The constant sounds of surrounding electronics, the muffled cars, the quiet ticking of the small clock on the wall. It was all becoming more and more annoying to her. And she had been in this room for only one night.

She shouldn’t really be awake right now, it was 5 AM. But she had already been lying here like this for about half an hour, sleep would not return to her. And it didn't look like things were about to change soon.

There was nothing to do and she didn’t plan to get out of the bed and move around the building. She wasn't sure if the hospital would even permit that.

The hospital.

She knew of course why she was here. She had listened to the doctors, and she remembered what had happened yesterday. More or less.

That was also exactly what she was currently confined to do while waiting for something interesting to happen. Remembering.

The thing was, the capacity of her ability to remember was depressingly small. So she kept replaying the events of her first day, again and again and again. She tried to discover new details she had overlooked or to clear moments that were a blurr before.

Yet her efforts weren’t really successful. Everything up until her first car ride was foggy and unclear. She couldn’t remember any details of the courtyard, other than the colours of the different doors, weirdly. But the most frustrating aspect was, she could not for the life of her remember how an entire person had looked like. The young woman who had ruffled the little girl’s hair, who had helped her dress, who had been called by a name she did not understand and still could not.

The only thing soothing her frustration was that her mind was increasingly able to register and name basic things, like what a car was, or a window for that matter. The one in her room right now was really good at showing her the grey sky.

She hadn’t looked at it in hours now.

Opposite of it was another glass surface, this one was giving a small view of the hospital corridor, next to the door leading out. It had been interesting to stare at it, watch personnel, patients, visitors shuffle about. But at some point it too became rather repetitive.

The only midly exciting things were those few times someone slow was making their way by her, and she could see all those details, think about their life, why they were here and so on. It also made her sad. Atleast they could remember their life, they knew who they were.

She did not have the feintest of clues. She only knew what she herself looked like, when the little girl, Snowflake or something similar had showed her a mirror.

Skin of a lighter than average tone of red, contrasting the deep and rich crimson that coloured her hair. There were also those strands of a shiny yellow contrasting the tones of red. The little girl had seemed to like it.

Over and over she thought through the events of yesterday, remembering the little happy girl, but not the older one. Twisting her mind here and there in an attempt to pull even the feintest of images from the fog before her inner eyes.

The only interruption was when she had an impromptu staring contest with two siblings on the other side of the glass. Her mind had been so wonderfully empty.

But yet again, she was all too awake and concious.

Yaaaay.

One look at the clock: a few minutes before 8 AM.

Atleast yesterday they had done tests with her, and on her. Checking for any injuries, basic stuff, also looked for frostbite, something that had confused her then. Now she knew that they had looked for frozen parts of her body, one of the dangers of being in cold places without protective clothing.

At 8 AM, a nurse finally came into the room to check her vitals and ask a few basic questions.

“How are you feeling?“

“Do you remember something?“

“Are you hungry?“

“Are you cold?“

“Is the room too warm at the moment?“

“Is your body behaving unnaturally in any area or way?“

She didn’t really question the reason behind them, after all the nurse probably knew what she was doing, and answered them truthfully.

I’m feeling fine, like yesterday. Thank you.

Not really. Like, no memories, but knowledge and stuff.

Yes, definitely.

No, not feeling cold.

Too warm? No. Could be a bit warmer actually. Why you asking?

… Well, my brain has lost any memory of who I am.

That last one came out way too snarky. She apologized almost immediately. Luckily, she received breakfast regardless, and with that another break in the monotony that was her life right now.

The food tasted good. But she had a small suspicion that that was simply because she couldn’t really remember a lot of tastes. The food from yesterday had been fantastic, this felt like a downgrade. Even though both meals had looked rather similar.

She really wished she could get out of here already.

Although, what should she do then?

Hours ticked by as she pondered this new question. A task that slowly became just as depressing as everything else she had thought about. She did not know herself, what she was good at, what she could do. She had nothing, not even clothes. Those she had been wearing when coming here were only loaned and right now she had a hospital gown.

She hoped that there were people who could help her find her way again, family members or other relatives. Loved ones of any kind to tell her who she was.

Or just some friends. Even one would be enough, they could simply tell her her name and who she was.

They could help her find herself.

One look at the clock. 12:49

Hopefully they would find her before she could lose all her sanity in this room.

Somehow, she had managed to fall asleep. When she awoke, it was almost 3 PM. Opening her eyes, everything seemed to be normal. The machines still beeped, the clock still ticked, the windows still showed nothing but different shades of grey, so she spared them only a second.

Someone needed to get curtains over here.

As she turned away from the void outside, her eyes fell upon three figures standing outside her glassfront. And suddenly her cursed mind sprang into action, putting a few memory pieces together before shouting out in celebration.

Outside her room stood the one girl she couldn’t remember from yesterday!

