Memories Forgotten

       The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. Those were the first thoughts that Addie had after they woke up. Well, after the thought about how much their head hurt, which made the room a little unfocused on top of it being unfamiliar. Addie reached their hand up to check for any sort of injuries, but the only thing they felt was their short, teal hair. No blood, no cuts, no bumps. So, if their head was injured, it was just bruising, or internal. Addie wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up with another concussion, they have had a couple already. Addie considered for a moment if they had possibly been kidnapped. But with their hands still being free and the lack of serious injury, Addie figured it was likely that wasn’t the case.

           As they started to wake up more, Addie noticed that they were lying on a bed. A really fucking comfortable bed. The sheets and pillowcases were a nice shade of yellow, like the color of sunflowers, and felt like they were satin, or maybe silk. Fancy sheets definitely felt like something a kidnapper wouldn’t provide, so Addie was starting to feel pretty damn good about that not being what happened. Unless they ended up with a really nice kidnapper. Which in that case, maybe they could convince whoever it was to let them go. They would swear not to tell anyone, and they didn’t remember anything about the night before anyway. A nice person would let them go, right?

           Addie tried to sit up to get more of an idea of their surroundings but laid back down when they got lightheaded and hit with a wave of nausea. They clearly were not in the best shape physically, which made them not want to get out of the bed. Addie wanted to lay in it all day and just sleep, they felt so tired even though they just woke up. But unfortunately, they still didn’t have a fucking clue where they were, and that meant having to get up and investigate. But that could wait a minute, it’s not like they were in immediate danger, at least not that they were aware of.

           When they sat up again, they didn’t get nauseous. They did get a little lightheaded still, but it was much better than the first time. Addie slowly turned their head to take in their surroundings, trying to not make themself nauseous again. The mattress was big, like at least a king size. Whoever owned this bed clearly liked having a lot of space to sleep, or maybe they slept with multiple people in the bed. There were end tables on either side of the bed, but the one on the left side of the bed only had a lamp with a light purple shade that looked like it hadn’t been dusted, ever. The one on the right side had a matching lamp, dust and all, but there were more objects.

           “So, they clearly sleep on the right side of the bed.” Addie muttered to themself. A habit they have had since they were a kid. And a habit their mother wishes they would stop.

           Another habit that Addie knew their mother hated them having, snooping through everything. But below the lamp sat a necklace that Addie swore was familiar, but they couldn’t place where they knew it from. It was a simple silver chain, with a singular butterfly pendant that had a yellow gem in the middle. Next to the necklace sat a glass of water, a bottle of over-the-counter pain medication, and a handwritten note on what looked like the napkin of a pizza place. Addie picked up the napkin to read the note.

                       You will probably want to take some of these when you wake up, I can’t imagine that your head feels great.

           Addie put down the napkin, slightly shaking their head. Whoever left the note clearly thought that Addie knew who they were, because there was no name signed to it. And the handwriting on the note looked familiar, but Addie couldn’t place it. The only other thing sitting on the end table was a box of tissues. Addie picked up the glass of water, it looked normal. They sniffed it and nothing smelled off. They then dipped their tongue in, and it tasted like normal water. Addie shrugged and took a drink; their throat was sore and getting worse by the minute.

           They looked up from the end table, and directly into a giant window, that was for some reason not covered. Even though there were what appeared to be blackout curtains on either side of the window. But the sight of the sun reminded Addie just how much their head hurt. They grabbed the pain killers off the end table, and the bottle was still sealed so they had to be safe. Addie ripped open the bottle and took a couple of the pills. The note was definitely right, they needed those. Though they wished whoever had left them would have done them the courtesy of closing the curtains too.

           Addie waited a few minutes for the pills to kick in before they continued their investigation of the room they were in. Once the pain in their head started to subside, they swung their feet over the edge of the bed and stepped onto the floor. The very cold, dark hardwood floor. It made Addie wish that they were wearing socks, but the idea of wearing socks to bed was horrendous. But then they noticed the pair of light purple slippers next to the bed. Addie was starting to think they knew the favorite colors of whoever’s room this was. But Addie decided, for the sake of their feet, to see if the slippers fit, and they did. Addie would think it was a little strange that they fit, if not for the fact that their feet were pretty average sized.

           Feet no longer being attacked by the cold floor, Addie set off to explore the rest of the room, moving slowly to keep from getting nauseous again. The walls were painted some shade of beige, Addie had never been good at telling them apart, beige was beige to them. They knew it annoyed someone, but they couldn’t remember who. A quick sweep showed there being two doors, both white. Addie assumed that one was a closet, and one was the exit. This room would be so boring if the person whose room it was didn’t know how to decorate. There was art and pictures on all the walls, there was a bookshelf and a dresser on the wall across from the bed, in between the doors. And on the wall opposite the window was a desk, and nothing showed more about a person than what they kept on their desk.

           Addie began padding across the room, taking in all the different artwork and pictures on the walls as they went. Addie felt like the people in the pictures were familiar, but they didn’t have a clue how they would know them. Addie had left all their friends behind when they moved across the country, but they hadn’t been in their new town long enough to make this many friends. That reminded Addie, they should really call their mom soon, she would be worried if she didn’t hear from them.

           They finally made it across the room, after stopping several times to study the different artwork up on the walls, which fascinated them even though they knew nothing about art. Mostly because once again, there was something oddly familiar to it, but Addie couldn’t place why. There was a computer tucked underneath the desk, and there were notes taped to the monitor on top of the desk. When Addie read them, they looked like they were notes about whatever work this person did, possibly something to do with the book industry. They said things like edits due and word count goals. The keyboard looked worn, like the person typed on it a lot. They definitely worked at this desk, that much was certain. The mousepad was some sort of mountain scenery, and the mouse was yellow with light purple butterflies on it. So, the person liked butterflies, Addie could get behind that.

           But the thing that stopped Addie dead in their tracks was the picture that was sitting on the desk. It was a horizontal picture in a gold frame, propped up in the right corner of the desk. But that is not what made Addie pause, it was who was in the picture. It was a picture of a woman with long, curly brown hair and blue eyes that practically sparkled, and standing with the woman, was Addie. There was no way they could be in that picture. But Addie knew their hair was so distinctive, especially combined with their eyes, one brown and one green. So that was definitely them in the picture. Addie went to pick up the picture when the door opened.

           “Oh good, you’re awake.” Addie heard a woman’s voice. They turned towards the door, and standing in the doorway was the woman in the picture.

           “Who… are you?” Addie’s voice was still a little hoarse.

           “The doctor said that you might not remember everything, with your history of concussions and everything. She thought you might lose some of your memories.” The woman smiled sadly.

           “That didn’t answer my question. Who are you?” Addie looked between the woman and the picture on the desk. The woman crossed the room and stood in front of Addie.

           “I’m Sam,” she held up her left hand that had a shiny ring on her ring finger. “Your wife.”

           “That can’t be.” Addie shook their head. “I haven’t gotten married.” But Addie looked down at their left hand, and there was a ring sitting on her finger as well. How could they have forgotten that they got married.

           “Would you like to try that again?” Sam smiled.

           “Sure.” Addie laughed; this whole situation was ridiculous anyway.

           “I’m Sam, your wife.”