Finding Athena

Part Two

I had wondered if there was any more news on the girl I rescued, so I watched the morning news as I ate cereal. They said that she had woken up but didn’t remember what happened, or who she was. My mind was elsewhere as I sat through my classes that day. I was thinking about how scared she must've been to wake up in the hospital with no memory. No one knows who you are and you’re all alone. The slashes on her wrists flashed through my mind—maybe forgetting wasn’t that bad a thing.

As the day went on, my drifted further and further from class. Eventually, I skipped the rest of my classes and was heading to the hospital she had been taken to. I walked through the doors to the hospital and walked up to the information desk. The nurse behind the counter looked up from her computer.

“Aloha. I was wondering if it would be ok if I could see a girl that was brought in yesterday. I don’t know what room she’s in.”

“No problem, what’s the name of the patient?” The nurse readied her fingers on the keyboard.

“I don’t know. I saw on the news she has amnesia. Maybe Jane Doe?”

The nurse lifted an eyebrow in suspicion. “What’s your relation to the patient?”

“I pulled her out of the water yesterday. I just wanted to check on her.”

“One minute. Have a seat over there.” She gestured to the chairs in waiting area and picked up the phone.

I did as I was told and sat there waiting until I heard someone call my name.

“Kalani!” Officer Keoni Nakamuro, the officer that had interviewed me yesterday, waved at me as he walked over from the elevator. I stood up and shook his outreached hand. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing ok. I was worried about the girl from yesterday and wanted to visit her. You haven’t identified her yet?” I asked.

“We're checking everything, but nothing yet,” he replied.

“Would it be ok to talk with her?” I asked.

“I think that’s a great idea. She could use a friendly face that isn’t hospital staff or police. Someone around her age.” He paused and frowned. “However, she is under a psychiatric hold.”

“Psychiatric hold?” I asked.

“The doctors are just watching her for a few days to make sure she’s not a danger to anyone else or herself,” he said, assuringly.

The image of her slashed wrists flashed to the front of my mind. My face fell.

“You saw her arms, yeah?” Officer Nakamuro said. I nodded. “I’m waiting to hear back from her doctor to clear it. Honestly, she seems fine. I think she would like to thank you for what you did.”

As his cellphone rang, he took it out of his suit jacket pocket. He made eye contact with me to excuse himself as he stepped away to answer.

I took a seat again with so many questions running through my mind. Why was she in the water? Where did she come from? I had thought she had fallen off a boat but there were boats in the water from what I could see. Why would someone cut their wrists, then walk into the ocean? Where did the wound on her head come from? Why was I here? Why did it feel it was so important for me to see her?

Officer Nakamuro turned to look at me, said a few last words before lowering his phone. He waved me over.

“You’re clear to go up to see her.” Officer Nakamuro walked towards the elevator. He pushed the button and the elevator doors opened.

I followed quickly after him as we walked through the halls of the hospital. Reaching her room, he slid the door open and walked in

“Athena, someone is here to see you.” he announced.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I walked into the room and saw her lying in the bed. She had been staring at the window as I walked in and turned towards us. She was now in a hospital gown; her arms were wrapped in bandages. Her brown hair that was an inch from touching her shoulders, partly covered a large bandage on her forehead. Her light brown eyes met mine and her frowning lips transitioned to a smile.

“This is Kalani. He’s the one that took you out of the water yesterday.” Officer Nakamuro pushed me in front of him.

All the nerves in me could managed to say was, “Sorry for bothering you. I wanted to see you—how you were.”

“I wanted to meet you. I saw you on the news.” Her voice was soft and shook a little.

“I saw you on the news too. Well, your picture.” My face flushed. She flushed too and looked down at her hands in her lap.

“I wanted to thank you for helping me,” she said.

I smiled at her as she looked up at me. “I’m glad I was walking down the beach at that moment.”

“This seems like a silly question but, you don’t know who I am? I feel like I’ve met you before.” She smiled.

“No, sorry, I don’t. I’d never seen you before.”

“Maybe I opened my eyes for a second and saw you on the beach.”

“It must be hard. Not knowing who you are. Not knowing if anyone out there is looking for you.”

She nodded, looking up at me. “Kalani, is it?”

I nodded. “What’s your name?” I asked, instantly turning red. “I mean what should I call you?”

“I call her Athena,” Officer Nakamuro said, taking a seat on the chair for visitors. “A lot better than Jane Doe.”

“Athena? From the bracelet?” I asked.

“It’s the only lead we have. It looks like a custom made name bracelet so, Athena.” Officer Nakamuro let out a yawn.

Had he been up all night trying to find out who she is?

“I don’t know if it is my name or not, but I like it,” she said. Her voice was already sounding it was taking more energy than she had to talk.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Tired. I still get dizzy spells, and my head hurts when the medicine wears off. I’m alive though.” Her eyes fell to the bandages on her arms. After taking a breath she gazed back at me. “Thanks to you.”

“I don’t want to be a bother and you should rest…but can I come back to visit you tomorrow?” I asked.

“You’re not a bother." She smiled, the rosiness in cheeks the only color in her pale face. "If it’s not a bother to come back to see me tomorrow then I’d like that. It was nice to have someone to talk to.”

“I’m sure the nurses and myself shouldn’t take that as an insult, right?” Officer Nakamuro said, a chuckle in his tone.

“That’s not what I meant!” Athena’s cheeks were now red as she gazed down at her hands again. “It’s just…nice that someone knows me outside the hospital and wants to see me. Not because it’s their job.”

Officer Nakamuro frowned. “You have a point there.”

“I’ll come back in the afternoon tomorrow. I have classes in the morning,” I said.

“Classes?” There was a light in her eyes. Was she excited to learn about me?

“I’m a student at UH, uh, University of Hawaii.”

“Manoa?” She said slowly as if she was reaching into some old file in her memory.

“Yes.” I looked over at Officer Nakamuro.

“She seems to know Honolulu. When she was told she was at a hospital, she asked if it was the Queen’s Hospital. I don’t think she’s someone who was just here on vacation.”

“The place names do sound familiar. Even the name of the beach where you found me.” She looked at me, her eyes looking even more drained. “You’ll really come back tomorrow?”

“I promise.” I smiled and followed Officer Nakamuro out the door.

“I’ll tell the doctor. I don’t think there should be a problem.”

“What’s wrong with her? Why can she remember the names of places, but notthing about her?”

“My guess is either the head injury or dissociative amnesia. I’m not a doctor though. I’m just going from what I’ve seen in my job.” He pushed the button for the elevator.

“Dissociative amnesia?” I asked.

“To put it simply, she might be blocking it out due to trauma. A way to protect herself from what happened. It’s strange though, we ran her prints, blasted her story on the news and no one’s come forward.”

“That could be a good thing,” I said.

“How’s that?” He raised an eyebrow.

“If she's blocking out that someone hurt her, then maybe it’s best they don't find her.”

I didn't notice how much worry was in my voice, but Officer Nakamuro did. “Don’t worry. When someone comes forward, they’ll be checked out,” he assured me.

When we exited the elevator, he told me to check in with the nurse when I came tomorrow and I thanked him for his time.

As I walked home, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I was worried someone had hurt her and dumped her in the ocean. I was worried about what happened to her that brought her to a point that she wanted to end her life, if that was the case. I worried that she would disappear if she remembered who she was.