As The Memories Fade // c.h.

2. Meet the Boys

“Alrighty, Rose dear!” I watched as my entirely too bubbly nurse—a short, round woman by the name of Janette Thompson—flitted around the room, fiddling with various things before she finally came to a stop next to my bed. My mum had gone home earlier to tend to the cat (that I don’t remember ever owning) and clean up around the house in preparation for a few guests who were flying in to see me. I didn’t get a name before she left, but I figured it was family or something. Dr. Nauta had recommended my parents keep me around familiar faces for now. Janette (she insisted I not use her last name, as it made her feel ‘old’) thought that, with my mother’s absence, we could take a walk around the hospital. Well, rather, Janette would be walking, and I’d be sitting in the uncomfortable leather wheelchair she had unfolded and rolled up next to the bed.

I groaned and let my head fall back against the pillow. I really didn’t want to go for a ‘walk’ around the hospital. It was depressing. I would know—I’d been on too many walks to count in the two weeks I’d been here. Not only did we always take the same route every time (left out of the room, down to the little window overlooking the courtyard, down to the second floor where the café is, and then back), but there was always at least one upset looking family member of some injured patient standing in the hallway. It varied from time to time whether or not they would be crying, but it never failed to bring my mood down.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Little Miss.” Janette scolded with a click of her tongue as she helped me into the wheelchair. For the most part, I was able to get off the bed myself. However, due to the fact that my right ankle (and leg in general) had been pretty badly injured in the crash, I needed help. I couldn’t put much weight on my ankle, not because it hurt too much (it only hurt a little), but because it was really weak right now. Too much weight could ruin the work that had been done on it during surgery. And, of course, my broken arm ruled out the use of crutches. So, I was stuck with the damn wheelchair.

I was surprised when, instead of turning left as soon as we got into the hallway, we turned right. Janette chuckled at the surprised expression I turned around in my chair to give her, but said nothing to indicate where we were going. As soon as we entered the elevator and the doors closed, Janette sighed, as if relieved.

“Now, please don’t tattle on me, but I’ve arranged a meeting with someone who really wanted to see you. If at any point you want to leave, just say so. I’ll be in the room with you. You’ll have around an hour to talk.” She explained. I couldn’t get a good look at her face from my position in the wheelchair, but the tone of her voice told me everything I needed to know. The person we were meeting would not likely be someone Dr. Nauta would have approved of. Which, considering the circumstances, meant it was someone I had met in the past two years—someone I wouldn’t remember.

Janette brought me to the hospital’s main cafeteria. Since it was one in the afternoon, there were still a fair amount of people milling about. Some people toted around IV bags on their little metal stands, others were in wheelchairs, and yet others were merely wearing clothing similar to mine—pajamas. Then, there were the visitors. They were easy to pick out. Anyone wearing regular clothing was not a patient here. That, and they weren’t wearing the stupid blue-green wristbands that patients (including myself) had to wear.

A waving hand caught my attention, and my gaze landed on a table filled with four boys. I immediately shrank back in my wheelchair. Not him. I couldn’t face him right now. I hadn’t seen him since the day I first woke up two weeks ago. And the other three boys, they were in the photo album on my phone—a lot. As Janette wheeled me towards them, I took in their appearances. Calum, my ‘boyfriend’, had cleaned up since I last saw him. His hair was actually styled, and he was wearing a nirvana shirt. I almost smiled, wondering if we’d ever bonded over the band. I loved them.