Stay put and wait for the doctor

The nursing assistant has been gone for several minutes now, and you are beginning to wonder what's taking so long. Maybe Dr. Pembrost is busy with another patient. Maybe he stepped out for lunch. You realize that you have absolutely no idea what time it is. Or what day it is, for that matter. You look out the window but you can only see the bland concrete corner of the building and a few wisps of thin clouds in the blue sky beyond. Is it summer? Winter? You have no idea. Come to think of it, you don't even know what year it is.

Eventually you hear a door open and two pair of footsteps approaching. The first pair belongs to the nursing assistant, the second to a tall, olive-skinned woman with thick, wavy chestnut brown hair and striking good looks. She is wearing a white doctor's coat and appears to be about forty. She greets you with a polite but concerned smile from the end of the bed.

"How are you feeling today, John?" the woman asks, lifting a clipboard from the end of the bed. She frowns as she scans it. It doesn't seem to confirm her assumptions.

This must be Dr. Pembrost, you think to yourself. For some reason you had assumed it would be a man, but you are surprised and delighted about the mix-up.

"O-ok," you say weakly. Your tongue feels thick in your mouth.

"I'm Dr. Pembrost," she says. "You've been with us for quite a while now, Joh--. Sorry," she says, blushing a little. "We're used to calling you John because we don't know your real name." She smiles, a little embarrassed by the slip, but recovers her composure instantly. Both women are watching you, waiting a little breathlessly for you to reveal your real name.

You think for a minute, trying your best to recollect. Nothing. A complete blank. You could lie, make up a name, make up a complete history, tell them anything you like. If you have been here for a long time, and they still have absolutely no idea who you are, they are not likely to ever find out. But its a perverse idea, a little strange, and you're not sure why you're even seriously considering it. Maybe you are just embarrassed to admit the truth.