Chapter Five

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"Sir, are you alright?"

The sound of an unfamiliar voice woke Jack, bringing him back from the state of unconsciousness he'd been in. He slowly opened his eyes to examine who was talking to him, and where he was.

"Ah, there we are."

Jack blinked as the light from his surroundings flooded into his eyes, shocking his optic nerves, which had become accustomed to darkness. He hadn't been prepared for such a bright environment, and the sudden assault on one of his senses made it a bit hard to focus on anything at first.

After a couple seconds of adjusting, Jack was able to get his eyes to focus on the person who'd just spoken to him. The person in question was a woman in a uniform kneeling in front of him, whose was face ever so slightly taut with concern, and her dark eyes filled with worry. There was a bag just behind her, its contents unknown to Jack, and a radio that she was clutching so tightly in her right hand that her knuckles were white. Her appearance indicated that she was distressed, but what she was distressed about remained a mystery to Jack. That is, until he realized she was looking directly at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to grow a second head or a third eye. As if there was something wrong with him.

She was distressed over Jack's condition, but why? He felt fine, and nothing bad had happened to him... had it?

The woman waited a moment for Jack to get his bearings before she managed to shake any trace of stress from her face, and launched back into doing whatever it was she was here to do.

"Are you having any trouble breathing?" She asked, cautiously watching Jack's movements, which Jack didn't care for. It made him feel like a zoo exhibit, something to be gawked at or monitored.

"No," He replied. When the woman didn't seem certain of his answer, Jack took several deep breaths in to prove his response. This seemed to satisfy her, as she nodded to herself and reached down to pull something out of her bag.

"Are you feeling dizzy at all? Any vision problems?"

Again, Jack responded with a negative response. Physically he felt absolutely fine, which made him wonder why this woman was here at all.

As the woman started to mark something down on a clipboard she'd pulled out of her bag, Jack took the opportunity to get a good look at his surroundings and figure out where the hell he was. He knew he should've known his current location, considering he'd just been unconscious in the middle of it moments ago, but for some strange and alarming reason he didn't.

The first things that jumped out at Jack was the fact that he wasn't inside. He'd been expecting some sort of indoor environment, as that's where one normally sleeps, but instead he found himself surrounded by outdoor structures. He was situated in a ditch just to the left of a road, which was lined with first responders' vehicles and clusters of people in various different uniforms talking. To his right was a small woodsy area populated solely by trees, their tall stature and spindly branches appearing menacing in the grey lighting, like the hands and fingers of ghosts extending towards the sky. Dying shrubbery and mud puddles surrounded Jack on all sides, meaning if he moved his hand even an inch he'd either plant it into vegetation or a pool of wet dirt. He could even hear the faint sound of a stream flowing some ways away, the sound of the water's movement slowed due to the cold temperature. The whole scene was actually rather lovely. It was like they'd managed to catch nature when it was at its most beautiful, making it seem like something straight out of a movie.

However, there didn't seem to be any actual buildings nearby. At least not that Jack could see. The area they were in appeared remote and rural, considerably far from the busiest parts of Brighton. Which made Jack wonder where all these people came from, and how long he'd been here.

The woman proceeded to check Jack's head for any major wounds or even the faintest trace of blood, which took several minutes, before she finally declared that she was finished.

"Sorry about that," she told him. "Medical procedures and all that. I know it's a bit annoying, but we have to ensure safety."

Jack simply nodded, not entirely sure how to respond, and a little too out of it at the moment to even think about medical protocols. He was incredibly confused and disoriented, had no idea where he was or how he got there, nor did he have any idea what happened to him. Or if anything even happened to him at all. From the woman's questions and actions, as well as the first responders everywhere, one could assume that something bad had taken place, but because Jack didn't know what that something was he wasn't sure if it had happened to him specifically. It could've just happened nearby, and this woman checking on Jack was just a precaution. He felt totally fine, after all. Nothing seemed to be wrong with him physically. Although he was just unconscious for an undetermined amount of time...

Long story short, Jack needed answers, and talking about "medical protocols" wasn't going to get him any.

"Um, sorry to change the subject suddenly," Jack stammered, catching the woman's attention. "But would you mind telling me what happened?"

The woman gave Jack a reassuring smile, which Jack much preferred over her looking so distressed. He didn't want to cause this person any needless worry.

"Of course. To put it simply, we got a call about ten minutes ago about an accident involving a truck and a pedestrian on this road. Somebody just happened to be driving by and saw the aftermath, and thankfully called in not too long after the presumed time of the incident. Time is everything when it comes to these cases, so we were lucky to get a call that followed the accident so closely. The truck involved was all but destroyed, which didn't bode well for the driver, but upon investigation we discovered they were nowhere to be found. The pedestrian, who was identified as having the exact same appearance as you, was supposedly lying offside the road somewhere very nearby."

Jack stared at the woman in disbelief for a second, trying to remember if any of these events were true. He definitely remembered a truck, now that he thought about it, but that was it. His memory only gave him the sound of its approaching tires and the feeling of impact, but nothing afterwards.

And if he remembered the feeling of impact, doesn't that mean he was actually hit by a truck?

