SIERRA'S POV
The somewhat dry smell of disinfectant hung over me, slipping under the oxygen mask. The soft chatter of two almost inaudible women added a tint of euphoria to the atmosphere; the electrocardiogram counting every beat of my heart.
I was awake. Hazy but my eyes were slightly open, the room slowly coming into full view. My gaze met the white ceiling first and then rolled over to the right. Something stood by me; an engine. I had seen it before, I was sure of it, but what it was didn't come to mind.
A gasp abruptly interrupted my reverie. One of the nurses had noticed my head stirring. I heard her feet stomp as she exited the ward with her friend. The next moment, a team of doctors came barging in, flashing pointy lights into my half open eyes. Each wearing obvious looks of shock on their faces.
"She is awake. It's not a response to physical stimulation this time, she is really awake. Its- impossible." The Caucasian doctor expressed his sincere shock. I eked out a breath from my lips, trying to see if I could speak, but they had sedated me again to make sure I was stabilized. Sleep was taking over. As my eyes closed, all I could think of was… What on earth happened to me?
**********
12 noon
Silicon Estate
Mary Rose Hospital
I took another lazy look at the beaming faces and cheerful countenance of everyone in the room. I understood why they were filled with creepy happiness. I woke up after lying comatose for a year but what I just couldn't grasp was who they were and who they said I was.
"Can you please tell me again who I am?" I asked wearily.
"You are Jinx, Jinx Shades, our daughter," A Brunette in her last forties replied me. She had one hand on the hospital bed, and they squeezed the sheets each time I asked that question.
"Are you sure? It doesn't sound like my name."
She forced a smile, her eyes wet. "Of course it's your name. The doctor says you are just suffering from the after effects of the coma. The amnesia will will eventually fade."
I looked over to the right, a man nicely decorated in a grey suit held my hand. They are parents, I realized, but whose parents?
"Don't worry, my baby, you will get over this okay?" He squeezed my hand affectionately. I hung up a smile on my lips, hoping it would ease their tension before I went ahead to ask another question.
"Can I see my face?" My gaze met that of the man in a grey suit.
"Sure my dear." He beckoned to the woman, and she left for a while. Moments later, she returned with a handy face mirror.
"They patched your face well darling. You still look like yourself, so you have nothing to worry about." She spoke anxiously, handing the mirror to me.
I stared at the reflection lain before my eyes. The girl in the mirror had black hair, brown-skinned, blue eyes; her face was pale, and she looked like an entirely different person. The mirror shook in my hands. I lost my grip; it fell and shattered on the ground. The man and the woman jumped in shock. The man rushed to find the cleaners, and the woman held my trembling body.
'Who the hell is that? I am Sierra Shade, not jinx. I don't look like that. I don't know these people. What the hell happened to me after I stumbled off that roof?
The nurses followed the man in when he returned. They had me put to sleep again. The nurse told her, I was suffering from a certain brain condition that made a person unable to recognize their own face.
In the days that followed, the man and woman, who were called Mr. Evan Shade and Mrs. Flora Shade, came by every day and helped me with the locomotive exercises I had to do to stimulate my legs and get me walking again. When I had started to move about myself and talk a little, they found me a Trauma therapist. I hated it, honestly. How could I tell anyone that I was someone else and I don't know how I ended up in this body? Who would believe me? Hell I was having enough trouble believing myself. But the sweet couple were breaking apart each time I told them I didn't know who they were, so I chose to see the Shrink, hopefully it would help calm them.
He came to see me on a cold Monday morning. I was outside, feet sunk into the evergreen grass, eyes counting clouds and my hands hidden in my sweater pockets.
"Miss Shade?"
I looked up. He flashed me a soothing grin; his chiselled jaw line inspiring a more seductive meaning to his expression.
"May I?" He gestured to the seat. I adjusted slightly and he sat next to me. It went all quiet for a while save for the whooshing winter winds and little flakes of snow falling on his brown coat. I listened to his breathing, anticipating his next move.
"Do you like games?"
"I don't know." I replied.
"Would you mind if we played a game?"
I was silent for a moment. I didn't like tricks but eventually I agreed.
"What game?"
He wore his warm smile again. "Here is how it works. You ask me anything, anything at all, I will answer. In turn, you will answer mine."
"It doesn't sound like a game."
"Really?" He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, nervously. He wore a slightly embarrassed look on his face. It was- cute.
'For a shrink, he sure has quite the sex appeal.' I thought to myself.
"Will you play?" His requested; it felt more like an offer.
"Alright."
He laughed a little, overly amused by the fact that I was willing to play. My gaze reverted to squirrels running off with their half-eaten acorns so he couldn't see that my cheeks were flushed. 'Some shrink this is; making a girl's heart flutter like that has to be against some code.'
"Let's see," he drew my attention to him. "You go first."
I kept my eyes on the squirrels. "What exactly did they expect you to achieve by coming here? What brainwashing have you been told to do?"
I heard the bench creak as he lifted himself off, rubbing his hands together.
"Your family wants you to accept who they say you are. But…" his fingers rested on my shoulders. "I'm here to help you find out who you are. Your family is important but as a therapist, my job is not to please them but to help you."
I looked up, into his oddly green eyes. The slick black hair he kept left a strand dangling over his face. He still held his innocent smile and I found myself unable to withstand the charm. If this was part of his way of getting patients to talk, I bet it never disappointed him.
"I am not Jinx." I began, crossing my leg and hugging myself. "My name is Sierra. I… I died, I'm sure of it. And this face isn't mine. I don't have brown skin. I know it sounds crazy but this isn't my body."