Awakening (2)

Kudou-sensei's examinations were finally done, and it was time to head back to my hospital room.

I'd told her during the interview that I felt fine, but my body was heavy and I couldn't walk on my own, so I was being moved by wheelchair.

Pushing the wheelchair was a slender beauty with her vermillion hair tied up in a ponytail: Houzawa Akari-san.

Even with her right behind me, a faintly pleasant scent reached me every time she moved. Energetic, well-mannered, with that fresh-out-of-training new-hire feel. Apparently she and one other senior nurse would be looking after me.

"Izumi-san, thank you for getting through the exams. We'll be back in your room soon, so you can rest."

"Ah, thank you very much."

The inside of the MRI had been pretty cramped, and even with earplugs in, the noise was surprisingly loud. Honestly, it had been a little scary.

They'd also pressed some strange device against my chest for the heart ultrasound, and that had taken a while. Just being examined had left me this exhausted, which I really hadn't expected.

"When visiting hours start, your mother will be coming, I'm told."

"My mother, huh…"

So my mother was coming to see me. I wondered what kind of person she was. She'd probably be shocked when she found out I'd lost my memory.

"I-I'm sorry… that wasn't very considerate of me…"

"N-no… please don't worry about it…"

Houzawa-san had gone out of her way to find a topic for me, then crumpled when she remembered I had amnesia.

I wanted to change the subject and lift the mood, but I'd only just woken up and didn't know anything, so no clever conversation starters came to mind.

"My hospital room is really spacious and clean, isn't it? Is the whole hospital like that?"

The room was decked out like a high-end hotel, the sort of place an ordinary person couldn't really afford. Was my family in this world wealthy, then? And the fact that rooms like this existed at all… maybe this was a hospital for the well-to-do.

"Yes! All of the rooms in the Men's Ward are like that!"

Maybe because the topic had shifted to something easier to talk about, the energy returned to Houzawa-san's voice.

But hold on, what was the "Men's Ward"? Why were men, specifically, being kept apart?

Goddess-sama had said the general knowledge from my past life should still be intact, but I had no idea what she meant by this.

"Um, what's the Men's Ward?"

I'd derailed the conversation again. This amnesia thing was pretty bad…

If this world ran on completely different common sense from my past life, I was going to be in real trouble.

From what I'd seen of the hospital during the examinations, things didn't feel that different from my past life, so I figured I'd be all right. Still.

"Just like the name says, it's a ward exclusively for male patients! Our hospital has excellent security and facilities, so please don't worry!"

That wasn't exactly what I'd wanted to know… I guess the way I'd phrased the question was a little off.

"Why is it necessary to have a separate ward for men?"

"Um… Izumi-san, did you maybe forget that kind of thing too?"

"What do you mean by 'that kind of thing'?"

Vague pronouns like that gave me nothing to work with. But it really was true that something pretty fundamental was missing from my knowledge. If I didn't get someone to explain it properly, I was going to be in trouble once I got discharged.

"Ah, we're almost at your room! I'm sorry, you'll be able to hear the rest from the doctor all at once, so…"

I'd wanted to hear the details of "that kind of thing," but it looked like I was out of time. I'd really wanted to gather information while I had the chance.

When we entered the room, the other nurse, Nakano Shiori-san, was waiting for us.

She was an onee-san with deep crimson hair done up in a bun, taller than Houzawa-san and bustier too. She'd been Houzawa-san's senpai since university, and the two of them were handling my nursing care as a senior-junior pair. It looked like she'd been tidying up the bed while I was off getting examined.

"Welcome back, Izumi-sama. Thank you for getting through the exams. Good work, Akari-chan."

Having a beautiful onee-san offer kind words of appreciation felt really nice.

With the two of them helping, I was moved onto the bed, then used the recline function to sit up so it would be easier to talk to them.

Actually, if the bed had this feature, I was kind of annoyed I hadn't noticed it when I first woke up. Back then, just sitting up had taken a surprising amount of energy.

"Senpai, could I have a moment?"

Houzawa-san called Nakano-san over and the two of them started talking at the back of the room.

They were probably sharing the results of my exams or comparing notes on my condition. I wanted to know the results too, as soon as possible, but until Kudou-sensei arrived, nothing was going to happen.

"Izumi-san, the doctor will be here soon, so please wait just a little longer."

"Ah, yes, understood. Um, could I have some water?"

"Yes, of course."

The exams had taken longer than expected and my throat had gone dry, so I asked Nakano-san for some water.

I was pouring the water down my parched throat and catching my breath when Kudou-sensei entered the room.

"Izumi-san, the detailed results of your exams are in, so let me go over them with you."

Her lavender hair was pinned up in a chignon, and through the gap in her white coat I could see a turtleneck sweater that clearly showed the shape of her chest. The fact that she was still wearing the glasses she'd had on during the exams probably meant she'd hurried over.

When she sat down on the chair beside the bed and crossed her stockinged, beautiful legs that stretched out from her tight skirt, my eyes were drawn to them in spite of myself.

"First, let me explain why you were brought here. You were in a traffic accident and brought to this hospital. At the time, you fractured your right arm, and a strong blow to the head left you in a coma."

I see. So a car had come at me from the right, broken my right arm, and the impact had sent me flying and slammed my head somewhere? If I hadn't been reincarnated, fate would have killed me in that accident.

"After that, you slept for over ten days, and today you finally woke up. That's the general rundown. Are you following so far?"

"Yes, I'm following."

I'd been out for over ten days, huh… that made Nakano-san's and Houzawa-san's panicked reactions make sense. It was practically like a dead person sitting up.

"From the test results, aside from the injuries from the accident and your physical weakness, there were no other notable problems, but… as I'm sure you've noticed yourself, Izumi-san, you have a memory impairment, likely caused by the blow to the head."

"Yes…"

"There's a chance you could recover your memories with time, though I wouldn't pin much hope on the odds. We'll bring in a specialist for further examination at a later date and decide how to proceed from there. For now, we'll focus on treating the fracture in your right arm. Though really, all that means is keeping it still until the bone knits back together."

"Understood."

The odds of my memories coming back, huh…

Goddess-sama had told me my memories had been wiped along with my soul's destruction, so the odds were zero. They didn't exist to begin with.

"It'll be inconvenient with your dominant arm out of commission, but if anything comes up, please don't hesitate to use the nurse call like you did earlier. If your condition changes, a doctor will come right away."

"Izumi-san, things were hectic earlier, so let me introduce myself properly. I'm Izumi Shouya-san's attending nurse, Nakano Shiori."

"Also attending, Houzawa Akari!"

"The two of us will be taking care of you, Izumi-san, so please don't be shy about using the nurse call. Either I or Houzawa will usually be on duty, but on rare occasions another nurse may attend to you, so please be aware of that."

"Understood. Thank you, I'll be in your care. Nakano-san, Houzawa-san. And you too, Kudou-sensei."

"Yes! Pleafed to be of fervice!"

Houzawa-san had answered with all her usual enthusiasm, but she'd overshot her own momentum and tripped over her tongue, going bright red. Her charming little flub turned the room's heavy atmosphere into something brighter.

"Well then, I'll be heading off. Izumi-san, please take care of yourself. Shiori-chan, could you come with me? Houzawa-san, I'll leave Izumi-san in your hands."

"Yes! Kudou-sensei, thank you for your hard work!"

The pleasant mood lasted only a moment. Kudou-sensei and Nakano-san had other work to attend to, and Kudou-sensei took Nakano-san along, quietly leaving the room.