"So I was hit by a truck?" Jack asked, voicing his concerned and confused thoughts, unsure of whether or not he actually wanted the answer to them.

"Oh no, don't worry, it didn't make impact!" She told Jack, hurriedly trying to reassure him. Jack breathed a sigh of relief at this, but was still left with a feeling of confusion. The woman's answer contradicted his memories. "If it had, you would be severely wounded and in critical condition, if not..."

She but her lip to prevent herself from finishing that sentence, probably realizing that bringing up death right after explaining what had happened wasn't a good idea.

"You must've jumped out of the way in time, or perhaps the driver swerved. We don't have any witnesses, so none of us can confirm what actually happen, but maybe you can shed some light on this. Do any of these events ring a bell to you?"

"I remember the truck," Jack explained. He watched as the woman pulled out her clipboard again and started making notes on it. This made Jack feel a tad uncomfortable, as having all of his answers documented right in front of him wasn't a very appealing concept. "And I remember it getting dangerously close, but then I could've sworn that it hit me. I felt it hit me."

"Anything else?" She asked, furiously scribbling down notes onto the document that was on her clipboard.

"No, everything's kind of fuzzy after that," Jack replied dismally, though "kind of fuzzy" was an understatement. "Kind of fuzzy" implied that he still remembered bits and pieces, even if they were indistinct, but that wasn't the case. His memories of the events after weren't vague or dream-like impressions, there weren't any faint sounds or faces he could recall. There wasn't any trace of them. He remembered the truck, and then pure blackness. Absolutely nothing else.

"Don't worry, that's perfectly normal," the woman responded, still scribbling away at her clipboard with a small smile on her face. "You were found unconscious at the scene of an accident, meaning you must have suffered head trauma, which can cause short term memory loss as well."

Jack breathed a small sigh of relief after hearing the woman's explanation. Although the words "head trauma" were not exactly pleasant ones to hear, Jack was just glad there was an explanation for all of this, no matter how grim it sounded.

"We'll have to take you back to the hospital for further examination, just to make sure there isn't any extent of brain damage," Jack visibly cringed at those last words, hoping that wasn't the case. "But other than that you seem to have escaped completely unscathed. Miraculous, isn't it?"

The woman looked up from her clipboard after finishing her sentiment, giving Jack another smile to punctuate it. But there was something about her expression that unsettled Jack. Something in her dark eyes, maybe, or perhaps in her smile. Perhaps there was something lurking underneath that cheerful expression, something not as pleasant. Whatever it was, Jack didn't like it, and made a mental note to be a bit more cautious around this woman from now on.

"Well, let's get you up off the ground, shall we? Unless you'd rather stay here in the mud all day?" She said, already getting to her feet and futilely attempting to brush the dirt off her clothes.

Jack shook his head and returned the smile she was still wearing, trying not to make his new sense of mistrust apparent. "This is the last place I want to be right now, to be honest."

She laughed and helped him to his feet carefully, as if she was worried any sudden movements would cause him to break in half. As soon as she was sure that Jack was fine when standing, the woman started to place her things back in the little bag she'd brought with her, swiftly picking it up afterwards. She then started walking, but in the opposite direction Jack had expected. Instead of walking towards the road, where all the other vehicles and people were, she turned the other way and started walking into the dampened and gloomy forest, heading towards seemingly nothing.

"Where are you going?" Jack called out nervously, wondering why she'd chosen to do such a thing.

"Back to base," She called back over her shoulder. "There's a lot I need to get done today."

Base?

"But what about the-" Jack started, but was cut off. He'd been referring to the other first responders, but the woman seemed to have picked up on that without Jack telling her.

"I'm not very well acquainted with them," She replied again, her answers growing harder and harder to hear as she swiftly moved away from Jack. "We don't work in the same department. Most of them, if not all of them, don't even know my name."

This stuck Jack as odd, but he decided to brush it off until later. He had to figure out where this lady was going first.

He took a couple steps towards the forest, starting to make his way towards the forest in hopes of following her.

"I didn't catch your name!" Jack called. She was growing farther and farther away with every step, disappearing and fading into the ominous woods, which made Jack wonder if she would even be able to hear him at all.

"Casey!" She called back. It took a moment for Jack to actually decipher what she'd said, as she hadn't spoken very loud and was quite far ahead of him.

Jack attempted to pick up his pace and follow her, thinking that maybe if he was fast enough he could catch up, when suddenly a voice called out from behind him.

"Stop!"

Jack spun around, the sudden introduction of another person into this situation surprising him. The people up on the road had been paying him no attention up until now, so Jack hadn't been expecting anyone to notice him or Casey walking away. But apparently he was wrong, as the man who'd called out to him definitely noticed, and Jack could just make out an expression of concern on his face from where he was standing.

"Where are you going?" The stranger asked, swiftly making his way towards Jack while pulling out a walkie-talkie.

"I was following-" Jack started, but didn't continue.

He had turned to gesture to the fleeing Casey in the midst of the forest, to show the man who he'd been following, but when he did he found that there was no one there. Where Casey had just been walking moments before was now just desolate forest, with no signs of human life anywhere in that direction. She was gone.

