Past Tense [h.s.]

1

I brought my hand to my nose and gently sniffed it. The pungent aroma didn't satisfy me as it burned through my nose. My bed started to move. I was made to face a man in a white coat and a woman beside him. 

"Don't say 'oh no where am I?' You're in a hospital and you've been out for days," he said directly.

I kept my mouth shut. For the first time in my life, I could see everything in colour. I saw some flowers in a vase on a table beside me. I stared at them for a few minutes, taking in the colour of their petals. They were beautiful. I heard the man, who had just spoken to me a few moments ago, curse and I turned my attention back to him. He wasn't interesting enough for me so I decided to stare at my hands instead. They were somewhat better. The palm of my hand was soft and delicate but as I moved up to touch my finger, my skin suddenly became rough. 

"You'll have to stay with us," the man announced.

I kept a plain expression. It didn't show excitement nor disappointment but he seemed to gather the thought that I wasn't too happy about the arrangement. He kept his eyes on me for a while and then he turned away and walked out the door. I was left with a woman who appeared to be nervous and had no idea what she was doing. She went over to a table and poured a glass of water for herself before offering me one. I shook my head but she had already made the decision that I needed one. I held the glass in my hands and then slowly took a sip. I felt the cold liquid run down my throat. 

"You didn't have any bruises on your body when they found you," she said, breaking the silence. "I mean, it's quite shocking. How long were you there for?"

I stayed silent. Who was she to ask questions like that? I turned away from her and tried to look out the window behind me. I could see the leaves slowly making their way to the ground. They were such a beautiful colour. I heard a smash against the ground and quickly saw that the nurse had spilled the jug of water. She ran out and closed the door behind her. I was, once again, on my own. I couldn't get out of my bed. There were tubes and whatnot connected to my body. My eyelids soon began to fall and I was asleep. 

My eyes opened and the same woman was sitting in a chair in front of me. Her arms were crossed and she had a stern expression on her face. 

"What do you want?" I asked. 

"I want to know your story. How can anyone be trapped in a place like that by a man like him and not have any sign of abuse? Don't tell me you had one of those psychotic relationships. I know there's more to it than that. Did you love him?" she interrogated. 

Questions upon questions. She didn't give me time to answer the first one and she was already asking her tenth question. She kept talking but I wasn't listening. Her voice was annoying. I couldn't stand her. I wanted her to get out and leave me alone but she didn't move. As if my prayers were answered, a man walked in and ordered the woman to leave. He followed her out and I could hear them both yelling at each other. Minutes later, they both burst into the room to apologise. 

"I'm sorry for any trouble this young lady has caused," he spoke. 

He gently nudged the woman to indicate it was her turn to say something. 

"I'm sorry too," she mumbled.  

I nodded and the man left. I knew she was about to speak again. 

"Did he love you?" she simply asked. 

"Who?" I responded.

"Harry. Who else could I be talking about?"

Who was Harry? I had no idea what she was talking about. I didn't know anyone called Harry. I only knew him and he never told me his name. He said it wasn't important and I never bothered to ask again. He never revealed his face either. All I knew was his voice and touch and that was all. That was all I could ever describe to anyone. I had drifted off into my own thoughts. I never knew the simple things about him like his name, age or favourite colour. Did I even know him at all? At least I now know his name.

"His name is Harry," I said slowly, stressing each word. 

"Well was," she stated directly. 

Was - past tense 

"Before they found you, he was nowhere to be seen. But afterwards, they found a body in the living room. Apparently someone had already killed him before they came. We looked through the entire house and then found you. I looked through some of the other rooms and his wardrobes. His style is... interesting," she trailed off. 

She looked at me, waiting for me to agree. How could I know? I've never even seen his face and I didn't even know his name until a few minutes ago. She raised one eyebrow and continued with her story. 

"Your room was disgusting. There was an awful smell and then I realised it was from a pile of clothes in the corner. I feel like I've said enough. Why don't you talk? Tell me your side of the story. Were you frightened by him? Did he touch you in any way? You seem young. You didn't have any bruises. How come?"

I felt uncomfortable around her. She expected me to tell her everything but I couldn't. I was disgusted at her choice of words to describe him. I was struggling to tolerate her. He was nothing like she said he was. She didn't know what he was like. 

"Oh someone dropped in these flowers for you, by the way. They said they were a relative," she stated. 

Those flowers. The flowers that I had looked at as soon as I woke up. They were beautiful. I could see one flower at the side that was slowly dying and hanging over the edge. The woman stepped in front of the flowers, wanting me to give her all my attention. 

"I know those are from him," she said softly. 

"Why do you keep telling me different things? Firstly, you said that 'they' found me and acted as if you had nothing to do with it but you looked through the house. You told he was dead but you're saying he sent these flowers. So what is the truth? Is he alive or not?" I questioned. 

She observed me carefully before answering. She didn't answer with words. She rotated the vase so that the flower that was almost dead was facing me and pointed at it.

"He's alive," she stated.

"But he won't be for much longer."

And with that, she pulled the rose away from its stem and walked out.