Hospital (3)
Whoosh…
The sensation of wind tickling my cheek made me open my eyes.
“Ares.”
“Ellie…”
When I opened my eyes, my lovely girlfriend Ellie was smiling at me.
Huh? Where is this?
Who am I?
The only thing I remember is that I’m a guy named Ares.
And that the pretty, big-breasted girl in front of me is my lover.
“Ellie, where are we?”
“This is our hometown, silly.”
“Hometown?”
“Yeah. The place we used to live together when we were kids.”
“……”
I see.
For some reason, it suddenly came back to me.
The view of the village from the hilltop.
We were standing beside a tree that rose up on the hill.
“But why am I here?”
“We got married, remember?”
“Married?”
“Yep. We got married and came back to our hometown. We decided to live together here. Isn’t that great?”
“Ah, right.”
It came back to me.
I had safely graduated and returned to my hometown to marry my girlfriend Ellie.
Yeah, yeah.
I’d completely forgotten.
“Congratulations.”
“Congratulations, Ares.”
“Ellie! Congrats on getting married!”
And at that moment—
Guests who had appeared out of nowhere surrounded the hill in a circle and began clapping for us at the center.
At the same time, Ellie tightly grasped my hand.
“Ares…”
“Ellie…”
I held her hand back and looked into her lovely eyes.
Before I knew it, she had changed into a pure white wedding dress.
Jiggle.
At the same time, her enormous breasts came into view.
Wow. I don’t know who designed it, but the dress had an incredibly daring neckline.
“Hehe, you’re staring at my chest again…”
Then Ellie blushed and whispered into my ear.
“After the ceremony… want to do it while I’m still wearing the dress?”
“……!!”
While still wearing the dress…?
Well, if we’re married, it’s only natural to spend the first night together.
And since I graduated safely, I could finally do confessions, kisses, and sex without any danger.
Viva happy dream!
……Huh? Dream?
“Squeak squeak.”
At that moment, a familiar sound came from the tree beside us.
“Groom Ares, do you swear to take Bride Ellie as your wife, to love and cherish her in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, when you obsess over her, when you suspect her of cheating, when you stalk her, when you discover her affair and chop her into pieces to put in the fridge, when you grill her chopped flesh and serve it to her affair partner, and when you hold her severed head and laugh beneath this tree until you die—will you love and respect her for the rest of your life?”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
My friend Night Rat had taken time out of his busy schedule to officiate my wedding.
Caught off guard by his sudden ceremony, I answered reflexively.
“Alright, now the bride.”
“Yes.”
After my turn, it was Ellie’s turn to make her vow.
“Bride Ellie, Lana, and Claire, do you swear to share Ares fairly without fighting?”
“Yup~!”
“Yes!”
“Yes…”
“Huh?”
Following Ellie in her wedding dress, Lana and Claire—also wearing the same dresses—answered side by side.
“Why are there three brides?”
When I muttered my sudden question, Lana was the one who answered.
“Oh come on~, did you already forget?”
“Forget what?”
“You got caught cheating on me and Claire~.”
“Caught…?”
“Yup yup. But then both of us ended up pregnant, so we had no choice but to have a four-way marriage. Did you forget? Hehe.”
“……”
Was that what happened…?
No, no no.
That can’t be right.
“I-I got caught cheating?! And even got them pregnant?!”
“Yeah, Ares. …Did you forget?”
At my flustered shout, Ellie slowly approached me.
Unlike before, she was now looking at me with the eyes of a psychopathic killer.
Her gaze was still filled with love.
Just… a little twisted.
And then—
“Squeak squeak, we will now proceed with the groom and bride’s cake-cutting ceremony.”
““Waaah~!””
At the officiant Night Rat’s announcement, the guests cheered and clapped.
“By the way, since there’s no cake, we’ll be using Ares instead.”
““Waaah—!!!””
The guests went wild at Night Rat’s follow-up, clapping even harder.
“Cut!”
“Cut!”
“Cut!”
“Cut!”
“Cut!”
“Cut!”
“Cut!”
At the guests’ shouts, security guards in black suits jumped down from the tree and grabbed my limbs.
“Aaaagh!!! This can’t be right!!!”
“What are you talking about~, I’ll cut you up nice and quick, Ares.”
“I like the right side.”
“I’m fine as long as I get the dick!”
“Then we’ll split him in half from the pelvis up and just carve out the dick part.”
Lana, Ellie, and Claire approached me with chainsaws in hand, their eyes gleaming with murderous intent.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!!!”
And so, I ended up marrying all three of them.
……
………
I had this dream.
Is this what you guys were talking about? A ghost story or whatever…?
The day after waking up in the hospital with no memories.
Saturday.
“How’s being in the hospital? Nothing uncomfortable…?”
“Yeah, it’s a six-person room but I’m using it alone, so it’s fine.”
“I see. That’s a relief.”
Ellie came to visit early in the morning on the weekend.
Visiting hours on weekends were free from morning until 6 PM, after all.
‘A cute girl like this is my girlfriend…’
Unlike yesterday, Ellie had come wearing casual clothes.
