She sat curled in the blankets on her bed, watching as the sun peaked through the blinds, becoming brighter with each passing second. Lines streaked across the walls and the light played against the clothes hanging in the open closet. Dana slipped from the bed and shuffled to the window. She raised the blinds and squinted into the sun. A river of concrete and metal unfolded in front of her eyes, and the serene feeling that had plagued her entire body disappeared. Dana let the warm yellow blanket fall from her shoulders. She padded into the closet and grabbed an ankle-length dress. Inspecting the garment she let the soft cobalt blue material run through her fingers. Her reverie was broken, however, when she heard Matt cursing in another room. Quickly she changed from her night gown into the dress, and walked soundlessly to the kitchen.
Matt was slouching in a chair cradling his left foot in his lap. He ran one of his fingers over the sole of his foot, and Dana saw him hesitate when his fingers passed over a small spot of blood that was forming. "What happened?" He turned around, and his eyes raked her over from head to toe. "Glass, I stepped on a piece of glass in the bathroom. You didn't tell me you'd broken anything. You should tell me next time. You should be careful about those sort of things." Dana walked around Matt and kneeled in front of him examining his foot. "I didn't break anything, Matt." She took a damp rag from the sink and dabbed the spot of blood on his foot. "Maybe you'll have better luck getting it out." He held a pair of tweezers out to her. Dana quickly rid Matt of the tiny piece of glass, and she threw it into the kitchen sink, chasing it down with water from the tap. Matt rubbed the sore spot on his foot then stood. He wordlessly left, and walked into the bathroom, leaving Dana standing at the sink. She watched the last of the water swirl down the drain, and went back to her room to finish getting ready for the day.
Dana was faintly reminded of a Texas spring day when she walked out into the Maryland summer heat. Matt followed her down the steps and to the car. He hadn't said anything since she had helped him with the glass in the kitchen. Dana wished for a moment that she was more familiar with him, she couldn't tell if this was their normal relationship, or if he was just reacting to the change in her. Matt didn't bother to open the car door for her, instead he went straight to the driver's side and got into the vehicle.
Dana had been spending every day of the last week snooping through her own apartment, learning and re-learning everything about her self. Matt had sat back patiently and answered her questions, telling her stories about her past that she had told him, and inviting her friends over so they could help her remember. Dana remembered everything just fine, but it was the wrong place and the wrong times. Each morning she woke up the same as she had the morning before, without an alarm, only the warmth of the sun on her face and shoulders to summon her to the waking world. And each morning she was more familiar with where she was, the old memories being replaced one by one by new memories, that she was suppose to already have, that were suppose to be what had shaped what she was today.
Now she was in a car, with the windows cracked only inches, being driven through the busy morning streets, now becoming familiar routes to and from home. Maryland had pleasant weather, not too warm, or cold, but the bustle of business men and woman, and taxies, and busses all created a not too peaceful cacophony that contradicted the swaying trees and gentle sunlight. The dull yellow day cast itself on the graffiti covered walls, and reflected off of the clean windows on bigger, un-maimed business buildings. The car slowed to a stop in front of one of the tall, glass and brick buildings. "Are you ready to see what you do?" He spoke monotonously to her.
Matt didn't wait for an answer to his question, he only got out of the car, beaconing for her to follow him up the sidewalk. At least work will get some things off of my mind. Matt's been acting so strange, I've kept him from doing what ever he does for a living, and I've hung on every word, bothering him, crowding him, I'm on the verge of a cabin fever, as long as this work doesn't entail a knowledge I don't have. Dana ascended the steps, craning her neck slightly to read the carved stone above the glass doors. This place was the same facility she had awakened to a week ago, given it was a different side of the building, a different view, she knew where she was. She knew she'd be coming here. But Dana didn't know what was going to happen, where she'd be in the building, or what she did, she was lost within herself.
For a brief moment the urge to stop at the top of the stairs, and just sit down, basking in the sun, and cry flashed through her mind. Dana ignored it. Behind the glass doors, a sudden sterile smell penetrated her stiff posture, daring her to go further down the hallway. She drew in a deep breath and strode down the halls to catch up to Matt.