From Beginning to End

It was raining quite hard, but that wasn’t going to stop Michelle from walking home on the dark road that night. The party she’d been at had gotten out of hand, and she had no desire to be there anymore. She’d have just as enjoyable of a time at home; after all, it was the last night she’d get to spend with her family before her brother went away to college. It was only a 15-minute walk to the nearest gas station, and she could call her mom for a ride from there.
         Sean fumbled with getting his key into his car door, and dropped it about 3 times before he was finally successful. He went through the same thing with the ignition, but he didn’t give up until the engine was running. He was past the point of caring about the dangers of driving drunk; it was an isolated road anyway, and only a fool would be walking on it in these conditions. Backing out onto the road, he turned on his headlights and started out into the night.
         Behind her, Michelle heard a vehicle coming, and moved slightly off to the side of the road. Hoping that it was somebody she knew that might give her a lift, she made sure she would still be in view. It seemed that the vehicle was coming up pretty fast behind her and she considered taking the chance of going further down into the ditch and missing any potential rides.
         Up ahead, Sean thought he could see a dark silhouette, but dismissed the thought as a figment of his imagination. He was gaining on it, but the fact that it wasn’t disappearing didn’t seem to have any effect on him. Being as drunk as he was, he figured it didn’t mean a thing. The sudden thump it made when his truck collided with it, though, made it impossible for even him to ignore.
         By the time Michelle realized how close the vehicle was, it was too late to get out of the way. She felt nothing but a quick, sharp blow, as she was thrown into the ditch.
         Panicking, Sean played with the idea of just keeping on driving, and almost managed to trick himself into thinking it was just an animal. His conscience got the better of him, though, and he pulled a slightly awkward U-turn and headed back in the way he’d come. Approaching the general area of the accident, he slowed down, looking for any sign of life. Instead of a movement giving him the hope of whatever he’d hit still being alive, he saw a large, unmoving figure laying about 3 meters off to the side of the road. He stopped the truck and cautiously got out. Sure enough, what he saw succeeded in being his worst fear: it was a person lying there. She wasn’t moving a muscle, and didn’t appear to be breathing. In his drunken state, Sean figured that the best thing to do for both of them would be to leave. If she was already dead, there was nothing he could do, and he certainly didn’t want to get caught. He hopped back into his vehicle and tore away as quickly as possible.

         3 hours later, Michelle groggily opened her eyes. Looking around, she felt nothing but confusion. What was going on? Where was she? Who was she? Getting up took quite the effort, but eventually she stumbled onto the road. So far, nothing was triggering any memories in her brain, and she was still just as oblivious as before. As far as she could see, there were no vehicles anywhere, so she picked a direction and started walking. Maybe she’d be able to find someone, or something, to tell her what was going on.
         Sean had the same feeling when he first woke up, but after blinking a few times everything came flooding back. He remembered exactly what had happened the night before, despite trying as hard as he could not to. Getting out of bed, he walked into the kitchen and swallowed a few aspirin. If he was planning on figuring out what to do about his problem from the prior night, he needed a clear head.
         After a couple of hours of thinking, Sean had come up with nothing. The decision he had managed to come to was just to try as hard as he could to forget. All he could do was pray that the girl he had hit would be all right, and in the meantime busy himself with anything possible to keep his mind off of it. Eventually someone would find her, or she’d make her way to the hospital and it would be in the news. He would just have to wait for further developments.

         It had been about a half-hour since Michelle had woken up when she finally heard a car. It struck a twinge of fear through her, though she could not figure out why. It turned out to be nothing to be afraid of; the man in the car was very sympathetic and quickly drove her to the closest hospital. She had been reported as missing the night before, and the hospital attendants knew immediately who she was. She was put into the usual in-patient gown and wheeled into a room to be examined. By the time she came out, she still knew nothing about who she was besides what the doctor had told her. He hoped her family members would be able to help, but she felt nothing when she saw them. As far as she was concerned, they had no important role in her life; they were just more people with lives separate from hers.
         Over the next three days, every waking hour of Michelle’s life was spent in the company of doctors, nurses, family and friends in hopes of triggering something in her mind. Old postcards that had been sent to her were brought from home, but the words on them meant nothing to her. Her best friend brought her a Shakespeare pin that she’d gotten as a souvenir from the time they’d gone together to see Romeo and Juliet, and her mother brought her an old pocket watch that her grandfather had given to her before he died. None of this meant anything to her, though they all represented the things that had been most important to her in life. To the doctors, it was starting to look very bleak.

