Waiting To Exhale

Twenty-four

   "How are you feeling Miss Whitbrooke?" The doctor asks. His name tag reads Marvin. He's an old white man with nice blue eyes. If I were like fifty years old I probably would find him attractive.

   I move his hands off my face. "My head hurts. A lot."

   "Well, that's normal. You took a pretty hard fall. Do you remember what happened?" I try to think real hard about it but nothing comes up. I don't know what happened. I can't remember a thing. I probably just slipped in those heels. I guess I'm not as skilled as I thought. The thought makes me laugh. "Mind sharing what's so funny?"

   "It's nothing. Um, I can't remember what happened."

   He smiles. I ask him to help me sit up and he does, very slowly I might add. Pain shoots up between my legs. That's weird. I scan the room. Mason is here. Along with Anthony and the girls. Even Joe and his wife. Wow. All these people here to see me. It feels nice to know all these people care about me. I didn't know. Marvin gives me a small pat on the shoulder. "We're going to keep you here for a while. We need to run some tests." He turns to my friends. "Keep a close eye on her. She could have a concussion."

   With that said he leaves the room. Everyone comes rushing to my side bombarding me with questions. Questions I can't answer. Joe tells everyone to leave to give me some space. They take turns hugging me before leaving. Mason stays behind. He looks at me and nearly breaks down. He reaches for my hand and I try to pull it back but I'm too weak to. I may have forgotten how I ended up here but I didn't forget what Bianca told me. I still want to know if it's true. Especially if he wants me to move in with him.

   "Mason I need to ask you something. Something important." My voice is still weak. My throat still hurts. Mason pours me a glass of water. I love the way it feels as it slips down my throat.

   Mason sighs. "I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow. You need your rest," He says.

   "Mason-"

   "Shh. Get some rest."

   I do feel kind of sleepy.

                 *************

   "Alfonso let me go! Please!" I scream. He doesn't hear me. I know he doesn't hear me because he doesn't stop. He continues pulling down my pants. I cry out in pain.

   I can't breathe. His hand is around my neck and I can't breathe.

   "Olivia! Olivia!"

                 *************

   "Olivia!" I feel thick hands on me. I open my eyes and scream. I push his hands away. He's not supposed to touch me. Not like that. "Olivia it's me, Mason."

   I eventually calm down. That dream was...

   I remember what happened. I can't believe he did that to me. I didn't deserve that. Nobody does. I feel dirty.

   "Oh my gosh. Oh, God." I cover my mouth to keep the sobs at a minimum. I don't know how I'm supposed to tell Mason. Its already hurting him to see me like this. He deserves to know. Doesn't he? I don't know.

   "Olivia, what happened? Do you remember what happened? What happened?"

   "Mason...it was a bad dream. Go back to sleep."

   "You sure?"

   "Yeah." I know I'm probably making a mistake not telling him right now. When the time is right I'll tell him. I just need some time to process this. Then I'll be to decide what I want to do. "I just need to go back to sleep."

   Threes no way I'm going to sleep after the dream I just had. After what I remember. But I don't want Mason to start grilling me with questions if he thinks I'm staying up all night. He doesn't need to worry about me. I can handle things on my own. I'm not some damsel in distress. I'll get over this. I know I will. I'll forget this ever happened and things will go back to the way they were.

   I end up staying up the rest of the night pondering the situation at hand. The more I thought about it the more disgusted I became with myself so I tried to focus on something else. Not as easy as it sounds. I realized.

   The sun starts shunning in my window and so I turn on my side, away from the window. I still feel a little queasy. Mason is asleep next to me in this tiny bed. I'm surprised he stayed with me all night. There's no way he could have slept very comfortably. He's going to wake up with a cramp. I climb out of bed and dog in the bag of my things Mason bought me last night. I take out my toothbrush and paste. I brush my teeth and wash my face. My hair looks a little frizzy but I am in the hospital so I don't think anyone really cares. When I finish I climb back in the bed.

   There's a knock at the door. I yell for the person to come in. It's one of the nurse bringing me my food. I've heard tales about hospital food tasting disgusting but I have to see for myself. On the tray is a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of orange juice with a bowl of the fruit of the side. The fruit looks delicious. "Thank you. Is there any sugar in the oatmeal?"

   The woman laughs. "No. Would you like me to get you some?"

   "Yes, please."

   "Okay. I'll be right back." She leaves to get the sugar. I take a sip of orange juice before digging into the fruit. It tastes too good. I love fruit.

   Mason stirs beside me. He groans a couple of times before stretching then sitting up. He wraps his arms around me and rests his head on my back. "Are you feeling better?"

   My nose scrunches up. I don't know why he didn't brush his teeth before talking to me. Morning breath is no joke. "Yeah. I'd feel even better after you brush your teeth."

   He laughs. "You ain't have to do me like that. I'll be back." Instead of taking what he needs out the bag, he takes the bag to the bathroom with him.

   There's another knock on my door. The same woman comes in with a handful of little packs of sugar and hands them to me. I quickly thank her. "You welcome. You have a visitor." She opens the door and in walks none other than Gabriel.