Lost In Me (Here and Now 1)

“She’s my twin sister.”

“Good,” the nurse coos. “Good job. And can you tell me the last thing you remember?”

I don’t have long to consider her question before she’s invading my personal bubble, her face too close to mine as she stares into my eyes. What? Did she lose something in there she’s looking to get back?

“We were at Brady’s. Girls’ night. What happened?” God, I sound like a broken record.

“You’ve had an accident,” the woman says, looking to my sister, who’s shaking her head. A tear slips from the corner of Lizzy’s eye. “A rough fall down some stairs. Can you tell me the last thing you remember before Brady’s?”

“I was finishing up a paper for school. All the days blur together during the semester. I don’t…I don’t know.”

“The semester?” Lizzy cries. “What are you talking about, Hanna?” She turns to the nurse. “I thought you said she’d be better once she was lucid?”

“It’s okay,” the woman assures her. “You’re going to upset her.”

“What happened at Brady’s?” Lizzy asks me. “What do you remember?”

“We were hanging out with Cally, and the guys were there and they came over to join us.”

“What were we talking about?” Lizzy presses.

She seems distressed, so I try to smile. That’s my job, after all. I’m the one who makes things better. “We were trying to convince Cally that she should sleep with William.”

“That happened last September,” Lizzy whispers.

The nurse’s brow creases. “Dr. Reid is on her rounds now. I’ll update her, and she’ll be in shortly.”

Lizzy watches the woman leave then turns back to me. “Don’t worry. Nix’s going to fix you right up.”

“Who’s Nix?” I whisper.

Tears fill her eyes. “Our friend Nix. You know, Dr. Reid. She moved to town last winter?”

“I don’t know any doctors named Nix, Liz.”

Before she can explain herself, a pretty young woman enters in a dark dress and a white lab coat. She has long chestnut hair pulled off her neck in a twist and a warm smile. “I hear you’re doing much better than last time I saw you.”

I look to Liz, hoping she’ll help me out.

“Do you remember her now?” my sister asks me.

I frown at the woman I’m supposed to know and shake my head. “I’m sorry.”

“My name is Dr. Phoenix Reid. You call me Nix.”

The nurse reenters the room and hands a clipboard to Nix, who scans it and nods.

“Why doesn’t she remember you?” Liz asks the doctor.

Nix gives her a stern look. “Calm down. Hanna, do you remember anything else after your night at the bar?”

I shake my head, panic rising. “You guys are freaking me out. What happened? Did I drink too much?”

“You’ve had a head injury,” Nix says, “and sometimes with head injuries you can experience a degree of amnesia.”

“She doesn’t have amnesia,” Lizzy objects.

“There are different kinds of amnesia. There is no need to panic.”