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  • Aquata Cove Ch. 88

Aquata Cove Ch. 88

123

Chapter 88: Baby Steps

Adam sits there, in his wheel chair, staring at the floor, his hands resting between his knees. The twin rail poles are in front of him, waiting for him to make the first move, the walking pad waiting for him to take his steps.

"Take your time..." And grey-haired elderly woman said, looking at Adam through her glasses, with her own clipboard, overseeing this session. Adam looks at her for a moment, before looking back to the bars. He takes a deep breath, and reaches for them. His hands grasp the poles before him, using soley his arms strength to pull himself up from the wheel chair.

"Hnnh..." Adam grunts as his arms shake and tremble, supporting his whole weight, his toes barely skimming the walking pad as he moves.

"Don't rush through into it." The woman said, "Take it very easy, you are still beginning at this."

Adam gives a pitiful glance to her, breaking a light sweat as his straining arms grip the poles with each inch that he moves, his irks as his feet barely swipe at the pad, just a hair away from collapsing on himself.

Then, he pauses. He sighs as he droops his head down. Adam plants both feet onto the walking pad, and turns to the physical therapist, "Look, are you sure this is really necessary?" He asks her, "I've been able to walk just fine for at least a week and a half now."

"PUT YOUR HANDS BACK ON THOSE BARS THIS INSTANT!" The old crone yells, point her pen and Adam. He sighs again, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

~~~

Adam puts a few pieces of a puzzle together in a room with several patients, being tested again with his hand-eye-coordination.

"He's doing surprisingly well at his stage." A doctor said, standing next to Luther and watching the patients through an observation window, "His motor skills are completely perfect, he's been getting good exercise, his diet is agreeing with him, and he's even made a record with the physical therapy routine... As well as the number of saline and I.V. drips consumed in this time frame."

"My boy's a fighter." Luther says as he nods. "He's been beaten down before, and we're here to make him stronger." If all else, always go with the cliché small talk.

"His recovery is nothing short of remarkable, in fact." The doctor said, "Theoretically, he shouldn't be able to have full range of his left arm or his right leg, but the broken knees seems to have been completely mended, and his fingers and arm fractures are coming along nicely."

"Anything else I should know?"

"He seems to have a problem with dehydration." He reported, "As I mentioned, he's set a new record for having taken in as much saline as he had, and he drinks at least 10 bottles of water in a day, yet urination is fairly at a regular basis. Has he had a history with water consumption?"

"No, not to my knowledge." Luther shook his head.

"He is not diabetic, correct?"

"No, he's always been a healthy kid."

"It just seems a little unusual then." The doctor said.

"And... The bad news?"

"His mental health needs work." He said, "He's reported having nightmares on a almost regular basis."

"He is?" Luther said as he looks in the room, "His face looks ok, he looks like he's been getting sleep."

"The rate seems to be once every two nights. He also has mood problems."

"Mood problems? Like, as in mood swings or something?"

"He exhibits behavioral depression that lasts almost half a day before it passes. He claims he doesn't know why he's been having these times of sadness, only that he has feelings of sorrow, loneliness, and longing, like he's being deprived of something, but no one's been able to make any significant hypotheses."

"I see..."

"He has also been having migraines. Dr Yuri has reported that Adam suffers severe headaches from time to time, usually after a close friend leaves after visiting him, most likely due to recovering from his head injury."

"Alright..."

"At any rate, your son has reached a physical point where he can released back home, with prescribed medications for any fractured bones left in his hands and arms, as well as any damage remaining in his ribcage."

"My wife wants him to stay here." Luther said, "Especially after being notified about his mental health."

"Then, I am suggest that you will have to make arrangements at the psychiatric ward next door to the hospital. His injuries no longer require him to stay in the hospital."

"Hahhh..." Luther looked down, "We... Can't really afford that..."

"He is allowed to stay for one more day. But by then, we need his room to go to another patient." The doctor says, looking at his charts.

They watch as Adam gets up from the table, laughing with a couple of patients as he helps one of them with her wheelchair, "Your son is a good man. He's lucky to be in good hands."

--Several Weeks Before--

"Adam? Are you ready?" A voice asks. Adam's head tilts up, his eyes half lidded and dulled.

"Kay..." He mumbles. He is helped out of bed, still staring into nothingness as his foot pushes onto the cold floor, feeling a lot of discomfort into his knee, "A-Aahhhh-"

"Hold on, hold on," Says someone as they seat him into a wheel chair, "We're going to be taking you to the porch. Get some sunlight."

"Right..." Adam responds. His mind is blank, everything is an unidentified color or sound, nothing grips his attention. All he can know is he's moving. To where? No one knows...

Merrick pushes the wheel chair out of the door, while Donna and Yuri look after him, "Yuri... Just what is in those doses you keep giving to Adam?"

"It's a special compound that is supposed to recover certain types of brain damage."

"But... He's not saying anything. It's like he's not even there. I'm worried, Yuri."

"Donna, I-I assure you, it's fine..."

"You don't sound so convinced yourself." Yuri hesitates as she tried to find an answer. "Yuri, give me a definite answer."

"Donna, I've given him the best medicine we have. The side-effects are causing his brain to slow down in order to cope with the vaccination compounds."

Donna leers at her, trying to pinpoint any tell Yuri might have, trying to shift through anything that might show her she is not being totally honest.

"... Yuri. I am his Mother. If there's anything you're not telling me..."

"And I'm his doctor, Donna." Yuri said, "Anything that happens to him is on me. Do you really think I'd give him anything less than my best?"

"... Alright, Yuri, I'll take your word for it this time." Donna said, "His inactivity is having me worried though. You let me know if this vaccine of yours has anything that will hurt him."

"You'll be the first to know..." Yuri answered.

The wheels turn as Adam's feet touch the sunlight. He stares with a blank expression at the colorful flowers perched in pots on the ledge.

"Is that ok, Adam?" Merrick asks, holding his shoulders.

"Yeah..." Adam answers lowly. Merrick turns around, and looks into his eyes. Those brown eyes are so empty... So dulled... Just like when Kairi lost her heart in Kingdom Hearts. He seems asleep, but awake at the same time.

"What are you dreaming about, Adam?"

"..."

"Wanna know what I dream about?" Merrick pulls up a chair, "I remember this one time... You and I were scaling the clouds. The sun was shining in our eyes, but we didn't care." He smiles as he glances at Adam from time to time, "We were stepping on glass platforms, higher and higher... And then I slipped." Adam says nothing, "I fell into the sky, I don't remember if I was screaming."

"..."

"And then, out of nowhere, you were falling too. But you had these huge, white bird wings. You caught me right before I fell into a mountain. And then I woke up, and my heart was racing." He smiled as he looks at Adam's stoic face, "And I don't care if you can hear me or not..."

"... Huh..." Adam's focus remains undetermined.

"It's ok." Merrick moved his hand over, and held his, "Even if you forget me, I will never forget about you. I will remember everything about you."

Adam sits motionless, his face unable to shape so much as a flinch. Merrick smiles better as Adam's fingers twitched and oh so slightly tightened.

"... Pro... Mise...?" He says, unable to string another thought.

"I promise, easy as that." Merrick smiled. "I'll be waiting."

"... Ok..."

--Several Weeks Later--

