Amnesia - The Matlock Pack: Book One

Tuesday 1 December

~*Auden’s POV*~

The mystery woman looked at me with wide eyes and turned to face the room, taking both the space and Takeshi in. Takeshi, who was now standing, motioned towards the two seats in front of his desk, so she shuffled slowly towards the one on the left. I followed her and took the one on the right.

She sat down but leaned forward and twisted her hands in her lap. It was obvious that her nerves were completely shot.

“This is Takeshi, the friend I was telling you about,” I started, waving my right hand in his direction.

She nodded slowly as she warily took him in. I could tell that he was just as cautious, absorbing and assessing everything she did and didn’t do.

“Would you like a glass of water?” he asked kindly. I hid my smile. He could be as smooth as silk when he wanted to be. Sneaky little blighter.

She nodded again.

He walked slowly over to the bench at the side of the room and poured a glass of water for her. He wrapped a napkin around the bottom and sides of the glass, before slowly coming back to his desk and placing the glass on top of the napkin in front of her, letting the napkin relax under the glass.

She picked up the glass, leaving the napkin on the desk and took a sip. Takeshi watched her, then settled back in his chair once she placed it back on the napkin. He leaned back, crossed his legs, and rested his clasped hands on his knees.

“Auden tells me that you’re struggling to remember your name,” he started.

She glanced at me. I nodded at her and tipped my head towards Takeshi. “It’s okay. He’s here to help you.”

She looked back at him and nodded yet again. She was unquestionably a quiet one, although that could just have been the nerves.

“Can you tell me about what you do remember?” he asked.

There was a pause as she thought. “Honestly, I don’t remember anything prior to your daughter wrapping me in the blanket,” she said whilst looking at me.

I was surprised by that. She had definitely been talking to me before then. “You don’t recall asking me for refuge or help?”

She shook her head. “But I know I was naked under that blanket, so I’m not surprised that I needed some form of help.” She paused. “Thank you for the clothes,” she muttered quietly, turning her head to face her lap.

I raised my right hand up to my chin and stroked it as I thought. She was conscious when she was talking to me, so her memory loss couldn’t have resulted from a knock to the head. Could it be some other form of trauma that’s causing all of this? I looked towards Takeshi and shrugged. I’d need to run some physical tests.

“You’re welcome, young one,” Takeshi said to her, making her look up at him. “That’s what they’re there for.” He smiled warmly at her, getting a slow, nervous smile from her in return.

“It looks like Auden may need to run some tests with you to see if we can get your memory back. You’re welcome to stay with us until such time as your memory returns or we find someone who’s looking for you. Would you like that?” Takeshi asked.

She looked at me. I nodded at her with a smile on my face. “I need to make sure you don’t have any injuries that I can’t see that could be causing your memory loss.” She inclined her head slightly to indicate she understood.

Takeshi leaned forward in his chair. “One thing you need to be aware of, young one, is that this is a gated community. Everyone who lives here, or visits, is signed into our database. That means we need a name for you. Seeing as we don’t know yours yet, we’ll have to give you one.”

She widened her eyes.

“Do you have a preference on what you would like to be called?” he asked.

She shook her head and lifted her shoulders in an exaggerated shrug.

“That’s okay. We can sort something out.” He pondered for a moment. “Today is the first day of summer. In my native language, the name ‘Natsu’ means ‘born in summer’. We can put that down on your registration as a placeholder until you recover your memories. We’ll call you ‘Nat’ for short. What do you think?”

She smiled brightly at him. “That’s a beautiful name, sir. I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”

Takeshi gave her a huge smile back. “Okay. Nat it is, then.” He turned around to the filing cabinet behind him. “Let me get the paperwork out for new registrations…” He poked his way through the drawer until he found what he was looking for and turned back. He handed her the piece of paper.

“Here’s the form. I’ll get you to fill it out, so then we’ve got a sample of your handwriting.” He passed the box that he got out of his top drawer earlier to her. “Here’s a pen.” He sat back in his chair and watched her.

