by the heavens, alertly placed her at the back seat. Based on his tall and bulky figure, Stellar doubted that he would fit inside the vehicle but she was proven otherwise when he did it without any problem and sat at one of the two seats at the front. The woman, on the other hand, gracefully jogged around the car despite her troubled expression, sat beside the guy and had the car running.

The guy gave the woman directions to where they were supposed to go. After a few minutes and the ride went smooth, he turned to Stellar, "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

There was a tinge of worry in his beautiful green eyes peeking behind those thick lashes. It was beautiful and mesmerizing. It perfectly blended into his beautiful, innocent feature that shouted nice guy.

"Yes. Thank you so much." Stellar replied.

"My name is Kath." The woman said, shifting her gaze back and forth between the road and the small mirror between her and the guy. She then gave the guy an inquisitive look.

The guy flashed a smile at her, "I'm Joshua."

Stellar studied his face. He looked familiar like he was someone that she knew very well. But his actions told her that she was wrong. He might've resembled someone that she knew before but she couldn't remember who. Or it could probably just be her wild imagination.

When she failed to give a response and left awestruck at the guy instead, Joshua knitted his brows before his lips tugged into a side smile and said, "How about you? What's your name?"

That was when Stellar was snapped back into reality and she tilted her head to the side, her brows furrowed. Nothing comes into her mind. Neither her name nor any single idea of what she was before she woke up beside a foul smelling garbage can with which she guessed she must've smelled just the same.

"My name―" her voice stuttered. Her hands became cold from the realization that she couldn't remember anything, "I...I don't know..."

Who am I?

What am I?

Where did I come from?

...those were the words that filled her mind. She was an empty tank. That's why she didn't know where to go. That's why she was clueless about everything. Stellar swallowed hard and dug deeper into her memory, hoping she could remember even just her name but a throbbing pain started to emerge at the sides of her head.

She clenched her fists above her knee, "I'm so sorry...I...I don't know my name..." a croak then escaped her lips.

Both Joshua and Kath looked at each other, their eyes communicated and their faces were both in shock and dilemma.

"I'm sorry." Kath managed to say.

"I don't know what happened but we'll have you checked at the hospital. Don't worry. We're just here." Joshua smiled.

Stellar could only nod in response. She wanted to hold onto those last three words but she knew that she's just a random stranger for these two good-hearted people. There's still the truth lurking around that they had to part ways at the end of the day but just Joshua's words of consolation meant so much.

"Great! We're finally here!" Kath cheered with a sigh of relief as her well-painted nails tapped the wheel in front of her.

There was a huge white structure with signs that Stellar couldn't even understand in front of them. Their vehicle rolled inside the steeled gate and a soft shake cued their entry inside the premises. They made a turn to the right and a soft halt in between two larger black and grey vehicles.

"Where are we?" Stellar asked as soon as she was able to properly scoot in Joshua's arms.

A crease formed against Kath's forehead as if she just asked an unusual question, "We're at a hospital."

"Hospital?"

Just like Kath, Joshua tilted his head at the side in confusion, his eyes eyed her inquisitively, "Don't you know what a hospital is?"

Their looks of confusion told Stellar that she had just asked the strangest question ever as if she was expected to know what a hospital was. She felt dumb and her shoulders dropped, "I'm sorry."

But Kath held her hand and peered into her face, "You don't have to stress yourself. Let's just ask the doctors to check on you so that we'll know what's wrong and I'll call the police. They can help us locate your family."

There was sincerity in her assurance that Stellar found herself nodding at her.

ϔϔϔ

"She has no complications or any signs of head injury but her brain nerves looked the same as a baby." The doctor said with brows knitted above his navy eyes. He fixed his glasses hanging above his nose bridge as he stared at the X-ray film in front, "...but she still has to be examined further. We still don't know about the cause but this might be a rare case."

"With rare case, what do you mean by that?"

Kath left the strange woman in the emergency room as she was being interrogated by the police and now her head spun with the doctor's explanation about rare cases. She's not the science-inclined kid in school nor does she have praiseworthy grades but she's currently in front of fifteen lighted monitors with different X-ray films and it made her feel cold sweats. She doesn't understand anything, as if it was a foreign language still laid undiscovered by humankind.

If only Joshua was here.