When Jack turned around again, he found that the man who'd called out to him was now standing right beside him. He placed his hand on Jack's shoulder and looked him square in the eye, his face full of both confusion and worry, before he spoke.

"There's nobody there."

Jack remained silent, glancing back and forth between the man and the forest where Casey had been, before he finally remained focused on the man and gave a slight nod.

The man gave Jack a small smile, similar to the one Casey had last given him, but without that underlying trace of something bad.

"Let's get you out of here," He said as he started making his way back up towards the road.

Jack complied, seeing no reason to stay in a damp and frigid forest. But, for the second time that day, he looked back. One quick glance over his shoulder as he walked away.

Casey still wasn't there.

But Jack could've sworn that, as he was walking away, he saw some kind of lens peek out from behind a tree.

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"It's quite strange, really," the doctor said, looking over her notes once more. "Your head hasn't seem to have suffered any trauma at all, and yet what you've experienced since regaining consciousness would indicate the opposite."

After the man, who Jack learned was a paramedic named Samir, had gotten him out of the forest, Jack was led back to the rest of the first responders on the road. From there he'd been driven to hospital for immediate medical examinations, as Samir had deemed that his current mental state eluded to some sort of trauma to the head. That, and they wanted to make sure there wasn't any damage to his internal organs, however unlikely that possibility was. Jack had been ushered into several rooms and walked through several tests, fearing for the worst, but was shocked to find that all of the results came back with the same answer. There was nothing wrong with him.

The doctors seemed just as confused as he did, as several times the ones who'd been assigned to him had glanced at the notes they'd taken, frowned, and then left in a perplexed hurry. Jack assumed they left to go talk to someone about the results, to clear things up, but the doctors always came back into the room with the same puzzled expression as when they'd left. No one they talked to had any explanation for this.

"And you said you don't remember what happened?" The doctor, whose name Jack had been told was Doctor Paige, inquired of him.

Jack shook his head. "I remember the truck, and that's it."

Doctor Paige frowned at her notes and slowly swivelled the chair she was sitting on from side to side, clearly trying to make sense of the results she'd been given to work with.

"So the short term memory loss and hallucinations would indicate some sort of head injury..." She muttered to herself. "But the scans all came back showing normal brain activity."

She looked up to Jack again, her pen brought up to her lips and her expression taut in concentration.

"And we already tested to see if you're under the influence of anything. All the tests came back negative, again."

She sighed and tossed her clipboard to the side. "I've never seen anything like this. You somehow managed to escape the accident with no injuries, and yet displayed symptoms of head trauma. Then we test you, and sure enough you're perfectly fine. Not to mention the miracle that was the truck somehow avoiding contact with you."

Jack bit his lip as Doctor Paige finished that last sentence, wanting to say something but knowing it was futile. He'd already tried to convince several of the doctors that he was certain the truck hit him, but none of them had believed him. The Irishman couldn't exactly blame them, as there wasn't any evidence to back up his claim, but he couldn't help but wish that someone would at least take that claim into consideration.

"Well...," Doctor Paige said, pondering what to do. "I suppose we'll just have to discharge you for now. You haven't displayed any odd behaviour or experienced any maladies since Samir found you, which was several hours ago now, and all of our tests came back with negative results. Since we've found there's nothing wrong with you we're supposed to let you leave."

She hesitated, the afterimage of a worrisome thought flashing through her green eyes momentarily.

"But still, I can't help but worry for your safety."

"I'm fine," Jack assured her hurriedly. He desperately wanted to get out of here, as he didn't particularly enjoy being in a hospital, and was scared of what would happen if continued to experience strange things but tested negative. There was no telling what could happen to him. "Like you said, there's nothing wrong with me. The tests proved that. The severity of the situation probably just got to me mentally."

Doctor Paige nodded at her patient, although she didn't look convinced at all. Jack wasn't surprised, seeing as he wasn't a doctor and had basically been talking out of his ass, but that look of skepticism still scared him. Maybe she'd change her mind and keep him here after all.

"Please come back here immediately if you start experiencing anything similar to what you did today. Hallucinations, memory loss, anything like that."

"Of course," Jack replied, relieved that she was still willing to discharge him.

Doctor Paige smiled at him before getting up and walking towards the door.

"Then I'll see you out," she said, truing the handle and opening the door, and giving Jack a view of the outside hallway he hadn't seen in several hours.

"Thank you."

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The first person to greet Jack was Signe, who stood up as soon as he stepped into the waiting room that was just next to the front desk. The expression she wore was one of relief and joy, the happiness she felt at seeing that Jack was okay clearly evident.

Jack wasted no time and immediately went over to her, the two of them meeting in an embrace filled with solace. Both were happy they got a chance to see the other again, considering what could've happened to Jack on that road.

"I would've been so mad if you died on me," Signe said. Jack couldn't see her face due to the fact that her head was resting on his shoulder, but even without looking he could tell she was still smiling.

He laughed in response to her joking comment, thankful for that bit of humour to lighten the situation. "Would you have

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