Stranger (Part 3)

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.