Bird Shit

5th of July - 16:01 PM

'Are you sure she will be okay doctor?' She hears someone ask in the distance.

'Yes, of course,' a man answers and Poppie wonders if it is about her. If so, he's most definitely wrong.

If she thought her hangover was bad then this is just something new entirely. Her head is a mush of strings of memories and she's unsure which are real and which are made up. Part of her day with her mother and sisters feels very real. That's what her life is always like. Then another part of her night feels very weird. As if it didn't really happen because people like them don't exist.

'Well she better be!' Even though her head is a mess and hurts and pounds she still can hear it is her mother. Even now she still hates her, but the child within her reacts to the voice of her. She sobs and the entire room falls quiet.

'What was that?' Her mother almost snaps and she can feel her coming closer. It is just still too much for Poppie to open her eyes and face reality.

The dream she just had about partying and bowling was much better.

'Like I explained miss, Poppie is slowly gaining conscious. It is important that you don't speak too much during this progress. Just calm and soothing words.'

It must be the doctor whose speaking and Poppie snorts at the thought of her mother soothing her. It is so out of her comfort zone that she rather just stay quiet.

So, as the entire room stays quiet they listen to Poppie's heartbeat grow faster and her breathing increase. She's definitely waking up but she doesn't understand why since it hurts so much. She rather just stay in her dream, in that other universe where she was herself.

'Poppie, can you open your eyes for me?'

'No,' she manages to say getting a snigger from her older sister. She hears it is Mary and she can't help but giggle along.

From all of her family, Mary might be the only one who slightly understands her. She found love unlike Ariana who also married for the money. She is just lucky that her husband is still loaded enough to get approval from mother.

Poppie will never get her approval if she did what she really wanted so she lets Henry's familiar hand take hers. 'Just open your eyes, baby.'

It's the 'baby' that takes her over the edge to make her open her eyes and they look directly in the doctor's who is ready with his light and other equipment to check up on her.

She obeys him though and looks around the room to see her mother, Henry, Ariana with her latest baby and Mary.

'What is the last thing you remember?' The doctor asks her and it is a though question. She's not sure what all really happened. The puzzle pieces  are all there, it just isn't completed yet.

'I'm not sure,' she answers the doctor and he gives her a warm look.

'Do you know what day it is?'

It's another though one but she's fairly sure today is the day. 'My wedding day.'

Henry pinches her hand when she tells them and she knows she's right.

'True, do you know the date?'

'The 5th of July.'

'Do you know where you are?'

'In the hospital. I think I fell,' she says thinking it over. 'I slipped in dog shit didn't I?'

'You slipped yes. We're not entirely sure what happened though,' the doctor tells her and that seems weird to her. Surely if she slipped in the park, Harry must be real and brought her here right?

'Didn't Harry bring me?'

'You mean Henry, darling?' Her mother interferes quick.

'No Harry, he was there when I fell. Green, green, green,' she mumbles and they all start to frown as she does. Including the doctor. 'His eyes!'

Raising her voice hurts even more but she feels it is necessary since they don't understand at all what happened. Not that Poppie does.

'No need to scream Poppie, there was no Harry. I found you when you fell,' mother says but she knows she's lying. She can tell by the way her eyes pierce through her telling her to shut up. She has seen those eyes too many times and she's done with it. She's done with her mother like she has been so many times before, but this time feels different. It feels definite.

'Mother, who brought me here?'

'I did,' she says and no one tells her otherwise.

'I came in later, darling. She was here alone with you,' Henry says but she doesn't understand. Harry wouldn't leave her right? She knows she acted like a bitch right before she fell but she remembers now all that happened before. She knows she was ready to say goodbye to all the people in this room just to spend another day with him and his friends.

'Didn't I go bowling last night?' She wonders starting to doubt if the blow to her head made her image things or remember things.

'I don't know, child,' her mother answers her shortly. 'We haven't heard from you since you walked out on us at the café.'

'Then it must be all real right?'

'We don't know what you're talking about,' her mother repeats and Poppie starts to look around, panicked. The doctor looks like a weak specimen not ready to interfere this interesting conversation. He must be whipped by her mother.

'I played twister with them. I definitely drank too much. I...' kissed him, made love to him.

'Poppie, we don't know and it is not important. What is important is that we see if you are up to marrying Henry. We have the dress right here, Ariana can put on some make up and if we let your hair down no one will see your head wound.'

Poppie frowns. She doesn't want to marry Henry. First she needs to know Harry isn't killed by her mother. There must be some prove that he's real. Wasn't she trying to remove it just before she fell?

'There is a tattoo on my back right?'

'What are you talking about Pops?' Henry stands up from his seat next to the bed, hovering over her. He's sensing something is up.

'On my back. There is a tattoo. Look Henry.'

With a last effort she turns around to show them her back but then everything turns black again.