         All that Sean could do to occupy his time and keep himself from thinking about what he liked to consider as his “mistake”, was drink his days away. Every night he was able to go to sleep peacefully, and the only time he had to think about it at all was in the early morning before he’d poured himself the first drink of the day. All he wanted to do was forget. Slowly, he was killing himself.
         Still in the hospital, all Michelle wanted to do was remember; and she felt like something was starting to come to her. For the last 2 nights, she’d dreamed. In it, she was walking along a dark, stormy road, when she turned around to see the headlights of a truck bearing down on her. Upon impact, she’d wake up sweaty in her bed. When she informed the doctors of this, it gave them hope as well. Slowly, she was making progress.

         As well as Michelle, the cops were also getting somewhere in their investigation. They had discovered that she’d been at a party that night, and they knew where it had been located, too. The host had given them a general list of the people he could remember as having been there, and they had been interviewing many of them. A large amount of people had recalled Michelle leaving early, but could not tell them how she had left. A few people had also informed them that a young man had departed soon after her, and that he had been drunk. They, also, had no ideas relating to his mode of transportation that night.
         In the meantime, that certain young man had continued drinking his days away. He was toying with the idea of turning himself into the police, but he figured it’d be better to die than to waste away in jail. Once again, he paid a visit to the nearest liquor store. He bought enough alcohol to sufficiently last him for at least 3 days, and received only a single dollar bill for change: his last dollar. Once this supply was gone, he’d need to find a way to get more money, or finally face up to reality. Returning home, he poured himself a drink and pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

         Michelle woke with a start. Something had clicked; she was for the first time in a long time, aware of who she was. Upon seeing her family and friends, a little bit more rushed back. She was also aware of who they were, and what her relationship to them was. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she jumped up to give the people who meant the world to her the first heartfelt hugs they’d received from her in 2 weeks. Her recovery had begun.
         The doctors made sure that someone was with her every moment of the day, prompting her to keep searching for more memories. Many of the things people had talked to her about, she was beginning to be able to recall: certain events, objects, and other facts about who she was, and who they were. It was speculated that within the next 2 days, she would be back to herself again.
         Waking up, Sean looked at his remaining supply of whiskey. He had a two-six and three half-full mickeys. He didn’t even bother to have a bite to eat before he started drinking. He was determined to finish what he had left; it didn’t matter to him what he did to his body anymore.
         He stumbled across a 3-day-old newspaper, and saw that on the front page was an article about a girl who had been injured about 2 weeks prior. It said that she had been struck by a vehicle, and was now suffering from amnesia. She had no clue who she was, or who her loved ones were. The police had very few leads on who might have done that to her. Staring at it, he lifted the bottle to his mouth and drank.

         She remembered. Michelle just felt it in a rush. It was, to her, the best feeling in the world. No longer did she feel lost. Everything that had been nothing more than a blur to her the night before, was now clear. All the hospital staff were ecstatic along with her family and friends. It was nothing short of a miracle.
         The police came in to see if she could now give them any idea of who might have done it to her. She recalled to them that the truck that had hit her was quite large, and when she had seen it barreling towards her, had looked either red or orange in colour. Though it didn’t seem like a big help to her, it gave them all the information they needed. There was only one person in town who had been at the party whose vehicle fit that description.
         Michelle was released from the hospital later that day. Driving through all the familiar roads, and seeing all the familiar faces, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. Finally, she had done what she’d been working towards: she remembered.

         The police showed up on Sean’s doorstep as soon as they’d clarified that he was the man they were looking for. They knocked but were not let in, though his vehicle was there and they knew he was home. A policeman tried the door and it swung open, releasing the strong smell of alcohol, which was overpowering inside the house. It was a huge mess. Liquor bottles were strewn all over the floor, and dishes were piled up in the sink. Upon entering the living room, they saw a man asleep on the couch; whiskey bottle in hand. From the officer’s view from the doorway, they saw something clutched in his other hand. One man moved closer to investigate. He pried the piece of paper loose from Sean’s grip and read it aloud, “Young girl suffers from amnesia after being struck by a car; police have no leads”. It was the article that had been in the newspaper.
         The cop felt a wave of pity for the man, but pushed it away and carried on with his job. He attempted to shake Sean awake, but to no avail. Sean was no longer breathing, and his heart was no longer beating. The ambulance was called, but it was too late. He had succeeded in what he’d been trying to do ever since he’d hit the girl: he’d forgotten.