The Piece of Him That I Lost

Chapter 6. Crescent Moon

I awoke shortly, seeing a white ceiling. I heard someone speaking, but I never understood what they said. Mandy caught my eyes as I looked across the room—she was crying near me. Then I noticed Raffy talking to the college physician in the distance. I'm pretty sure I was in school hospital. I got up, but I still had a headache. Mandy noticed my movement and she stood up, creating a dramatic scenario.

"ASH! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA DIE!" she exclaimed, squeezing me so tightly that I couldn't breathe—which drew Raffy and the doctor's attention, which was embarrassing. "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?! I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU THE WHOLE TIME!!"

"Ms. Lewis, will you please lower your voice?" Doctor taps Mandy on the shoulder to calm her down. Then she approached me, and she grabbed a penlight to shine in my eyes. Then she nodded, as if she already knew the diagnosis.

"Is she okay now, Doc?" Raffy asked to the doctor.

"Doc, please tell us she's okay!" Mandy was an overreacting friend; I guess she was crying the entire time because all of her mascara had fallen on her face.

"She's fine, she passed out because her body couldn't handle a severe headache, possibly a migraine," she says. "Have you ever experienced it before?" she inquired.

I shook my head, trying to remember if anything similar had happened before.

"Since when did you feel that?" she asked once more.

"I-I don't know, this was the second time—it happened last night and again today," I replied.

"Were you stressed before you felt that, or did you do something that triggered it?"

"I had no idea Doc, it seemed like I was fine the whole time—then suddenly it happened, and it was as painful as splitting my head in half."

The Doctor sighed and nodded, not concerned at all. She scribbles something on her notepad and looks at Raffy. "She's fine, you just buy these meds for her—she has to drink it whenever she feels it again, it's a pain reliever," she explained before handing it to Raffy. "You're fine, sweetheart, but if you need some rest—you can lay here a little longer," she said before leaving us to check for other patients.

"I'm sorry, Babe, I never knew," Raffy began, his eyes mournful, as though he regretted not knowing about this. "I should've taken you to the hospital last night instead of dragging you there!"

"It's okay, Babe," I said, "The Doctor said I was fine—How did I get in here?" I wondered.

"We don't know, have you forgotten where you were before you passed out?" Mandy asked. "Gosh! This is crazy, I almost passed out when I heard you were brought here!" Mandy chimed in on our talk. "I was panicking the whole time, so I called your Dad, and I'm sorry!"

When I heard her say it, I was really stunned. "W-what did you just say?" I questioned again, thinking I misheard something.

"I'm sorry—I have no other choice!" she says.

"You never should have told him!"

"What am I going to do now? I can't even call your mother——"

"Oh jeeze!" I sprang up and pulled myself together, thinking he was on his way. "I should not be here—"

"What? Why?" Raffy asked, having no idea why I am doing this.