Chapter One: New Aspect on Life

I was killed about a year ago in some sort of murder. To be specific, it was an assassination. To the world and those that knew me, I was dead. I had been ambushed in my house, shot, cut into many pieces, and left for the fires burning my house to engulf… but I survived. I wasn’t sure how or why, but now, I wanted to know why I was murdered, and I wanted revenge.

Among the various tasks I had to do, one was to first understand the current situation. I was on a hospital bed, and there were two nurses looking at me from above. Some time earlier, I had opened my eyes and yawned. Apparently, these actions had openly shocked a nearby nurse, who had immediately run off and brought back another nurse. It was then that I noticed something was wrong. I didn’t remember my name, but there was something worse.

“She’s awake after a year in coma!”

“It’s a miracle…”

I was in the body of a girl. I could have screamed right there, but I needed to know. “Who am I?”

The two nurses stared at me. “She said something.”

“Of course I said something,” I mumbled. “Who am I?” I repeated. My voice was soft and weak, the tone was cold even though I had not meant it to be that way.

“Well, young lady, your name is Erisad Harper,” a male voice said. A doctor entered my view a second later. I tried to sit up, but couldn’t. The doctor pressed a button on the bed, and the part holding my torso lifted so I was in a sitting position. He mumbled something to the nurses, and they left immediately. “Don’t try to speak so quickly. You haven’t spoken for awhile. I’ll explain everything. About a year ago, you were involved in a car accident, which caused you to sink into a coma. For the past year, you have been here. We were not able to release you from the coma, but we kept you alive by feeding you through IV. Just earlier, you awoke from your coma. We don’t know how, but we are grateful that you are with us once again. I had the nurses phone your parents. They should be in soon.”

I nodded slowly. It was shocking really. In my past life, I had been a young man in the mid 20’s and here I was now… in a body of a girl, whose age I did not know. I did not even know what she looked like.

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Apparently, as I looked into the mirror, I had long black hair that reached down to the middle of my new back. Agewise, the girl seem to be in the teens. I estimated about sixteen or seventeen. Her skin was fresh yet pale, and her face sweet and sad with green eyes that betrayed a mixed lineage of Oriental and Causcasian. The girl was rather slender with no overbearing characteristics save for a small scar on her arm. Coincidentally, I remembered that my former body also had a scar in that area. As I flexed the muscles to see how they were, I realized that I doubted the reliabity of the muscles due to the fact that they had not been used for a year because of the coma. It was similar to a scene in a horror movie, where patient would wake up in a mental hospital, stare at herself in the mirror with only the patient gown on or some form of inexpensive cloth that the nurses had dressed her with.

That papery gown felt unnaturally comfortable on the skin, probably because the body had been in contact with it for so long. It baffled me. Why on earth was I in the body of a girl? I, for one, would have believed myself to be on my way to the world after death, but now, I didn’t know what was worse; being in the body of a girl or being dead. I didn’t believe in the principle of reincarnation, but even if it was reincarnation, I would have started as a baby being born from a woman’s womb.

The girl’s parents arrived later. Of course I didn’t recognize them. How could I, having never met them before? I watched them silently as they greeted the doctor. They saw me and rushed over, nearly crushing me in a deathly hug. I started to cough, and they released me, letting me flop down on the floor momentarily, and then helping me up again to the bed.

“Now, Erisad dear, be patient. We’ll be right back after we talk to the doctor,” the mother smiled.

“We’ll get you out of here as soon as we can. We know how you dislike hospitals,” the father added.

I tried to manage a weak smile, but when I looked in the mirror, my mouth had not contorted in any way. I couldn’t control the muscles effectively yet. With that, the parents walked away toward the doctor, and they all left the room leaving me alone.

As I sat on the bed, I tried to draw some inferences from what I had seen of the girl’s parents. The father was the culprit of the girl’s Oriental appearance. He was tall, slim, and rather serious looking. From the looks of his body anatomy with the addition of his formal business suit, he looked quite fit. If I didn’t know any better, I’d characterize him as someone that could work for a mafia as a bodyguard. From the few moments that I caught sight of his face, I noticed that his features were sharp. He seemed Japanese from the eyes, but I couldn’t be sure. Judging by his height, I concluded that he probably either had tall parents or was just in that new generation of tall Orientals that were spawning everywhere.

The mother was Caucasian, fit as well, but delicate in a way. She was wearing a dress. Her features were soft. I could only place her to be European, probably Western European. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were either green or blue. I couldn’t really see very clearly.

What fate would behold me with these two parents I would see soon enough. With the girl’s experience of the coma, I could easily feign amnesia, seeing how I knew absolutely nothing about the family. There had to be a reason why I survived. While feigning amnesia, I could very well try to discover that reason and come to a somewhat hopefully logical conclusion. On the way, once I fit in more, I could find out about my own original past life.

As I sat pondering my situation, the girl’s parents and the doctor came back. They approached me slowly and surrounded the bed on the two sides; the doctor on one, and the parents on the other.

“Erisad, Dr. Summers here just wants to make sure you’re in perfect condition before the hospital lets you out,” the girl’s father said.

“It’ll only take another day. You’ll be out soon enough,” the doctor added. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

I nodded weakly, and then almost felt suffocated again when the mother hugged me once again.

“Well, Erisad, hold out just a bit longer. We’ll be back tomorrow to take you back home,” the mother smiled.

After some more conversing, they left, and it was just the doctor and me.

“We’ll get started shortly,” the doctor explained. “Your heart rate and pressure are fine. Since we have been monitoring that, there is no need to test that aspect again.”

I nodded again, but said softly. “I don’t remember anything.”

“You will regain your memory eventually. It’ll come back slowly. The more familiar items will come to you fast of course. As I understood your family situation, your family was quite close. You should recognize your parents.”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t have any recollection of them at all.” My response came out slightly choked. My mouth was a little stiff from not being used for a year.

The doctor sighed. “It is only amnesia. Your parents will help you cope. Don’t worry. You will remember in time.” He smiled.

I frowned. “Can you help me by telling me about my family and my conditions as we go through the tests?” I asked, slowly making sure I pronounced each word clearly like a machine.

The doctor nodded. “Of course, if you want during the tests that don’t require you to be unconscious.”

I managed another weak smile. “Thank you.”