Rain Rain Go Away | #ONC2021

Chapter Sixteen

The smell of the hospital returned memories from five years ago. The alcohol and disinfectant stung my nose as I slowly opened my eyes. I was in a private room, but it was much different this time. It was bright and clean and there was a window that offered a view of palm trees and an unnaturally blue ocean beyond. There weren't machines monitoring my heart rate and supplying me with IV fluids before. There weren't officers standing outside my door either.

And Jason hadn't been by my bedside, waiting for me to wake up.

Jason needed ten stitches on his forehead from where the glass broke and rendered him unconscious. My injuries were extensive and explanatory enough. He wished he had been there sooner, that he could have stopped what had happened, but he reacted on instinct, and said saving me from any more harm was more important than anything else.

That was why they were waiting. They were waiting to question us. Both of us. Their concern was obvious and warranted, but in the week since the storm ended, they were unable to find the body.

Luckily, the wind did not knock out the power in the hotel, nor did the rain flood the backup servers that monitored the hotel lobby cameras, and the footage provided from the evening in question was enough to corroborate our stories. The law enforcement authorities were able to determine what had happened was out of self-defense, and no charges were pressed against us from the government.

And in truth, as much as we were looking forward to leaving, neither of us were in any hurry to return home.

Returning home meant we would need to face the truth of what happened, not only in the past week, but over the last five years. But it would be the word of a historically unstable woman and a formerly accused assault suspect.

But we had to try.

Once the hospital cleared me and the local authorities completed their investigation, we were allowed to return home. We didn't dare say anything about what had happened— we knew that news would precede our arrival. All we could do was maintain the lowest profile possible while we spoke with our attorneys and decided the best plan of action to move forward. We didn't know the statute of limitations for what happened at the graduation party five years ago, or if there was anything that could have been done for what happened to Jason, and we would wait as long as we needed to set things right.

But before we prepared to battle the past, we knew we needed to start over for the future.

I took an extended leave from my job and left my apartment without collecting my last month's rent or security deposit. Jason moved out of his parents' basement with only a note telling them where he was headed and we finally got our own condo unit just like we had promised each other we would when we used to dream of the future when we were younger.

Those dreams never included broken hearts. Or nightmares. Or memories so traumatic they needed to be repressed. They never considered betrayal or lies or deceit or even death. They were innocent like the songs children sang together while holding hands and spinning in circles.

And like those children, we still had nightmares. But we didn't have to wait until the next day to find our solace— we held each other through the night while the tears fell and the memories threatened to tear us apart.

We never spoke of what had happened again. Any of it. We didn't reminisce or speak names or discuss regrets. We didn't need to. There were a few moments when I considered the ramifications of seeking out the past, but when I saw the scar on Jason's forehead, the headaches returned and the throbbing pain in my ribs that never seemed to subside reminded me that some things were best left alone.

Perhaps it was our own way of healing, by suppressing the memories of something so painful we'd rather pretend it never happened at all. But we wouldn't forget. Not when we looked at each other, in those silent moments when all we could hear was the rain falling outside our bedroom window.

I once promised myself that I would do everything I could to make sure that I was the only reason Jason ever smiled ever again.

After everything that happened, I decided I was going to spend the rest of my life reminding him that we still had something worth smiling for. 

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Open Novella Contest 20K Milestone
Word Count: 20,256