~~~

"You ready, Adam?" Luther asks behind his wheelchair, nearing the hospital front doors.

"As ready as I'll ever be... Dad..." Adam said. A few days ago, this grey-haired mid-aged man came to Adam, claiming to be his father. Of course, nothing his ringing any bells.

"We're going to be meeting your mother at your house, Adam." Luther says as he pushes his son's chair over the threshold.

"I'll be right there with you, make sure everything goes well." Yuri says as she walks with them. Once outside, Adam gets up from the wheel chair, and is escorted into Luther's car. Adam takes deep breaths as the vehicle pulls out of the parking lot, he gazes at the very large hospital. For the past month, that medical building has been his whole world. All of the cards and gifts he has gathered as been put into one large gift bag next to him; as far as he's concerned, they're his only belongings.

Adam continues to watch outside the window of the car. As the trees and clouds dash by, he winces as he puts his fingers onto his forehead. A keen ringing silently races through his brain. "Ahhhh... Ghhh..."

"What?" Yuri asked in the passenger seat.

"Huh?"

"Oh, I thought you said something, Adam."

"No, I'm fine, uh..." Adam blinks, but closes his eyes firmly as he feels the bandage around his head, "Uh, who... Who else are we meeting?"

"Just your Mom," Luther said, "And your two roommates."

"Oh, I s-see..." Adam holds his head as his brain starts to hurt. He silently moans as he rubs his temples.

