A New Essence

Chapter 2

"All her vitals are good. We'll keep her in observation for one more day and you can take her home. Don't stress her too much and don't introduce too many people either. We will take that process slow as she has forgotten most of her memory. You have the diet list prepared, please give her all that is prescribed in it. Three to four sessions with me per week will do good. She'll be back to normal soon," Charlie told Cora's parents in the evening.

"Yes, we will do all that," Cora's father, Jonathan Rhonda, said.

"I don't think that someone would be necessary in the night. You can come in the morning and get her discharged," Charlie dismissed them.

"What if my daughter never gets her memory back?" Audrey, Cora's mother got teary eyed again.

"Mrs. Rhonda, I will do everything from my side to get her better. The rest is on your daughter."

The door suddenly burst open and Jesse stood there in front of the entrance.

"But she doesn't even remember me! Her own mother!" Audrey burst out in tears and her husband tried to console her.

Jesse felt awkward as she saw the sob episode unveil before her.

"But she still accepts you both as her parents and that is still an improvement. I am sure that everything will be fine. It will just take time, Mrs. Rhonda. Please have faith in her recovery," Charlie said and turned towards Jesse.

"I just..." Jesse pointed at her car keys.

"We'll be taking our leave then. Thank you, Dr. Baxter," Mr. Rhonda said and got up along with his wife. He slowly towed her out and Jesse got out of their way.

"Whoa, okay," Jesse closed the door behind her. "They look miserable. What happened?"

"Their daughter woke up from comatose today after 9 years," Charlie stretched back.

"Isn't that good?" Jesse slumped down on the chair before him.

"But she is diagnosed with amnesia. She can't remember anything. Not even her parents," he sighed. "She looks like a difficult person to deal with. Very noisy and stubborn."

"That sounds perfect to me," Jesse smirked.

Charlie rolled his eyes and they heard screams from out of the room.

"What do you mean he is busy? Why should I rest? Get out! Don't touch me!" Someone screamed and Charlie and Jesse ran out to check what the ruckus was about.

In a defensive posture, Charlie saw her there, looking vulnerable and scared.

"Cora!" Charlie yelled and ran to her. "Nurse, let her go. Cora, what's wrong?"

"You promised that you'd come," she looked up with her watery eyes. "Why in the hell didn't you?" Her expression changed into that of a sneer and she pounced onto Charlie.

"s**t! Sorry! Sorry!" He tried saving himself. "Your parents took a little extra time talking to me!"

"I don't even know them!" Her struggles got weaker against him and she let him pin her down. "I don't know anyone. I can't trust anyone. Charlie, you promised, didn't you? Get me my memories back."

"I will, Cora. Give me a little time, okay? I will help you out if you can cooperate. Now, I'll release you slowly and you'll stand up like a good girl and not run anywhere. Okay?"

She nodded and he did as promised. She stood up along with him and her sight first went towards Jesse.

"Why was she with you in the room? Who is she? Was she the one who kept you held up and not come back?" Cora asked, her eyes never wavering from Jesse's form.

"Uh, no. Actually, she is my sister, Jesse. She came to get me home," Charlie said. "And Jesse, she is Cora, my patient."

"Hey," Jesse offered a smile, silently contemplating whether it was a good idea forwarding her hand for a handshake for fear that the crazy girl who earlier pounced on her brother would rip her arm off.

"You are taking Charlie home?" Was the response Jesse got.

"Um, yeah. I am," she said nervously, looking alternatively at Charlie and Cora.

"Where am I going to sleep?" She asked, her eyes now pointed at Charlie.

"In the hospital. You are to be kept under observation."

"I don't wanna stay here without you," she said. "Stay back."

"But my shift timings are done and I need to get home."

"In that case, I'm coming too," she declared, her arms folded in finality.

"What?" Jesse interrupted. "Where?"

"Home. I am going to stay with Charlie until I get my memories back."

"But you are a patient. You need to be in the hospital!" Charlie tried reasoning with her.

"Ah, well discovered!" She rolled her eyes. "Take me along, Charlie."

"Why does she feel like someone I know?" Charlie muttered scowling loud enough for Jesse to hear. Jesse burst out in laughter and clutched her stomach.

"Looks like I found my soul sister!" Jesse fist pumped in the air and went close to Charlie. "Get her home."

"Are you crazy! That's against the hospital policy! She is going to stay here!"

"I'll run away in the night," Cora supplied.

"No, you won't!"

"Try me," she smirked.

"I like her already! Get her home!" Jesse whined.

After a long procedure which took almost two hours, and also taking Cora's parents' permission, which wasn't a big deal as Cora was adamant on leaving and they would do almost anything for her, they left the hospital. Everything seemed new to Cora when she stepped out of the hospital. As if wandering into a new world, she took a deep breath, looking all around her. She seemed to remember the most basic things like talking and objects around her. She didn't know many details of them, but she still had a slight idea of how things worked.

They reached the car in which they were supposed to go and Cora hesitated to get into it.

"What happened?" Charlie asked and she flinched.

"I don't like this car," she took a step back.

"Hey! I know that the car isn't all that fancy, but you don't get to be all that rude, alright?" Jesse scowled.

"Jesse, stop. Cora, I understand why you don't like the car. If you remember, you met with an accident when you were in a car. Maybe that is the reason you subconsciously are avoiding it. But be sure, nothing bad is going to happen today. I assure you."

Looking at Charlie be all patient and assuring made Jesse feel alien. So, her brother had a sweet side she didn't even have a clue about. She tried digesting the fact, but it was way too difficult to process it all at once.

"You are being too nice," Jesse grumbled.

"I am a doctor, remember? I need to do this," he rolled his eyes at his sister.

