Ambulance. Sirens. Darkness. Ambulance. Sirens. Needles? Was I in emergency care? Who are these people taking my blood? Nurses, right. I opened my eyes and began immediate panic. There was a loud beeping noise that got louder and faster when I started shaking. "She's up!" Was that my mom? I started to panic and couldn't breathe. A sharp pain in my arm made me calm, and apparently tired. I blacked out before I could even say anything.
"Hey, Allison!" Luke happily skipped towards Allison and she waved excitedly. "Hi! Want me to come to your house?" she asked. Luke hesitated, and looked around the neighborhood park. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Ally. My dad is really mad right now," he responded. Allison got suspicious, and ran towards Luke's house. "No Allison don't! Please." Allison, temptation in her fingers as they stayed an inch from the doorknob. She turned it and ran inside. Luke chased after her, and saw a dreadful sight. There was a thump as his father stood above an unconscious Allison. "What did you do?!" Luke cried as his father came towards him with an empty beer bottle -
"Freddie, ma'am, wake up please," some kind woman shook me softly until I opened my eyes. I shot up, and got pushed back down because of restraints. "Luke. Where's Luke?!" I yelled. "He's outside, Freddie. Just one moment," the nurse replied. I calmed down, now that I knew he was going to be here with me.
Seconds later, Luke appeared at the door, and the nurse left us alone. I smiled. "You're here." Luke nodded and said, "I couldn't just stay home, so I followed the ambulance, and said I was immediate family." I giggled and let him sit down on my hospital bed. It was silent, but the good kind of silence. Finally, I asked him a question.
"Do you remember me?" Luke looked at me with unsure eyes, and mumbled something. "What'd you say?" I questioned. Luke looked down and then back up to my face, and said yes. I gasped from excitement, only to be shushed by Luke. "I keep having flashbacks, but I don't know," he said. "Do you keep hearing a girl named Allison?" I nodded, and sat up to hug him. Luke paused before hugging me back. "What was that for?" he asked. I hit him softly and replied, "For remembering me. It's been years since I've seen you, Luke. My mom doesn't believe me, but you're the only one, Luke."
Luke chuckled and took my hand in his. He sat there, staring at me. It was almost as if he was trying to remember what I looked like. "Why am I named Pamela? Why not Allison? Why does your father abuse you? Where's your mother? Why -" Luke shushed me and stood up. "My mother is out of the equation. She doesn't matter to me anymore." I sat up in the hospital bed, shocked. "She birthed you, Luke! You can't just disown her!" I exclaimed. He laughed slightly.
"My mother hit me. She scarred me. Pamela, she was a drug abuser. Always high with my dad, always trying to get me to do the things she did. I was only a kid when she did this. She left me and my father...I still don't know what happened. But she was a mess when she ran out of the house with a bag of clothes and a few dollars in her pocket. All I know is that the last time I saw her, she was on the news for armed robbery. It doesn't even matter anymore." Luke sat down in a rolling chair and put his head in his hands.
"I-I'm so sorry, Luke. You didn't deserve half the crap you got," I tried to console him, but it only made him upset. "I have to go. Later, Pamela," he mumbled and walked out.
~*~
Luke wasn't at school this week. He didn't answer my texts or calls, either. I ditched school and used my "Find Friends" app on my iPhone to find out where he was. I checked near the public library first. He definitely wasn't there. I whispered to myself, "But that's what the app says..." The only other place near the library was the county jail. I know he wouldn't be in jail, right?
I opened the door to the jailhouse. Today thankfully was Visitation, so maybe I could see him. The police officers looked me up and down before I was placed in the Waiting Room. "Ingrid Peters, your guest is here," a security guard called from her station. Someone vaguely familiar got up from across the room. "Luke?" I called out softly. The boy turned around to face me. It was him! He was going to visit his mom. Luke scurried over and stopped halfway when he spotted his mother walking out of the cell. I followed, hoping to get past the police.
"Hi, mom," Luke murmured. "Hello, child. Who is your guest? She looks awfully familiar," Ingrid spoke, her raspy voice giving me shivers. "This is Pam - Allison. Her name is Allison," Luke said. Ingrid's eyes grew wide as she stood up from her chair. "Get. Out. Get out of my sight! You bring that demon in here one more time, and I will gladly choke her to death! You hear me, boy?!" Luke sat there. He just sat. After Ingrid sat back down, Luke stood up. "Don't tell me what to do with my life, mom. Who's the one stuck in jail? Huh? And who's the one who left me and dad with nothing? That's right, all you. I hope you rot in hell. I forget, you're living in it!" He stormed out, leaving me. This was a bad idea.
