Chapter 6 – Questions

Odd awoke sleepily the next morning to the sound of faint beeping around him. He opened one eye, looked to his right, and saw a huge machine with a monitor on top, displaying blood pressure, heart rate, and other too-confusing information for Odd to read. The machine was equipped with a bunch of flashing lights and unmarked buttons. Glancing around the room, he saw one main color theme: white, white, and more white. Too much white for Odd.

As he sat up in bed, he attempted to stretch his arms. He felt a slight tug on his right wrist, and as he stared at his wrist, it clicked to him that he had an IV in his arm.

“. . . What the . . . ,” he questioned out loud. Laying back into his bed, he glanced at the bedside clock. It was 8:36 in the morning. The door to the white room opened slowly.

“Well, I see your awake, Mr. Della Robbia. Good to see you focusing this early, here is your medication you need,” the nurse said, handing Odd a pill and a glass of water. Odd swallowed the pill without questioning, and laid down back in bed, grasping his head. It ached so badly, as if he was hit with a baseball bat. “Some of your friends are here to see you; I’ll let them come in to see you now that you’re awake.” The nurse closed the door behind her. The door soon opened after, and four kids waltzed in.

“Hey buddy! Good to see ya!” Ulrich said, sitting down in one of the chairs near the bed.

“Hey Odd.” Yumi said, taking the chair next to Ulrich.

“Hi there pal! How ya feelin’ after last night?” Jeremie questioned, leaning on Ulrich’s chair. Aelita sat herself down on the back of Yumi’s armchair.

“Yeah, how are you feeling, Odd? How’s your head?” Aelita inquired.

Odd arose in his bed, wearing a confused look on his face. He raised one eyebrow slightly, took a sip of water, and began speaking. “Where am I? Who are you people? Who . . . Who am I? What happened?”

Ulrich and the rest of the gang paused for a moment, exchanging looks. “. . . Odd . . . ,” Ulrich began.

“What’s odd?” The blond haired boy interrupted. “Will someone please tell me what my name is? Who am I?”

“Please, listen,” Aelita began calmly, placing a hand on the bed. “Your name is Odd Della Robbia.”

“Wait, my name is Odd? That is odd. Hey! Odd Odd! I’m odd, meaning strange, and my name is Odd! Ha ha! That fits me perfectly!” Odd said with a chuckle before going on saying repetitively ‘Odd Odd! Odd Odd!’

“It’s good to see he has the same personality, he’s just as hyper and happy as always!” Yumi said with a smile.

 “Hey, so, now that I know who I am, odd Odd; who are you? What school do I go to? Where am I and why am I here?” Odd questioned inventively.

“Well, you’re in a hospital, because of a concussion.” Jeremie began.

“A concussion? Where did I get that from?”

“Yesterday, all of us and Sam, who isn’t here right now . . .” Jeremie was interrupted by the fast opening of the hospital room door.

“ODD! ODD! Are you okay!?! You scared the living crap out of me!” Sam said, rushing over to his bed, hugging Odd. Odd backed away, shooting an uncomfortable look at Sam.

“Who . . . are . . . you?” Odd asked slowly.

“Um, Sam, we have a slight problem. Odd lost his memory, so he doesn’t remember any of us or what happened or even who he is.” Yumi said, as Sam grew most unhappy and worried.

“WHAT? What do you mean he lost his memory? He doesn’t remember . . . anything? He doesn’t even remember . . . me?” Sam questioned, glancing around at the group.

“. . . No, Sam, he doesn’t remember anything. He’s lost in this world, not even knowing who we are. Before you came in, we were explaining his name.” Aelita said, as Odd broke out into laughter.

“OH! OH! I know my name! It’s Odd! It’s Odd Della . . . Della . . . What is my last name?”

“Della Robbia, Odd, Della Robbia.” Ulrich said with a hint of humor in his voice.

“Right! I’m Odd Della Robbia! Now, who are you?”

“This is Aelita, we call her the princess,” Jeremie said pointing to Aelita.

“I’m Ulrich, and I am your roommate and best friend.” Ulrich paused, then continued. “This is Yumi, who doesn’t live at the campus of our school, but lives in town.” Ulrich grasped Yumi’s hand down in-between the two armchairs where Odd wouldn’t see just yet.

“I’m Sam, and, well, I don’t know how to explain myself to you while you have no memory . . .” Sam said, blushing slightly, knowing that she shouldn’t quite yet say that they were going out before the accident.

“Um, and lastly, this is Jeremie. He’s the smartest of us, and also runs the Super . . .” Aelita’s voice trailed off, remembering that Sam was right there with them. Sam still hadn’t found out about the factory, even though Odd had said he was going to tell her later last night, after they went for dinner with the rest of the group.

“Ok. So, you’re Aelita, with the pink hair . . . You’re Ulrich, formerly my best friend and roommate . . . You’re Yumi . . . You’re Sam, who doesn’t know how to explain yourself . . . and you’re Jeremie, right, the smartest one?” Odd said, reciting what everyone had just said.

“Yes, precisely.” Jeremie said.

“Now, where do we go to school?”

“Well, we go to school at Kadic Junior High School, just a little ways away from this hospital,” Ulrich said, gesturing to the gang.

“What about you, Sam? Where do you go to school?”

“I go to a different school, but come to Kadic for all of their skateboarding competitions and sometimes I DJ dances. That’s how you and I met . . .” her voice trailed off.

“Whoa! Kadic has skateboarding competitions! That sounds cool! Do I skateboard?”

“Do you skateboard?! DO YOU SKATEBOARD?! Of course you skateboard; you and I usually are neck-and-neck at first and second place at competitions! You rock, Odd!” Sam said, taking out a picture of the last competition and showing it to Odd.

“Wow! Really! I’m that good! Sweet! Hey, one last question, what happened to cause this concussion?” Odd said, still staring at the picture.

“Oh? You really want to hear, Odd? It can be a long story!” Yumi questioned.

“Yeah! I want to know how I got a concussion!” Odd said, with a slightly sarcastic tone.

“Oh, ok, I’ll explain it.” Ulrich said. “We were all going out to dinner to a restaurant on our skateboards and scooters. When we got close to the restaurant, you and Sam had a backwards skating contest . . .” Ulrich took about five minutes longer to completely explain how Odd received his concussion.

“Oh. So, I hit my head on a doorknob, which knocked me out cold? That’s pathetic.” Odd said.

“It may be pathetic, but true. It scared the heck out of us. We had to get the restaurant to call an ambulance, and you were unresponsive. It really freaked us out, Odd. You know how to scare us!” Sam said.

The door of the hospital room opened slightly, as the nurse told the visitors that Odd needed his rest, and that they could come back later after lunch if they wanted to see him again.

The group all said their good-bye’s, and then left the hospital.

“I hate those horrible places. Even just being in a hospital freaks me out. I hate hospitals. I hate them, hate them, hate them!” Yumi said, shaking her head.

“It’s alright, they said that Odd will be out soon, depending on how his progress is with retrieving his memory,” Ulrich said, placing his hand around Yumi’s waste.

“Good. I don’t want to go to that horrid place many more times!”