I was lost…but then I found you.

The waves crashed ashore as the sun started to set. It was an unusually warm night in spring with a cool breeze of an oncoming storm. As the waves increased intensity, a lone stranger came around and dug her feet into the cool sand watching the sky grow darker. Just standing there, she knew the rain was going to come but she was caught up in so many thoughts that she didn’t care that she was about to return home wet.

Soon small drops of water came down causing the girl to look up at the sky, “So it begins.” With a long sigh, the girl unburied her feet and walked along the side of the ocean letting the occasional wave wash over her feet. She had no destination that night and the rain didn’t stop her on her path. It was like she was willing the water to wash her away.

After a few minutes of walking, the girl’s vision started to blur as the water started to come down heavy. Knowing she needed to head back inside, the girl was about to turn around, but as soon as she did, she saw something—someone washing up on shore near the rocks.

Her thoughts broken, the rain didn’t matter as she tripped through the heavy sand towards the person. It was then that she realized it was a woman, close to her age. Quickly she flipped the woman around and checked for a pulse. There was one. Immediately, she started to perform CPR hoping the woman would wake up.

One, two…breathe…one, two…breathe…one, two…breathe.

The woman coughed violently, expelling the water in her lungs. Grasping for air, the woman slowly opened her eyes to see two more staring back at her, “where…”

Happy and exhausted that the woman was alright, the girl sat back down into the wet sand, “thank goodness…”

The woman wanted to get a better view of the girl so she attempted to turn to her side, but an excruciating pain echoed throughout her body, “Ahhh!”

Alarmed, the girl got up and examined the woman. As soon as she pulled up her top, she could see her whole body was covered in purple blotches, “Oh my. I am going to call an ambulance.”

Reaching in her back pocket, the girl quickly called for help. For what was a few minutes, felt like hours, waiting for the paramedics to arrive. When the ambulance came, the girl explained that she found the woman here, performed CPR and found she is injured. Not wanting the woman to be alone, the girl entered the ambulance to the hospital. Seeing both women were wet from the rain the kind paramedics wrapped them up in a warm blanket. The night concluded with hours left in the empty hospital while the woman was getting examined. The girl stared at the blank form in front of her that she needed to fill out…name—unknown, address—unknown, age—unknown.

Eventually the doctor came back out, “Are you with the girl that was brought in?”

Standing up, “Yes. I found her.”

The heavy sigh the doctor gave out, meant bad news, “She is not in good shape. Several broken ribs, bruising all over her body, and a wrist injury. I hate to say this, but some of the bruising looks like a mix of fresh and old wounds. Could you explain to me what happened?”

“I don’t know. It was like she just washed ashore. I found her near the rocks, but it didn’t look like she hit any of them.”

“I see. Well we are going to call the police in for questioning. Did you want to go in and see her until then?”

“We don’t know each other…”

“It seems she needs some company. You should at least introduce yourself as her savior.”

The girl nodded, “O-okay.” Walking past the doctor, the girl timidly opened the door to peek inside. She could see the girl sitting on the bed staring out the window watching the rain pour down. Stepping inside, the woman was startled so she gave a soft smile, “hi.”

Returning the smile, the woman in the bed bowed with her head, “hi.”

“I umm am the one that found you.”

“I could guess…you look soaked.”

The girl pulled up a chair and sat down, “My name is Jessica.”

“Taeyeon.”

Jessica shifted uncomfortably in the chair, “How are you doing? The doctor said you were injured badly. Do you know why you were on that beach?”

Taeyeon shook her head, “I have no idea. Thanks for what you did.”

Letting out a nervous laugh, Jessica bowed her head, “Anyone would do something like that.”

“But you were the one that was there. So thank you.”

A knock came at the door and a nurse entered with two officers behind her, “Excuse me, but the police are here.”

Jessica quickly got up, “I will wait outside.”

Taeyeon saw Jessica retreating and reached up to grab Jessica’s arm, “C-can you stay?”

Taking a seat again, Jessica’s body moved on its own, “sure.”

Two officers entered the small room with notepads in their hands, “Is she family?”

Taeyeon shook her head, “she found me.”

“Can you explain why you were found ashore?”

Taeyeon shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“What about the bruises?”

“I don’t know.”

The officers looked to be getting frustrated, “Look, we know events like these can be traumatic and hard to talk about. We are here to help.”

“I know, but I can’t remember.”

The officers pulled out a card and handed it to Taeyeon, “Here is our card to contact us, but for now can we have your full name and address for our report?”

