Remember Me

Chapter 10

Ava

It's five in the morning and I am still at Lupa's bedside. Strangely, the staff allows me to stay even though it's too early for normal visitors. Probably because my mom is such an influence on RGH.

I'm curled up on the couch against one wall, a dark green fleece blanket thrown over my shoulders by a member of the skeleton crew. Lupa is still asleep from her operation, which my mother-a general surgeon-helped with. Her nose was reset and she had a fractured and dislocated jawbone that needed work. The head of plastics in the hospital had worked on her hair while my mom dealt with all the cuts that needed stitches. Now Lupa has a faux hawk and the hair on the sides of her head needed to be shaved almost to the wood.

Now that she's all cleaned up, her face is a swollen purple bruise. Her face looks much rounder without her hair to frame it, and it makes her look younger. I was woken up a few minutes ago as the nurses relieved the skeleton crew and began their rounds, but now I'm bordering on sleep.

Just as I'm dozing off, Lupa stirs with a cry. I jerk awake instantly and rush out into the hall just as a nurse is about to walk away.

"Hey, Dr. Housman asked me to tell a nurse if she woke up and she's starting to," I say in a hurry. "Can you check her out?"

The nurse, a brunette woman with kind brown eyes, nods. "Of course I can," she replies with a smile.

I lead her into the room and she looks over Lupa. A damp sheen of sweat shines on her forehead and the moment the nurse touches her cheek, she wakens fully with a gasp. Her eyes are bright with fever and hallucination as she looks around, probably panicking.

"Lupa," I murmur, drawing her eyes over to me. She let's out a soft sigh and takes my hand as she recognizes me. I squeeze her hand gently and smile. "You're alright, Lupa. I'm here for you."

"Did I kill anyone?" She manages to say softly through her cracked lips. The nurse, on the other side of the room, pays no mind as she prepares Lupa's medicine.

"No one," I reply, keeping my voice low. "You didn't change either."

I place my hand lightly on her scarred cheek and hug her softly. She hugs me back and leans her head against me.

"Oh Red," she sighs against me. "I knew you'd accept me. I'm so sorry I killed you. I miss you so much."

She doesn't see me as Ava. She only sees Red. She let's go of me and leans back to look at me. Her eyes are somber and seem darker under the bruises around her face. I tilt my head curiously, wondering why she looks so sad. The motion makes her crack a painful looking smile.

"You always tilted your head like that when you wanted me to explain something."

"Lupa, I'm right here. You don't have to miss me anymore." I feel dirty for acting like someone else, but the words flow effortlessly from my mouth. I keep my hand over hers and let her trace patterns on the back of my hand.

"I guess you're here to take me now," she mumbles, looking down at the bed. The nurse walks over with a needle filled of anesthetic but waits before injecting her as I look up at her and shake my head.

"Take you where, Lupa?"

"To take me where you went when you died. Before you went to Ava." Cold settles in my heart. What?!

"I don't understand," I tell her, searching her confused, foggy eyes.

"I must've died. I was changing when Tiffany's friend was hitting my head off the wall. Then Ava came. And if you're here-" Her face blanches and her eyes go as wide as they can-"If you're here, then I killed Ava. But if I'm dead it doesn't matter. But still-"