ROV (ADD AS I EDIT NEW VERSION)

Chapter 2

"Who are you? Who am I?" Those two questions tore him apart.He hoped to never hear those words again.
Eleven years ago John remembered the doctor pulling him aside to speak about his wife's condition. "Mr. Roman, I have to warn you, your wife's accident has caused major brain damage. She is in a coma and we're keeping an eye on her for the time being, but her chances don't look good."
"I need to see my wife."

She awoke a week later but not without making him realize his wife was already gone; when he looked at her purple eyes and saw them full of fear and confusion, his heart stopped "Who are you? Who am I?"
And now it is happening again. Seeing the bandages, wires and machines plugged into Ellies body made his heart go into overdrive. What was the last thing he said to his daughter? Did he even tell her how much he loved her this morning?
It was his fault. He shouldn't have given into her pleas and let her have that vehicle. He might possibly lose his daughter to the same fate as his wife now.

He was a damned fool if he thought he didn't deserve this.

"You had such an imagination." Telling her sleeping body memeories the time she put on his button up with a belt around her waist acting as a hunter with her plunger bow and arrow. "You thought I had taken your teddy bear and you were hunting me down. You called her Arora." The better times where her mother was around and playing or coloring with her in the living room were his favorites. He tried any story just to see if there would be some movement, some flicker of hope that her eyes would open wide, or her hand would move in response to his tales.
Suddenly through one of his stories of Joanne helping Ellie cook for the first time his stomach had finally had enough. He turned towards her before leaving hoping she wouldn't wake at least until he came back. He wouldn't want his child to open her eyes to others she didn't know.

Food dropped to the floor, the styrphome case breaking as John beheld some emerging from Ellies room. On his way back he saw a woman he had not seen in years, an unmistakable bun with chopsticks holding up sun bright hair. Her profile even looked like her, the roundness of her cheeks, and the lines on her face that showed her bright smile was present.

"Jo?" Barely a whisper, more of hope that it truly was her.
The figure turned, her face fully into view and John gasped as he took in her face- it looked just as it had eleven years ago. He couldn't believe his eyes, his body shaking at the view of someone he thought dead but looked well rather than the cut dress and darkness around the eyes. Her eyes went wide, those beautiful odd colored eyes looked at him, taking him in and yet instantly her face changed from shock to hatred. She curled her lips back as if in a hiss and crouched low looking for an exit. One minute she was there low to the ground and the next she started to run.
"Jo! Wait!" He pushed through the mob when someone came out of a room with a gurney, John almost falling onto the sick patient. "Stop her, someone stop her!" He begged as he ran around the bed hoping he did not lose sight of her. He stood there, hand in his hair as he tried to calm his breathing. It was her. It had to have been her.
"John?" Slowly he turned to her beautiful face, those blue eyes were brimmed with tears and he instantly wanted to wipe them away. Down the hall was his wife looking as if he had torn her apart.

"I came as soon as I could." She whispered.
He sulked over to her, not knowing what to say to her. How could he tell her what he had seen? "Let's go see her." Nodding, he took her hand, her other still holding his broken container of food.
Maria sped up to Ellies side, her hand holding hers, bending down to kiss her bandaged forehead. "I saw her, Maria. I saw Jo." He said so suddenly that his wife stiffened at the realization of what he had said.
She slowly turned to him, fighting back tears, fighting back the feeling of her world falling apart. "John, maybe it's because of where we are. You know she had this very room."
How could she try to help him when he didn't seem to want the help? When she would beg him to stop searching, to stop driving himself insane but he wouldn't listen. "I saw her though. I know my wife. I know that was her in those hallways!"
"What about me? I'm your wife! You should know me! She's gone, John. I've accepted it, why can't you?" She covered her mouth, not able to take back the words that have been kept up inside her. She hated herself for it but she couldn't hold back much longer, not when he was like this.
His jaw slacked, seeing what it was doing to Maria. "I'm so sorry. Maria, I didn't mean to. Ever since Ellies birthday a month ago something's been happening to me. And seeing her today confirmed it."
Maria looked to her husband wishing he had told her this. "John, if you think something is wrong we can get help."
"I don't need help!" He bit back a cry. "I need her back. I need to talk with her! Every time I'm so close to her but I can never reach her in time. She runs or disappears."
"So those nights you stayed late were you actually staying late for work?"
"I was looking for her." He whispered as he lowered his head. He hated how this was sounding, as if he was dishonoring her even though he meant nothing of the sort. "I'm sorry. I would see her in the street below my office but when I would come out to talk with her she would be gone."
"I just don't understand why you didn't tell me. She was my friend too." As if it mattered, as if a friendship could trump his feelings for her. "Do you still love her?" Barely a whisper, a prayer more that he did not.
His shoulders slumped giving her the answer without speaking it.