"Are you sure?" Cora interrupted their silent grumbling session, looking extremely vulnerable.

"Of course. Or you could just stay back at the hospital and I'll come to check up on you tomorrow in the morning. You have an option, Cora," Charlie said. He really didn't welcome his patients into his personal life. Patients were such a pain. They didn't know his real self and he had to maintain a cool and calm demeanor, which wasn't like him at all.

"No, I'll come," she stepped forth hesitantly. "I trust only you, Charlie. Remember, you promised me."

That shot a pang of guilt in him. What if he was unsuccessful in getting back her memories and making her normal again? She sure looked old enough to be a matured woman, but in her mind she was still an 18 year old teenager. She never had the chance to mature mentally. He had to be extremely patient as she was more vulnerable to getting an avoidant personality.

He forcefully brought himself to agree with her trust and sat in the back seat along with her. She never let go of his hand and the entire time they drove back home, she shivered and that made his heart wrench in pain. He sure tried to understand how she must be feeling, all isolated from the world she didn't recognize, but he couldn't put himself in her shoes. What would he do if he were the one who woke up after 9 years of sleep and suddenly not recognizing his own family or himself? Sure, he did have issues with his siblings, but not being able to recognize them and not even having a single memory of them was like living in a nightmare.

He treated patients who had amnesia before, but then, none of the patients' case was as severe as hers was. He had to come up with treatment plans as soon as possible, because he wanted her to feel normal again. Not so... vulnerable.

"I would really appreciate it if you stopped snuggling your hearts out while I am the one driving," Jesse growled and Charlie rolled his eyes.

"She is asleep, Jesse. She is sedated. Don't try to ask her many questions about herself and try keeping her happy as much as possible. If she remembers too much about anything, that would trigger shut down responses. Just treat her like a friend, alright? Tell mom and dad too about this girl."

"Uh, yeah. Okay, I guess," she shrugged and continued driving.

They reached home and Jesse alerted her parents about Cora's arrival and her condition. Surprisingly, her father looked a lot more enthusiastic to meet the girl compared to her mother.

"Cora, we're home," Charlie gently woke her up as soon as Jesse gave him the signal that everything was clear.

"Cora, we're home!" Someone said and she woke up to that warm voice smiling. She could recognize that voice wherever she went. She rose to look up at that face, but then...

"Cora, wake up!" Charlie shook her a little and she woke up with a jolt. Looking around everywhere, she tried to search for the source of that voice, but she couldn't hear it anywhere, coming out of anyone.

"Where is that person?" She asked.

"Which person?" Charlie looked befuddled.

"That... I don't know," she frowned, trying to recollect that memory.

"It's okay. Try to settle yourself and think about it later. Now, would you like to meet my parents?"

"Hey!" Both the Baxter couple waved at her, standing right outside the car.

"Let's go?" Charlie asked and they stepped out.

As ever, the Baxters were the epitome in showing hospitality. They took her in warmly and Joseph Baxter, Charlie's father was quite taken by her untouched pearl like beauty. He stared at her quite a lot, lost in his own thoughts as Lisa, his wife tried to make small talk.

"So, you remember nothing at all?" Lisa inquired as she served dinner to everyone.

"A clean slate, my head," she shrugged. "Woke up to see myself in a bed with white walls all around me and people sobbing and furiously asking questions. I was scared. Then this guy came around to pin me to the ground and offering to help me get my memories back. I thought about it. He seemed like the only genuine person whom I could trust. So I took up on his offer. I wanted to get my memories as soon as possible, so here I am."

"Oh please, him and genuine?" Jesse snorted. "He'd rather be the first person who'd leave you."

"Jesse, be good to your brother," Lisa chided and Jesse rolled her eyes.

"Uh huh, right. So, Cora, how does it feel like waking up after 9 years? Good? Great? Brilliant?"

"Err, I barely have any memories, so it feels like I just landed into an unknown place all alone, where people start claiming you and asking you to remember things which didn't really happen for you. So, it doesn't feel all that great," she sighed.

"Ah, I should've known," Jesse cleared her throat awkwardly and the chatter on the table didn't prolong much after that.

Two hours later, the most exhausting task, which was tucking Cora to bed, was done. She sure seemed like a 27 year old, but was as energetic as an 18 year old. She behaved as if she was on a sugar rush and kept running around all the time, therefore making it hard for the two siblings to catch her. Later they pinned her down and Charlie managed to sedate her. She kept saying that she didn't want to sleep because she was afraid that if she slept, she wouldn't wake up again.

Charlie came down to the hall to see that his father was in a deep thought, just staring at the wall. Jesse kept flipping the channels on the TV, even though she was dozing off.

"Dad, are you alright?" Charlie asked and sat next to him on the couch. He just nodded at him and didn't speak a word. That was different! His father never was this quiet. Did something happen to him? "Do you have something you want to talk about?"

"Just because you are a doctor now, doesn't mean that everyone will start talking to you. Shove off, Charlie!" Even in the sleepy state, Jesse managed to give a sarcastic reply.

"Why you!" He was about to get up to teach her a lesson and his father stopped him from standing up.

"That girl you brought home, Cora, is she?" His father spoke.

"Yes, she is," Charlie frowned. "Is there something you want to know or tell?"

"I just feel like I have known her from a long time. But I can't be sure, can I? On top of that, she doesn't seem like the exact person whom I once knew," he shrugged. "But she feels the same."

"Dad, she was in a coma for the past 9 years. How could you probably know her?" Jesse supplied, still looking as disinterested as ever.

"True," he said getting up from the couch. "I'm going to bed and I suggest you both do the same. After all, you both are working now and are no longer kids," he chuckled at their expressions and walked away.

But the lingering thought remained in Joseph's head. What if she is that girl?