Knock, knock. The door was quickly
opened after Zach knocked on it. The man who answered gave Jade a natural sense
of calmness. His subtle orange hair was short and curly. He wore glasses that
were round and thin framed. Jade giggled a little when she saw that green
sweater vest that he wore.
“Oh, Zach, I didn’t expect to see you
today. I thought you were spending the day in the woods”, said the doctor. Zach
just pressed his lips together and nodded.
“Okay, well um, who is this?”
“This is Jade. She is actually why I
came. I found her in the woods with no memory. Dr. Whells thinks that you might
be able to help get it back.” Dr. Jim bit his lip as he processed this
information. Then he welcomed the two to come in. Dr. Jim’s office was in his
house. It was a big house.
“He lives in a castle”, Jade
whispered to Zach. Dr. Jim laughed under his breath. They turned down a hall,
and entered a room to the left. The room was different from the rest of the
house. Outside the room was decorated with bright pastel colors. The kind of
colors only a wife would pick out. The inside of the room was dim lights with
heavy curtains and various relaxing shades of red and beige. In the center of
the room there was a long couch, a chair, and a coffee table. Along one wall
sat his desk accompanied by a few filling cabinets.
“Please sit”, said Dr. Jim. Zach
strolled over to the couch, and sat down. Jade was a little more cautious in
her movements. Zach held out his hand to her. This told Jade that it was okay,
so she sat down next to Zach. She sat a little too close for Zach’s preference,
but he figured that it was just a comfort thing for her. “So Jade, you don’t
remember anything before this morning?” She shook her head. Jade’s eyes
wondered the room. It was a strange place for her.
Even though she didn’t seem focused,
Dr. Jim continued the questions. “Is Jade your real name?” A shrug came from
her this time. “Does she speak?” This was directed towards Zach yet again. He
laughed a little and replied, “Yes”.
“She hasn’t spoken much, but she does
speak.” Dr. Jim nodded as he wrote down this on his clipboard. “She is able to
function perfectly with everyday tasks.”
“That makes sense”, said Dr. Jim. “Everyday
task memory is a different part of the brain than event memory. This is very
common thing with amnesia. Actually, come to think of it, there might be a way
to use that to our advantage.”
“How so”, Zach asked. Dr. Jim put a
piece of paper and pen in front of Jade.
“Sign your name,” he demanded. Jade
leaned back, and grabbed Zach’s arm. He just nudged her off, and told her that
it would be okay. Hesitantly she picked up the pen and scribbled out some
letters, but when she was done, they spelt out Jade.
“Is it possible that her name really
is Jade”, Zach asked.
Dr. Jim replied with, “It is possible
that she recognized it as her own when you mentioned it, but it is also
possible that she concentrated more on the name Jade than just signing her real
name. Try again. This time don’t concentrate.” Once again Jade scribbled on the
paper. This time was more confident. As if she did it all the time.
“Shyla Quinto?” Jade (Shyla) looked
over at Zach, and then back at the signature.
“Shyla”, she said. It felt so grown
up as the name rolled off her tongue. She didn’t like that feeling. That had
meant that she had missed her own childhood. Then she realized she had. As she
stared at the paper, she sat back and pulled her knees in toward her chest.
“So, her name is Shyla. What can we
do with that now”, asked Zach
“Well, we can start using her real
name. That’s a start”, responded Dr. Jim. “How does that sound Shyla?” She just
shrugged. Shyla would take some getting used to.
“Hey, doc?” Dr. Jim wasn’t expecting
anything more out of Zach at that moment. “Dr. Whells had some concerns about
her-” his voice dropped to a whisper. “Mental health.”
“Well, it’s obvious she has amnesia.
However, I don’t feel like that’s the concern you are referring to.” Zach just
shook his head. “I’m going to take a guess and say that you’re worried about
her mental age correct?” This time Zach gave a nod. Shyla gave a confused look.
As Dr. Jim explained what was happening, Shyla tried to make sense of it, but
she couldn’t. He had said that everyone’s brains respond differently to certain
stimuli. Shyla’s brain was protecting itself from the trauma she had mysteriously
experienced by forgetting everything, and resorting back to a time when she
felt safe, her childhood. “Reasoning behind why Shyla had taken up such a
fondness to you, Zach isn’t 100% clear, but I guess that you subconsciously reminded
her of someone she trusted, someone such as a father, older brother, or
boyfriend.” At the word brother Shyla perked up. She wasn’t sure why, but she
had a strange connection with the word. However, she couldn’t decide if it was
good or bad. Is it possible she had a brother out there looking for her? If she
did, was she supposed to find him, or run farther away?
To Be Continued.
