Krystal’s confused expression and her obliviousness must’ve incited the doctor’s worries for he’d asked for an MRI before he left the room. Her parents didn’t doubt anything because they’d thought that it must’ve been normal to make sure that she was indeed okay. They didn’t let any of their doubtful thoughts spoil their joy, and they relished their daughter’s presence by talking enthusiastically.

Krystal, on the other hand, had been restless since the moment she’d woken up earlier. Her never-ending questions and thoughts kept piling in her mind, and she was frustrated by her inability to answer any. She’d tried to gain little information from her parent’s, but their unwillingness to about that subject had made it almost impossible. Whenever she brought up the subject, they’d cautiously avoid it at all costs.

“You were in a car accident.” “We don’t know what exactly had happened.” “You mustn’t dwell on the past.” Were their only replies, and their reticence was angering her very. It’d happened last night, or that’s what she’d originally thought the moment she’d woken up, so how will she consider what had happened as “past”?

Their happy aura didn’t manage to affect her during the hours she’d waited for the MRI’s results. Their enthusiasm never quieted down, and she’d found herself unconsciously glancing at them once in a while. She wished her mind would turn blank; even for few minutes in order to share their joy, but it seemed inevitable.

Although she felt slightly drowsy from the medicines, she couldn’t sleep because her mind never stopped functioning. She’d tried to block her thoughts out; she really did, but it was pointless. How? Why? Where? The questions were endless, and the most random scenarios had crossed her mind.

Her thoughts abruptly came to halt when she heard her name being called. She turned her head to the right and found her mother standing behind a wheel chair. She cringed while she looked at it with utter disdain. She recalled earlier when she’d stubbornly refused to use it at first when she was asked to go to the MRI’s room. Eventually, she was forced to sit on it when she realized how powerless she was. Her eyebrows were pulled into a frown when she remembered how hectic it’d been for her this morning and that right now she was ought to endure it all over again.

Her whole body was sore and ached from tremendous pain. She felt like she was paralyzed for she was unable to even move from her bed to the chair without the nurse’s help. She hated how weak and vulnerable she felt when she felt the nurse’s hands steadying her. The layer of sweat that’d formed on her forehead reminded her how the smallest movements have now become a burden.

Her father had taken the job of pushing her through the hospital while her mother walked by her side and held hand reassuringly. Krystal was overwhelmed by the scene in front of her the moment they stepped out.

Doctors and nurses rushed through the crowded hallways with troubled faces. The deafening cries from patients rang in her ears and she unconsciously rested her hands on her head since it was throbbing. The pained expressions haunted her whenever she looked. She sensed the melancholic atmosphere that’d stolen every emotion inside of her and replaced with misery. It was like everyone there sent negative vibes that seeped through the soul and tainted it with its darkness.

She’d chosen to close her eyes in order to block out all of it until she finally reached the doctor’s room. Her parent’s didn’t seem fazed like her by the scene, and she silently questioned whether they’d been here long enough until they’d gotten used to it.

Her mother let go of Krystal’s hands and took a step forward towards the door and knocked a couple of times. A faint come in was heard from the inside before they finally pushed the door open.

Krystal's eyes instantly laid on the figure that stood in front of her with a warm smile. His smile came off as a genuine one, and it managed to ease her jitteriness a bit.

The doctor rummaged through few papers before he finally took a folder out. He then started explaining her condition, but she didn’t hear any of his words because she’d zoned out as she stared out of the window.

The world outside seemed so tranquil compared to this building, and she suddenly yearned to be let out. She wanted to return to her own bedroom and resume with her old life. Her daily habits and dull routine now seemed tempting compared to this hell hole where she stayed. 

It was like her life had abruptly halted while she floated in something that felt more like purgatory. Right now, she didn’t feel alive; she felt like she just… existed. Her mind was the only thing properly functioning, and she would’ve preferred if it hadn’t.

“Krystal?” Her thought were interrupted when she heard her mother’s soft voice. She turned her head toward her only to find three pairs of eyes staring directly at her like they waited for something. Her eyebrow quirked up in confusion before a sigh escaped her mother’s lips. “You didn’t hear anything, did you?” Krystal hesitantly shook her head as a response.

“Well, I needed to ask you few questions… will you bear with me?” The doctor spoke while his lips curved up into a small smile. Krystal couldn’t help but nod and embrace herself for whatever questions he had in mind.

“Can you tell me about your family and friends?” Krystal didn’t know what she’d expected the question to be like, but it certainly wasn’t this. Nevertheless, she began to speak. Her voice came out hoarse at first since she hadn’t talked since she’d woken up earlier. She then cleared before she spoke again.

“Should I give you details about them or…?” Krystal wasn’t sure how she was supposed to answer this question because she didn’t know how it was related to anything right now. But when she glanced at her mother, her reassuring smile managed to soothe her doubts slightly.

“Whatever you feel like it.” His vague answer didn’t ease her suspicions. She took a calming breath before she finally began to speak again.

“Well… umm… Dad’s a professor? … and mom’s a housewife?” Her hesitant answer sounded more like questions. She looked at the doctor with furrowed brows as she waited patiently for him to say anything. His smile widened while he urged her to continue.

