Begin Again

CHAPTER 1

____

The metals screamed before she did. The world flipped. Her vision spun violently— sky, asphalt, healights— everything blending into a blur of motion and noise.

Avaia Liora Arevalo tasted metal. Blood. Her forehead throbbed, she felt something warm trickled down her temple. Her ears rang and beneath the ringing, she heard sirens wailing in a distance, or maybe inside her skull. It was distant but it got closer and closer until it was the only sound she ever heard.

"Eiden..." she whispered even though she didn't know if the sound ever escaped her lips.

Her hands trembled as she tried to move. She could only register only half the pain, the rest was blurred by worry. She tried to lift her trembling hand, she saw red. So much as she tried to reach blindly for him.

Until the sirens swallowed everything. And then— Darkness.

Avaia bolted upright in her bed. Chest heaving, sweat clung into her skin. Her finger immediately searched her hands. Clean. No blood. She looked around, no shattered glass.

No sirens wailed from afar just ten years of distance. She exhaled slowly. "It was ten years ago" she whispered to herself, grounding herself in the present. Reminding herself. Surviving it again.

She stood in front of the mirror, adjusting her scrub suit, the irony never failed to sting. Life turned her into the very person who once stood beside his hospital bed. A nurse. Someone who saves lives. Who witnesses pain everyday.

But she couldn't even save her own love story. She stared at herself, her reflection looked composed. Professional. Calm. No one would ever guess that the strongest wound she carried wasn't visible. It didn't bleed. No scars. It was erased. She wishes she could’ve fixed it… but she knew some things could never be undone.

As she walked through the hospital corridor, the sterile scent pulled her back into memory, a bright lit room. Steady beeping of the heart monitor, it felt cruel, mocking her relief.

He survived, shouldn't that be enough?

But when she received a call from his mother, "He's awake" Two simple words but it made her knees nearly give out. After 4 months of being in a coma. It was nerve wrecking.

She dropped everything that morning. Classes. Exams. Responsibilities. None of it mattered.

Only him

She ran through the hospital corridors — breathless, shaking, hopeful. But hoping was dangerous, because when she stepped into his room, their eyes met. Something was wrong. It wasn't the bandage still. It was his gaze.

It felt like looking into someone else's eyes. Confused. Terrified. "Where am I?" he demanded, trying to sit up. The machine beeped wildly as his heart rate spiked up. Breathing ragged.

She instinctively rushed forward "Eiden, it's okay—"

"Don't touch me!" he shouted. His words hit harder than the crash ever did months ago. She froze.

Nurses rushed in. Doctors followed. He was hysterical, pulling at the IV, panicking as if the room itself were closing in on him. And she just stood there. Helpless. Invincible.

"Who are these people?!" he demanded again. His voice rang in her ears.

The doctor tried to calm him. Presenting him with what had happened. "Who is she?!" he snapped, pointing at her.

The room felt silent in her mind. He was still hysterical even after his Mom stepped inside to help. The doctors sedated him to calm down.

She just looks at him. She wants to answer. I'm your girlfriend. Your fiancee. The woman who had memorized your favorite coffee. Favorite food. Who had been with you watching your comfort movie. The one you once had said your home. Her fingers clenched the ring– the one promise that remained, even if his memory didn't.

But at that moment, she felt as if she was no one. A stranger. No title in his life.

She's sitting beside his Mom on the couch inside his room after the doctor talked to them about the situation. They talked. But most of it is just her crying in her arms. Comforting her. Hours after, the sedatives were losing effect. Eiden's chest heaved under the blanket, then his eyes darted around the room.

Avaia stayed rooted in her seat, afraid to take a single step closer to him, that would shatter whatever fragile sense of safety the doctors built.

She felt the ache again, curling through her chest. She swallowed hard, letting the tension roll off her shoulder in a trembling exhale.

His mom sat beside his bed, holding his hand "It's okay... You're safe now. Everything's okay" she whispered but her voice trembled a bit. Eiden looked at his Mom, recognizing her. He nodded. Then his gaze swept across the room again. And then, finally, it landed on her.

