She had no word for morning. She sat upright on the hospital bed,
experiencing the sights and sounds without understanding.
The nurse brought in a breakfast tray. The smell of the food was
pleasant and made her belly ache all the more. The nurse cut a piece of
egg and lifted it to her mouth. Her mouth rememberred how to chew. Her
hands rememberred how to eat and took the fork from the nurse.
The light shining through the window shifted and changed in hue
and clarity. At one point it touched her hand, pleasantly warm. Then it
was gone. She couldn't comprehend the passage of time. She had neither
past nor future, just the endless now. Until that too was gone.
She recoverred from the aphasia the next day, but then she
had amnesia. Some unidentifiable compounds were found in her blood. She
was transferred to the locked psychiatric unit on a seventy-two hour hold.
Do you know your name?
No.
Where you are? Today's date?
No. Does it matter? These are just labels. Why don't you ask me
something important, like can I function in society?
Can you?
I guess not. Where am I then?
You were brought into emergency a week ago, after
collapsing in a museum. Your heart stopped.
I don't remember anything before yesterday.
What's wrong?
What?
You keep looking around.
I'm in danger. I don't know how, I just know I am.
Later that day she announced her name was Mary. She claimed she learned
it from a small piece plastic she wore on her belt.
Jenny sat motionless in the dayroom, her wrists bandaged where she
had slashed them.
'Correctness is an illusion. We must concentrate on utility.'
-kendricks Harmony
