Sense

Chapter 2: Him

White.

My eyes felt heavy and fluttered to open. A pounding in my head reminded me that my body was fatigued entirely. On the bedside table next to me was the cup of tea I has still not finished. It lay in the now cold china creating a thin film of cream on the top.

Sleep...why did I sleep

My mouth felt parched and I began to reach for the tea, desperate to have something in my dry throat. I lifted my arm up but it failed me, launching the tea and china cup down to the wooden floor with a crash that should have hurt my ears. Thumbing came from down the hall, it sounded like the pounding in my head...

Boom, boom, boom
Maybe that is all it was?

The worried woman and Stevie No, Steven! Flew open the door and practically launched themselves into my room.

"What was that?"
"Are you okay"
"Where did he go?!"

In the same moment they both noticed the white broken cup and spillage on the floor and immediately relaxed.

"Oh dear, don't worry about it!" Said worried woman "I'll make you another."

"I'm not really sure I like it." I said throwing the covers off of me while staring down at the china and tea covered floor.

Mess...I have to clean this...mess

Both her and Steven exchanged a worried glance.

"I'll get some towels and a broom." Pointed Steven and he left the room.

"Well, how are you feeling?" She asked me and sat on the opposite side of the bed.

That's not her side...that's his side...

"Good. Tired."

"I can imagine...so do you remember anything?"

Remember anything. That's a weird question. Of course I do. I remember that I am Monica, I like the color red, I was studying anthropology, I worked at Dairy Queen when I was sixteen, I am a Gemini, I like hazelnut lattes...
So yes, I remember somethings...but the seven stitches on my head, who this woman is, what the indentation on the pillow meant, and who was that man I saw before I fell asleep? I know those things...I do remember those things...I just can't reach them yet.

Boom, boom, boom

My brain pulsed louder than ever, it hurt to think, to see, to talk, to move.

Her face dropped at the sight of me wincing from the booming in my head.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and talked down into my lap.

"Where is he?"

She gasped and began to fidget with the sheets in her hands. "Oh hun, you do remember, that's the first you've mentioned him since...well..."

A silence filled the room that neither of us wanted to fill.

Boom, boom, I don't even know who he is.

The next moment Steven returned with the towel and broom. Wordlessly he began to clean up the mess next to the bed.

Pillow, him, cologne, smile

"He's um..." she began to stammer

"He? She's asking about him?" Steven questioned her standing up, without making eye contact with me.

Red...something red

She began to speak but he cut her off, slicing his hand through the air, "No. She's not ready, just let her freaking relax Mom."

He threw away the broken cup and towels in the trash and stormed out of the room.

We sat alone in silence again.

Still clutching the sheets and gazing out the window she whispered...

"He's here...but he is scared to see you."