For a brief, suspended heartbeat, their eyes met. Her breath held as she looked at his gaze. It wasn't the one she was familiar with. No familiarity, no warmth– just a stranger staring back.

A stranger staring back.

Avaia stops all the urge to scream. To cry. To shake him until he remembers who she is in his life... who she ever was. She slowly stood up, walking beside him. His Mom standing up and leaving them to call for a nurse. "Eiden, it's me. It's Avaia" she whispered, voice breaking "I'm here. I—"

"Who are you?" His voice was low. Calm now but also confused. And each word slicing through her chest. It was heavy.

She wanted to reach out, hold his hand, but even the air between them felt dangerous. She realized the years they spent together had been erased in a single moment. Just like the doctor's have said that this was a common occurrence when you hit your head during an accident. Amnesia was inevitable.

He didn't know her. He couldn't remember. She was careful not to touch him. "You don't remember?" It was a stupid question. "I remember you" she said painfully

She held her tears in all her power but she's weak, it slipped. Flowing like a faucet. The nurse arrived with his Mom. Which gave her the opportunity to walk out from his room and cry.

Eiden's Mom followed her, held her shoulder. Looked at her with a mixture of pity and sorrow. "Give him time... He'll remember you"

Avaia couldn't do anything but nod. Tears kept slipping down her cheeks. Time. That word felt hollow.

The fluorescent lights brought her back to the present as Avaia moved through the hospital corridors, clipboard in hand, ID badge swinging from her chest pocket. The smell of antiseptic, faint but constant, settled in her lungs. She had walked these halls for a thousand times now, yet each step still carried echoes of a past she couldn’t quite shake.

Her mind wandered, unbidden. Faces blurred into each other– patient’s, doctor’s visitors– but one memory always pressed forward, the terror and confusion in Eiden’s eyes, the world had shifted in a heartbeat ten years ago.

She shook her head, trying to focus. “Avaia, focus,” she whispered to herself. Life had moved on, she had a job to do. People depended on her. Life depended on her.

At the nurse’s station, the phone rang. She picked it up quickly, noting the patient on the screen, new admission from the emergency department. “Nurse’s station” she said, voice steady.

“We’re admitting a patient with a closed fracture, left foot, labs done. Name, Eiden Kael Cojuangco, 34 Male” Her heart froze. No. It can’t be… The name hit her like a jolt of electricity. She tried to steady her breathing. It must be a coincidence. Just a coincidence. She handled patients with the same names.

But when she walked towards the room the newly admitted patient had been in to initiate rapport, her mind betrayed her. Memories flood in. She took a deep breath, approached the door, knocked and peeked in.

There he was, in bed, his left foot immobilized and elevated. He looked up as she entered. She froze. The shape of his jaw, the curve of his mouth, the way he held himself– it was him. He’s manlier now.

She swallowed hard, smiled professionally as best as she could. “Hi… I’ll be taking care of you today. I’m Nurse Avaia, if you need anything just press the button to call for me.” she said carefully, forcing her voice to be professional, neutral. She couldn’t let him see the storm inside her.

Eiden’s eye scanned her, calm but cautious. “Alright” he said softly. Recognition lingered, like a shadow at the edge of memory– but it wasn’t complete, she thought.

He probably just remembers her as the girl who assumed his fiancee. Avaia’s hands shook slightly as she prepped his chart, hiding them behind the clipboard. I have to be normal. Professional. Calm.

“Do you have any allergies?” she asked, voice steady. Her eyes flicked to his face, searching for anything.

“None” she knew that.

The silence stretched between them before she spoke again. “Your foot... how did it happen?" Avaia asked, careful to keep her tone neutral, professional.

Eiden shify slightly in the bed, wincing as the casted leg throbbed "Work accident," he said, voice calm but clipped. "I slipped at the construction site... nothing too serious. Just bad timing, I guess."

Avaia nodded, jotting notes. "I see. We'll make sure your foot heals properly. The doctor's in charge will schedule your surgery and will visit you later to discuss the opration with you."

Eiden frowned slightly. "Surgery?"

