Theft in the Hospital
“I’m truly sorry it turned out like this. I have no excuse. The patient…”
“Um… have you caught the culprit?”
“No. They must have planned it thoroughly—there’s not a single trace left. …The stolen equipment was all small, insignificant items. If they stuffed them in a bag, no one would’ve noticed.”
“……”
Ever since the hypnosis treatment scheduled for Sunday was suddenly canceled, I’d been having a consultation with my attending physician.
…A petty thief?
But why only the small equipment…?
Weren’t the bigger ones more expensive?
“Excuse me, Doctor.”
At that moment, Lana, who had been listening beside me, spoke up.
“So what happens to my friend’s memories? Is there another way?”
“Hmm…”
The doctor rested his chin on his hand and pondered Lana’s question.
Right. The stolen hospital equipment wasn’t the important part right now.
What mattered to me was whether I could recover my memories.
“The fastest method that showed results was hypnotic rehabilitation therapy. It works by letting the patient enter their subconscious and recall memories on their own.”
“……”
“But since hypnosis therapy isn’t possible right now… we’ll have to switch to long-term treatment.”
“What kind of treatment?”
“We’ll guide natural memory recovery through psychotherapy, exposure therapy, and medication. Unlike hypnosis, it takes much longer, but given the circumstances, we have no choice.”
“……”
It would take a long time.
Honestly, that didn’t feel like a huge problem to me.
As long as I got my memories back in the end, that was all that mattered.
Still…
“How long are we talking?”
Lana looked far more anxious than I did.
“I can’t give you an exact timeframe. Every case varies so widely…”
“Can’t we just tell Ares about things that happened in the past and help him remember that way?”
“I wouldn’t recommend it. Dissociative amnesia is usually the brain’s way of protecting itself by burying memories tied to stress. Even if we force the past on him, his brain won’t treat it as recollection—it’ll just register it as new information.”
“……”
Lana’s expression darkened at the doctor’s explanation. She looked frustrated.
“While we’re on the subject, I should warn you about something…”
The doctor added another important note.
“Even if conflicting memories surface during the recovery process, please don’t try to forcibly correct the patient’s memories.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“If his memories become confused, his stress levels will rise and he might try to bury them again. In the worst case, he could lose them forever.”
“……”
“If the patient is holding onto a misunderstanding, you must gently guide him toward realizing the mistake on his own.”
“……”
After hearing the warnings, Lana clenched her fists and lowered her head slightly. Then she glanced at me.
‘What’s that look for…?’
She seemed like she wanted to say something but couldn’t, and the frustration showed on her face. It was oddly cute.
‘I must be losing it…’
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and asked the doctor,
“Is there any other method that could help me recover my memories?”
“Hmm…”
The doctor thought for a moment before answering.
“If we recreate situations similar to ones that were enjoyable or happy for you—rather than stressful ones—it might help trigger memories.”
“Enjoyable or happy…”
“……”
Since hypnosis therapy was currently impossible, this was the only option left for me.
Everything else depended on whether I could recover my memories on my own.
“I’m sorry you came all this way for a hospital visit and we couldn’t even do the treatment.”
“Yeah… I was really looking forward to Ares remembering things today.”
“……”
Lana looked even more disappointed than I felt.
‘Why is she…’
Come to think of it, even when we were heading to the hypnosis room earlier, she’d said something.
That once I got my memories back, my relationship with Ellie wouldn’t matter anymore.
‘Does that mean Lana was genuinely serious about me?’
Her back as she walked ahead of me somehow looked lonely.
[Video]
2. Doctor said we have to go with long-term memory recovery treatment instead
I posted on the gallery first, telling everyone that the hypnosis treatment had failed.
They seemed to know something… but after hearing the doctor’s warning, they were reluctant to speak.
Just what were they hiding?
Slide.
At that moment, one of the most active users posted another comment.
A happy memory from the past…
Since dissociative amnesia was caused by stress, the opposite approach—triggering joyful memories—could help restore them.
But there was a problem with that.
No replies came for a while.
Then, after a moment:
‘What the hell are they talking about…?’
They kept chatting in the comments as if they had some kind of clue.
If there really was something, they needed to tell me what it was so I could decide whether to try it or not.
