It had already been two days since the unknown girl had been admitted to the hospital, but she still hadn't regained consciousness.
The doctors had almost given up, though they were still trying their best to save her. As the doctor had warned, if she didn't wake up within two days, her chances of survival were almost done.
This thought kept troubling the Harrington couple deeply. They were actually supposed to return to Australia two days ago, but they canceled their plan because of this girl.
After waiting for a long time, Mrs. Elea Harrington couldn't hold back anymore and requested the doctor to let her meet the girl once. Due to her persistent requests, the doctor finally allowed her to visit for a short while.
Mrs. Harrington walked into the room with slow steps and stood beside the girl, observing her closely.
Her body was wrapped in bandages where she had sustained injuries, and even her face was partially bandaged—only her eyes were visible, which were closed at that moment.
Mrs. Harrington was looking at her very attentively, when her eyes landed on a tattoo on the girl's wrist and her gaze stopped there.
She gently took the girl's hand into hers and started observing the tattoo closely. On her wrist was a beautifully designed letter 'K'.
Seeing it, tears welled up in her eyes. It reminded her of someone she once loved dearly, someone who meant the world to her, but due to unfortunate circumstances…
Just then, someone placed a hand on Mrs. Harrington's shoulder—it was Mr. Harrington.
Upon seeing him, she quickly wiped her tears, but failed to hide her emotions completely.
Mr. Harrington was about to say something when suddenly, they noticed a slight movement in the girl's hand. Both of them were shocked and immediately called the doctor.
The doctors rushed in and started examining her. They asked Mr. and Mrs. Harrington to wait outside.
After a while, when the doctors came out, they saw Mrs. Harrington looking at them with hopeful eyes. Smiling, the doctor said,
"There's no need to worry now. She's out of danger. She has regained consciousness, though she's not fully alert yet. It will take some time for her to recover completely, but she should be ready for discharge in a few days."
Mr. and Mrs. Harrington were overjoyed and thanked God sincerely. Then the doctor continued,
"Has anything been found about this girl's family? Have you thought about what to do once she's discharged?"
Mr. Harrington replied, "Hmm… I had spoken to an inspector I know and asked him to look into the girl's identity, but so far, no information has come up. Especially since her face was badly injured, it became even harder to find out anything. Now, the only way is to ask her directly."
A little later, Elea Harrington asked the doctor,
"Can I talk to her?"
The doctor nodded, "Yes, but please make sure not to pressure her in any way."
Elea walked in. She thought the girl was asleep, so she approached slowly. But the girl was awake and opened her eyes at the sound of her footsteps. Elea moved closer and gently tried to start a conversation.
"Hello, sweetheart. How are you feeling?"
The girl just looked at her with confused eyes. Elea understood she was scared, since she was a stranger to her. So she moved a little closer and continued trying to talk,
"My name is Elea Harrington. I'm from Australia. My husband and I were in London for some urgent work. Two days ago, we were about to return home, but we found you on our way and brought you here because you were in a terrible state. Don't worry, you're completely safe here."
The girl didn't respond to her words, but she continued speaking,
"What's your name? Can you tell me your name?"
But still, she didn't say anything, which made Elea feel sad and she turned around to leave.
But just then, the girl tried to say something, her voice trembling. Mrs. Elea, now happy, quickly moved to her,
"Yes?? Did you say something?? Your name??"
"Ka… Katherine…"
The unknown girl's name was Katherine, but apart from her name, no one knew anything else about her yet.
Mrs. Elea said,
"Ahh… so your name is Katherine. Such a beautiful name, just like you… Now tell me, who all are there at your home??"
Hearing this question, she grew sad, "No one…"
"What do you mean?? Do you live alone??"
Katherine said nothing.
"But then, the wedding ring in your finger?? Where is your husband??"
Katherine still said nothing. Elea was about to say something more, but Katherine interrupted,
"Can you please leave me alone for a while??"
Hearing her request, Elea nodded and stepped outside, where she told everyone that the girl's name was Katherine.
Inside, Katherine was crying as she remembered the tragedy that had happened to her. She still couldn't believe what she had been through, but it was her reality.
She was angry—angry at why God saved her. She felt she should have died because she had no reason left to live… but that didn't happen.
Katherine's face was wrapped in bandages and she was feeling a strange discomfort. She tried to remove them, but just then, a nurse stopped her, "Sorry, but you can't remove them right now."
Katherine asked her,
"But why??"
So Doctor replied,
"Because you had multiple injuries on your face. These bandages are necessary for your recovery."
Hearing the doctor, she fell silent.
The doctor came out, and Mr. Harrington asked,
"What is this, doctor? Why didn't you tell her the truth?? We even performed the procedure without her permission…"
Doctor explained,
"It's not the right time to tell her. She's already in severe depression. We can't give her such a big shock right now."
Another day passed like this. That day, Mrs. Elea met Katherine several times.
Now even Katherine was starting to feel a little better talking to her. Mr. Harrington had also met her.
That afternoon, Katherine was resting, but she couldn't sleep, so she slowly got up. The bandages on her face were starting to irritate her and a small portion had already come loose… There was no mirror in the room, but she could see her reflection faintly in the window.
She looked at herself carefully—it felt strange. She tried to get up, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stand.
So, sitting right there, she began removing the bandages from her face. And as soon as all the bandages came off…
Katherine's scream echoed throughout the hospital…
Hearing her scream, everyone rushed to her room.
When they entered, they saw Katherine screaming loudly and throwing everything around her. She had already caused a lot of destruction in the room while still sitting on the bed. The doctors understood what had happened the moment they saw her exposed face, which is why they stood still.
The nurses tried to calm her down, but she was still shouting,
"What the hell is this?????? What did you people do to me??? Who is this???? Tell me the truth… This isn't me… What did you do to me???? Or I'll call the police..."
Katherine wasn't listening to anyone.
On the other hand, Mr. and Mrs. Harrington couldn't hold back their tears after seeing her face.
With great courage, Elea stepped toward her. Seeing her, Katherine calmed down slightly and looked at her with eyes full of questions.
Mrs. Elea said,
"I can understand that you have a lot of questions right now, but please listen to us. Try to control your anger. You're still not well. You need rest. Please… calm yourself."
But Katherine yelled,
"Calm down?? How can I calm down?? And why should I?? Will someone tell me who this is????"
The truth was, Katherine had undergone a face transplant. So when she removed the bandages and looked at herself, she saw a completely new face—one she didn't recognize, one she had never seen before. Only her eyes were hers; everything else had changed.
She was still shaken from the trauma she had suffered. Such a big shock was too much for her to handle and seeing someone else's face in the mirror instead of her own made her lose control.
To be continued…