“umm… There’s my aunt who works in a small bakery. She’d always been fond of baking; something that she’d inherited from grandma…” Krystal felt a wave of nostalgia hitting her all of a sudden when she remembered her grandma’s genuine smile. Krystal then smiled while she added. “Grandma lives in a small house in the country side where the baking smell never fades. She tried to teach me before, but I wasn’t as intrigued by cooking like she’d always been, but I did find joy while watching her. She’d always done it with passion; like the kitchen was her Nirvana. I remember that it’d always been my wish as a kid to find something that’d affect me like that…” She didn’t know why she’d elaborated so much, but the words escaped her lips like she had no control in them.

She sighed sadly, she wished her grandma would be here because she felt the need to feel her arms rapped tightly around her in a warm embrace. She wanted to feel secure; sheltered from life's cruelty. She didn’t know why her grandma wasn’t with her right now, but she brushed the matter off for she believed that it must’ve been hectic for her to come all this way.

She raised her head and was instantly met by the doctor’s focused gaze. Her words must've weirdly piqued his interest because he'd listened to her intently. When he realized that she'd finished talking, he asked. "What about your friends?"

“I don’t have any" She replied instantly. She paused for a moment as she tried to think of a way to explain. "I’m not an introvert, It’s just… I really don’t know if the problem’s within me.” She sighed miserably as she let her head hang low. She then continued in a whisper. “I guess my pickiness has caused this loneliness…”

 “So you don’t have any friends? Not even in school?” The way the doctor had emphasized the question made her doubt her answer, but she then pushed her hesitations aside and looked at him with a more determined look.

“Pretty much, yes… I mean, of course I talk with people in school, it’s not like I’m in a cocoon of my own. I just don’t have someone whom I could call a friend…”

 “Okay then…” For some reason, he didn’t find a reply to her words, and instead focused on the papers that he’d held.

It wasn’t until then that Krystal finally noticed the tears that had fallen down her mother’s face. “Did I say something wrong?” Krystal instinctively asked. Her confusion doubled when her mother failed to form words because of her sobs and instead shook her head as a response.

Krystal was baffled by her mother’s state and begged to know the reason behind her tears. Her mother didn’t speak for few agonizingly long minutes, but she then opened and with a trembling voice she said. “Your grandma has been dead for a year and a half now.”

Krystal couldn’t register the words that her mother said properly. A humorless laugh escaped her lips. “You’re kidding right? You must be.” She kept laughing while everyone concernedly stared at her like she’d lost her mind.

Krystal never tore her eyes away from her mother as she waited for her to say something; but the latter’s sobs were the only thing heard for good couple of minutes. Krystal felt her patience quickly diminishing, so she frantically alternated gazes between the doctor and her father as she wanted anyone to deny the words that were spoken.

“No… No…No…” Krystal’s raging voice echoed loudly inside the room after she’d seen her father nodding sorrowfully. “No… She’s alive… She’s alive and I’m going to see her when I get out… She’s waiting for me... I’m sure she’s… She must be…” She spoke so fast with widened eyes. How she felt during that moment couldn’t possibly put into words. Her fear, her shock, her hopeless were beyond words.

“I’m sorr-”

“Don’t…Don’t you dare say that you’re sorry because you’re not… You’re not because she’s still alive.” Krystal interrupted her mother in fury. She refused to believe the news; She couldn’t. Her father closed his eyes tightly because he couldn’t endure seeing his daughter in such pain. Her mother, on the other hand, slowly approached Krystal.

“Don’t touch me” Although the words were whispered; they sounded frighteningly threatening. Her eyes were narrowed at her mother’s hand that was inches away from her. Her mother gasped when their gazes met for Krystal’s eyes held so much venom.

“Krystal…” Krystal tore her eyes away from her mother and instead averted it towards the doctor who stood few steps away from her. He was accustomed to all sorts of reactions towards death, and he knew that Krystal was now in the first commonly stage; anger and denial.

Krystal refused to acknowledge him and instead pushed herself to stand up. “How ingly pitiful must I look, I can’t even stand up.” She laughed humorlessly yet again. Everything that she’d been told today was too much to the extent where it’d become unbearable. She couldn’t think properly because her mind was jammed with way too many thoughts. They were loud and noisy; disturbingly so. But there was this one thought that echoed clearly amidst all the noisiness; she wished she’d died that night.

She pushed herself roughly and angrily out of the room. Her parents were about to run after her when the doctor’s voice suddenly stopped them. “Don’t. She needs some space now.”

The room fell into silence again while they returned reluctantly to their seats. Her mother was the first to break the silence though after few minutes. “How can she forget?” She didn’t expect anyone to answer, so she was slightly startled when she heard the doctor’s voice.

“Sometimes, the ones who affect the most are the ones forgotten.”

“Will she ever be able to remember those forgotten memories?” Her mother asked. She didn’t know if she should be happy about the fact that Krystal had forgotten the things that had troubled her the most or saddened by the fact that her daughter suffered from amnesia.

“It is possible… Some regain their memory after few weeks, months, or even years, but there’re also others who never do.”

The doctor’s reply triggered a thought in her mother’s mind, and she looked at her husband in determination while she spoke. “We can’t tell her.”

“We won’t.”