The first thing that got to her was feeling cold. And the she felt the pain in her body; some parts were numb. She had a weird sensation, a vibration in her body, like waves moving up and down. She tried to move and felt pain from the stones she was on top of. When her vision cleared up, she saw that she was in a river bank. How she got there she couldn’t remember.

She tried to stand up but that was a struggle. She then noticed that her left arm wasn’t working. She closed her eyes from the pain and also to try and remember. All she could make out was a shadow of a man and woman lying on a pool of blood. She tried to remember who those people were but she couldn’t even remember her name.

She found a way out of the river and saw a road ahead and buildings. She knew she wasn’t far from help so she crossed the road and started walking. She saw a restaurant and suddenly realised she was hungry and thirsty. She started shivering as she walked towards the door.

She pushed the door open and everyone was looking at her. She wasn’t fully aware of her state until their eyes showed her; the bruises on her arms and legs, the one dead arm, she felt her knees failing and she succumbed to gravity.

When she woke up she was in a hospital; the tubes on her arm, the beeping of the machine, the smell of disinfectant and the man standing over her with a chart, told her of her surroundings. She didn’t know how she got there or how long she had been there.

“Welcome back,” the man said. “I’m Doctor Ford, and I don’t know who you are.” He looked up at her. “Can you tell me what your name is?” She moved her eyes trying to remember but she couldn’t. She closed them tight. “It’s OK, it’ll come back to you.”

He walked to the foot of the bed and put the chart down. “As soon as you’re strong enough to move, Austin will take care of you,” he said putting both hands in his coat pockets. She looked confused and so he explained. “You fainted in a restaurant and Austin brought you in. You had multiple abrasions, bruised ribs, dislocated shoulder blade and a concussion, among other things. You must have been in an accident.” He smiled at her. “But not to worry, Austin is one of us and he’ll take care of you.”

He turned around and left.

As soon as he was out the door she tried to get up. She removed the drips from arm and put her feet on the cold floor. She couldn’t balance as she only had one arm working, the other was bandaged up. She finally stood up and was trying to figure out where she was heading to, she was confused and now wanted to cry. She took a step and went flying to the ground. But luckily she fell on top of something, someone.

“May I be of assistance to you?” he asked.

Ally didn’t speak, she wasn’t sure if she could or maybe this guy just made her lose all her words. He had striking features; green eyes, a perfectly shaped nose and beautiful small lips. He had a short beard that she started admiring.

His body was warm, strong and gentle at the same time. He had broken her fall and she didn’t even know where he had come from. He shifted under her and helped her up.

He was tall and handsome with short brown hair. She didn’t notice that he was also looking straight at her, their eyes met and Ally felt a sense of belonging. It was rather strange but right there at that moment she felt safe.

“I’m Austin, the one you fell on, before, at the restaurant,” he said. His breath smelled like he had been drinking and Ally wondered what time it was. “May I be of assistance?” he asked again.

She still did not say a word, she just nodded. “Is that a yes?” he asked again she nodded once more.

He then took off his jacket and covered her with it and helped to a door in the room. It was a bathroom and there were some clothes laid out for her; tracksuit pants and a hoodie. There was also a clean towel and a toothbrush. Had he been waiting for her? How long was she here for? She wondered.

When she got dressed they walked out of the hospital with him holding her up.

They walked to his apartment that was a few blocks from where they met. His place was beautiful and very neat. He seemed like a together kind of guy, so why he had been drinking at that time of the day, she wondered. She saw from his big gold clock on the wall that it was 13:00 p.m. it was pretty, she thought to herself.

“It’s German,” he said peeping from the kitchen. She smiled remembering that she just hadn’t said one word to this guy. He’s probably thinking I’m a weirdo, she thought to herself. He came back to the living area and sat down with a sandwich. He motioned for her to seat and she did. He handed it to her and she started eating. Her jaws were just not allowing her to chew properly and eating was uncomfortable.

He introduced himself properly as Austin McQueen, a 25-year- old of age doctor in the same hospital she was in.

“At the moment I’m on leave,” he said looking around the house, avoiding her eyes, “I just need to deal with some personal stuff.”

Ally might have had amnesia but she could notice that he was emotionally wrecked. She wanted to ask what was wrong but she felt it was too early to be asking him about his personal things. Ally wasn’t sure about being all alone with him in his apartment but strangely she felt safe in his house. Austin tried to open up a bit about what had happened but he was in too much pain and he stopped.

“Everything is going to be fine,” were her first words to him.

They sat in the living room talking about random things but Ally couldn’t contribute much to the conversation because she didn’t remember much. It was like a new life with new lessons that she was learning from Austin. It was only when Ally’s watch started beeping, letting her know it was 22:00 p.m., that they noticed the time. She was amazed at how time flew and she laughed because she thought the watch had stopped working, it had not beeped the whole day.

She told Austin she needed to rest she was tired and asked for some pain killers. She walked towards the spare room and he came back to give her the medicine and wished her a good night.

***

Tell us: Do you think Ally’s memory would ever come back? What would you do if you were her?