A light, fluttery blouse with a thin ribbon as an accent, paired with a skirt.
It was just an ordinary schoolgirl’s casual outfit, but…
‘Fucking huge…’
Ellie had this magical ability to make any outfit she wore look lewd.
To think a girl like this was my girlfriend…
I still couldn’t believe it.
“……”
At that moment—
‘Yeah, Ares. …Did you forget?’
The crazy dream I had last night flashed through my mind.
Me…
Cheating on such a cute girlfriend with two other girls… what a piece of trash…
‘Damn it…! I said I’d live with a single-minded heart! You idiot, Ares…!’
Of course, I understood how hard it would be to resist if such pretty girls came onto me.
But how the hell did I end up doing something so reckless?
…Was Lana really that amazing?
“Are you just going to lie here all day?”
“I have a rehab session scheduled after lunch.”
“Rehab?”
“They said they’d try to recover my memories with hypnosis therapy. Haha, I can’t believe the hospital is using something like pseudoscience. Funny, right?”
“They do that kind of thing too, huh.”
Fortunately, Ellie still didn’t seem to know about my relationship with Lana and Claire.
…Or maybe she knew and was pretending not to.
Either way, until I got my memories back, I decided to avoid talking about those two as much as possible.
“Then want to go for a walk together this morning?”
“Huh? A walk?”
At that moment, Ellie smiled brightly and made the suggestion.
“You’ll get bored if you stay in the room all the time. It should be fine to go out, right?”
“……”
A walk…
A date in the hospital with such a pretty girl…
The thought alone made my heart race, so I nodded with a bright smile.
“Let’s go, let’s go!”
The anxiety in my heart washed away at the thought of going on a date with my cute girlfriend.
Yeah, let’s just enjoy this moment for now.
“The weather’s nice, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. We could even have a picnic.”
And so, with Ellie supporting me, I stepped out into the hospital garden.
The garden was beautifully landscaped so patients could walk around and catch their breath.
It felt a bit weird to say this about a hospital, but…
It was good enough to recommend as a date spot.
“Hey, Ellie. You don’t have to support me, though…”
While we were walking through the garden together like that—
I spoke to Ellie, feeling a bit self-conscious.
“…Why? Is it uncomfortable…?”
“No, it’s not that…”
Squish, squish.
Maybe because she was wearing patient clothes, Ellie naturally held onto one of my arms to support me.
Thanks to that, my entire arm was practically buried in her chest.
‘The feeling of her breasts against my whole arm…’
As a guy, it was an incredibly pleasant moment.
But if this kept up, things were going to get difficult for walking.
After all, there are parts of a man’s body that can’t be controlled by willpower alone.
“Haha, it’s not like walking is that hard. You don’t have to support me.”
“……”
But Ellie just lowered her head in silence for a moment without answering.
What…?
Did I say something rude?
“Ellie…?”
“……”
Worried, I carefully called out to her again.
At that moment—
Tight…
—Squish.
‘Uwooooh…!!’
Ellie pulled my arm even closer and looked up at me softly.
Her cheeks were flushed red.
“Actually…, I just wanted to stay like this…, d-do you… hate it…?”
“……”
Of course not.
“No…, if that’s the case…”
“Is it okay…?”
“I actually like it.”
“Really?”
How could I hate it?
It was the heavenly sensation every man dreamed of, spreading through my entire arm.
The only problem was… I was reaching my limit soon.
If this went on any longer, my Vulcan cannon was going to take aim.
And if that happened, things would get awkward even with my girlfriend.
“Ah, want to sit over there and rest for a bit?”
“Huh? Sure.”
At that moment, I spotted a bench and we sat down to look at the garden scenery.
Thank god.
I almost ended up standing at full attention.
“……”
“……”
“Ares…, you know…”
“Yeah?”
After sitting in silence on the bench for a while—
Ellie hesitantly opened her mouth.
“Do you feel… awkward… or weird… or anything like that…?”
“……Weird?”
“Yeah, I mean…, while you’re with me…”
“……”
What exactly was she asking about?
Weird points, awkward points…
“I’m not really sure…”
“Really…?”
“It feels kind of familiar, actually.”
“Really…? Being with your girlfriend…, i-is it not awkward…?”
Aha, so that’s what she was asking.
‘Of course it’s not awkward or anything since I don’t have my memories.’
But I had some tact.
I knew what kind of answer my girlfriend Ellie would want in this situation.
“It’s not awkward at all. I guess my body remembers being with you, Ellie.”
“……Really?”
“Yeah, really really.”
At that, Ellie blushed softly and gave me a bashful smile.
As expected, I’d given her the answer she wanted.
Our atmosphere grew even warmer and fluffier.
And then—
“Ares, I like you…”
“……”
Tight…
Blushing, Ellie gently hugged my arm and rested her head on my shoulder.
The soft sensation, her warm body heat, and Ellie’s sweet scent reached me.
And Ellie didn’t stop there—she kept talking.
“I like you…, I like you…, I love you…”
“Ugh…”
“I like you so much…”
Her trembling voice confessed her love.
Her affection came straight through to my heart with those words.
To have such a cute girlfriend confessing her love so shyly…
I’m happy.
