It’s been a few days since I’ve
been released from the hospital. Much to Lae’s disappointment, I’ve decided to
stay behind the scenes and not reveal myself publicly. Instead, if you’re on
the Net, you may see me by the code name “Chimera.” Many people dispute my
existence and my deeds, but that doesn’t matter. As long as they don’t have an
actual name to trace, I’m safe.
I’m sitting in the park where I
first met Marc, enjoying the crisp breeze. I have my tablet on, and I’m writing
an exposé about the government, their role in the virus, and who in particular
was responsible. I’ve decided to leave Lukas’s name out of it, but I’ve placed
him under the code name of “Chronos.” The exposé will probably be all over the
news tomorrow if I send it in tonight. I already have a deal with one of the
national heralds.
“Hey,” says someone behind me, and
I turn around.
“Oh my god, Tam!” I exclaim, and
stand up. I hug her tightly. “How have you and your family doing?”
“Much better. We still don’t know
how Drew got out, but we’re extremely grateful for whatever or whoever helped
him. I don’t know if it was “Chimera” as they say on the Internet, but
whatever.”
I smile secretly. “So Drew’s
completely recovered?”
“Well…yeah mostly. There’s this
one thing…and that’s why I tried finding you.” Tam looked down. “Could you come
over? Maybe you’ll fix it.”
“What is it?” Even I could hear
the anxiousness in my voice.
“It’s hard to explain. It’s easier
for you to see.”
We walk a few minutes, and we
reach Tam and Drew’s apartment. We go in, and she brings me up to the 14th
floor. When we enter the apartment, her mother is there, waiting by the door.
Her mother glances over at me, and
her eyes widen. She grabs Tam’s shoulders and started speaking in a rapid-fire
foreign language I’ve never heard before. She’s gesturing wildly, and her voice
sounds angry. Tam replies in the same language, quieter, but I can still hear
the anger.
The argument seems to be done when
Tam’s mother lets go of her. She smiles at me and apologizes. I just smile
back, albeit a bit nervously.
“He’s this way,” says Tam, and
leads me down a hall to a room with a closed door. “Hey Drew, can I come in?” she
asks, knocking on the door.
“Yeah sure,” he replies, and Tam
opens the door.
“Hey, who’s that, a friend of
yours?” he asks, looking up from his book. How come he doesn’t recognize me? I
step more into the light.
“It’s me, Drew. Don’t you
recognize me?” He’s joking, right? He’s just joking around…
There isn’t a glimmer of
recognition in his eyes. “I don’t believe we’ve met before,” he says. “What’s
your name?”
If this is a joke, I’m going to
kill him later. “It’s Kaya. You know, your friend since grade 5 and your
recent—um—girlfriend?”
“Tam, don’t tell me this is one of
your jokes. You know I’ve never met this girl,” he says. “I’m sorry if she
dragged you into doing this. She likes practical jokes.”
I search his face for any sign
that he recognizes me, that this is all a joke. But there’s nothing. I feel a
sharp ache in my heart.
“I’ll be back,” I tell Tam, and I
stumble out of the room. I walk a few paces, and then slide down to the floor.
My heart has never hurt this much before…I start sobbing uncontrollably.
I feel a hand start to rub my
back. I look up and see Tam and Drew’s mom crouching beside me. “Here, let’s
talk in the balcony,” she says in a slightly accented voice, and helps me up.
She walks me to the balcony, and
we stand there for a bit. When my sobbing slows down, she pats my head. “I’m
sorry you had to see that,” says their mother. She looks off into the blameless
blue sky. “He’s been like that ever since he got out of the coma. It was like
the last five years of his life has been erased. His last memory is of him
arriving here, before he met you.” She sighs. “Tam has been trying to get him
back to normal by bringing in people and things from the years that are missing
from his memory. But nothing is helping. When I saw you, I knew it was going to
hurt you if he doesn’t recognize you. But of course, Tam has her way of
convincing people. I wish I never let you see him…”
“It’s ok. I know you wanted to try
everything to get him back to normal.”
“It must hurt a lot, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t know how to describe it,”
I reply, and place a hand over my heart. “It’s like someone ripped it out, or
like someone is stabbing repeatedly.”
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