The whole day she could not for the (rather short, in a way,) life of her remember the features of this person, and yet she was completely sure that this was indeed her. She almost glowed from euphoria and anticipation. They were clearly talking about her, she could see it in their body language. Her eyes were transfixed on that one girl, the other two figures were completely washed out of her perception.

It felt like an hour had passed, maybe it had, but eventually her excitement receeded somewhat. She also realized then that she had been staring at someone very intensely for a rather long amount of time. A wave of shame and embaressment washed over her and she pulled her gaze from the window front, seeking something to distract herself.

The food which sat on a tabletop afixed to her bed seemed to be a good choice. She akwardly sat up, trying very hard not to stare back at the glass and slowly began to eat. It was nothing special really. Bread with a bit of packaged butter, a few vegetables, some cheese and an apple, all topped off with a small bottle of water.

So she ate in relative silence. It felt strange, since she knew that people were just outside and talking about her and likely watching her. The glass front must be rather thick, or they were being quiet, either way she could not make out a single word.

It became increasingly frustrating to her, so much so that she dared to take another peek at the mysterious figure. It was just a little turn to the right with the head, just enough to get them nicely into her periphery vision. This time she tried to take all three of them in.

Three slender figures, one golden, one a light blue, one purplish. And so familiar…

A sense of vertigo overcame her, her chest felt like it was burning from the inside and her brain seemed to split. She vehemently shook her head and reached for her water, her eyes puffy all of a sudden. Grasping the bottle she chugged down as much as she could, and with a little more head-shaking her body calmed down again. Her eyes refocused and her brain didn’t feel like both halves were waging war against each other. Her breathing slowed down, she had somehow not noticed herself gasping for air.

A noise made her look up at the door, as the three figures from the hall made their way into the room.

“Are you okay?“

She didn’t really hear the question. She was too busy looking at them.

She had seen colourations of gold and blue just a moment ago, but now there was nothing of that sort for her to see. A quick glance towards the glass confirmed the lack of any additional onlookers of that complexion. Or at all. So she slowly turned her head back to her inpromptu visitors. Two of them were leaning in rather close, a doctor and a nurse. He had skin like wood and hair like sand in colour, whereas she looked like a soft green candy cane with hair of white and green stripes.

“Is everything alright with you?“ The doctor placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh uhm… Yes, yes, I’m alright.“

“That's good.“ The doctor said. “I will be leaving then, Miss Lifeline, would you please make a routine check on her?“

As he left the other girl moved to follow him, while the nurse did as she had been told. Through it all, she was able to partly see the doctor standing before glass front. Very likely he was in another conversation with the girl. The door opened again just as the nurse was finished and the girl walked back in. She spoke a few quiet words towards Miss Lifeline and waited unitl the nurse was gone, before pulling a chair next to the bed and sitting down.

“Uhm, hi?“

“ ‘sup.“

Both parties took their time examining the opposition. The girl was wearing a long greyish coat, which unfortunately hid most of her body under its thick material. Peering over her own bed, she could make out a rather heavy set of boots. Both pieces of clothing were well kept but plain, rather colourless and lacked any kind of adornment, decoration or symbol. That left only her face.

It naturally stood atop the otherwise grey figure with a light fuchsia complexion. She wondered if this was intentional or if this person simply had no other coats. Maybe both.

What drew her in though, were the other's eyes. They were a shade of purple. Yet, for a moment, she was sure that they gleamed with a red shine. She had to stare to confirm that little piece of information to herself, yet as she looked she could see nothing of what had appeared just now. The girl just stared back with intensity.

“Do you know me?“ she asked carefully.

“Nope.“ came the short reply. “What about you? Any sense of familarity here?“

She shook her head. “Everything’s gone. I mean, I can remember basic stuff, but nothing else. I don’t even have a name right now. Oh, and I remember everything from yesterday, more or less. You helped me.“

The girls just shrugged nonchalantly and crossed her arms.

“So, do have you any news for me? Do they know who I am or did someone already call in for me?“ she asked with a hopeful look on her face, although in the back of her head she kinda knew the answer already.

“As far as I know,“ the other girl said while propping her legs up on the metal bar at the end of the bed. “nobody called here, and there are no missing reports that would fit you. And as long as you didn’t commit a crime, which appearantly you didn’t, they likely do not have your DNA for identification. Oh come on, those things take a bit of time, so stop looking so sad.“

She took another drink from her water bottle, trying to find any topic to talk about that didn’t involve her current condition. She could not think of a single one. It seemed this didn’t go unnoticed her visitor.

“Its the hospital, isn't it? You’re stuck here with nothing to do, no one to keep you company and distract you while you wait for anything to happen, or any new piece of information to reach you. It drives you slowly insane, being confined here.“ Receiving a glare that was both shocked and questioning, she chuckled. “I was in this hospital for a while, not very long ago. So yeah, know how it is for you right now. And that is also why I am here.“

“What do you mean with that?“ she asked.