“……”
“……Ares, I like you, I like you, …I like you.”
“Ellie…”
“I like you, I like you, I like you the most in the whole world…”
Eventually, Ellie lifted her head and looked at me.
Her moist eyes met mine.
Her gaze seemed to be hoping for something.
Yeah, if you receive something, you have to give back.
If my girlfriend said she liked me, then as her boyfriend, I had to respond.
“Ellie, I also…”
“……”
Just as I was about to say that—
‘They said not to confess…’
I remembered what I’d heard on the Gallery.
“……—I also think you’re the prettiest girl in the world.”
“Ugh…!”
So instead of a confession, I expressed my affection in a slightly different way.
“You’re so pretty. I thought that the first time I saw you after losing my memories…”
“Ugh, eek, huff…”
At my words, Ellie buried her face in my arm, hugging it tightly as if embarrassed.
Her body trembled slightly and her ears turned red.
She looked embarrassed, but I could tell she was happy.
And then—
Swish…
Ellie wrapped her arms around my waist, rested her face against my chest, and spoke.
“What do I do, Ares…?”
“……”
“I’m so happy right now…”
“……Me too.”
Even though I’d lost my memories, Ellie seemed moved by the fact that my feelings remained the same.
I placed my hand on Ellie’s trembling back and hugged her in return.
Right now, I…
Was incredibly happy too.
I will live as a devoted, pure-hearted man who cherishes and loves his girlfriend!!!
‘Well, of course I’ll try hard to get my memories back, but…’
Why were they all laughing at my declaration that I wouldn’t do trashy things anymore?
…Did they think I wouldn’t be able to do it?
Their attitude only made me more determined.
Just then—
“Ughhh?!”
“A-Ares? What’s wrong?”
“Ah, no…, my chest suddenly…”
A sudden, intense pain shot through my chest.
It felt like something was stabbing me with an awl.
‘There’s no wound…’
But my chest was completely fine, without a single scratch.
And the pain disappeared after that one moment.
…What was that?
Was there something wrong with my heart…?
“Patient. We’ll begin the treatment now. Please come in.”
“Ah, yes.”
At that moment, the nurse came out of the room and called me.
It was past lunchtime, in the afternoon.
Ellie and I had finished our date and were waiting in the hallway for the hypnosis therapy.
“Um, can a guardian come along too?”
“Yes, but you’ll need to stay quiet during the treatment.”
“Understood.”
Hypnosis therapy for memory recovery rehab.
Ellie accompanied me into the treatment room.
Swish.
Ellie gently held my hand and smiled shyly.
…To think she’d even come along for rehab therapy.
I could feel her affection.
She was lovely.
“Alright, please lie down on the bed…”
“Yes.”
After entering the room, I met a man in a suit instead of a doctor.
He was apparently the therapist who would conduct today’s hypnosis treatment.
“Now, close your eyes and count to 100, shall we?”
Following his instructions, I lay down on the bed and began counting to 100 as the hypnosis therapy started.
“97…, 98…, 99…, 100…”
After counting to 100, I took a deep breath and visualized images in my mind as the therapist instructed.
I inhaled and exhaled while picturing various images.
We went through this brain warm-up process for a while.
And after some time—
“…—Now, let’s open that door and step outside.”
When the warm-up ended, a vividly clear door appeared in my mind.
“Yes…”
I opened the door and stepped outside.
Then my mind gradually became hazy.
It felt like I was falling asleep, yet my consciousness remained awake.
A state somewhere between sleep and wakefulness.
“……”
“What do you see around you…?”
My head felt foggy.
Along with the therapist’s voice, a landscape unfolded before my eyes.
“A hill…, and a village.”
“And what else…? Do you see any people?”
“I see someone…”
A landscape that stirred nostalgic feelings.
A tree on the hill within that landscape.
I was standing there.
Standing in front of the tree was—
——Ellie.
“Who is that person?”
“A fr-friend…. My first, ……friend.”
“How old are you right now?”
I don’t know.
“Then how old does your friend look?”
Teenager….
No, twenties…?
No, thirties….
Forties….
Fifty….
Sixty….
“What is your friend doing to you?”
She’s crying.
Tears are falling.
She’s clutching something tightly in her hand.
“What is she saying to you?”
She’s asking if I really have to go.
She grabs my hand.
“How do you respond?”
I say I’m sorry.
And then I left.
“——Hah?!”
“Good work. That’s enough for today’s rehab session.”
“Haa, haa…. I-Is it over?”
“Yes. Today was more like… a physical examination, you could say. We were testing whether the condition could be treated.”
“Then the results…”
“Yes, it seems you’ll be able to recover your memories. Let’s continue with the rehab therapy next time.”
“……”
I could recover my memories.
At that fact, a soft smile appeared on my face.
I’d been anxious, thinking I might never find them again.
But hearing the expert’s positive words filled my heart with hope.
“Ellie…! I can get my memories back…!”
With that joyful thought, I turned my head to look at Ellie.
And—
——Ellie was staring at me with cold, dead eyes.
The same terrifying gaze I’d seen in my dream this morning.