Chase's head hurt as he slowly regained consciousness. His eyes seemed sewn shut, and he could tell that they hadn't been opened in a while. He smelled the scent of perfume as his senses cleared. 'Where am I? That smell is damn fine, but where's it coming from?' he thought. He tried with all his might to force his eyes open, but when he did the light blinded and hurt him. He squinted his eyes and tried to ignore the pain he felt as they slowly adjusted to the light, the blurry images clearing.
When his sight was finally restored, he was surprised to see a woman standing over him. 'She's beautiful!' Chase thought as he took in her shoulder length strawberry red hair and her soft, blemish free face. She had a slightly upturned nose, and luscious full lips with rosy cheeks. Her eyes caught his attention quickly, and he noticed that her left eye was blue, and her right was brown. They were framed with long, curled eyelashes, and the brown eye had a beauty mark near it.
"Where..." Chase said with a hoarse voice. "Where am I? Who are ya?" As he saw her smile at him he realized that he didn't even know who he was. "Who am I?" He asked, and she frowned. Chase wanted her to smile again instead, but he couldn't think of anything that would make her. When she suddenly left him with no explanation he felt lonely, an emotion that he felt used to for some reason.
Eventually the woman returned with another woman who was wearing nurses scrubs. The nurse put a hand on his forehead, and then watched the nearby machines' screen for his pulse. "You seem fine right now, but you'll be feeling real bad real fast. This young lady says you can't remember anything?" His throat hurt too much for him to try and talk again, so he nodded his head, trying once again to remember his name.
The nurse left to find the doctor, and the woman from earlier stood next to him once again. She reached out and caressed his cheek with the back of her hand. Her touch made him relax, and he could feel his feeling of loneliness retreating slowly. "Oh, you poor thing you. You must feel terrible right now. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" She asked in a sweet, caring voice that had him relaxing even more.
He stared at her for a few seconds before closing his eyes and thinking. "Well," he said, his voice still hoarse, but his throat hurt less. "I suppose it would be nice ta know who I am, and who ya are." He was disappointed when she stopped her caresses, but he was too weak to protest it. She sounded timid when she finally answered his question.
"I'm sorry to say this, but I don't really know you so I can't really say. But I found your wallet, and it says your name is Chase Grande. Oh, and I'm Arinn Trinner, by the way."
"Well then," Chase mumbled. "It's nice ta meet ya, miss Arinn."
He drifted off to sleep with the smell of strawberry scented perfume in his nose and the soft sound of her voice in his ears saying "It's nice to finally meet you too, Chase."
~~~*~~~
Chase had finally woken up! Arinn was still stunned as she drove home that day. He had had the most beautiful grayish blue eyes. When he had asked who he was, she felt a wave of concern wash over her. No one had claimed to know him, so she was worried about what he would do when he was finally released from the hospital. She felt like it was somehow her responsibility to take care of him. 'Then it's final.' she thought. 'He'll stay with me after he leaves.'
