2 002: Let It Sink In

It was a weird feeling to have strangers looking at you with intense stares as if you had done something unbelievable like a real miracle.

Even the doctor who looked at some charts beforehand had his eyebrows up in no time and arched them in a disbelieving manner.

Well, the boy had been unconscious for a while. And truth be told, the nurse from before had been chewed out for giving misinformation. At least they believed so when they saw the boy still being unconscious.

But now he got woken up by their bickering and only when he was staring at them did they stop. This whole little tantrum created a somewhat awkward moment for the boy.

Especially when one of the people involved was some stranger who immediately went ahead and started to hug him right after noticing his opened eyes.

Well, to be precise in what exactly is happening, it was a woman who did it and she also started to cry out her heart from the moment of the embrace.

These strangers he was talking about were his new parents apparently. How did he know that?

Well, from the moment he woke up, it practically showed itself to him that his new life was not the same as before. 

And the only people that would see him and show such emotions would probably be his new parent.

The care they gave him was also clearly a positive one.

But still, it was an unpleasant feeling being hugged by someone who he didn't know.

And his words that came out of his mouth the moment when he felt such emotion, soon catapulted his new parents into a series of emotions.

First surprise, then shock, and finally dread and pleading.

"My baby!? It's me, your mama. Don't you recognize me?" The woman asked.

Her expressions especially were an everchanging canvas of the many stages of grief, such as the confusion hitting her and the despair festering at the end, unwilling to accept what she had just heard from him.

Those dreaded words were a simple question - "Who are you?"

The man who was close by only frowned deeply and looked over to the doctor.

The medical expert could only scowl as well and sighed lightly before starting to explain something.

"Your son had some severe brain hemorrhages. Amnesia is the least of the worries one could have after regaining consciousness...I'm sorry." The doctor tried to tell them that they should be happy that nothing more serious seemed to be the case.

Yet he also skillfully tried to evade more anger that would be coming his way for sure if he ended up saying too much or not acting apologetically.

Maybe this doctor really meant it and cared about his patient somewhat, but the boy doubted it since most doctors were sleep-deprived unfeeling monsters.

His experience with them was not the best, to say the least. But maybe it was just his last few moments in his past life that still linger in his mind that made him jump to conclusions.

The fever dream of his comrade being some sort of demon while trying to save his life is still fresh in his mind.

God, hopefully, he would never end up in such a situation again. Such rollercoasters of nightmare fuel can just screw with your head.

So in the end he also didn't really hold it against this doctor. Their job is one where such an outcome is definitely understandable. They had to dampen their emotions or they would break themselves.

"No! That's not true! Right, Sam? You can't have forgotten about us, right?" The woman still pleaded while having the boy's face cupped in her hands. Her gaze went pleading towards his own.

But the boy could only frown lightly while seeing the woman like that.

'So my name is Sam?' He did feel slightly bad for his slip-up when seeing this red-haired woman trying to find an answer for her lost child.

For he really wasn't her real son, only someone that was in this body. Well, biologically he was. But mentally it would take time to accept this

Yet on another note, it was also a good start to get used to this new life. Start over, get a loving family, and experience something that he lacked before.

He somehow found it enticing as well. In his past life, he craved this very same thing. But now he was sceptical knowing it was not right to do.

And what would they even think about him when they notice the major change in his behavior? After all, he probably has a different personality.

No, he could use his amnesia to act suspiciously without much worry. It could all be blamed on him having a different perspective on life now.

Yet he felt not exactly comfortable with such a thing.

"I'm sorry, I....don't remember...Is Sam my name?" He asked now with a still slightly confused look.

That was not acting, though. He really was confused as to why everything was currently happening after all. So it was more understandable and believable.

So after hearing his question, the woman looked at him as if frozen again.

Only after the man behind her approached her and slowly placed a hand on her shoulder did she react again.

"Yes, yes, of course, you are my precious baby, Sam...no I...." She felt lost at first and tried to find a new start. Collecting herself. "No, I mean. Yes, your full name is Samuel Levi Yoon. But we just call you Sam for short...."

The boy, no, Sam looked at her and genuinely smiled now.

'This woman is actually good at grasping the more important matter. She knows I don't remember but stopped acting panicky and just started to try and rekindle a good impression of her in my mind.' He analyzed her behavior and was rather pleased by her calm demeanor which slowly surfaced.

The smile itself would probably alleviate her anxiety a little seeing him react like that. So he went ahead and showed this kind expression.

And it showed results directly with her breathing out in relief after seeing his smile again.

'So, my family name is Yoon, huh? Well, I guess I'm half Asian.' It was not hard to guess that fact.

Not to mention when looking at the man behind the woman who had placed his hand on his mother's shoulder, he could see who that person was.

Or by better definition guess his identity. And his features were a good giveaway to assume being Asian.

But before he could comment on the man's sharp gaze that lingering on him even now slowly pierced his calm, the moment was broken by the doctor.

"I'm sorry to interrupt. But you should give the patient a little bit of rest for now...Maybe

there will be some progress later in regards to his memories."

'Thanks, doc. I guess I owe you one with that. It started to feel rather suffocating.'  Unbeknown to the medic he got some support from his own patient.

"We should visit again later." The man that he presumed to be his father said with a rough deep tone.

For a moment Sam was rather surprised by the raspyness in the voice.

And he was reminded of his kid's shows from the older days. Characters with charisma flashed before his eyes like Darth Maul or Madara Uchiha.

Yet it also put a lot of fear and respect into him at the same time. He couldn't explain why but it felt somewhat instinctual.

...

Maybe he spent way too much time as a damn grunt soldier...So he could only sigh in relief after everyone left the room and he could relax on his hospital bed.