Doctor Alby Pujaan Hati
Dissociative Amnesia

Geck! Geck!

"Alby you haven't come home yet?" ryan asked as soon as he entered Alby's room.

"Yet. There are a few things I need to finish" Alby said as he stroked his forehead.

Ryan sat down in the chair in front of Alby and looked at Alby.

"It's about Devi, isn't it?" asked Ryan who was embraced by Alby.

"You know Devi is very difficult to manage and she's very stubborn. Then how can I limit it to avoid that trigger from appearing?" ask Alby to Ryan. "It's harder than restoring someone's memory."

"Why don't you just obey Raka?" ask Ryan.

"I don't know if I still can't make a decision. Preventing the memory from reappearing as Sean intended or allowing the memory to return as Raka said," Alby said as he turned his head up.

Alby still remembered Raka's words to him this morning when he asked about dissociative amnesia. If you think Devi is the one with amnesia, you are right. Devi is the one with dissociative amnesia.

~Flashback on~

The next morning after taking Devi to school, Alby immediately contacted Sean on a vidio call because Alby wanted to see Sean's expression as soon as he asked about 'it'. He wanted to make sure that what was on his mind was wrong or not. Devi's fear is not like fear after a nightmare in general, the fear Devi experienced was more like she saw the real events before her eyes directly. And it had to be confirmed by Alby himself.

"Hello." Renata's voice answered Alby's vidio call.

"Ta, Sean is? I want to have an important talk with him" Alby said.

"Wait a minute, Sean's still in the bathroom. How's it going? You don't always scold Devi, do you?"

"Just calm. I'm the one who is never emotional" replied Alby who immediately got a sneer from Renata.

"Oh Sean! Alby wants to talk to you" Renata said across the street to Sean.

"Halo By. What was? You're not missing me, are you?" joking Sean.

"You can joke with me, which means you're okay. Then I don't have to ask you how you are doing" Alby said.

"Of course I'm fine. So that's all you want to ask?"

"No."

"Then?"

"It's about Devi."

"What happened to Devi? Is she okay?!!" panic Sean.

"Devi's fine, he's at school right now. There's something I want to ask you."

"What's that?"

"Your parents actually died in an accident?" alby asked, which surprised Sean. Not only Sean, Renata who was beside Sean was also surprised.

"What do you mean?" asked Sean in an offended tone.

"I know it's your family's secret, but now Devi is my responsibility. I need to know what really happened to Devi so I can take care of her properly. These days Devi is having nightmares. The first dream he said he had an accident and the last one last night he dreamed his father died right before his eyes. As soon as Devi woke up from her nightmare she was completely terrified. This is not the fear of people in general after their nightmares. I'm Sean's doctor, I know just by looking at Devi's circumstances. Something must have happened, right?" guess Alby.

Alby can see Sean sighing slowly, which means Alby's guess is correct. Something must have happened to Devi.

"You're right, Devi did experience something big and you're also right my parents didn't die in an accident" Sean replied in the end merrily.

Alby who heard Sean's confession also began to listen to Sean's story carefully.

"My parents were murdered and you're right, Devi saw my father murdered right before her eyes. A few days later my mother was also killed and it was my fault that I took Devi to the scene. Devi was very shaken to see the incident and she became a quiet person and even I myself could not do anything to comfort her. Until one day, I was contacted by the hospital and told me that Devi had an accident. I don't know exactly how the accident happened but the police said it was purely because the driver who was driving the truck was drunk. It was that accident that took away all the dark memories of Devi's past."

"Amnesia?" guess Alby.

"Yes. Dissociative amnesia. Memory loss due to psychological trauma" Sean explained.

Alby shut his mouth in disbelief at what he had just heard from Sean. Wasn't five years ago Devi was fourteen? How could a fourteen-year-old experience all this?

"Why didn't you tell me about this? You should have told me from the beginning!!!" angry Alby.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know Devi was back to dreaming like that. But I beg of you, please don't let Devi's memory come back. It's been enough for him to suffer all this time, I don't want to see him fall down again" Sean said in tears.

Alby breathed slowly.

"What about the perpetrator of the murder?" ask Alby.

"I've made him rot in prison. That's why I became a prosecutor."

*****

After finishing his work, Alby immediately went to see one of his friends who is a neurologist named Raka to consult a little about his concerns. Sean's answer still does not make him relieved, besides Alby wants to consult directly through his own experts.

Geck! Geck! Geck!

"Lake in."

Alby opened the door and immediately entered Raka's room. As soon as Alby entered, Raka immediately invited Alby to sit down.

"What's wrong? This isn't about the director's daughter, is it?" canda Raka smiled.

Alby and Raka have been friends for a long time even they became doctors koas together that time.

"Stop teasing me. This has nothing to do with Laudya" said Alby lazily.

"All right I'm sorry. So what do you want to ask?" asked Raka looking at Alby seriously.

"Amnesian? Who experienced it?" ask Raka.

"My friend's sister. Some days he has nightmares. First he dreamed he had an accident and yesterday he was back dreaming but he saw his father killed in front of his own eyes. As soon as he woke up from his dream, he was terrified as if his dream was a real event."

"He dreams of having an accident how?"

"He dreams his car was hit by a big truck."

