Remember

Leyon didn't know why his head was hurting as if a big truck had run over it when he woke up that morning. The first thing he could make out from his cloudy vision was the figure of a small girl sitting beside the bed where he rested. Her eyes were fixed on him, but he had no clue who she was.

Leyon blinked a couple of times to shake off the blurriness and to get a clearer look at the girl, but she suddenly stood up in an alarmed manner as if shocked to see him awake and ran out of the room before he had the chance to identify her. A few minutes later, the door to his room clicked open, and his ears picked up the sound of footsteps approaching him. His vision cleared, but the same could not be said for his throbbing head.

"How are you feeling?" a man wearing a white coat asked him. Judging from his appearance, Leyon guessed he was the doctor who had been tending to him. So, he was in the hospital? What had happened to him? He couldn't recall anything, and his head hurt, even more, when he tried to force himself to remember. Maybe he should ask the doctor. An explanation from a medical professional would probably be more helpful than anything his mind could come up with at the moment.

Leyon could feel the weight and pressure of his throbbing head raining down on him as he rose to a sitting position on the bed. The soft pillow acted as a cushion for the upper half of his body as he leaned back, with the doctor helping to adjust his body posture before starting to examine him.

"Eyes normal, tongue? Open your mouth, please. That's it. Everything seems to be fine. Nothing serious," the doctor continued, his gloved hand inspecting the bandage that was wrapped around Leyon's head. After he was done checking Leyon's overall condition, he turned to the person beside him and smiled.

It was the girl from before; Leyon identified.

"He's all good now, little girl," the doctor said to the girl.

Leyon was all the more confused. That little girl looked to be around the same age as him. Did he know this girl? His mind didn't give him an answer. The door to his room opened once again. A lady wearing a classic business outfit entered the room. In her hand was a small black file case. Her heels clicked loudly on the tiled floor as she made her way toward him.

"Hi. My name's Susan," she greeted the doctor, extending her right hand.

"Yes. And you are?" the doctor asked, squinting his eyes as he shook Susan's hand.

"I'm the boy's caretaker. I come from the orphanage," Susan replied. "I've been looking for him everywhere. Good thing I came here, otherwise, I was about to file a missing child report," she added.

"I see. Well, you don't have to worry about him now. He just needed a few stitches," said the doctor. "I'm afraid it'll leave a scar but he'll be fine after taking enough rest."

Shifting her gaze to Leyon, Susan shot him a blank look before adjusting her eyeglasses and moving toward him. She stopped right beside his bed and stood there. "Do you remember me? I'm Susan," she said to Leyon.

Leyon slowly nodded his head.

"Little girl? Why are you standing silently over there? Don't you want to say anything to him? He's awake now," the doctor said to the girl, catching both Leyon and Susan's attention in the process.

Leyon would have forgotten the existence of the little girl had the doctor not addressed her presence any sooner. Leyon trailed the little girl's movements as she approached him with teary eyes. She stood close to the other side of his bed and smiled at him. Weird. The girl was really weird. "Who are you?" Leyon asked. The little girl's smiling face instantly paled at his question.

"What are you talking about, boy? Do you not know her?" the doctor interrupted him.

"No. I don't," Leyon's replied.

"Do you remember how you got hurt?" Susan asked.

"... No. I can't... remember," Leyon answered.

"That's strange," the doctor muttered, coming forward to check up on Leyon again. "Can you tell me your name?" he asked.

"My name is Leyon."

"Good. Do you know about your family?" the doctor continued asking Leyon.

"My parents... died in a car accident. I came to live here with my granny, but she died too."

"Tell me what happened after your granny died," the doctor went on.

"I remember her funeral. I remember the villagers. They were there at her funeral. And... and... I can't remember." Leyon clutched his head, wincing in pain.

"It's okay. Don't push yourself." The doctor comforted him.

"How did I come here? How did I get hurt?" Leyon questioned the doctor.

"So, you don't remember why you're in the hospital or how you hurt your head? This is serious!" Susan interrupted their conversation. "Ahem. Excuse me," she said awkwardly.

"Come, Miss Susan. We need to talk. Let's go look at his test results." With that said, both Susan and the doctor left the room.

Now that Leyon was alone with the weird little girl, he decided it was the right time to ask her some questions. "Do I know you?" Leyon asked but received no reply. "Are you Susan's daughter?" At his next question, the girl furiously shook her head, implying that she was not Susan's daughter. "What's your name?" Leyon continued. "Can't you speak? Hey, where you going-" Leyon wasn't able to finish his sentence as the girl suddenly rushed out of the room, shutting the door loudly behind her.