desert gorge

chapter six

"-iz. Lizzie. Wake up, hermana." Julio's raspy tenor dragged her kicking and screaming (metaphorically) from a deep sleep, and Liz reached out a weak arm toward him. "Oh, dios, you scared me. Are you okay?" She felt more than heard his body lean forward, and deemed him close enough.

"Ouch! That hurt, Christ almighty. Damn it, Liz, what was that for?"

Her grey eyes blinked open to blurrily see the magnificent view of her brother holding his reddened face from her slap. "That..." she cleared her throat from the sudden feeling of dryness, and Julio shoved a cup of water into her right hand hard enough for half of it to splash down onto the hospital bed. Wait...

"Julio, why am I in the hospital." It was not a question, nor did it sound like one, and her twin brother knew it.

He rubbed the back of his neck, one of his most common nervous tics, and her already stormy eyes narrowed a little more.

Liz hated hospitals with a burning passion. They reminded her of the day her older sister Penelope died on the twins' 14th birthday, all thanks to a car running a red light. Emergency rooms smelt sterile, and looked the same way. She'd avoided them as much as possible the past few years, so why was she in one now?

Julio cleared his throat. "Uhh...you got into a car accident. You must've been looking away and someone veered into your lane, and well..."

Furrowed brows belied her confusion. "I don't remember that at all. Actually, I really don't remember anything. Do I have amnesia?" At her brother's shocked look, she glared a little. "Dude, I may have been in a wreck but I'm not a freaking idiot. How long have I been asleep?"

As Julio began to answer, a man dressed in scrubs walked in the room holding a clipboard. He looked remarkably similar to the nurse who had broken the news about Penelope's death to their family three years ago, and Liz immediately disliked him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez! How are you feeling at the moment?"

Liz did not miss the use of a married prefix. "I feel like you're fucking illiterate."

Her brother whipped around and hissed, "Elizara!" She shrugged him off, and fixed a glare at the nurse who now looked between the two in both nervousness and confusion.

"Er...my apologies." He looked back down at the chart, fixated on something specific ($10 it's the birthday), then started yapping away again. Did Liz mention her utter hatred of hospitals? That extended to its resident idiots, otherwise known as employees. "Anyway, I'm Nurse Felipe and I'm going to be taking care of you for the moment. You got into a pretty nasty wreck about three days ago and you've been conked out ever since. You may be feeling confused or upset, and that's perfectly normal."

"I think I have amnesia," Liz said. "When can I get out of here again?"

Felipe looked like he had whiplash. "Okay then...we're going to have to run some tests just to check on your memory and other bodily functions, but otherwise you should be out of here in about two to three days if everything goes well!" He smiled broadly, but faltered at her unchanging expression of pure apathy.

"That's not going to happen. I need to be released by tomorrow at the latest, I don't care what your silly tests say. So, you either hurry up and do them or let me go without."

Julio, who had been silent throughout the entire conversation, finally piped up only to take the nurse's side. "Liz, if the medical professional says you need to stay for a few days, I really think you should listen to what he says." He reached over to refill her empty water cup.

"Hell no. I have to...I have plans for tomorrow." Probably not a good idea to tell adults about her illegal activities in the canyon. Speaking of which...the lack of hospitals in Desert Gorge means she's probably still in fucking Flagstaff, an entire three hour drive from where she needs to be at 4 in the morning the next day. God, Liz really hated hospitals. And car accidents.