Before he could answer a small cough from behind startled them both. "Ellie?" He turned to her, both running to their child, his hand grabbed onto hers and his other brushing back her hair as he kissed her forehead. She was awake! His daughter was awake. "Oh, Ellie, I'm here for you. My little girl. " Tears formed in his eyes as he looked at her taking in the details he could have lost forever. Her hair was white as snow, her skin cut and bruised but soft and beautiful, but her eyes, both of her eyes were now purple. He found it strange but only thought of it for a moment. His daughter was awake, that was all that mattered to him.

She felt tired, her body heavy and weak as if she had been asleep for hours, maybe even days. She tried to take in her surroundings but all she could see were two strangers before her, her fear becoming more dominant as they hovered over her. Where was she? She tried to look around, but the light seemed to burn her eyes and she grunted in pain wanting to cover them yet the heavy weight of her arms prevented that. When their faces came into view again, she looked at the man's face, his square jaw and dark eyes held her gaze, his black hair seemed to have no rhyme or reason as it looked messy upon his head. She didn't know who the woman beside him was either with her dark hair tied up. "Who are you?" Her voice raspy, the need for water became clearer as she licked her dry lips. Had they done something to her?
The man before her looked sad, his head bowed as if what she said had wounded him badly. "Ellie it's me. I'm your father."
"Who's Ellie?" She knew that wasn't her, but he looked at her when he said the name. It didn't sound right. "I'm sorry, I don't remember you."
She watched as the woman beside him wrapped her arms over his shoulder and whispered something to him loud enough, so she could hear. "Look, she just woke up. The doctors said the accident caused some trauma and memory loss. Maybe it's temporary. Give her some time my love."
"She doesn't remember who I am. Who she even is! How am I supposed to give her time?"

Ellies head was starting to hurt, making her feel dizzy as she tried to dig up some kind of memory or recognition of the two, but to no avail. "What happened to me? Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital honey. You had an accident with your Jeep and you went off the side of the road."
If it was Ellie, if she was truly present she would have been worried about the Jeep but the blank stare in her eyes, the recognition that she had an accident didn't say anything of the sort. "Oh."

She felt so detached, not remembering anything of that nature or even knowing what a Jeep was. But to tell this man- her supposed father that she didn't remember him seemed heartbreaking enough she didn't want to add on to his pain. The woman appeared beside her smiling to ease the tension. She was beautiful but for some reason she didn't think she looked like her. Even though she had yet to see herself in a mirror she knew her hair was not black as hers, or her cheeks rounded as they framed her green eyes. She even seemed to have paler skin where Ellie imagined she went out in the sun to darken hers. No, this woman was not her mother and yet she seemed to act as one. "I'm so happy you're awake Ellie."
"When can I leave?" She was feeling uncomfortable, unsafe in this area. She needed to find peace, to get out of whatever a hospital was and run back home. That is, if she knew where her home was.
Maria looked down at her with a half-smile. "I'm sorry sweetie, I don't know. You went through a major accident Ellie."
"I'm not Ellie." The last thing she wanted to do was to give them false hope.
John turned to his wife, and then a gentleman cleared his throat causing them to turn around. It was Dr. Robinson, his slim figure fit easily between both of them as he moved toward Ellie. She wanted to back away as his hands shot forward, worried he would hurt her. Her senses were tingling to fight but she felt as if she were in so much pain she could barely lift her hands. "It's okay Ellie. I'm here to examine you. Hold still while I check your wounds and eyes."
Practically hissing as he grabbed at her bandaged arm, pain shot up into her skull as he undressed the wounds to see how they were healing. When he tried to keep her eyes open and place a light in front of it she turned her head away hating the bright light and the feeling of this man above her.

"Ellie, please let the doctor take care of you. He only wants to help."

"I will take her for some tests." Dr. Robinson turned to her parents, his square jawline angled up to motion them to move as he grabbed her bed. "You should have some rest. It's been a long day." His free hand rested on John's shoulder as if for support before he wheeled his daughter away.