The Swords of Memory: Second Chances

Chapter 11

Zara opened her eyes and realized that it had been exactly what she thought it was. The knocking had been from her room in the real world. She looked over as the door opened. Veronica came in and looked at Zara with her bright smile. Zara felt happy to be alive every time she came back from the portal game. Both places were just so amazing now. "Zara, you're awake. I thought you were still asleep."

"No, I just woke up. Why are you waking me up? I thought that was mom's job."

"Her and dad already left for work. They told me to wake you up and I told them you were up. Figured I would let you sleep for a little bit more. It's summer for crying out loud. A single concussion shouldn't ruin that. But I can't let you sleep the day away. Am I giving you a ride to the hospital or not? I promised Emily that I would go to the mall with her this afternoon."

"Yeah. Just give me five minutes to get ready." Zara quickly dressed and threw her hair into a pony tail. She looked at herself in the mirror and was surprised by the lack of bags under her eyes. They had been there for years now. That along with the blond hair made her look like a completely different person. "This is the change that I've needed." Zara told herself. "I can do this." She went downstairs to see Veronica eating an apple.

"Ready?" They left towards the hospital and before they knew it they were in the parking lot. "Try not to take so long this time okay?"

"Mrs. Johnson asked last time for you to come. Will you?"

"Not this time Zara. I'm going to get some coffee and be back here in an hour. Don't be late or I will leave you." Veronica pulled away and Zara went into the hospital. This time she went to the front desk and got a guest name tag. The women working the counter had been told about Zara and didn't give her any trouble. Zara made her way through the maze of hallways until she found the room. Mrs. Johnson was staring out the window. She brightened up and became more focused the second she heard Zara.

"Zara, hello. I'm so glad you came. Where's your sister?"

"She was busy this morning with errands. She dropped me off and then left. I can only stay for an hour today and then she is going to pick me up." They continued to talk and eventually got to talking about Eli's childhood. Zara heard stories about when he learned to ride a bike, his first pet, everything that a mother treasures. Zara enjoyed every minute of it but she felt like she was invading his privacy by letting his mom tell her all these stories. He didn't know anything about her and here she was learning all about his childhood. They were just about to start talking about Eli's red fire truck when Zara's phone dinged. Her sister was waiting outside. Zara said goodbye and promised she would come again tomorrow. Zara left the room but turned around to look inside. Mrs. Johnson had returned to staring out the window sadly. She was all alone. Mr. Johnson still hadn't returned. This wasn't something someone should go through alone. Zara swore she would come back for longer periods of time.

When they got home it was already one in the afternoon. "I'm going to pick up Emily. Tell mom and dad I won't be home for dinner." Veronica said.

Zara had the house to herself. It felt empty without the rest of her family bustling about through it. Zara would normally have relished the rare occurrence of being completely alone in the house but now all it had was emptiness. Zara didn't want that. She wanted to be around other people. She knew it would practically be sacrilege to drive anywhere so she just opened her laptop. She went on Facebook and YouTube and goofed off on the computer until her parents go home. They insisted that they eat together and then watch a movie. Zara liked spending time with them but she could tell that it was forced. Two movie nights in a week was a little extreme for her family. Once it was over she excused herself and went to her room. She laid down and fell asleep.