Glinton University was the best research university in the country. Professors employed by this university were highly respected. The best students from all over the world came to work with them. Now, these famous professors were called by the principal to come to this office room at midnight. Because the lab caught fire and Professor Sophia Green died in the fire. Sophia Green was the legend of Glinton University, not to mention the whole scientific world.
At 29, she had already accomplished many outstanding achievements across several fields, more than many scholars of far more advanced years. Who knew how much knowledge she had stored in her brain? There had never been a question she didn't know the answer to. Perhaps the world is not perfect, so she lost the use of her legs in childhood, relying on a wheelchair to live only. Some people felt sorry for it. Others however harbored feelings of relief, fearing that such an exceptional brain in a fully functioning body would be unstoppable.
"She wasn't yet thirty; it's such a waste of a life, a real tragedy" Albert Pearson almost went crazy when he heard the news. He's insisting it was murder.
"But I think it's more probable that it was a terrible accident. There's always something flammable and explosive in the lab." One of her colleagues, Professor Thompson, said.
"Pearson?" another colleague, Professor Wilson, froze a moment, "As in the Pearson family, the richest family around? What does this have to do with him?"
"Didn't you know?" Professor Thompson looked around and whispered, "That assistant of hers was Pearson, the first heir of that family, the one running around after her all day every day. I only just found out myself. Sophia Green may not have known his true identity either. Who else do you think could ask the principal to call everyone here in the middle of the night?"
"If Pearson's involved in this, it's not going to go away anytime soon." Professor Wilson answered, looking worried.
It was midnight in the hospital, the lights in the ward were turned off, and all was darkness.
Sophia Green opened her eyes and saw nothing. She moved her body, stretching. She was surprised to find that her legs responded.
It was a feeling she had never felt before. She suffered from polio as a child, and her legs had not worked for as long as she could remember. For nearly 30 years, she had been in a wheelchair.
While her freedom of movement had been diminished, the activity of her brain had outstripped everyone else as if in compensation.
Unable to join in the rough and tumble games of other children, she had spent all her time reading. She had no idea how many books she had read over the years and how much knowledge she had accumulated.
As she lay there, the memory of the fire in the lab last night haunted her. She could still feel the pain of the burning. But what has happened since?
Sophia Green tried to move her legs again. Her muscles seemed a little stiff, but she could move them.
As she was wondering about this, a voice spoke. "Sophia… you're…"
Footsteps sounded, and the lights came on.
A woman in her forties was standing, staring at her, astounded. Suddenly, with tears in her eyes, she rushed over to hug her.
"Sophia! You're awake, finally!"
For all the books Sophia had read and all her intelligence, she still could not understand what was happening. Just then, some memories that did not belong to her surfaced in her brain.
She focused on these memories, these ideas and names, and images, and began to understand. She was herself and also someone else. Another Sophia Green, a 19-year-old who had been in a car accident two years ago, this other Sophia Green had been in a coma ever since. This woman at her side was Kate, Sophia's mother, who had been there every day, hoping that she would wake up.
But this waking Sophia Green was not her daughter.
As she looked through this girl's memories, she found out that her father had died in an accident at work a few years ago. She and her mother were the only ones left. They were poor. She wouldn't have even been in the hospital if it hadn't been for the compensation paid by her father's work.
It was not dawn yet. The light had woken the other patients up, but when they saw the girl who had been in a coma for two years finally conscious, no one was angry. Everyone was ecstatic for her.
Kate had called in the doctor, and they gave Sophia a thorough examination.
"All functions of the body are normal, except for some weakness. Congratulations, Mrs. Green!" the doctor said, "But she's been lying still for so long that her muscles have atrophied. She will need physical rehabilitation before she can make a full recovery."
Kate Green looked over at her daughter in bed, eyes open, and still couldn't believe it.
These past two years had been years of desperation and painful hope. She had quit her job in order to take care of her daughter and be at her bedside every day. She had had the darkest of times, even thinking of taking her own life. But now that her daughter was awake, she felt the world was full of hope again.
Sophia Green stayed in the hospital, working on her rehabilitation, and every day she made progress. Finally, two months later, she was allowed to leave. She was still frail, but she was strong enough to walk freely out of the hospital with her mother at her side.
Kate Green lived on the fifth floor of an old apartment block without an elevator. Sophia Green had never been so happy to be exhausted as she made it to the top of the stairs. It was such a pleasure to be on her own two feet.
Kate had been a junior high school teacher, but she had no job now, and so naturally, there was no income. But Sophia wasn't worried. She was here now to take care of her newfound mother.
And she had something else to think about: a new school year was beginning.