It felt as if I had woken up into another world, inside another body, at another time. A place where my own name was news to me, a ground shaking news at that.
"Adrian Vance?!"
"Correct," she hummed a reply in agreement. Then asked cautiously, "Do you know what day and date today is?"
I felt an unexplained pressure as my mind started doubting my own memories. Hence, desperate for a reference point, I searched for a calendar to be sure.
—Tink! Instead, a familiar tiny rectangular device on top of the table beside me, about the size of my palms, attracted all of my attention.
"... It's Saturday today and the 15th of November of the year... 2025?!" My eyes widened as I read the texts from the lit screen aloud.
Suddenly, a flood of basic data rushed into my mind, answering the silent questions about my current whereabouts.
"...Yes!" Her inquiries continued, steady and unyielding. "Now tell me, who am I? And where are you?"
"Doctor Sarah Sinclair ...in your office... the Sunflower Hospital" Automatically the words came out, as if I already knew." But how—"
"Why?" She cut me off mid-sentence.
"..." I didn't answer even though I knew 'Why?', as a stubborn part of me I refused to acknowledge it.
"...Let me answer that for you." It felt as if she knew what exactly I was thinking, yet continued forcing the truth. "So that I could treat you. You're suffering from a profound Dissociative Fugue, triggered by the intense neurological trauma of your surgery."
"... What do you mean by that?" It was a question I didn't need an answer to.
"I can see that you already have an answer to that question." She said, my fears aloud. "I know it's not easy to accept such reality-shattering truths. I can just guide you how to face them, but you have to face it on your own. You have to face the reality!"
"What reality? I don't get you."
Yes. I was afraid... Afraid to accept it, afraid to understand it, afraid to hear it, and afraid to even know of it.
I'm certain she could read me, yet her voice was perfectly measured as she delivered the final blow:
"There is no one called Aurelia..."