"What has been forgotten by him?"

"I don't know for sure but it seems like he can remember everything except a few specific events" Alby replied a little hesitantly.

"You're right. That's dissociative amnesia. The cause is psychological trauma. The murders seen directly by him had a huge impact on his life and caused his psychological problems to be disrupted. In addition, it could be a brain injury that occurs due to an accident causing injury severe enough to hit the large, small, and middle parts of the brain, including the brain, then people with amnesia like your friend's sister will take a long time to heal," said Raka.

"But the incident appeared in his dream" Alby said.

"Dissociative amnesia is not the same as the usual form of amnesia. In dissociative amnesia, the memory is still present, but it is stored deeply in one's mind and cannot be remembered. But the memory can reappear by itself or after being triggered by something around the person. It could be that his subconscious accidentally remembers the incident in the form of a dream so that once he wakes up, he returns to fear as it happened."

"I don't know for sure how your friend's sister is doing right now because I'm just diagnosing from your story. My diagnosis could be wrong. For a more definitive result, you better tell your friend to bring his sister here for a brain scan," said Raka, who is signed by Alby.

"It looks like it's going to be tough" Alby said.

"Wait a minute. This patient isn't your brother Devi, is he?" tanya Raka was suspicious.

"Mom.no! It's good, my parents are still there!" refute Alby who made Raka laugh.

"I'm sorry. Oh yes then try to suggest your friend do the treatment for his sister so that his memory can return to the usual. Your friend must be very sad," said Raka iba.

"If the way that he doesn't remember his past memories is how?" alby asked which surprised Raka.

"Whatchu mean? Your friend doesn't want his sister to remember his past?!!"

"Yes. She was afraid that her sister would fall back down as soon as she remembered the incident again."

"Can be solved by a psychologist! I just found out this time there is an older brother who does not want his sister's memory back," Raka wondered.

"You don't know what the situation is. After all, isn't it prone for amnesiacs to hurt themselves? What if she remembers the incident and makes him want to kill himself?"

"There is family. What is the role of the family for? You're doctor Alby, when you don't understand."

Raka's right. It's not impossible if Devi remembers everything. One trigger alone must have been very influential on his memory and it will be very difficult for Alby to avoid the trigger from Devi. The only right choice is to let things go as they should and if the memory returns then it is Alby's job to accompany and support Devi, that's all. The killer is in jail, so Alby doesn't have to worry too much.

"Tell your friend to treat her sister like she used to. A patient does not want to be treated as if he is sick" Raka said.

"No need to tell me. I already know, I'm a doctor," replied Alby who immediately got a sneer from Raka.

Alright from now on Alby will behave as usual. If Devi did something wrong then she would scold him as usual. Nothing has changed from his attitude towards Devi so that the girl does not know if she is experiencing amnesia. Yeah, Alby didn't want Devi to know about that fact. Alby does not want to change his attitude towards Devi to make Devi realize something is wrong with him. Alby will act before he learns of this shocking fact.

Drt.....

"Hello."

"......."

"I'm going to school now."

"Who?" ask Raka.

"Teacher BK," replied Alby briefly as he moved from his seat.

"Your sister Devi why is it that parents call her?" ask Raka wonder.

"Fight. You know, it looks like I'm the one who needs to do a brain scan. My brain feels like it wants to explode when faced with mischief," said Alby who made Raka laugh.

~Flashback off~

Alby looked at Ryan seriously.

"How do you think I should?" ask Alby.

"I don't think emm.. Would you rather obey Sean? Devi is his sister. Sean must know more about Devi than you do Alby. We don't know how depressed Devi was before she had amnesia. But coming back to you, the choice is in your hands" Ryan said.

Alby looked silent while thinking. Ryan is right, he does not know how depressed and downturned Devi until Sean does not want Devi to remember it back. Besides doesn't it matter if Devi's amnesiac? Devi had only lost her memory of the terrible event and not her entire memory or identity, so there was really nothing to be concerned about.

But back again with the words of Raka to him. Devi could not possibly forever escape from that event. Sooner or later if there is a trigger, Devi will definitely find her memory back soon. But is Alby willing to see Devi who was originally cheerful, full of spirit and mischief that makes Alby emotions will just disappear into a quiet and depressed Devi as Sean said? Of course not! Alby prefers to see Devi laugh happily like this even though sometimes some of her mischievous attitude makes her angry.

Alby already thinks of Devi as his own younger brother and once he hears Devi going through something like this, it feels like he is scared to death if Devi is hurt.

"Go home it's night. Devi must have been waiting for you" Ryan said.

Only Ryan only knows about the truth Devi who is not the biological sister of Alby, even Raka who incidentally Alby's best friend since the koas did not know about it.

"I asked him not to wait for me. You go home first" said Alby.

Ryan tells Alby to go home. After Ryan's departure, Alby opened his cell phone and saw a CCTV he had connected to his apartment. Alby's eyes immediately rounded perfectly once he saw Devi coming out of the apartment in a neat state and was about to leave.

Alby glanced at the clock on the screen and matched it to the clock when he contacted Devi when Devi reasoned that she was taking a bath.

"Well, it looks like I've been lied to" said Alby.

He called Devi's number.

"Where are you?!!!"

*****