Again, these characters are not mine. Besides, by the time I'm done they 
won't be the same.
<Ahem>BWA HA HA HAA

Chapter 2

"Please. You have to help him!"

Tofu was not usually accustomed to having people barge into his clinic 
without an appointment (unless it was Kasumi). He was about to voice his 
opinion when he saw that Ranma--albeit a female Ranma--was being brought 
in and changed his attitude immediately.

"What happened?" He placed Ranma on the bed. Tofu could already tell 
what was wrong by seeing the lesion on Ranma's head. Of course he always 
knew to ask anyway; it helped vent the parent's frustration.

"He was struck from behind," Genma said. "Then he collapsed." 

"It's just a simple trauma," he said, silently cursing the 
pretentiousness of medical terminology.

Flipping Ranma over onto his stomach, he peered at the damage.
Base of the skull. Judging by the acuteness of the actual bruise on the 
swelled region, it looked like something with a lot of force compared 
with its surface area. And blunt too. It looked like a stick or wooden 
pole struck him.

He knew Genma wouldn't tell the whole story. But he also knew he 
wouldn't dare to ask about the whole story, afraid he already knew that 
most of the details also concerned Akane.

"Even with the apparent severity of the bruise, there should no brain 
damage or paralysis. The worst I can see is a pounding headache. I mean, 
this is Ranma were talking about.

"Oh, thank God." Genma said, relieved.

Tofu continued, "I can wake him up now if you'd like. I'll go get an 
herbal stimulant."

"Thank you. Thank you."

After administering the drug, its effects were rapid. Ranma was cogent 
within a few minutes. Plus, as he had predicted, she was also sitting 
up.

"*Ohh,*" she moaned, the pain throbbing back to life with her. She sat 
up on the bed allowing the covers to collect around her waist. One hand 
was covering her eyes. Tofu reached over her and turned the dial on the 
rheostat to reduce the glare from the overhead fixture.

Pulling back into his seat, he looked her over once again to see if any 
further flinches or reactions would show him any other areas of pain. He 
was extremely adept at passive diagnosis, having received the best 
education he could and also having six years of intensive GP experience.

Even at his young age, Tofu Ono was good enough to have become a surgeon 
if he wanted, but he preferred talking to his patients, being a natural 
conversationalist. Sleeping people don't reveal what's wrong with them 
and he preferred not to look at charts.

Whenever he worked, he wore a blue-grey robe and pulled his hair back in 
a less-than-clinical ponytail. But that was the feeling he wanted to 
promote. The clinic was to be felt as if it were an extension of a home, 
not a sterile building devoid of humanity. And his patients were happy 
for the pleasantry.

He reached behind him towards the bookshelf and plucked down a text on 
head trauma. He didn't need to look to confirm the book's location, 
Ranma was in here enough times to make him wonder if he should just 
leave his books on his desk to protect himself from Carpal-Tunnel's 
Syndrome.

Ranma moved her hand from her eyes to the pain on her head as if her 
touch would make it disappear. She asked, "What happened? I feel like 
the Tokyo Tower fell on my head."

"Ranma," Tofu stood up from his chair. Putting down the book on his 
desk, he stepped over the bed. "You suffered a blow to the head. If you 
don't mind, I'd like to perform a few co-ordination tests. To see if 
you're still responsive."

She looked at him with confusion. "Well who gave you that authority?"

He was taken aback by the boy-turned-girl's statement. He wasn't 
expecting that kind of comment. "Your father did if that's what you're 
wondering. He was the one who brought you here."

Ranma shifted over in the bed to keep her distance. "And another thing. 
Who *are* you?"

"Ranma," Tofu said perplexed. "You...don't remember me? I don't look 
familiar to you?"

She became pensive. "Up until you told me, I couldn't remember my own 
name. What makes you think I'd remember you?"

He blinked again. He had been in good keeping with the Tendo family for 
a long time. When Ranma was introduced to him, he never got any 
opposition the likes of which he saw now. And the claim of amnesia was 
only adding to the disturbance.

A look of dismay coupled with innate understanding fashioned Tofu's face 
in an expression reminiscent of an Edvard Munch painting.

"What's wrong?" Genma questioned when he saw the doctor's reaction.

