He hands me a box of tissues "Yes, that's been your name since you were born. Are you okay with me calling you Emily-san?"

It all felt so unreal. Why is it that I remember everything else so clearly except for my name and my hometown? I can’t even recall if my name was ever used by any of my teachers or friends. All the details just feel so blurry right now.

I grab the box he handed me and pulled out a few tissues to blow my nose and clean the tears away "Yeah that’s fine... I don't know what else you would call me."

After giving me some time to clean myself up, he continued "Now Emily-san, do you remember anything about the accident that brought you here?"

"No... the time kinda blurs between when I was last conscious and when I woke up. I have no idea how I got in here."

He then takes a seat in the chair next to me as if he’s preparing to say something difficult "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you received some head trauma after getting hit by a car. You have been in a coma ever since."

If I wasn’t laying down I would have probably collapsed. Did he really just say a coma? “A-a car hit me? And it put me in a coma? F-for how long?”

The beeping of the vitals machine is the fastest it’s been since waking up, and it only gets faster after Mr. Yamada says “About three months. But your body has been slowly waking up over the last week.”

Both the medical staff can see that I’m on the verge of a panic attack. So they prepare themselves in the case I need some medical intervention. I’m trying so hard to control my breathing so I don’t pass out, but the beeping of the machine isn’t slowing.

My head feels like it’s spinning. How did I get hit by a car? My parents always drive me everywhere and I’m never walking anywhere that a car would be. It just doesn’t make sense.

And three months? It feels like it was just a few minutes ago where I was walking around with Yukio. How long ago did I actually do that? Did I just imagine all of that stuff with the gray wall and black room because a car me? Could it have also hit Yukio?

Even though I’m panicking, I still need to find out “D-did anyone else with me get hit?” to which he thankfully responded “No. You were alone when the car hit you.”

Hearing that she wasn’t hurt actually helped to calm me down a bit. The beeping on the machine gradually slowed and the medical providers took a step back. Breathing became easier as I thought of Yukio being okay.

With my calming down, Mr. Yamada feels he can continue with the conversation "I know that was hard to hear, but there is still more to discuss. Some of which may be difficult to talk about. Do you think you’ll be able to handle it? Or do you need a break?"

Taking a break would probably only make things worse. I need to hear everything as soon as possible “I don’t need a break. I can handle the questions.”

At first I think the difficult part of the conversation he mentioned would be about my parents abuse. It worries me a bit that they found out and that’s why they sent in a social worker. So it surprises me when he asks "You said that you live in America and you don't know Japanese, correct?"

“Yes, that’s true.” I answer a bit confused “I started learning Japanese a few weeks ago, but I don’t know enough to understand it.”

He takes a deep breathe "I'm sorry to say this... but you're currently in a hospital located in Japan. And according to your parents, you've lived here your entire life. The only time you ever left mainland was to go to Okinawa during your third year of high school."

The blood drains from my head and I almost pass out. Did he just say I’ve only ever lived in Japan? How? The only memories I have are that of living in America. Something else must be going on, because there’s no way that can be true.

"I'm sorry but I'm having a hard time believing you. I don't even speak Japanese, so how is it possible that I've lived here my whole life while only knowing English?"

He looks back to the doctor to have a quick conversation then back to me "It's not completely unheard of that you learned English in your dream. There have been some cases where people wake up from a coma and know another language. And from what your parents told the hospital, Japanese was the only language you knew. None of the medical staff here were expecting you to speak English. We would have put you in a different ward if that were the case."

My brain begins to hurt after being told all that. It was just so hard to believe "I still don't understand... all of my memories are from a life in America. Are you telling me that everything I remember isn’t actually real?”

“Well it’s hard to say for sure. It's possible that your life in the coma was made up of actual memories in your real life. But there’s also the chance your brain made everything up. There isn’t really a certainty when it comes to dreams.”

I’m not sure how to respond to that. To think that the entire life I knew was completely made up terrifies me. But looking back into the memories I have right now, it makes sense. All the weird stuff I was seeing over the last few days feels like something that would only happen in a dream

But why would my brain make up such a terrible life for me? Was it just a really bad nightmare, or was it actually mimicking my real life… knowing my luck, it’s probably the latter. I’m sure my parents are going to angrily burst in here at any moment.

It worries me enough to ask "Do you think the people in my dreams were real?" even though the answer was going to be exactly the same “I can’t answer that definitively. Your brain could have put in some people you know, but it’s also likely they were all made up.”

Having all the people from my dreams being made up wouldn’t be the worst thing. The only person from there I even care about is Yukio… and now there’s a possibility that she doesn’t exist… I would hate that so much.

She has to be real though, there’s no way she isn’t. I have a more vivid memory of her than anything else. Her face, our conversations, everything I can remember perfectly. If she was a figment of my imagination, then surely I would be forgetting some of that already.

Mr. Yamada gave me some time to think again, but now he needed to get back on track "I know that all of this has been a lot to take in, but the doctor still needs to run some tests. Would that be alright for you?"

I’m so out of it I just say “Yeah, do whatever you need to.” I really need some alone time to try and gather my thoughts. I don't think the reality of this has hit quite yet.

He got up from the chair to let the doctor get back to work, but before he leaves the room, he turns around to tell me one more thing "I will be back shortly. We already called your parents and informed them you are awake. I was told that they are very excited and will be here as soon as they can. I'll be there to meet them and inform them about your condition."

The medical staff then gets to work on me. Only it’s a little hard for me to focus on what they’re doing. I just keep looking at the door, waiting for my parents to bust in.

I knew I would have to see them again, but that doesn’t stop me from panicking. Not knowing how they're going to respond is probably the worst part about the whole coma thing. I can only hope that the time I was away made them regret the way that they treated me. But I doubt they would ever have that kind of reflection.

Some time passes and they still aren’t here. The doctor is wrapping up his evaluation on me and preparing to leave when I see the door open. A small spike of panic fills me until I see it’s Mr. Yamada walking in. He stops the doctor before he leaves the room to get an update.

Once finished with their conversation, the doctor leaves and Mr. Yamada approaches me in a much better mood than before "Hello Emily-san. The doctor just informed me that you’re all done with tests today, so we wont be needing anything for the time being. But I have even better news than that. Your parents are both just outside of this room, very eager to see you!”

Then he turns outside of the door to speak to someone, missing the panicked look on my face. He looks so happy talking to who I’m assuming are my parents. When he turns back in, I’m bracing myself for whatever there is to come.

"Now unfortunately, neither of them know English, so I'm going to be here with them to translate. They've also been brought up to speed about your memory loss so you won't have to explain that to them.”

He invites the people into the room, and I tightly grasp the blanket.

Almost immediately, a man and a woman step inside and pause when they see me. They both tear up and the woman rushes over to hug me while the man watches from the other side of the room. She says a bunch of things in Japanese that I can barely hear through her voice that’s muffled against my shoulder.

Luckily Mr. Yamada can understand "Your mom says that she missed you so much and she's so happy that you're awake."

The woman calls for the man to come over too. He looks much more reserved and slowly makes his way to my side where he holds my hand. It looks as if he’s trying to hold back his emotions while the woman is letting them all out through her hug.

If I were any other person, I would probably be tearing up at this heartfelt reunion too. But I’m not. I’m not happy, angry, or scared, I’m just confused. Because I don’t recognize the two people in front of me. They're not the parents from my memories.