Colemond

Earth

“Can you read this?”

The doctor nodded. “Yeah, I can. Nothing blurry.” She handed back to her co-doctor the tablet.

"Annia, your brain in the MRI Scan revealed a heavy trauma on your cerebellum, where it was the most damaged. And the extensive damage reached up to your parietal lobe. Normally, any patient with such a degree of brain damage would be significantly less mobile and suffer a lot of disabilities, not live as long despite the assistance. However, for you, it is a miracle. The entire team can't comprehend the lack of disruption to your brain activity, according to the EEG...Are you comprehending all of this?"

Annia nodded again. "I was perplexed when I first received the news of the extensive injuries I suffered. The entire medical team is increasingly interested in this case, so I recommend keeping this private from the public and beyond the medical staff, respectively."

The co-doctor pulled out an empty sheet of paper and wrote down what Dr. Annia ordered. "A repeat question. What do you remember before the check-up?" he asked.

A little hazy. A dull pain. Can still talk. "A massive headache. But I can still communicate. Daniel and a few others that were with him are there."

The co-doctor nodded, finishing writing the last sentence. He suggested she take paid leave, as the hospital will remain operational and active amid her temporary absence. Annia was reluctant since she was used to going to work six days a week for years.

"Give me a moment," Annia muttered, taking her phone out.

She received a few message notifications. "Daughter" appeared in all three. Opening the app and clicking it revealed a few distressed messages.

"Mother; if you are okay, please respond!" → 50 minutes ago.

"I'm coming to the hospital now!" → 23 minutes ago.

"Please respond!" → 21 minutes ago.

Annia sighed, placing her phone on the table.

"Have you made your decision?" the co-doctor asked.

Annia shrugged, unsure herself, as she was still competent to continue her duties. "This is difficult. One side wanted me to continue while the other insisted on taking the opportunity to be with my daughter."

"I recommend the latter. Seriously, take your time off. Maybe this way, you could recover much quicker while making time with your daughter."

Annia took a few more moments until she finally nodded, agreeing to the temporary paid leave of twelve thousand dollars a week at notice.

Following a couple more official documents to be reviewed before she stood up, took her leave, and wished her co-doctor well. She opened the door, exiting the office, and slowly closed it from the outside until a click through the latch. With no one in sight in the hallway, she heaved a sigh of relief while strolling through, heading to the elevator.

Clicking the elevator button, the ding sound rang, followed by the immediate opening of the door.

"Jesus!" Annia blurted.

"Mother! You didn't respond to my messages!" Her daughter said in distress.

"Sorry, I was doing some final papers. I'm taking a temporary paid leave."

Her daughter, sitting in her wheelchair, reacted like it was good news. "For how long?"

Annia turned to her as the elevator door closed, descending from the fifteenth floor. "I don't know, Gretel. But, since the hospital is doing well for the fiscal year, I could take off for the rest of the year."

"We have a lot of catching up to do," Gretel muttered, drinking a flask's worth of water.

Annia took out her handkerchief, wiping the sweat off Gretel's forehead. It's been a while since she had paid attention to her daughter, only to find out how toned she is. Her arm was so solid as a boulder to where her jacket sleeves were tightened smoothly. I knew she went to the gym every other day, but good god I need to get back to weightlifting.

Gretel grabbed the handkerchief. "I'm okay, but thanks though," she responded, wiping the rest of her face and pouring a little of the water from her flask over her head. "...did a two-hour workout before receiving the news you were in trouble, so I had to drive all the way here...wait. What happened to your head?"

Annia gently touched her forehead, covered in bandages. "I fell," she said, without explaining it further.

"Are you hiding something from me?" Gretel said in a low tone.

Christ, should I tell her? Annia's mind became conflicted because of the incident when treating Elaine. Daniel was somebody the two knew very well, in fact maybe more to Gretel. Not wanting a poor impression, she took the risk.

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"Daniel was here hours ago," Annia muttered.

Ding!

Gretel grabbed both of her wheels, rolling out of the elevator and waiting for her mother. The two walked out to the parking garage. "Did you two reconcile?"

"Didn't get the time to. It was an emergency. Do you remember Mother Elaine? She was here too with a near-torn arm."

"Oh, man! My missed opportunity for a reunion," Gretel ranted. "When will we ever meet them again?" she asked so eagerly.

Annia could only shrug, unsure of it, and only mentioned that they left a few hours ago, causing Gretel to question as it didn't make sense for Mother Elaine to have her discharged when her arm was nearly decapitated from her body. Annia knows Gretel ain't gullible and has an attentive personality, so that was no surprise to immediately detect that. At the end, before the two had to diverge to their vehicles, Annia told her the conversation would continue at home. Gretel then responded that their maid had arrived home as Gretel left the gym. She would be making dinner for the day.

The two diverged at the intersection within the parking garage. Coincidently, their vehicles are only a walk's distance away. Annia headed into her customed deep royal blue Silverado 2500, climbing up on the sidebar. She then sat inside, watching her daughter climbing into her maroon Camaro. Almost eight years. Man. Annia wiped her little dripping tears from her eyes, feeling sentimental and recalling earlier memories of hours ago.

