Tuesday, January 1st, 2013

She opened her eyes slowly blinking away the remaining bits of sleep. Turning to her right, she regarded her closed curtains. Judging by the amount of light streaming in, it must be early in the morning. Way too early for her to be awake. She should be able to sleep in. It was winter break after all. However, once she was awake, she couldn’t go back to sleep. That and there was an incessant beeping noise every few seconds.

She stretched and that’s when she realized something wasn’t right. There was something in her hands. On her left, there was something attached to her finger. Following the cord, Yu-ki saw it was attached to a machine with numbers lighting it up. It was also the source of the beeping sounds. Before Yu-ki could register any of that though, something stirred in her right hand. Whipping her head around, she saw her hand being held by another hand. One that belonged to a male. A male she didn’t know. Instantly, she pulled her hand away which caused the person to stir awake. Not good.

“Oh, my god! Yu-ki you’re awake.” He exclaimed throwing himself onto her. “You don’t understand how worried I was. I thought you’d never wake up.” He continued to squeeze her not realizing that she was scared out of her wits. So, naturally, she reacted like any other 12 year old would when a much older person is harassing her. She screamed.

“Who are you?!” She asked bringing her knees to her chest trying to get as far away from the stranger as possible. The male looked confused. Before he could respond, the door opened and a doctor walked in.

“Ah, Lee YooKi-sshi, you’re awake how are you feeling?” he said as he walked over to the machines and started checking things off on his clip board. That was when everything clicked.

“Why am I in the hospital? What happened to me? Who are you guys? What is he saying? Where am I?” she ranted. The doctor looked at her curiously wondering what exactly she was spewing out of .

"Katie.” The male spoke reaching out for her effectively silencing her. “Calm down.”

“How do you know my name?” she shrunk away from his touch.

“What are you talking about? I’m your brother.”

“You look nothing like my brother.” That was a lie. He did look like her brother, just different. As if he had aged a few years. “Don’t lie to me! Where am I? Who are you?” she started to cry.

"Listen, Li Yu-Ki.” He said in flawless Cantonese. “I’m your brother. You were born December 2^nd, 1993, 4:27PM in Vancouver, BC. One time when you were 7 you bit off a piece of glass and accidentally swallowed it.” He continued ignoring the doctor’s curious expression. “You don’t have a favourite colour because you feel like that isn’t fair to the other ones, but you’re partial to blues, purples, and pinks. Growing up you’ve always wanted to be a nurse, then a singer, then a ballerina. When you decorate the Christmas tree, you leave the green garland to put on the stair railings instead because,”

“I don’t like the way the green of the garland looks on the green of the tree.” She finished his sentence. Looking up she saw her brother was also on the brink of tears. “Oh, Kevin! It really is you.” This time it was her who pounced onto her brother. When she spoke his name however, he visibly tensed.

"Look, you got into a little accident, and you’re in the hospital right now.” Kevin cupped her face and looked up to the doctor. He was met with a stern expression but received a nod of encouragement. “But everything’s going to be okay. Just sit tight while I go speak to the doctor alright?” He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and the television before following the doctor out the door.

“Something’s not right. Am I correct?” the doctor said the moment the door was shut.

“She called me Kevin. I haven’t used that name since our parents divorced in 2007. And before that, she didn’t have any clue what you were saying.” Yu-Ki’s brother said with a sense of worry.

“I thought just as much. It seems as if your sister has amnesia.”