The Swords of Memory: Second Chances

Chapter 7

Zara woke up to a nurse shaking her gently. "Wake up honey. Your parents are going to be here to pick you up soon. Would you like to take a trip to the cafeteria and get some breakfast?" Zara, who was usually groggy when she first woke up, was wide awake. That was one of the odd side effects of never actually experiencing the oblivion usually associated with sleep. She could still vividly remember the dim lighting and smoky smell of the sick bay. And once again things had changed in the blink of an eye. Now she had to start preparing for her next visit to the portal game. She wanted to be prepared when Aaron started to do whatever he planned to do for her training. Since it looked like she was going to be using a double sided battle axe, she might as well try and do some research on it. That way she could avoid looking like a complete idiot in front of Aaron. But there were still other things that had to be done before then. She had all day to prepare for the night and only a little time left in this hospital.

"Did you want to get breakfast or just wait for your parents?" The nurse asked. Zara realized that she had never answered the question. She had gotten lost in her own thoughts.

"Breakfast sounds great. But would I be able to see the other person who was in the car crash? I really want to see how he's doing."

"I guess you can. It's not technique protocol but I don't think there will be any problem in you just checking in. He's just down the hall." Zara climbed out of bed and found she was in one of those weird hospital gowns. She quickly changed into the convenient cloths her parents had left for her and followed her down the hall. The cloths were all black, like most of her wardrobe. She made mental note to herself to brighten things up a bit. Not get rid of all the black, but add some color in there too. The nurse stopped in front of one of the room with the door closed and looked in the window. Zara did the same to the other window and saw Eli laying in a hospital bed just like the one she had left. There were a bunch of monitors attached to him and his mother was sitting there next to him, half asleep and facing the other direction. "I had thought she would have left. Such a sad story. The accident made him hit his head just right. The doctors think that he's going to end up in a coma. He might not wake up. We should probably continue to the cafeteria now. We don't want to bother his mother."

Zara knew that the nurse was speaking reason, but she couldn't help herself. This was all her fault. She had to apologize. It was the least she could do after putting this women's son in this situation. She recognized his mom from some of the school events. She was one of those parents that always volunteered to help run things. She opened the door and stormed in. Eli's mom shot up, jolted awake by the intrusion. There were dried tears on her face, just like Zara had seen on her own mother's face. "Mrs. Johnson?"

"Yes?" Her voice was shaky but it was clear she was trying her best to remain composed. The nurse was rushing behind Zara in an attempt to stop her but Zara had already engaged.

"My name is Zara Smith. I was the driver of the other car in your son's accident." The nurse was trying to steer Zara out of the room but Mrs. Johnson stopped her. She wanted to hear what Zara had to say. "I know this might not mean anything to you, and I know that you probably hate me, but I just have to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Zara was starting to tear up and so was Mrs. Johnson. Zara was expecting her to start yelling. To slap her and order her to leave. The one thing that she was not expecting was for Mrs. Johnson to pull her into a hug. Zara was too shocked to resist and after a few awkward seconds she returned the hug. Zara finally felt safe, safer than she had in months. Even in the portal game she always had an underlying fear of the people around her. She finally let her fears flow out of her. The tears came freely. Mrs. Johnson took Zara's shoulders and held her at arm's length, as if she was searching for something. She saw the tears and pulled Zara back in for another hug. "Why are you doing this?" Zara sobbed. Mrs. Johnson had become completely composed.