She opened the box and picked up the silver pen inside with her right hand.

“Ow!” She dropped the pen immediately, grasping her hand to her chest. The pen bounced on the desk before rolling to a stop midway across the tabletop. A faint burnt scent lingered in the room. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know what happened.”

“It’s okay, Nat,” he assured her, glancing quickly at me. I gave the slightest of nods. “That can happen sometimes. There’s lots of static electricity in this room. Let me get you another pen.” He opened his top drawer again and grabbed out a regular Bic pen. He shut the drawer and leaned across the table to give it to her. She hesitated slightly, before putting her hand out to get it from him. Once she had it, he rose from his seat to go to a different cabinet to get out a bracelet.

Nat looked through the form and realised that there wasn’t much to add once she had written her new name down. “Um, sir? I can’t fill out most of this because I don’t know the information. I only have the name you gave me, and even then, it’s only a first name.” She looked at the nearly blank sheet of paper and turned to me. Her eyes started to water.

I looked across at Takeshi.

He stopped one step away from the cabinet he sourced the bracelet from, looked back at me, and sighed quietly. “That’s okay, young one. I understand that these are special circumstances.”

I looked back at her and realised that she had started to cry. I shuffled my chair across to her and gave her a side hug. “Shh… It’s okay, Nat. The form can be filled out in further detail once we know more about you.”

“It’s not that,” she sniffled, looking down.

Keeping my arm around her, I looked up at Takeshi confused. He walked over and crouched in front of her. “Then what’s the matter, young one?”

“I know it sounds silly, but there’s only one field I can fill out on the form – the first name you gave me. I can’t even fill out a family name. I’m so sorry sir. I know it’s stupid. I don’t even know why I’m crying…” She covered her face with her hands in embarrassment, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Oh hon…” I said to her. “You’re in shock. That’s all. It’s been a long morning.” I looked at Takeshi and saw sympathy brimming in his eyes.

He bent forward and placed one hand on her knee. “You can use my last name as yours if it will make you feel better,” he murmured quietly. “I won’t mind.”

She took her hands away from her face. “You’d do that for me?” she asked, sniffing loudly, her eyes rimmed red.

“Of course. It’s only temporary until you get your memory back.”

Nat sobbed loudly and threw her arms around his shoulders, taking him by surprise. He looked over at me as he embraced her, patting her on the back. “Hey now… It’s okay. It’s just a name,” he said as he tried to settle her.

I smiled at him as I watched this unfold. He was such a caring and giving man. Not many saw this side to him, as he normally put on a hard business-like front. But those closest to him… We saw him as he truly was – protective, compassionate, and sensitive.

I leaned over his desk and grabbed the box of tissues that was sitting on the corner next to the picture of his family. I held the box out to Nat as she pulled away from Takeshi, still sniffling noisily. She grabbed the box, pulled a tissue from it, and blew her nose.

An appalled look of horror suddenly drifted over Nat’s face. “I’m so sorry, sir,” she said. “I forgot that I was so dirty.” She grabbed another tissue from the box and leaned forward to try to sweep the dust off his suit jacket.

Takeshi looked down at himself. “Never mind that, Nat,” he said, as he stopped her ministrations. “I don’t like this jacket anyway. There’s plenty of time left before the meeting I need this for, so I can go and change soon enough.” He brushed one hand down his suit jacket but gave up almost immediately.

He rose from his crouched position to lean on the desk in front of her. After she settled down a bit more, Nat picked up the pen, before she realised that he hadn’t told her his last name. She looked up at him quizzically.

His smile lit up the room when he realised what she needed. “It’s Saito. S-A-I-T-O.”

She nodded and wrote it down in the family name field. She put the pen down and looked up at him. “Thank you, sir,” she smiled.

