And now for Chapter 3! This chapter picks up right where Chapter 2 left off.
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I look to Ms. Satou for support here, but her face only shows surprise. What is there to be surprised about? I look over to the mystery woman, and her face shows the same thing. Did I say something offensive?
“I-I thought y-you couldn’t r-remember any-anything?” the mystery woman asks. Did I remember something? I still can’t think of what her name is. I try to remember what I just said.
Can’t you take a compliment, Hanako?
Is that her name? Hanako? How was I able to say it without even realizing? Did I just say it out of reflex? Well, that can’t be anything but a good thing, but I still can’t remember anything about her or Ms. Satou.
“It would seem that I do remember your name, Hanako. Unfortunately, I can’t remember anything else. You must be pretty important to me, though, if I could remember your name before I could even remember my own name,” I say, hoping to get a good response from Hanako. It looks like she is smiling, but it’s kinda hard to tell at this angle. I can see that Ms. Satou is smiling. She must be relieved that I can remember something. It must be a little weird for her, though. I was able to say Hanako’s name right off the bat, while I haven’t even given myself a chance to blurt Ms. Satou’s name out reflex.
Everybody simply stays silent for what seems like hours, even though it’s only been a couple of minutes, according to the clock on my side. Ms. Satou is the one who breaks the silence. “It’s good that you can remember Hanako’s name, friend. I think it should be taken as a sign that you haven’t forgotten everything permanently.” Hanako silently nods in agreement.
“I hope I haven’t forgotten everything permanently,” is all I can think of to respond. God, that came out darker than I thought it would. I immediately try to brighten things up, but this time, with an apology, not a joke. “I’m sorry. That was a little pessimistic of me,” I say.
“Don’t be sorry,” Ms. Satou says. “I think it would be natural to think like that after having forgotten almost everything.” Hanako nods in agreement again. Is this all she usually does? Hanako has only said seven words to me. I don’t know why, but all I want right now is to get her to talk to me some more. She must have been really important to me. Maybe she was my girlfriend at some point? I lay my hands across my chest, contemplating that thought.
My train of thought is interrupted by something strange on my chest. I can feel a small bump on my sternum. I try to think of what it could possibly be. I don’t want to look at it right now, considering present company. I wonder if Hanako or Ms. Satou knows about it? I suppose there is no harm in asking about it. If they are my friends, then they should know what it is. “Excuse me, but do either of you know if I had a bump on my sternum before whatever happened last night?”
Both of their faces seem confused, but Ms. Satou’s is the first to come to what seems like a realization. “I know that you want to remember things for yourself, but this, I feel, is too important to put off. You have a heart condition called arrhythmia. I believe this ‘bump’ that you are referring to is the scar from your surgeries after your first heart attack.”
Wow. That was a lot of information to take in at once. I don’t even know how to respond to it. Being told that you have a heart condition…that’s hard. What makes it even harder is the thought that this is the second time I’m being told about this condition for the first time. Or I at least assume so.
“I d-didn’t know y-you had a s-scar!” Hanako exclaims. I look at her, a little surprise showing on my face. Not only from the fact that she finally spoke up and said something, but I’m also surprised that I never told her about it. Why would I want to keep this a secret? Was I ashamed of it?
Ms. Satou is the one that responds to Hanako. “I didn’t know he had a scar either, Hanako. I simply made a few assumptions.” Hanako seems to lighten up a bit after hearing this, but it’s still hard to tell.
The atmosphere still seems a little awkward, so I try to lighten the mood again with another joke. “Heh. I suppose we all learned something about me today, huh?” Okay, could have done better, but it’s better than nothing, right? It looks like I was wrong. Both Hanako’s and Ms. Satou’s faces look somewhat offended. Maybe it was because I never told them about my scar? It’s not like I have any control over that, now. I can’t even remember these people. I’m just going off of what they told me, after all. Maybe an apology is in order. “Look, I’m sorry that I apparently never told you about this scar. I don’t remember why I never told you, but the best I can think of is that I was ashamed of it, for some reason.”
An awkward silence follows. Ms. Satou appears to be lost in thought, while Hanako is looking down at the floor. I wonder if I was right about what I said. Once again, I’m surprised when Hanako breaks the silence. “S-speaking of your heart condition, I-I brought your m-medicine from your h-house.”
I’m glad that there was a change of topic, but now I have something else on my mind: how did she get in my house? That train of thought is interrupted, though, when Hanako starts pulling out several bottles of medication. Just when I think she’s taken them all out, she starts pulling out more. When she finally stops, I count how many there are. Seventeen. If I have seventeen different medications, are they even doing anything? I say the first thing that comes to mind, just to break the awkward silence that keeps coming up. “I assume the doctors know of my condition, and the medicine that I need to take?” I ask to either Hanako or Ms. Satou.
“It would seem that in the excitement of everything that has happened, I neglected to tell them about it, friend. I apologize,” Ms. Satou says.
“I t-told them about th-the medicine,” Hanako says. I’m surprised that Hanako was able to tell the doctors about it, and judging by the look on Ms. Satou’s face, she is as well. Seeing our surprised looks, Hanako explains. “Dr. Nakano a-asked me if you w-were on anything c-currently, s-so I s-showed him the b-bottles.”
More silence follows. I decide to look at the clock. 1:53 P.M. We’ve only been talking for a little under an hour, and we already ran out of stuff to talk about. All because I decided to not let these two tell me anything about myself.
Ms. Satou breaks the silence after a few minutes. “Would you like something to eat, friend?” she asks. Now that I think about it, I haven’t eaten today. I should eat something if I don’t want my stomach to collapse in on itself. I say as much, and Ms. Satou nods. “Hanako, would you accompany me to the cafeteria, please?”
“Am I not allowed to go to the cafeteria?” I jokingly ask, knowing that I’m hooked up to the machines that are keeping track of my vitals. Ms. Satou smiles and whispers something to Hanako, who then looks around my bed before stepping towards me. She finds what she was looking for, and presses the “Call Nurse” button, then steps back.
“N-now you can c-come with u-us,” Hanako says, a clear smile on her face. There’s something about Hanako’s smile. It seems to brighten up the mood, no matter what is going on.
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I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Chapter 4 will come up when it's finished. Special thanks to the person who looked this chapter over for any errors that I might have missed (you know who you are). Constructive criticism is appreciated, as always.