"Ok, we're here." Yuri says after about 10 or 15 minutes of driving, with an excited smile on her face. Adam pants a little, wishing the ride would've lasted a little longer so he can try to sort his head. He can visually feel the pounding rocking in his head. The car door opens for him, and he clumsily steps out onto the gravel, his eyes casting down.

"Adam, are you alright?" Asks Luther.

"I-I-I'm fiiii..." Adam staggers and seizes onto the car, his other hand clutching his head.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Adam!" Yuri quickly holds him, "What's happening? What are you feeling."

"My head..." Adam's sense completely turn upside down as he loses all powers of balance and he holds his head with both hands, "Ahhh! FFFFFuhhh!"

"Adam!" Yuri gasps as she can't hold Adam as she swerves, holding his head.

"Oh my God, what's happened?!" Says an unfamiliar female voice as steps of gravel could be heard.

"I-I don't know, he just collapsed!"

"Aw shit! What the hell!" Says a deep voice as a large dark brown figure could be spotted in Adam's spinning vision. He clutches his head as it feels like it's sinking into the ground!

"We need to get him back to the hospital!"

"Oh my gosh, I knew this would happen!"

"Adam!!" Comes another new voice. Adam huffs as he starts to go dizzy as his headache reels even more, with only a twinkle of clarity amongst the chaos, "Adam!" The voice echoes as his world goes black.

~~~

Adam moans as he rubs his head, still feeling very dizzy from that ordeal. Apparently, he just collapsed as soon as he got to his own house... This one place where he's supposedly lives in... Why did his head start exploding like that? It doesn't make any sense...

"Adam?" He looks up, and sees a nurse looking to him, along with Dr Yuri, "Your room is ready for you."

"Alright..." Adam nods, before he gets up, and walks with them.

Moments later, Adam walks into the small room, looking at his bed, and the quaint nightstands and simple furniture, holding his laptop carrier with him, calmly walking in. "I'm gonna miss you, Dr Yuri." He said as he turns, seeing his Japanese friend right behind him.

"I'd say I'm gonna miss you too, but I'll still visit." Yuri said, "You're a big part of my life, you won't stop seeing me."

"Really? Who were we before all of this?" He asked curiously.

"Roommates." Yuri said with a smile.

"Whoa, wait," Adam smiled as he set his carrier aside, "You and I live together?"

"Keep in mind, I can't tell you too much, under orders of your traumatic profile and your state of mental fragility."

"I understand." Adam says as he sits down on the bed. "How long have we lived together?"

"About... A decade, I think." Adam's eyebrows rise from that.

"10 years? Wow... I guess that's why I could only remember you when I woke up."

"Well, you had another roommate that's been with you for 8 years -- you and him are very good buddies, and you still didn't remember him when your head as bad."

"Oh..."

"Hah hah, probably because I saw you everyday, and he came to see you when he had the time."

"Heh, ok." Adam nods.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Yuri gets up, and stands over Adam, "Time to take this thing off."

"O-Oh, I didn't notice." Adam closes his eyes as she unclips the safety pin, and begins to unravel the bandage. She curls it up, until his head of short dark brown hair was visible, with a vague scar reaching out around his head. She looks sadly as she softly put her hand onto it. Adam flinches as her fingertips trace around the jagged line across his scalp.

"You were hit dangerously close to your temple..." She says, "Only half an inch away... They could've killed you..."

"Yeah... Sometimes, I think... About how or when I even got here..." Adam says, "I still can't remember anything about my life... But I just keep wondering... What kind of bad person was I, to get somebody so angry with me to mess me up like this..."

"Adam, no." Yuri says, "You are NOT a bad person at all. You're one of the best people I could ever know."

"Then why did this happen?" He says, "And why can't you tell me more about my life?"

"Because... Hhhh" She sighs, "Your psychologist has you on a very cautious routine..." Yuri casts her eyes down, "It's like she wants you to go just a little slower than baby steps. She says you were overwhelmed when you were exposed to too much to handle so soon."

"I still don't like the idea of me being kept in the dark about my own life."

"None of us do, Adam. Heck, Jamal wanted to test to see all kinds of things about you to see if you'd react to them, but some of those were very inappropriate."

"... Wait, is Jamal a tall, buff black guy? I think I remember him."

"The one who was playing basketball with you and the patients." Yuri says with a smile and nod, "With his prized ball autographed by Michael Jordan himself."

"... Ok, now who's Michael Jordan? Is he someone else I know?"

