Begin Again 2: RESET || Nate Maloley

{ twelve }

O L I V I A

"You haven't touched your dinner," my mother said. She lifted the cover off the plate of revolting hospital food.

"I'm not hungry," I replied quietly and still halfway sedated.

"Olivia..."

"I said I'm not hungry." I took a deep breath, trying to forget why I was so upset but it just wouldn't go away. "I need a new phone, I need to go back to Omaha and just piece my life back together."

"Sure," she scoffed. "I know why you want to go back to Omaha."

"Can you please let me borrow your phone?"

"You're not calling that boy. Besides, he was using a pay phone when I saw him so I doubt you'd be reaching him."

I held out my hand, waiting for her to hand me her phone. For a moment she just pursed her lips but then she finally gave in, forcefully placing her phone into the palm of my hand. Her heels clacked against the floor as she paced the room with her arms folded. I quickly dialed Nate's number. It didn't even ring once.

The number you've dialed has been disconnected.

"Asshole," I whispered.

I felt lost in a dark space with no sign of light. The atmosphere felt off. The Earth was off its axis. After all that had happened, he was just gone...and I was supposed to accept that? I had wondered if my mother had said something to him to make him abandon me. It didn't make sense, especially since he stood up to my dad last Christmas. And if you can stand up to my dad and still live, then you can handle my mother. This is why it didn't make sense. 

And also...I wondered if this meant we were no longer...a couple.

I tossed the phone down to the foot of my hospital bed and leaned my head back, trying not to cry.

"I told you," mother said as she snatched her phone back up. "He's no good. I thought he was but clearly he--"

"How much longer do I have to be here?" I asked, not looking her in the eye.

"You're barely healed, Olivia. Once you heal, then you have physical therapy--"

"Can't I be transferred to a hospital in Omaha?"

"If anything, I'd transfer you to Pennsylvania, not Nebraska," she replied.

"But--"

"You need to focus on healing! Worrying about Nate will only hinder the process."

"But this doesn't make any sense," I cried out. "This isn't like him. He wouldn't just leave me. What did you say to him?"

"I told you what happened," she shook her head. "You know, sometimes you think you know a person and after a little scare, they show their true selves. I mean...look at your father and I. We used to be head over heels in love. Then life happened. And that's what happened to you and Nate...life. So, instead of lying there in a puddle of tears, you have to pick up the pieces before life throws another jab at you. You'll be more prepared, more stable."

"I didn't ask to be-- look, I just...want to go back to Omaha," I said irritatingly.

"Is this thing working correctly?" She taps at the bag of morphine next to my bed. "I'll go find the nurse."

I swear in that moment, I was ready to crawl out of bed and escape out the window.

. . .

N A T E