A Series of Routine Examinations

Having just awoken from a coma, I had expected to have trouble sleeping, but it seemed that the recollection of some of my memories – along with my various aches and pains – had taken their toll on me. It was not long after everyone left, and the painkillers began to work wonders for my headache, that I found myself growing drowsy, and once the doctor and his assistant excused themselves, I immediately dosed off, sleeping straight through the night and being woken early by Ms. Maruyama the next morning feeling refreshed and filled with energy.

As I got dressed and cleaned up as best I could in the bathroom sink, I paused during the act of splashing water on my face, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror for the first time since I’d awoken from my coma. Instantly I spotted the similarities with my father, and stared in disbelief at the thin, handsome face that greeted me, gingerly reaching a hand up to touch my spiky bleached-blonde hair. It was only then that I noticed the simple, silver stud earring in my ear, and turned my head, fingering the tiny ornament in puzzlement.

“Is this really me?” I wondered under my breath. The face in the mirror seemed quite strange, but also oddly familiar at the same time. Even if I could not recall anything concrete about myself, there was no disputing that this was definitely my face, and honestly, it could have been worse. Grinning at my reflection, I thought to myself, Not bad.

Fully dressed and back in my room, I was brought a hearty breakfast of eggs and salted fish over rice, which I ravenously devoured. Dr. Kurou arrived before I had finished and greeted me with what I was starting to recognize as his usual sense of wit, not taking his eyes off of his clipboard for more than a few seconds as he said, “Good morning, Mr. Miura! And how are we feeling today? Any more aches or pains?”

I considered his question around a particularly large bite of fish and rice, and swallowed hard before answering, “No, I actually feel pretty good. Guess those painkillers you gave me really did the trick after all! Even my headache’s gone.”

The man nodded thoughtfully and made a note on his clipboard before asking, “Good, good. And how about your memory issue? Was there any progress overnight?”

I frowned as I strained in an attempt to see if I could remember anything new or different. However, I was greeted by absolutely nothing, as if my mind had hit a brick wall. “Seems not,” I sighed with a shrug, adding, “but the memories that did return last night seem clearer, I guess? More familiar, and distinct.”

The man nodded vigorously and furious scribbled down some notes, muttering to himself, “Overnight processing seems to stabilize memory familiarity. Interesting.” Realizing that he was talking to himself, he cleared his throat and continued, “Yes, well. Don’t worry about it too much, it’s not even been a full twenty-four hours, yet. Just be glad you didn’t wake up speaking German or something!”

He barked a sharp laugh before Ms. Maruyama appeared out of nowhere, cutting him off with a slap to the back of his skull. “Stay on-task, Doctor,” she chided in a cold tone.

Rubbing his head, Dr. Kurou agreed, “Yes, yes, you’re right. Mr. Miura, we’d like to run some tests on you today. Don’t worry, they’re rudimentary for the most part. We just want to make sure that there’s no lasting damage and determine if you’re in good enough condition to be released. But, judging just from what I can see, there should be no issues with that; apart from the amnesia, you appear to be perfectly fit.”

“Alright,” I agreed, and followed as the duo led me deeper into the establishment. Eventually, we arrived in a massive room filled with all manner of workout equipment, with several pairs of doctors and patients paired off across the floor, each of them going through a different set of exercises.

“You’re lucky that our facility has such a comprehensive rehabilitation suite on-site,” Dr. Kurou explained, leading me over to a treadmill and motioning for me to get on. I did so, and stumbled as the machine started up to a brisk jogging pace. “While you run, the two of us are going to alternate asking you some questions. Just answer to the best of your ability.”

“Alright,” I replied, blinking in surprise as Ms. Maruyama increased the speed of the treadmill even further, to a pace bordering on a sprint.

“What’s forty-seven times three?”

“Ah, one-forty-one?” I answered, struggling to keep my pace while doing math in my head.

“Correct. In physics, what equation demonstrates Newton’s Second Law of Motion?”

“Force equals mass times acceleration.”

“That’s right. Now, for English! Define a noun.”

“I-it’s a person, place, thing, or idea!” I panted back, the exertion of running on the treadmill already starting to wear me down.

“Good! Who is the current Prime Minister of Japan?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came to mind. Instead of giving an answer, I spluttered exasperatedly, “I…I don’t know. And, is this much running really necessary?”

I stumbled to a halt as the doctor turned off the machine, and struggled to catch my breath while he jotted some notes down in his clipboard. Next, he led me through a gauntlet of various tests of strength and balance, with both him and his assistant continuing their assault of questions the entire time. I was made to walk across balance beams and pull myself along a series of rings suspended from the ceiling, and they even wanted to see how much I could bench-press! By the end of their examination, I was so exhausted that I could barely move.

Yet, as ridiculous as the tests might have seemed, I did manage to learn a bit more about my current state, and thankfully, it appeared that I had retained most of my higher-order brain processes. Towards the end, they had begun to dip into rather complex topics, and I had no trouble finding the answers for the most part.

When it came to history, however, things got a bit more muddied. I could recall most things, but anything more recent than ten years prior had been lost entirely. Even after the doctor got me caught up on the important events and political figures of the modern era, it felt more like new information than the actual return of any memories.

Once we were done in the rehab area, I was taken for a blood test, followed by an MRI, before I was finally dragged back to my room to rest after my grueling ordeal. I practically melted into the bed, the various aches and pains I had felt the day before having returned anew after spending my entire morning exercising. Routine examinations, my ass! I thought irritably, struggling to keep my heavy eyelids from falling shut as boredom began to set in.

I had finally managed to get comfortable when visiting hours opened shortly thereafter, with Ruri and my parents immediately coming to visit. They exuberantly shuffled into the room, my mother exclaiming happily, “We’re back! Good afternoon, Takashi!”

“Oh, hey…” I greeted them weakly, a shaky wave of my hand the best I could manage, even that simple motion enough to make my muscles scream in protest.

Seeing my pitiful state, Ruri worriedly exclaimed, “TK, are you alright? You look…well, you look rough.”

“I’m fine,” I assured her with a dismissive wave of my hand, and immediately passed out.