Chapter 9: A Mind of Echoes
POV: Celestia
"I don't trust them," I murmured, my voice barely louder than a breath.
"There's something they're hiding from me."
The notebook sat open beside me, its pages filled with shaky handwriting. Thoughts I wasn't sure I should be writing down, but ones I couldn't ignore. I needed something real—something mine.
I rubbed my arms slowly, as if trying to warm myself from the inside. My thoughts spun again.
"Maybe they weren't good for me. Maybe they did something," I said, still talking to the silence. "Or maybe I did something..."
The words clung to the air, strange and lonely. I exhaled, resting my back against the headboard. "Maybe I deserved to forget."
Then—
A soft knock, followed by a creak.
I turned my head instinctively.
Doctor Kheo stood by the door, blinking at me with a furrowed brow and half a smirk. His coat was slightly wrinkled, as if he'd been rushing between rooms. He didn't say anything at first. Just stared at me for a moment, caught in the middle of what must have been my little monologue.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?" he said, crossing his arms. "I thought we were only dealing with memory loss, Miss Celestia. Didn't know we had to call psych services too."
I snorted before I could stop myself. "Very funny."
Doctor Kheo stepped in, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You were talking to yourself. Deep, too. Something about people hiding things and not trusting them." He grabbed the clipboard at the foot of my bed and made a dramatic note. "Paranoia. Check."
"Stop that." I rolled my eyes.
He chuckled and sat on the small stool near my bedside. "Seriously though, you feeling okay? Any headaches? Dizziness? Weird dreams? Sudden urges to launch a murder investigation?"
I gave him a half-smile, still unsure whether to be amused or annoyed.
"I'm fine," I said. "Physically, I guess. Just… confused."
"Confused's normal," he said, now glancing over my chart. "You're dealing with trauma. The brain's defense mechanism can do weird things. It buries what it thinks will hurt us."
I looked away. "So it's trying to protect me?"
"Maybe," he said. "Or maybe it's just glitching out like a bad hard drive. Either way, don't force it."
"I'm not trying to force anything," I said. "I'm just… wondering."
"Wondering about what?"
"Everything." I paused. "Who I was. What kind of life I lived. Why it feels like my body knows something that my brain doesn't."
Doctor Kheo's teasing smile faded into something gentler. "That's actually a very common thing with amnesia cases. Emotional memory and muscle memory don't always go with mental memory. It's possible that you're feeling traces of past experiences—like echoes."
"Echoes," I repeated.
He nodded. "Ever walk into a room and feel like you've been there before even if you haven't? Your body picks up on energy, patterns, routines. Even fear."
That word lingered.
Fear.
He noticed my silence and closed the chart softly.
"Have you been feeling scared, Celestia?"
I hesitated. "Not… exactly."
"But something doesn't feel right?"
I nodded slowly. "There's a tightness in my chest sometimes. Especially after they leave."
I didn't say their names. He didn't need me to.
Doctor Kheo's gaze softened again. "That's something we'll keep an eye on. You're safe here, okay? And if at any point you start to remember things—or even feel things—you can talk to me. No judgment."
"Even if I sound crazy?" I asked, a half-joke.
"Especially if you sound crazy," he replied with a wink.