I wake up in a clean white bed with a pounding headache and a tingling in both arms. Not this again. I sit up groggily and look around. A plain white curtain acts as walls around my bed. I hear faint whispers and high heels. The curtain rustles and opens. I blink at the sudden brightness of my cage. "Abbi," my mom says carefully. "What happened?"
Well, I saw my dead boyfriend at his funeral, that's what happened. I don't tell her that, though. Think fast Abbi.
" Ummm... I don't remember." Addison looks at me, perplexed. She can always tell when I lie. She sits on my bed and grabs my head. "You screamed and fainted. Don't tell me you don't remember why." she says.
"Addison Marie!" my mom yells. A doctor walks in, saving my sister from being chastised. "You're Abagail's mother, correct?" she asks. Mom nods and walks out, speaking in hushed voices to the doctor.
Addison turns to me. "Okay, tell me the truth. I know you remember what happened; I can feel it. I sigh. Should I tell her?
I rush out, "I saw him," before I regain my sense. She looks confused. "Who? Abbi, who did you see?" she sighs and adds, "And don't lie."
"Nathan," I breathe out. I clear my throat, "I saw Nathan." I finally muster enough courage to look in her eyes. A mirror image of mine, jet-black hair frames her face. Her nose is angular, slightly off-center between her grey-green eyes that are a shade darker than mine. "Are you sure?" she asks. "Because he is..." she trails off. "Dead. I know. But it was him. I'd know him anywhere." She searches my face to see if I'm lying. I add, "I'm not lying." Her eyes flicker down to my arms and back up. "But... how?"
"I don't know, but it was him."
The doctor walks back in, without Mom. We both say, "Where's Mom?" We seem to do that a lot anymore. She says, "She went to tell your dad that you're awake." We say, "Step dad." at the same time again. She laughs and says, "You're going to have to stop doing that." I smile and we say, "Come play with us." She smiles and says, "That was creepy. Anyway. What I'm here for. Abigail, you hit your head pretty hard off the ground when you fainted. You have a mild concussion."
Oh. That explains the pounding headache.
She looks at my sister and asks, "Does she remember why she fainted?" Addison looks up and tells the grey tile ceiling, "No, but it might've been from stress or shock."
"It could've been." the doctor says, convinced by my sister's lie. She's always been better than me at lying. "So basically, we're going to let the pain medication and anesthesia wears off and then we'll see if you're up to going home. Okay?" I nod painfully and she leaves, leaving me with Addison.
"Could you, uh, open the curtain? I'm tired of looking at it." The truth was, I felt an overwhelming urge to look outside the curtain for no reason. "Umm.. Yeah sure." Addison gets off the bed and opens the curtain. I flinch at the brightness. I didn't think a washed out fluorescent hospital light could burn that bright.
"It's from the concussion."
"What?"
"You flinching at the light? The concussion makes it seem brighter."
"Ohh." I look out to a hallway. There's a subtle shimmering that gradually gets brighter than the light bulbs in the corner of my vision. I look at Addison because the light has gotten too bright for me to handle. Surprisingly, she's staring right where the light would be.
"Don't you see that?" I ask her.
"See what?" she answers with a question.
"That light." She stares at me for a long time. "There isn't a light."
"Yes there is." I protest. "No. Look back to where the 'light' is." she says, using air quotes. I slowly turn my head, afraid that I hallucinated it all. But when I look back, the light's not there.
Nathan is.
