Chapter 5 - How embarrassing
960 Words
"I think we should call a doctor."
"Not yet, let's just wait a bit longer."
"You're only saying that Harry, because you don't want to fill out the paperwork. I'm calling an ambulance."
I could hear the voices, some familiar, others not so much. Everything was black and nothing the voices were saying made any sense.
"No you will not! I'm still the manager until the end of the day and I say no!"
That sounded like Harry. I must be at work. I searched my memory for answers, which didn't really take long with my miniscule memory bank. Amyleigh, farewell party, Harry and Buck. Oh my god, Buck.
His face, his body, his aroma. It all came flooding back. I could feel my cheeks flush with embarrassment as I remembered bolting for the door and crashing into something.
"I think she's coming to." The deep husky voice swirled around my head.
"Kat. Sweetie, are you okay?" I could hear a slight quiver in her voice as her shadow moved across my face.
My eyes fluttered open to my friends face only centimetres from mine. I instinctively jerked away and Amyleigh sat up to give me back my space. Only then was I able to scan the room, identify any threats and plan my escape. Three males, one female, one open door and a small, open window.
Wow, where did that come from?
My emotions and senses were on high alert. I need to get a grip on myself. I'm not some prey evading a predator. I'm just a girl that turns into a giant cat sometimes. Nothing about that screamed prey to me but my reaction felt natural. It felt familiar. The only familiar feeling I can say I've felt since the accident.
"Kat, can you hear me?" Her soothing voice brought me back to Harry's office and the lumpy couch I seem to be laying on.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." I pulled myself up and swung my legs around until my feet found the floor. "What happened?"
"Well," Amyleigh paused and cleared her throat " you bolted for the back door, knocked over the soup can display and ran straight into Reg and his tomato soup advertising board. Reg is okay but I'm afraid the board didn't survive."
"Well that's embarrassing." I buried my face in my hands, "Sorry Reg."
"No harm, no foul. Besides I have another ten boards in my car." Reg replied, "as long as you're alright. That's all that matters."
I did a mental scan, trying to hone in on any injuries, "A couple of tender spots, otherwise I am all good." Harry and Reg looked relieved, Amyleigh didn't look convinced and Buck was staring at me with intense, blue, sapphires for eyes. He pulled his gaze away when my eyes found his, looking non-committally around the room. Did I just see a slight flush of colour on his cheeks?
Don't be ridiculous, I scolded myself. This man was gaining too much of my attention for someone I've only just met. I shook the thoughts from my mind and stood up. I went to walk towards the door but Amyleigh's outstretched arms stopped me in my tracks.
"Not so fast," she placed one hand on each of my shoulders and leaned in closer *best friend law states that you must tell me the truth. Are you sure you are okay?"
"I swear to you that I am totally okay. So okay that I can't even milk it to get the rest of the day off without being riddled with guilt." Her smile mirrored my own as she moved aside and followed me out of the office.
"You scared the life out of me."
"Really, you look very much alive to me." I smirked headed to my locker at the far end of the kitchen.
"Ha ha, you may be funny now but I've never seen you act like that before." The metal door clanged shut making me jump.
"I don't know what happened, it's like someone else took over my actions and reactions." I finished pinning on my name tag and headed towards the registers at the front of the store, "I wasn't in the driver's seat, I was only a passenger."
"That sounds scary and exciting."
We reached our posts and automatically started morning opening procedures.
"How can it be both scary and exciting, that doesn't make sense." As I counted the cash float in my register I noticed that Amyleigh had already finished and was stocking the bag dispenser.
"Scary because you had no control," she reached down to grab another bundle of plastic bags "and exciting because your actions and reactions were those of pre-amnesia Kat. Surely that means you remembered how to react."
"I don't know about that," I finished the float and change request form, and kneeled down to find some bags. "It was more my body not my mind and as far as I remember, amnesia was more of a brain condition than a muscle memory thing."
"Take my word for it, what you remember isn't that much. Promise me you'll call Dr Whittaker when you go on break. Just to be sure." She said, unlocking the front doors and stepping aside to let the few early customers enter. "Good morning sir, how are you today?"
I nodded my head making Amyleigh smile and finished up preparing my register for the day. She was right. I had to talk to Brenda about having a familiar feeling. I knew so little about my condition, it was pathetic. You would think that someone suffering from amnesia would research recovery times, triggers, anything really. All I knew was that I had it and a traumatic experience was most likely the cause.
- Writer