Tofu straightened. "Mr. Saotome," he asked as if ignorant. "What exactly 
struck Ranma?"

"Why do you ask?" Genma asked trying to side step.

"Because what I'm seeing is almost a complete loss of memory. 
Considering the bruise on his head, the cause, to me, is as 
unexplainable as the result. Do you know what was he struck with?"

"Uh, well...I don't know," was all that the parent would volunteer.

Seeing that his efforts were being wasted--trust from a long time 
martial artist was obviously a rare commodity--Tofu turned his attention 
back to his patient. "Ranma, can you tell me what year this is?"

"Nineteen-ninety-eight," she replied immediately.

"Mm-hm. Can you tell me where you are as specifically as possible?" Tofu 
asked while checking Ranma's reflexes.

"Japan?"

"Any place in particular?" Tofu moved on to healing the bruise to keep 
the discoloration from spreading.

"Nerima, Tokyo."

"Okay. Do you know who the Emperor is?"

"Emperor Akihito." Ranma was becoming restless.

He checked her eyes for a sign of concussion. Fortunately, her pupils 
were dilating properly, but it only helped to add to the mystery 
surrounding this loss of self. Her personality was gone and he wasn't 
sure how it was lost.

"Okay. Just one more question. Do you know who he is?" Tofu indicated to 
Genma.

"You said he was my father," she stated.

"Yes," the doctor agreed. Straightening his glasses, he hunched down in 
front of her. "But can you tell me his first name?"

Ranma heightened her gaze and for the first time really looked at the 
burly, bald figure, carefully moving from the scarf tied around his head 
down his white robe to his bare feet and up again. Looking off, she hung 
her head and replied a defeated, "No."

"By all rights, this should not happen." Tofu got up and turned to 
Genma. "I have never seen a case like this. The only term I can think of 
is 'circumscribed memory loss.' Though that diagnosis is far from 
scientific; I'm afraid I don't have that much knowledge of psychology."

"Circumscribed memory loss?" Genma asked, bewildered.

"Knowledge, the set of memories learned, and personality, the set of 
memories imprinted, are usually linked. His general knowledge is intact, 
yet there is no imprinted memory of himself or either of us. I suspect 
that will also extend to any other personal acquaintance."

"Wait a minute," Ranma started, interrupting his explanation. "What do 
you mean 'he?' I don't know what kind of doctor you are but at least I'm 
able to tell the difference between Boy and Girl." To emphasise her 
point, she made a cupping motion under her breasts.

Tofu swore to himself for not having noticed that earlier. The absence 
of self-identity put her in a position of trying to learn everything 
over. It should follow that she be convinced she was a girl.

Whirling around, he met her with a plastic smile. "Oh. I guess it was 
the clothes. They do a wonderful job of concealment." Tofu broke off 
into a string of laughter.

"Ranma, could you wait for me outside?" Genma asked.

She walked out into the waiting room fidgeting with her pigtail and 
muttering to herself. "How can they be concealed? They're so huge..."

Looking to see that Ranma was out of earshot, Genma turned back to Tofu. 
"Is there anything I can do to help him?" he asked.

Tofu broke his laughing streak and became more serious. "All I can 
suggest is that you take him home. Time heals all wounds. Keep him in 
familiar surroundings. Try to reintroduce familiar things to him. The 
only thing I have to hazard is that you don't reveal his curse."

"What? Why not?"

"He's lost all his personal memories, so he'll have to draw on what he 
knows. If your knowledge told you it was the norm for people to remain 
the way they are because you couldn't remember *that* training trip, how 
would you feel if you saw another unfamiliar face stare back at you in a 
mirror? No. He's already trying to come to grips with the possibility of 
rebuilding his--her--*his* entire life. It would be very detrimental to 
reintroduce it so quickly. Try to reveal it to him if he shows memories 
of China. Until then, keep it discreet."

Genma stood for another few seconds trying to take in everything the 
doctor said. Then he turned to the waiting room. "Okay. Thank you, 
Doctor." He walked to the front door. "Come, Ranma."

"Coming," she said softly.

Tofu watched as they walked down the street and wondered if he made the 
best decision for the sake of Ranma's health.

"Oh well," he said, clutching his belt and walking inside. "Time will 
reveal when it wants." The only problem was he had no idea how long she 
would have to wait.

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com