"Yes," she said gently. "Doc will explain everything for you. Nothing to worry about."

He glanced at her, accepting. "Alright"

"Do you have... someone with you? A companion, family member?"

Eiden looks at her "Yes... My girlfriend is coming" he said, almost choking those words.

Avaia forced a neutral expression, hiding the hard pang in her chest. "Alright, uhm... I'll come back later with the consents. If you need anything, just press the call button by your bed"

She said almost in a hurry, as she stepped out of his room, a woman entered his room, hurried, concern etched her face. She forced her feet to step forward and walk towards the nurses station, back to her desk. Trying to steady her racing heart. She took a moment to breathe, forcing her mind back into work mode.

Two hours later, she needed to check his vitals. sHe approached Eiden's bed again. She knocked on his door, her eyes set on his but she can see his girlfriend on the sofa by her peripheral. "Good morning, Mr. Cujuanco, I'll just check your vitals." she said, voice calm, measured.

She took his blood pressure, normal. Pulse steady, temperature normal, oxygen saturation within range. She recorded everything carefully, hiding her internal tension behind a neutral expression.

"Vitals look good. All within normal range" she said, stepping back slightly to give him space.

Just then, Dr. Santos arrived, folder in hand, his calm presence filling the room. "Good morning, Mr. Cuangco. I'll be going over the surgery. This is a routine procedure, but it's important that you understand everything and provide your signature before we proceed," he explained warmly.

Avaia stood slightly to the side, ready to assist, clipboard in hand. She watched as Dr. Santos explained the operation in detail-- the realignment of the fracture, the placement of plates, the casting afterwards, and what recovery would entail. Eiden listened attentively, asking a few questions about post-op mobility and pain management.

After Dr. Santos finished explaining the procedure, he turned to Avaia. "Have him sign here," he said, gesturing to the consent forms on her clipboard.

The next morning, the hospital corridors still smelled antiseptic and faintly of morning coffee. Avaia checked her watch and straightened her scrubs, mentally preparing for the routine she had done countless times– but today felt different. Today, she was sending him off to surgery.

She pushed his wheelchair towards the elevators. The hospital was quiet, calm before the controlled chaos. Avaia pressed the elevator button and stepped inside first, then pulled his wheelchair inside.

He hesitated a moment, then asked softly "How.. have you been?" His voice carried the faint weight of someone trying to remember.

Her breathing hitched. "Just... same. How's your life?"

The elevator door slid shut, sealing them inside a quiet, mirrored box. The hum of descent filled the silence between them.

Eiden shifted slightly in the wheelchair. "It's okay... I guess" he said. "Work's been busy" A faint smile tugged at his lips. "I... still get headaches sometimes. Not as bad as before. Just... random flashes. The hospital. White lights. You"

Her fingers tightened around the handles of his wheelchair.

"Me?" she asked carefully.

He nodded slowly. "You were there everyday," he continued. "Even when I couldn't remember you. Even when I pushed you away." His jaw tightened slightly. "I never properly said thank you."

The elevator hummed downward, each second stretching too long.

"You don't owe me anything," she said softly, keeping her voice professional.

"I do," he insisted quietly. "You stayed. Most people wouldn't"

Her throat burned. But in the end, she let go. She wanted to say those words. The elevator chimed. The doors slid open, pulling them back into the present. Avaia pushed him forward toward the operating suite, her movements controlled, practiced.

They stopped in front of the double doors. She reached to ring the bell for the OR teams. Before the doors opened, he spoke again.

"You know..." he said slowly, "There was a time after I woke up when everyone told me things about my life. About who I used to love. Who I was supposed to marry."

Her breath caught. "I couldn't remember her," he continued. "No matter how hard I tried. And I hated myself for that."

Avaia didn't move as he continued to speak. "I remembered how she looked at me though," he added. "Like she was trying not to break"

Her eyes shimmered, but she kept her composure.

"Thank you" The OR nurse stepped out and closer. "We're ready, Mr. Cojuanco."

Avaia delivered the endorsement and after, Eiden spoke again. "I remember you"