Just then—
“Ares.”
“……Yeah?”
Lana, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped.
She turned to look at me, her expression completely different from before—now bright and smiling.
“I’ll help you find your memories.”
“What…?”
“The doctor said the only thing we can do is recreate past experiences, right?”
“……That’s right?”
“So I’ll do it with you.”
She seemed to have come to the same conclusion as the gallery users.
‘Yeah, if it’s Lana, she’s spent time with me before.’
Especially since we had that kind of relationship.
She would know exactly what experiences made me happy.
‘Wait a second…’
But…
The happy experiences Lana and I supposedly shared…
“Um…”
“Yeah?”
“What… exactly are you planning to do?”
I asked cautiously, trying to calm my racing heart.
“Hmm~”
Lana glanced away thoughtfully for a moment.
Then she looked back at me with a mischievous smile and leaned in to whisper.
“It’s a secret…♡”
“……”
What on earth was she planning?
Not knowing only made my heart pound harder.
No no, I already had a girlfriend—Ellie, who was cute, lovely, and had a big chest…
‘A happy experience… what could it possibly be?’
With my heart still fluttering for no reason, I lay alone in the hospital room.
Visiting hours had ended, and the sun was already setting outside the window.
As expected, once visiting hours were over, Lana had returned to the dormitory.
Even though she was gone, her face kept appearing in my mind.
‘She’s incredibly pretty too…’
Ellie was beautiful, but Lana was stunning in her own way.
It was impossible to rank them.
Maybe like a main course and dessert—each had its own irresistible charm.
But somehow…
The one leaving the deepest mark on my heart was Lana.
‘I think I understand why I cheated now…’
She had said that once I recovered my memories, I wouldn’t care that Ellie was my girlfriend anymore…
It was terrifying how true that felt.
“……”
Lost in thoughts of Lana, I hadn’t noticed how much time had passed.
“It’s already night…”
I watched the last sliver of sunlight disappear beyond the horizon.
The sky was tinged with purple.
Night had begun.
‘The summary post clearly said not to go outside at night.’
Not that I had any reason to go out anyway.
‘I might as well sleep.’
With nothing else to do, I pulled the blanket over myself and closed my eyes.
It would be nice to have a dream while I slept.
…Not that weird dream from last night, though.
If possible, something erotic…
Yeah, one with Lana in it…
No no, one with Ellie…
……Well, since it’s a dream, maybe both…
“Krrr…”
Not long after closing my eyes, I felt myself drifting off.
Creak…
Step.
Step, step, step…
Then, after a moment—
Slide.
Flop.
“Mmm…”
“……”
I felt something climb on top of me and slowly opened my eyes.
“What the… hey…”
Through my blurry vision, I looked at what was on my stomach.
“Ah~res. You can’t sleep yet.”
“……Huh?”
It was Lana straddling me.
I could feel her soft thighs pressing down on my stomach.
“Is this… a dream?”
“What? Hehe, sleep-talking?”
Lana chuckled at my mumbling and slowly leaned down.
Her body pressed against mine, and a soft sensation spread across my entire body.
This… was an incredibly realistic dream.
“Whoa, this is amazing…”
“Hurry up and wake up~”
Had God granted my wish?
To think I’d dream of Lana the moment I fell asleep.
No, but I had Ellie as my girlfriend…
No no, this was a dream.
Imagination was free.
The same went for dreams.
“Ares, wake up already… huh, kyah…?!”
“……Huuuup.”
“A-Ares?!”
Squish…
The soft sensation felt good.
The plump flesh of her hips that fit perfectly in my hands.
The feeling of her chest covering my face.
And that sweet scent of hers that had been lingering since daytime.
“Sss… haa… sss… haa…”
“A-Ares…”
She resisted, but not with much force.
This was definitely a dream.
If it were really Lana, she wouldn’t resist—she’d probably start touching me back.
Huh?
But this felt like déjà vu…
Like something like this had happened before…
Well, whatever.
“If it’s a dream… it’s fine, right?”
“What, huh…?”
I looked seriously at Lana, whose face had turned red in an uncharacteristic way.
If this was a dream,
then it should be okay to let out the desires I’d been holding back.
Even Ellie would understand if it was just a dream.