Once again, Zena was swimming in darkness. Wondering if she really was dead, she could not tell how long she had been there, floating in nothing. But if she really was dead, and people who said there was nothing after death were truly right, then it was really disappointing. To just float in darkness. Zhen... that name had been at the forefront of her thoughts although she barely heard it. Who was that? Was that an organization? It hurts too much to think about the life she had and the fact that she can never go back.. It was over for her, this was the end.
"Are you sure about this? If we do this, we would be killing a person."
'What was that?' Zena wondered in alarm. She could hear voices!
"She is a brain-dead patient, basically dead. Do you think saving her life would benefit you in any way?" Another voice, a deeper, more masculine voice, responded.
"Still..."
"Look, I will advise you since you are still relatively new. You do not want to go against the Zhen clan. They want her dead, so that is what she needs to be."
Zhen? That name again? And were people trying to kill her?
Zena screamed, "I'm here! I'm not dead! I can hear you. Please help!" But just like the last time, no one could hear her, no one was listening.
"Fine, let's make it quick. Turn it off."
'Wait! Wait!' Zena screamed back but she could hear their footsteps getting louder. She sensed they were coming closer. Her heart hammered violently, and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Zena was surrounded by darkness. Nothing had changed -but she knew vividly because she felt everything so strongly that she wasn't dead. There was hope, it was a flicker about to be extinguished but she was determined. She didn't want to die! She didn't want to die!
'Please, please, please! I don't want to die!'
"There, it's off. How much longer till she flats line?"
'Oh gosh no! I'm really going to- No, I won't die!'
"Ahh!!!" the woman screamed and Zena's eyes opened. The light hurt her eyes, but she was too scared of darkness to shut them back. "She's hurting me!" The woman yelled and Zena looked down to see the women's arm in a tight grip.
"Shit!" the man exclaimed, running around the bed to his screaming partner. "Mrs Zhen, please let her go."
Zena stared at the both of them with a blank expression. Who were talking to?
"Please, I'm sorry, let me go, please let me go!"
Zena stared at the hand and let go. And the pale arm that gripped the woman's arm so tight it bruised, let go. Wait a minute, wait a minute?!
She waved her hands and these white arms moved. Come to think about it, the man and woman were both... Asian? Wait, a minute.
"Where am I?" Zena asked, her voice sounding foreign and her beating heart working in over time.
"You're in the Lugen Memorial Hospital. How do you feel?"
Lugen Memorial? She did not know any hospital with that name. These people...
"Uh... something is wrong. Where is the hospital?"
"Uh... in Pearl City, country G?"
"Country G? Is that some kind of joke?" She asked.
"I don't understand what you mean?"
"Country G, what country has a letter for a name? Is this some kind of web novel or something? Tell me where I am and what you did to me or I will call the cops and tell them you tried to have me killed!" She yelled, coughing afterwards because of the strain it caused her vocal cords.
The both of them stared at each other in alarm. "I guess there's nothing else we can do then." The man said. Zena nodded, waiting for an answer when he dipped his hand into the pocket of the white uniform he had on and brought out a syringe of a suspiciously coloured liquid and approached Zena.
"Wait! Wait! What are you trying to do?"
"Shut her up!" He ordered the other supposed nurse, but Zena's shrill scream surprised even her.
Two new nurses dashed into her room and the guy tossed the syringe into his pocket. "What the hell is going on- oh my gosh! She's awake!" The nurse yelled in shock.
"Quick! They are trying to kill me!" Zena exclaimed, but the man was faster. Shoving the nurses out of the way, he made a beeline for the exit. The woman, on the other hand, was not as lucky. They blocked the exit and a few moments later, security was there.
"Mrs Zhen, are you okay?" The nurse asked and Zena stared at her in confusion, looking down at her hands once again and the Asian nurse. She had seen a total of five people now, all Asian. But she was a black student in an African country. It did not make any sense. Her black curls were replaced with straight, luscious brown hair that felt like silk and hung all the way to her waist. Zhen? Her name was Zena Kani. And she was definitely not married.
"Mrs Zhen? Are you feeling alright?" The nurse asked again, stepping closer to her. If this was an Asian country still... how did she even understand the language? It didn't sound different from what she spoke in her country.
"No," she shook her head, her voice a little more than a whisper. "You keep saying, Mrs. Zhen, I don't know who that is."
The nurse froze. "What did you say?"
"I don't know who this Mrs Zhen is." She repeated, with more confidence.
"Oh... okay, so do you remember your name, then?" The nurse asked.
"Zena." She replied.
"Zena?"
"Yes, Zena Kani."
The nurse would not stop staring at Zena with her lips parted like she was lost for words and wide eyes that wouldn't blink. She chuckled nervously, opened her mouth to speak and shut it back, speechless.
"I see." She finally managed.
Zena shook her head. "You see what?"
"I will be back soon, Mrs Zhen. I just need to go get the doctor."
Zena frowned. "I just told you I don't know who this Mrs Zhen is. My name is Zena, and why are you looking at me like that? Like I am saying rubbish?"
The nurse swallowed and made another attempt. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Zena," she said after a pause, when Zena looked relieved to hear her correct title. "But I am not qualified to deal with this appropriately, so you would have to please excuse me so I can get someone who can."
"Hello?" a baritone voice called out. Both Zena and the nurse turned to the doctor, who just walked in. Zena noticed the nurse visibly exhale. "What's the status report? How are her vitals?"
"Sir, she is stable, but I have not performed the tests."
"And why is that?" He asked.
"Because she appears to have lost her memories."