“My name is Takeshi. No need to keep calling me ‘sir’, young one,” he replied. I’m not sure if she could see it, but I could tell there was an underlying, beaming pride in the way he looked at her. It was an emotion I hadn’t seen on his face in an incredibly long time. One that I never thought I would see again.

She nodded her agreement. “Yes, sir.” She gulped. “I mean, yes, Takeshi.” An adorable pink blush appeared on her cheeks, before she looked down. “Sorry.”

He laughed. “That’s quite alright, Nat. No issue at all.”

“Now…” He handed her the bracelet he was still holding. “This will give you access to all of the facilities and common areas in this building and the building across the courtyard. Once we assign you a room, we’ll add the access to that room to your bracelet as well. You must keep it on you at all times, as I don’t want you to have to be reliant on others to open doors.”

She looked at me with a query. I held my right wrist up to show her my own green bracelet. She nodded, then looked back at the black bracelet Takeshi had given her, before putting it on her left wrist. She returned her attention to Takeshi as he continued.

“Here on the ground floor, there’s a whole bunch of offices, including Auden’s. I’m sure she’ll show you where it is later.” He looked at me and I nodded. “There’s also a library if you’re looking for something to read.”

Nat nodded once. “Okay.”

“There’s a communal kitchen and dining area on the next floor up, as well as a gym, lounge and gaming area. The laundry is there too if you need it.”

Nat nodded again. “Okay.” She picked up the pen and looked around for a piece of paper to take notes. Takeshi handed her some and she started to write.

“The hospital and medical centre are on the second floor.” Nat scribbled it down.

“Cody and I also live on that floor,” I interjected. “It saves time if there’s an emergency.” Nat nodded and scribbled further.

“The rest of the floors are dedicated for accommodation,” Takeshi continued. “I live on the top floor, but only a few people have access to it. I spend most of my time here in this office. If you need to see me for any reason, you’ll probably find me here. As for where we’ll put you…” He trailed off, thinking.

“She can stay with us,” I said before I could stop myself. Takeshi looked at me curiously. I had no idea why I had just said that, as I hadn’t even asked my husband. Oh well. Too late now, so I continued. “I need to run some more tests to make sure you haven’t suffered a concussion. I’m pretty sure you’re okay, but it’s probably best to stick close to me and Cody until you get your memories back.”

Nat burst into tears again. I widened my eyes in shock. What had set her off now?

“You’ve both been so lovely! I’m so sorry. I feel like I’ve been dropped in your laps, yet you’ve shown me nothing but kindness. Thank you so much!” She choked out in between sobs.

Takeshi and I looked at each other and blinked a few times. “It’s no problem, Nat,” I said. “This is what we do here. We look after those who need help. Right now, that’s you.”

She grabbed another tissue and wiped her face, before leaning over and hugging me. I patted her on the back. I had no issue with how filthy she was, but I wasn’t as touchy feely as Takeshi was, so with this and the hug from him earlier, I felt like I was about done for hugs for the week. Maybe two weeks.

Takeshi cleared his throat. “Okay. I’ll add access to Auden’s house to your bracelet, Nat.” He got up and walked back to his chair. “Now. I need to talk with Auden for just a few more minutes alone.” He looked at me. I nodded once and got out of my seat.

“I’ll take you back to Cody. She can take you up to our apartment and you can grab a shower.”

Nat nodded, snatched a couple more tissues from the box, before placing it back on the desk. She followed me out the door.

Cody looked up as we approach.

“Cody, this is Nat.” I motioned to Nat. Cody grinned at her. “She’ll be staying with us for a little while until her memory returns.”

Cody’s grin got bigger. “Awesome!”

“Can you take her upstairs? I think a shower would do her the world of good,” I put my hand on Nat’s elbow as I turned to her. “I’ll be up as soon as I’m done here. Take as much time in the shower as you need.”

Nat hugged me again before walking shyly towards Cody. Cody pulled her in for a side hug. “Come on, Nat! Let’s get you settled,” she said as they headed towards the stairs.

Yup. I was definitely done with hugs for two weeks.