Taeyeon bit her lip, “I-I actually don’t know.”

Jessica looked at Taeyeon and the officers back and forth, “She is staying with me. I will write my address and number.” The officers took down the information and left, but Jessica was concerned, “Do you really not know anything? Or did you just not want to tell them?”

Taeyeon sunk into her bed and looked away from Jessica, “I really don’t know. It is like my head feels empty. I know my name…I know I grew up in Jeju-do, but everything else seems blurry.”

“Did you tell the doctor?”

Taeyeon nodded, “Yes. He says it might be from the trauma.”

“Do you have somewhere to go when you get discharged?”

Taeyeon shook her head, “I don’t remember anything. I don’t know who to call.”

Jessica thought for a minute, “I know you don’t know me, but would you want to stay with me?”

Taeyeon finally turned around with difficulty, “I can’t…I shouldn’t…you have done too much already.”

Jessica smiled, “My cottage gets lonely at times. I have a spare room I will get ready for you.”

“Jessica…you don’t have to.”

Standing back up, “I want to. You should get some rest for now. I will come back in the morning and see how you are doing.”

Taeyeon wanted to say more but a lump was caught in so she watched as her savior walked out of the room.

--------------

After a few days in the hospital, the doctors released Taeyeon under Jessica’s care. “Watch out here.”

Taeyeon lifted her legs over the threshold, “How can you live here alone?”

Jessica shrugged, “I like to be isolated.”

Taeyeon looked out the window at the beach, “Right on the beach…not far from where I was found.”

Jessica tucked Taeyeon into the couch to make her more comfortable, “Luckily you were right outside of my house. There are miles of shoreline that doesn’t have any homes.”

“Almost feels like fate.” Taeyeon commented as her eyes grew heavy, “This pain medication makes me so tired.”

Jessica brought over another pillow, “Did you want to move to the bed?”

Taeyeon shook her head, “No. Here is so comfortable—”

Jessica giggled as Taeyeon passed out mid-sentence, “She must have been tired.” For a minute, Jessica watched as Taeyeon slept, seeing that she was still bandaged up from the accident broke her heart. She was so curious to how someone could just wash up on the beach like that and there was no missing person’s report that came in the past few days. It made her wonder about Taeyeon even more.

Not wanting to wake Taeyeon, Jessica grabbed a book and took it out to her porch to read. She had to admit that it was strange to see another person in her home again. Jessica wanted to be alone…or that is what she thought.

After several hours of reading her book, Jessica heard a thump inside the house. Thinking Taeyeon got up again, Jessica closed her book and reentered the house. She could see Taeyeon’s guilty face that she knocked over something on the table, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

Jessica laughed as she reached over to pick up the small sculpture, “It didn’t break so it is fine. Did you need something?”

Taeyeon found it hard to lift herself up so she just laid there looking at Jessica, “Just water.”

Jessica nodded and got up to get the girl something to drink. Knowing she couldn’t drink laying down, Jessica helped Taeyeon sit up, “Sorry I have no TV here for you to watch.”

Taeyeon looked around the small home, “But you have a lot of books.”

“Yes. I read a lot.”

Taeyeon played with the glass in her hand, “Am I keeping you from work?”

Jessica shook her head, “I work from here. Don’t worry.”

“Can I ask what you do? It must be nice to not have to leave home.”

Jessica got up and took a pile of books from her shelf before placing it in front of Taeyeon, “Until now, I was a writer.”

“What do you mean until now?” Taeyeon took one of the books and started to examine it.

Jessica sighed, “Long story, but I am on a break. I moved here to get away from it all and my publisher agreed with an agreement that I come back with another amazing novel.”

Taeyeon closed the book, “This is amazing. Do you mind if I read your books?”

“You don’t have to read my works. I have many other amazing authors here…”

Taeyeon shook her head, “I want to read yours.”

Jessica nodded, “Go ahead. I have a few more on that top shelf, but I am embarrassed to pull those down. My first few novels were a bit rough.”

Taeyeon giggled, “I wouldn’t mind reading them. If it was your first, you must have put your whole soul into writing it.”

Jessica reached to get the books down and set them in front of Taeyeon, “I have to disagree. The books that have our whole soul in them can never be written because if we write what is hidden in our soul, the things we want to forget can no longer be forgotten.”

Taeyeon watched as Jessica’s eyes faded away, as if she was lost in remembering something too painful. Maybe they both needed to forget.