D.2

Gretel and her twins experienced a catastrophic event that Annia had suppressed with a mask to never recall it again. Being away from her career until certain her health would recover and reuniting into Gretel's life broke the mask, letting Annia enter into a sorrowful episode.

Gretel, being strong willed, disconnected from her two legs that day. Her younger twin brother unfortunately sent his farewell, despite her best efforts to protect him. She was alone other than her overworked single mother being by her side.

At the time, being both a doctor and a professor, one of her students came into her personal life and sacrificed their free time to be the father figure for Gretel. The intellect, life lessons, and experiences he went through were passed down to her. It saved her and Annia's livelihood at the cost of putting him in agony. He removed every contact with them after feeling he raised Gretel into a capable and independent character of her own. By then was also his university graduation. He entered the military and ceased all his social circles within the class Annia taught.

It was only today, while doing patient work at her counter office for Rebecca, that the two men who dressed uniquely differently met her and carrying Katanas and came to the counter asking the clerk for Liam. She stopped and, more observant, rolled her seat next to the clerk.

"Who do we get?" Annia asked.

The clerk lady opened the tab on her computer, pointing to it. "Liam."

"Oh, Liam. He has just finished with his surgery. Give us a moment," Annia said.

The bearded man silently thanked the two and strolled back to the lounge right across.

"How's the situation with Rebecca?" The clerk asked, viewing her doing the last pages.

Annia signed her signature at the bottom of the stapled document before putting it in a spare tab file folder. "She's going to get discharged tomorrow. Her left arm is still in absolute pain. The pharmacy will—"

"Rebecca?" The bearded man said in a shocking tone, returning to the counter. He glared at the front page of the stapled documents, seeing the picture. "Can I see her then?"

The clerk nodded, mentioning the room number. Annia asked her for the man's identification as she was also a close friend of Rebecca and Helda, who was with her when arriving at the hospital.

"You know him, right?" she muttered. "You mentioned to us about him before. He was here like many years ago as a student."

Annia's eyes widened. Subsequently, she looked at the bearded man and the picture simultaneously. That's not him. They don't look alike. She turned to the lady clerk and followed with a denying head gesture. The clerk nodded and brought up the bearded man's voice.

"Do I know you?" the bearded man asked.

"You don't remember the medical society nine years ago?! Me, you, and fifteen other students in one organization at the University of Colemond," Annia exclaimed, leaping from her seat.

The bearded man turned to the side and leaned at the counter while his attention kept on pace with Annia. He raised his finger with one comment, followed by a slight tension in his eyebrows. "I can't believe you did that. A forgotten memory that I wanted to get rid of has returned, filling everything in my head...Damn it, Doctor Valor, but never mind that. Where's Rebecca's room?"

Annia walked off from behind the counter with the file folder, and the bearded man and his friend, she assumed, trailed behind her. It is him. Why is this happening to me? Her mind felt pain and throttle that reached to the end of her spine, causing her skin to feel like bees stung her all across.

She silently breathed to ease all the stress inhibitors within her body until reaching Rebecca's door was when it all unexplainably settled, and the environment felt a lot more comfortable.

D.3

The recall was rapid, similar to watching a lengthy video at multiple times the speed. After entering the room, her recollection went blank until she had to run with Daniel and Xavier to treat Mother Elaine. It all went black after she saw a glimpse of yellow light gusting from the operating room's watching compartment.

She wiped her eyes again, regretting not being able to apologize to Daniel on the spot before the Mother Elaine situation. Gretel wanted to reunite with Daniel again and to get along with him again in the aspect of friendship rather than being estranged. Since she failed to take the opportunity to apologize, that would internally tumble her until the next time.

Once Annia calmed herself down, Gretel's Camaro headlights turned on, followed by an engine rev. She saw her from across and gave a waving gesture, signaling to go. Annia turned on her Silverado, drove off from her parking lot, and tagged behind Gretel. The two exited the hospital's premises and headed to the highway, driving back home.

How did I survive? The one question that lingered. No sadness, only curiosity. Maybe a miracle, or was it something more concrete that she might have missed?

Before entering her gated neighborhood, Annia felt a tingling sensation around her fingerprints and nails. Electrocuted or zapped was one way to describe it. She aggressively scratched the rims of the steering wheel and gripped hard from the edge of her fingernails while driving the last few hundred meters to reach the neighborhood's gate.

When Gretel turned right and passed through the checkpoint, Annia hurriedly pulled the gear stick to the park. Her entire hand started to tremble beyond her control while pulling out her card from her wallet. Gosh damn it, I need you to stop shaking! Her left hand gripped the card, but the tremors set her arm into a near-vibrating gridlock.

Move! Annia's mind grew annoyed. For God's sake, move! Getting berated, she used her strength and punched her left arm, putting her hand right on the scanner, opening the gate. The tremor abruptly stopped with her arms suddenly relaxed, regaining voluntary movement. What the hell? The only reaction came through her mind. She noticed the machine was destroyed and static while pulling her hand in. The heck. Afterward, Annia glared down at her left knuckle, coming across it to be charred. Looking around to see if there were any witnesses before punching the gas pedal and entering inside.