"No, never mind, it's not important." Yuri chuckles, "He's a famous basketball player. But it's actually very reassuring that you're able to remember a few days ago, that's a very good step."

"Even if I can't quite remember the names of people that easy?"

"Hahaha, more people have that in common more than you think." Yuri smiled. Her pager starts beeping, prompting her to check it, "Oh I gotta go, Adam. You'll be fine, ok?" She goes in, and hugs him tightly, before backing away, "Remember, baby steps." She said with her fingers crossed, before leaving.

"Yeah..." Adam nods before sighing, and taking his laptop out. He opens it up, and clicks on the blue 'W' icon, and brought up a new Word Document, before he starts to type.

--- Dear Diary, Sorry it's been a while, I haven't been really up to writing in you a lot. This whole thing's just been a big blur. Ever since I had this one memory, some guy was there, the sun was blaring in my eyes, I can't remember what he looks like. I just remember tasting something very good, like a hot, meaty drink or something. I can't remember much of anything else on that day. Only when I think about it, I just want more, but I can't remember who it was that made it so nice. But after that, it's been one big stretch, I was so out of it for the past few weeks. Dr Yuri said it might've been a side effect from some medicine she gave me, It's been an eventful day. I was supposed to go home today, but it didn't exactly work out. I was nervous to start with, but as soon as I got there, my head just started hurting like hell. I didn't even get a good look of my own house before everything went nuts. I went with Dr Yuri, and someone who says he was my dad. I was supposed to meet my mom today too, but you know how that went. Well, at least my fingers are almost all better. Only a couple of them are still hurting. Now I'm told that I'm mentally delicate or something. No one's allowed to tell me anything. The only thing I know is, guess what, Dr Yuri was actually my roommate! She just told me, and now it kinda makes sense. Now I kinda feel a little safer. ---

"Adam?" Comes a soft voice. Adam turns to see one of the caretakers knocking softly at the door, "It's almost time for your therapy session with your psychologist."

"Ok." Adam nodded, closing his laptop, and going to set up the two chairs that is in here, taking a seat in one of them, and then looking to see a mid-aged woman promptly walk in through the door, wearing a charming orange shawl around her formal jacket. Adam notes something familiar about her hair cut into a sort of curved curtain style. She smiles as she holds her clipboard.

"Hello, Adam. I'm Doctor Donna." Just then, a strange, echoing music rang out from her person, giving a dramatic screech-like melody of suspense and action, "Oh, I'm sorry, that's my text tone." She says as she takes out her phone, and turns off the Doctor Who theme song.

"Hi, Dr Donna." Adam says as she comes to him, and sits on the chair opposite him.

"So, just a warning in advanced, this is going to be a very short session, just to have an introduction, alight?"

"Ok..."

"So, how are you feeling, Adam?"

"Well..." Adam pondered, "Kinda scared, but not terrified. A little clueless about how my life is going, actually."

"I understand. You're being kept in an unfamiliar environment, and you're bewildered and curious."

"Yeah, especially since you're making it so I'm not allowed to know about it." He said bitterly.

"Adam, I understand you want to know everything, but you need to take it slow for the time being."

"Why? I'm only just finding out Dr Yuri is actually my roommate, and I'm just fine."

"Adam..." Donna said firmly, "Please try to understand. I was there when you collapsed."

"You were?"

"Yes... I was in the neighborhood, and..." She says, pushing down on a couple of feelings, "And you were not fine, when you came home. I've determined that you're not mentally ready to pick up your life where it left off..."

"But... I want to know." Adam says, "I have a right to know. All I got to go by are a bunch of cards from people I don't even know. When AM I going to be ready, Dr Donna?"

"Over your stay here, you will be introduced to clues and answers to some of the information I've deemed fit for you to know..." Adam sighs as he looks down at the floor.

"I'm not a baby or a maniac or anything..." Adam mumbled, "I can handle it."

"Adam..." Donna says, "I know you're feeling trapped and deceived; I would too. But for us who say you screaming on the ground, holding your head like you were losing your mind? That was terrifying."

"Why can't I be the one to decide when and what I'm allowed to find out? Shouldn't I at least get that?"

"Some matters have more weight than others. Adam, I don't want to see you suffer like that again, you know how horrified I was?" She asked, "I thought I was going to lose you all over again."

"... Heh..." Adam gives her a sly look, "I take it you're someone close to me, then." Donna scoffed, and shook her head.

123
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