The sudden stop sends me stumbling against him. The casts and my clumsiness are not helping me keep my balance. He manages to grab me by the waist before I slam my face against the metal wall. The lights go from dim to not working at all. I can feel his rapid, fresh against my cheek and I realize how close his face is to mine.
"What just happened?" I ask.
''The elevator might be having trouble. They will come and help us in a matter of minutes." He says letting go of my waist. I liked his fingers there.
"Why don't we just sit down and see if any of our phones have signal?" He asks. I slide down the cold wall and stretch the foot with the boot infront of me. We both check our phones but we have no signal. A half hour goes by but we don't say a word.
"I still want to know why you sent me the flowers." I say cutting the silence. He scoots closer to me before answering.
"Why?" I ask. "How do you even know about me?"
"Okay, I went to visit a friend to the hospital. I was walking around looking at all the patients when I came to your room. I said hey and started talking to you...for some reason." He smiles at himself. "Anyway, a nurse walked in conviniently while I was still talking to you, and you seemed to smile. The nurse told me to keep talking to you for stimulation...I don't really remember what terms she used. I kept coming back and one day I saw your mother. She said the nurse had told her about the smile when I talked to you, so she gave me the Romeo and Juliet book and I read it to you for a while. Right before you woke up I saw a tear roll down your cheek. That day I hadn't spoken because I didn't have anything to say and suddenly they were pushing me out the door. I kept coming back but they didn't let me see you. So I guess the least I could do was send you flowers."
I believe him...and I kind of don't. He is an actor, after all, but his voice doesn't hold a complete honesty.
"Do you know what happened to me?" I ask. "Mom won't tell me and neither will my brother."
"You can't remember?'' He asks. I feel his arm brush mine, tingles spread through my arm.
"No, I can't remember almost anything. I recognize their faces but I feel like I went home to strangers. I cannot remember fighting with my sister or any embarassing stories about my brother...'' I sigh and swallow the knot in my throat. When I speak again my voice shakes, "I can't remember my mom's favorite color...and I...I can't remember my dad." I stop talking because the knot seems to be burning its way up my throat. ''Isn't that messed up? I cannot remember my dad...I am such a horrible daughter...why?''
''Don't say that Sia.'' His voice sounds pained for a reason but it comforts me knowing that someone understands my pain. "Please do not say that. You were in an accident and that is what caused you to forget things...its not your fault. Please understand.''
I nod in the darkness. Somehow his words seem to go through the layers of pain and into my heart. It isn't my fault. I still feel sad, but I'm not blaming myself anymore.
''You're right, I shouldn't think that.'' He sighs in relief when I say that. ''You know I haven't shed a single tear ever since? My mother is just waiting for me to break down one day but I just don't.'' Why am I telling all these things to a stranger? I remind myself he is not much of a stranger, but that I still should be careful.
''Well, all I can say is that you're strong. I admire you Sia....can I call you that?" I nod. ''I like that name. Sia, its like that artist right?''
I smile, "Yeah, my brother says I used to sing all the time and that I hated the name Ciara. So he called me Sia and suddenly everyone started calling me that.''
We stay silent for a few moments. ''So, Tom...you have absolutley no idea of what happened to me?''
There is a pause before he says, ''No.'' I sigh, feeling disappointed. I know that is in the past but I still would like to know. I mean, slipping in the bathtub wouldn't leave you with a broken arm and a sevearly injured leg.
''I just wish I could know. If someone ran over me I would like to tell them it's okay because I think they are feeling pretty bad. I would be mad but I could never hate them....well it depends. If they were drunk or did it on purpose then I'd be pretty mad. I mean, I missed two months of school and I lost my memory..." I stop talking wondering if I have bored him. ''Sorry, I didn't mean to go on and on with my stupid self-pity.''
''No, it's fine...I was just thinking about stuff when you said the whole losing your memories.'' He mutters.
After an hour has gone by I start to get worried. ''Why hasn't anyone come yet?'' I feel dizzy and my head is starting to hurt. The lack of air is not helping.
''I don't know, but don't worry...someone will.'' He says. I wonder if my family has noticed I'm gone. I check the time, 7:47 pm. It's getting really cold and really fast. I shiver and rub my arms.
''Are you cold?'' He asks. I say yes, and I almost jump when I feel him put his jacket on my shoulders. His finger slightly brush my exposed shoulders and I shiver for an entirley different reason.
''Thanks.'' I say wrapping the warm jacket around me. It smells incredible. A mix between ocean crisp air and something particularly male meets my nose.
How and why did I end up stuck in an elevator with an incredible actor?
After another half hour of waiting my head starts to feel cloudy with sleep. I find a soft, warm place to rest on that smells just like the jacket. Somewhere between slipping into sleep, I feel the earth move again.
***
I wake up from one of deepest dreams I have ever had. My mind is fuzzy and all my limbs seem to not function correctly. I hear a soothing voice saying my name, drawling me back to earth.
''Sia, love, wake up." He says. My eyes open up and I find myself staring into deep pools of blue. ''I will take you home.''
Where is Tobias? Wasn't he supposed to come get me? Where am I anyway? "Where am I?" I am in a bed so soft and warm that my body seems to have glued itself to it.
''You're in my apartment love. It's nine in the night, your family will be worried. Stand up.'' I hadn't even noticed I was sitting up. He puts his hand on the small of my back and tingles spread through my body.
When I get into his car, all my senses come rushing to me. I don't feel so sleepy anymore but the jacket still makes me want to doze off wrapped in its warmth. When we arrive to the front of my house, he opens the door for me and I get out. He helps me all the way to my front door. Before I turn the knob, he kisses my forehead gently and turns to leave. My insides twist and I can't help grinning.
Anger quickly replaces it when I find Tobias sitting on the couch watching TV. No one even noticed I was gone.
''What the hell Tobias?" I ask. He does a double take before his eyes go wide and he opens his mouth to talk but says nothing. "Did anyone even notice I was gone? Did anyone even care?" I don't give him time to answer, I just go to my room.
While I change into my pijamas I notice I still have Tom's jacket. When I think about him, his face flashes in my mind causing wierd flutters inside my stomach. He's old enough to be your father, I tell myself. I sigh going into bed...I fall asleep under the blankets wrapped up in the jacket.
***