But he left earlier saying he has a very important meeting to attend. Well, Kath could never be thankful enough that he helped her earlier despite his schedule.

Kath internally groaned. Who would've thought that her simple grocery day would give her a huge twist of finding a lost innocent woman with no memories?

Shall I consider this as fate? Or just a mere coincidence?

In normal circumstances, she wouldn't bother this much with a stranger. However, with that woman, she felt a connection. A small voice in her head told her that she shouldn't leave her alone and she was her responsibility. Right now, Kath just wanted to locate her family and get it over with.

She was lost in her thoughts, drowned in a deep ocean of possibilities and what ifs, and trailed off with the doctor's explanation until one sentence caught her attention, "It is most likely that she has Dementia."

"What? Did I hear it right? Dementia?"

The doctor nodded, his eyes glued to the screen and scrubbed his chin, "Possibly in the worst stage since she can't remember anything at all and I'm guessing she already had this as a child. Usually, people at this stage already has death around the corner but we don't have her previous medical records so we have to keep an eye on her. For now, you can just take her home and let her rest. I'll give you prescriptions for her memory loss to take."

"But she's..." Kath turned her gaze to the woman's image behind the ceiling-to-floor glass window. She sat on one of the hospital beds and talked, more like arguing, with the two policemen in front of her. Her feet were already casted and she looked miserable. Her face looked exhausted and almost at the brink of breaking down.

I just hope she finds her family.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you, doc."

As soon as the doctor gave her the woman's medicine prescriptions, Kath excused herself to go to where the she was. The woman looked innocent, the combination of her light brown hair, green eyes and silky skin made her looked sacred. Her long white silky dress gave Kath the impression that she was a perfect depiction of someone that was sent down from the heavens.

Kath smiled to herself. Just like an Angel.

"I...I can't remember a thing!" the woman argued, trying to keep her voice low, and the two policemen sighed in surrender.

There was pure blues in the woman's eyes. If it was Kath, she could imagine herself hyperventilating and throwing tantrums. Not to mention throwing things from within her reach to the two policemen who were trying to get the goods on her when she can't remember a single thing. But this woman tried to remain calm as much as she could despite the visible tears threatening to fall from her eyes and Kath admired her for being this strong.

"How did it go?" Kath chimed in, directing the question to the policemen. She noticed how the woman's expression softened with the sight of her and she felt overwhelmed.

Good heavens. How can I leave her alone?

The older policeman, who looked like in his forties, semi-bald hair and introduced himself as Inspector Nick Gomez, shrugged, "Unfortunately, there are no reports of her missing. We can't locate her family because she can't even remember a single thing."

The woman's shoulders dropped, disappointment etched on her face.

"What do you suggest we do?" Kath asked again.

"For now, we have to take her to the police station. She broke someone's arm and was charged for assault." This time, Matthew Merrit, the younger one who is about in his late twenties answered.

Kath's eyes widened by the unexpected turn of events. This woman broke someone's arm and charged for assault is the last thing that she thought could happen. Snow in summer is even more believable than this.

"But he tried to force me to come to play with him." the woman looked frustrated, her lips were pursed, "I told him that I don't want to but he wouldn't listen. I was in a dilemma and he approached me at the wrong time."

Kath didn't know if she will laugh or pity the her impeccable view. She didn't even understand what that pervert guy meant with play. Deep inside, Kath cheered for her for putting that guy in his right place.

Looks of amusement were also written on the policemen's faces, Matthew then stated, "Then you have to come with us and tell us your side of the story. We'll see what we could do after."

The woman just nodded in surrender.

After Kath bought the woman's prescribed medicines and conveyed the doctor's instructions, she handed it to her as they stood in front of the police car outside the hospital. It was already dark and the red and blue flashes from the car didn't fail to emphasize the heaviness of the situation.

"Thank you for helping me today. It means a lot."

Though the woman flashed a smile, Kath could see her lips trembling. How could the heavens bring such unfortunate surprises to this woman in just a span of a day?

Kath hugged her and said, "Take care okay, be strong."

She nodded, and Kath could feel her body trembling. She tried to be strong but this might be her breaking point, her beautiful green eyes, watery. As the woman went inside the police car, Kath felt she had let go of something important.

Like she had just let go of a sister that she should've protected.