A Unique Team Fragment taken from: The Storyteller, Volume VIII “He’s waking up.” I heard a voice coming from the distance. “Not for long…,” another one responded. I remained in a dark, warm place. There were no dreams involved. No brain activity at all; it was like being suspended in outer space, just floating, slowly floating without going anywhere—just existing. No time and space at all, only darkness and silence. I heard a groan somewhere in the distance and took a deep breath. I started to open my eyes very slowly. I was in a strange place; it looked like a hospital room from the 1950s or something like that.

I still want to believe.

Everything around me was white: the floors, walls, and the ceiling. No paintings or anything hung from the walls or ceiling whatsoever. I was alone. I looked at myself: I was lying on a bed; my chest was bare except for a broad bandage on my ribcage and left shoulder. I had blue pajama pants on.

I tried to move a little and felt pain all over my body; I moaned and realized that the first moaning I heard seconds ago was mine, too. I was dizzy, so I stayed put. I was aware of the fact that I was in some sort of hospital or clinic: I could see a few medical monitors and instrumental to the side.

A man came in the room he smiled at me and said, “Oh, well, it’s good to see you awake. How are you feeling today?”

He was in his early forties. Black, unruly, straight hair fell on his forehead; he wore glasses; and I could see a shirt and tie under his white doctor’s jacket. An ID hung from his chest pocket; I tried to read it. He noticed.

“I’m Dr. Silverman.… I’ve been taking care of you these past few days,” he said as he concealed his ID from me.

I felt uneasy.

“How…,” I began speaking with some effort, “How many days?”

“Three,” he said as he looked down to the medical chart he had in his hands, “You’ll make a full recovery, don’t worry. All you need is to stay put for a few more days,” he said with a smile.

“What … happened?” I asked as I rubbed my face with my free hand.

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that but….” He stopped short as we heard someone coming in.

It was a familiar face; I knew the man who came in, I sure did … but I could not remember his name, for some reason.

I tried to move some to be able to see him better, but I realized I had no energy or much strength; I felt light-headed. I decided to stay put.

“Thanks, David, I will take it from here,” the man said as he patted the doctor’s back.

“Call me if you need anything, okay?” the doctor said as he walked out.

The man took a chair and brought it closer to the bed, but he did not sit down. He was tall and slim. It seemed to me that he was looking at me with affection; I could feel that he also knew me … but from where? My head hurt a little. It all was very confusing. The doctor said I had been there for three days already but I didn’t remember that place at all.

“Do I … know you?” I asked, trying to gain some composure; I didn’t like feeling vulnerable.

“Yes … and no,” he said with a devilish grin.

“Hey, look pal…,” I began to say, losing my patience. He didn’t seem to be all that much help and I didn’t feel like being teased at all; my whole body ached.

“Calm down, I understand how you feel,” he said, giving me a warm smile this time.

“I don’t believe I’m going anywhere any time soon,” I said, trying to chill out.

He sat down. I followed his every move; I felt as if I would be able to call him by name at any moment. His face was so familiar.

“I am your friend,” he said. His tone was that of a grandfather about to start a long bedtime story. He kept speaking after a short while, “We have worked together for a few years now; you could almost say we are … like business partners.”

“What?” I looked at him blankly.

One thing was that the man looked familiar to me, but another whole different issue was that I was unable to remember my own ‘partner’; that is, if he was telling me the truth.

“I know, I know. This is going to be hard to explain, and you have to try to understand…,” he said, struggling with words.

I looked around; that man was crazy if he thought he was my partner or anyone I knew. Maybe his face was somehow familiar to me and he tried to be a smartass by making me believe we went a long way back.

“Do I have any family? Is there anyone else in here I can talk to?” I asked, giving up on him.

He cleared his throat. He did not seem to mind me not wanting to talk to him anymore. I began to feel very sleepy.

“No, just me. I guess I will have to do for now,” he joked a little.

“Is there any way you can answer my questions directly? Stop fooling around; it’s driving me insane.”

“Always to the point. Okay, have it your way, then. Do you remember your name?” he asked me.

“What?” I asked a little confused.

“There. Answer that one for me, please,” he insisted.

“Well … I’m … my name is … er….” After a whole minute of struggling to remember, I stared blankly at him.

“See?” he said as if he knew I would not remember.

How could he know that?

“Look, you’ve had a very rough time; why don’t you sleep some and in the morning we’ll talk some more, okay?” he said as he stood up from the chair and placed it back where it was before.

He was leaving.

“Wait, please,” I said. I did not want to panic, but it was not a good sign that I could not remember my own name. Maybe I was suffering from a head injury or something.

He came closer to the bed.

“You’ll be fine; it’s natural for you to be unable to remember for now.… You will remember a little more later on; you need to rest now,” he said in a reassuring voice.

“At least tell me my name before you go….”