You were the first one I searched for when I woke up from a very long sleep. At first, all I could see were blurred shapes in a landscape of white. The shapes sharpened into my parents. They stood on either side of my bed, their faces shadowed by the backlit of harsh ceiling lights.

“Bless the Lord, Ryeowookie. You’re awake.” Mother’s hand found mine on the blanket. 

The spot at the foot of my bed was empty. Shouldn’t you be there, happy that I had finally come to? My voice scratched against my throat like dry sand when I tried to speak. 

“Where’s…” I paused, suddenly lost. I tried again. “Where’s…” Tears filled my eyes when your name floated beyond my reach. Not just your name, but your face, too. An ache drilled into my temples as I ransacked my memory for something, anything, that could awaken everything I remembered of you. 

There were none.

I clutched onto Mother’s hand in desperation. 

“Where is he?” I asked.

There was a pause before Father answered. “There are only us, son.”

“But…but there’s someone.” I looked at the door. Maybe you were just outside, in the corridor. I tried to get out of the bed, but Father had clamped a hand on my shoulder. “Let me find him, please.”

“There’s no one, sweetheart.” My mother murmured, pulling me into her arms. She was the tenderness to Father’s force.

“There must be someone!” I shouted, sobbing against my mother’s shoulder. I was angry with myself for committing the terrible mistake of forgetting who you were.

When I had fully expended my strength and my sobs had subsided, Mother settled me back into bed. I stared out of the window behind Father as they talked to me. They told me that I had gotten into an accident a month ago and that, before a few moments ago, I had been in a coma. They told me that you didn’t exist, that, perhaps, you were the tail-end of a long dream which I had yet fully woken up from.

I know that I should believe them, but I didn’t. 

Because even though my head did not remember, my heart did.

I loved you.

...tbc...