Blowing Winds

Chapter 20

- How do you remember things? Important things. BIG thing. Things that would change everything, if you could only remember.-

I wake up, but keep my eyes shut. I'm lying down...on what feels like a bed of some type. I slowly open my eyes to see a white ceiling above me. I start to sit up and my mother's face comes into view. For a moment I wonder if I'm dreaming since her face is fuzzy and not coming into focus. I blink rapidly and hear her cry out for a nurse. "Wha- what's going on?" My throat is raspy and dry. It hurts to talk.

"You're safe now, honey." My mother's face looks like she's aged. I think there are new wrinkles on her face, unless I just hadn't noticed before. I guess I forgot that as I was getting older, she was too.

"What happened?" I look myself over. I'm lying in a hospital bed in a hospital gown with an IV in my left arm. I can hear the beeping of the EKG machine start to go faster as my heart rate increases. My leg is in a cast and I see a few bandages on my arms. My mom shakes her head and sighs. 

"The police are still trying to find out what happened. They found you on the side of the road after someone called in an anonymous tip. Do you remember anything?" I try to think but everything is so foggy. I remember my father's funeral and Emily comforting me afterwards. I remember Beck looking at me across the room in a way that struck deep in my heart. I don't really remember anything after that. I raise my unIVed arm and touch my head. I must have suffered a head wound. I shook my head- whoa. My mistake, very dizzy.  

"I-I don't remember anything. I remember the... the funeral, bits and pieces of stuff, but it's mostly all blank."

"The police have launched a full investigation on what happened to you."

"Oh." I didn't know what to say. "What's all wrong with me?"

"The doctor said you should make a full recovery. They said you were lucky to be wrapped in a blanket when you were on the road because otherwise you might have frozen to death. Apparently, the memory loss is normal and hopefully it will return over the next few days. It might not, though, and that's okay too. I'll call the nurse." She hit the alert button and a few minutes later the nurse came in with the doctor.

"Hi there, Ms. Cade. I'm very sorry that this has all happened to you. Would you like to know the state of your injuries?" I nodded. "You have a compound fracture of your right inferior tibia and fibula. You have a number of contusions throughout your body but none too serious. They're most likely from a fall of some sort. You also have a slight concussion to your frontal lobe, but you should make a full recovery. Your nutrition levels were quite low, so we are feeding you a mixture of nutrients through your IV. Do you have any questions you would like to ask me?"

"N- no."

"Alight. Ill check back with you soon, do you need anything?"

"Water?" I asked and he nodded. 

"I'll have nurse Ashley bring you some. Get some rest." The door closed behind them. It wasn't until my mother and I sat there, in stretched out awkward silence, did I realize just how bad my relationship with her had gotten. I don't know anything to talk about with her because I don't know anything about her. And I don't want to sit here for hours in silence with her, while she watches my every breath. After I drank my water, and the room lapsed back into that uncomfortable silence, I mumbled,

"I'm going to sleep some. You can go home for a little while if you want." I could tell she was weighing her options. Go home and shower? Eat real food? Not stare at me for hours? She nodded and told me she'd be back before I woke up. I told her not to rush back. That she could even just wait and come back tomorrow. She shook her head at that and said, 

"I'll be back in a few hours." Then she was gone. I lay there looking at the ceiling, trying to remember anything. How in the world did I get here? How did I get so banged up?  Nothing happens. No flash of memories. No story unfolding that ends with me here. The only thing coming to my mind is drowsiness and dread. Why dread? I don't know. I don't remember.