“Well… lets just say my… roommates, recently moved out of our apartment. So, I have a couple of rooms free for newcomers and…“ The girl hesitated a bit before continuing, altough her voice missed some of her previous toughness. “I miss having someone in the apartment. Right now it's too quiet for my tastes.“

Maybe her visitor was giving her a chance to speak, but she was still trying to take in all news she had just received. This created a few seconds of silence that seemed to stretch into minutes, before the girl started talking again, having regained her composure.

“I talked with the docs and they have given the green sign. You don’t have any injuries, internal or otherwise, you are of good health overall yada, yada, yada. Point is, the only thing they can do right now is wait for a response from the police or someone else. And that might take a while, so there is not a lot of reasons to keep you confined to here. Also they know me, and since I have my own check ups here it would be kinda practical if you lived with me. So, what do you say?“

She just gaped at her, mouth open, before stammering for an answer. “YES, oh my goodness yes please, I mean sure… I mean uh, ahm… I uh, why not… uhm I mean, I don’t even know your name…“ At that, the slightly bemused expression of her opposite changed into one of disbelief, followed closely by a hand slapping against the face.

“Uhm, did I do something wrong?“

“No, you didn’t. I just can’t believe I’m so stupid that I forgot to tell you my name.“ She sighed and stood up. "Seriously, you’re the worst.“

“S-sorry?“

“Nothing. Well then!“ She stood up, again looming over the hospital bed, extending her hand. “The name is Aria. Aria Blaze.“

Aria Blaze.

A nice name in her opinion, short, yet it had elegance.

If she was honest, the same properties applied to this name’s bearer as well, except maybe the short part.

She had still not seen anything of what kind of figure hid underneath the great cloth, something that seemed to bug her to an extreme. It was like she was deliberately concealing herself, making herself a mysterious figure to the girl. Maybe she was also just a bit envious of the coat. It looked so comfortable and snug, unlike the gown on her own body.

Anyhow, she had to wait just a bit more and then she could escape this gown afterall. And the room. And the entire hospital. She was really excited for that.

Aria was currently filling out necessary papers and talking with more doctors about more important stuff, all that to basically get temporary custody over her, until her memories and/or family came back. Before that they had talked a bit more, to get to know eachother a bit more. As much as possible atleast.

There was not a lot of information Aria had been ready to give though. Nothing about family or her previous roommates.

Instead the fuchsia girl had divulged little things. Not like it had really bothered her, she had been way more interested in learning anything more about Aria.

Like what she did in her freetime, “Lots of things. I think you will see for yourself.“, what her favorite food was, “Potato and meat salad.“ and her music preferences. “I like most music, metal is my personal favorite right now.“.

The door opened and in stepped the very woman she had thought about the entire time, holding a small folder in her hand.

“Alright, got all the legal crap. Here ya go.“ With that she threw a plastic bag containing the same clothes from yesterday onto the hospital bed. Aria turned around and made it a point of staring angrily at anyone that dared move by the glass front.

She complied, walking into the bathroom and qickly stripping herself out of the gown, donning the contents afterwards. When she was ready, she stepped back into the room.

“So, have you thought about a name yet?“

She perked up. Aria was still shooting glares at everybody with the audacity to enter her point of view. Funnily enough her voice was still in the grounded and calm, and partly indifferent, tone she had started speaking with today.

“Uhm… I tried, but I couldn’t come up with anything nice really.“ Also she had mostly thought about someone else for the most part.

Aria finally turned her head, just as she was closing the oversized jacket she had temporarily been gifted with. Pulling a couple of papers from the folder, Aria first handed her a list writen solely with a pencil.

“Well, me and one of the nurses got a few ideas while the doc got all the other stuff. You can choose one of ‘em if you like. Thing is I need your signiature for a few things in the next few days, so you gotta have a name, if only temporarily.“

She nodded, even though she had heard only half of it, instead her attention was on all those new names she could take. She had had a few good looks of herself. As she had no memory of her own personality or skills, the next step would be to choose something close to her appearance.

I have red skin, redder and yellow hair. What fits with that?

She went through every single one, saying them under her breath to get a feel for them. Minutes passed as her selection became smaller and smaller. Eventually she made her choice.

Aria handed her a pen and the forms, both of which she gladfully took. Scribbling filled the room for a short moment and, just like that, she had suddenly a real name. Her heart almost burst with excitement and admittedly childish pride over her new privilege.

Aria took the forms, gave a few nodds and put them back into her folder.

“Alrighty then, Dawn Fire. I’m gonna give those back to the hospital and then we’ll be on my bike straight out of here.“

Author's Note

Chapter number four, down for the count.
Things move foward and names are finally revealed or settled on.

Should there be any mistakes in grammar or otherwise let me know, otherwise do tell what you think
Writing this has been very exciting so far and I hope that will hold on for the rest of the story.

Other than that, please stay safe, don't forget to love eachother and have a nice day.