Blood everywhere.

His vision was blurred by the liquid smeared on his face, dripping from his scalp. His disorientated senses couldn’t help him to discern up from down and the dizziness he was feeling was too overwhelming to move. The belt was cutting his blood circulation and his legs felt like cotton. He could hear voices outside, out of the darkness which surrounded him, but he couldn’t tell who was speaking. They sounded frantic and anxious.

Screams echoed around him. Someone had screamed before too, but he couldn’t remember why.

What had happened?

He tried to move his head but the searing pain was way too strong. A bloody arm was in his peripheral vision. Just at his right side. A pale skin stained by blood and dust with long scars running from the calf to the wrist.

His head was spinning as various fleeting images of loved faces passed between volutes of pain and red stripes. The voices outside were closer to him now. He felt so weak, his voice betrayed him when he tried to call for help. The dripping blood drew random patterns on the fabric of the roof.

 A sudden movement of the van was followed by a faint pained whisper at his left. The people outside were turning the van over and had moved in the same time the guy sitting on his left. A stifling burning smell saturated the air. He was going to suffocate here in this dark vault. He was trapped, hurt and he wanted to cry. The lump in his throat was unbearable. He wouldn’t make it. His fingers stung a bit due to the lack of blood caused by the belt.

In a slow motion, like a dream, a head appeared. “It’s okay, boy. We’re going to save you. Don’t try to go out by yourself”. If he could he would laugh. Did they seriously thought he could move in that state? The light progressively invaded his sight. It hurt. He blinked several times because his eyes couldn’t focus well. He felt like a rag doll when the first aiders took him out of the destroyed van.

Too much light. He felt sick. He needed to say something. Something important. He couldn’t remember what though. He was curled in the arms of a first aider, like a baby. His watery sight felt upon the stretchers near the destroyed van where the first aiders were buzzing. There was seven stretchers stained by blood covering bodies. Some parts of the bodies were visible but inert. The first aider strengthened his embrace. “It’s okay, you are safe. We got you.”

He opened his mouth to ask about the others’ wellbeing but nothing came out. He could only stare at the seven stretchers, mouth agape, before passing out.

 ~***~

His eyes fluttered open to meet a white ceiling. He didn’t know where he was and it was kind of disturbing.

• “Ah you’re awake. Good, let me check your constants.”

A white clothed man smiled at him. The man had a nice and warm smile, the kind of smile which makes you feels safe, the kind which means you are not alone.  From the way the man was dressed and the terribly depressing colour of the walls, he could guess he was in a hospital. That explained the IV in his arm and the white gown he was wearing. He was lying in a hospital bed.

•  How do you feel ?

The first world that came to his mind was empty. He felt totally empty. As if someone had stolen every emotions and memories from him. He was a blank paper. A weak baby. His entire body was numb and tucked tightly in the white sheets. His voice sounded raspy and foreign as he spoke :

• “I don’t know…what am I supposed to feel?”

The white clothed man seemed a bit disappointed and took what was probably his medical record.

• “Well, you had a pretty bad car accident. Your right leg is broken as well as several ribs too, but the most serious thing is your head trauma.”

The doctor glanced at him before putting the file away to face him totally.

• “Does your head hurt? Do you remember what happened precisely?”

He fixed his eyes on the window behind the white clothed man. The sky was grey and cloudy, there was probably wind too. A cold wind, freezing your bones and flesh. He shivered inadvertently.

 What happened? He tried to replay memories in his head. He could remember sitting in a van. He still felt the leather of the seat beneath his thighs and the belt around his waist, but the rest of his memory was blank.

The pain started to make his head spin and he growled in pain. He wasn’t alone in that car, right? There had been people in there, he was sure of that. But who ?

• “I can’t remember…I don’t know, I don’t know…”
• “Don’t force yourself. Amnesia is common after a head trauma like yours. The memories will slowly comeback. If you need anything just call the nurse with the red button next to your pillow, alright? They will inform me of your improvements. I’m the doctor Lee Jinki in charge of your case.”

He nodded carefully, earning a bright smile from Jinki. As the later was about to leave the room, a sudden question burst through his lips, freezing jinki on his spot:

• « Doctor, Who I am ? »