Save Me From Myself

Chapter Seventeen - Investigation

I try to open my eyes but there were bright lights above. Moving too fast to focus on. Why can't I move? Everything hurts. I try and reach out. Does my arm even move? I try and say something. 

"Just hold on , ma'am. Stay awake."

Who is talking to me? "W-where..."

"We're almost there. Stay awake."

But I don't stay awake. My eyes drift close and I'm met with an all consuming darkness. 

Beep. Beep. Beep. 

That's annoying. I open my eyes. Still the same blinding lights. Except, I was no longer moving. I look around the room. It was cold. White walls. Chairs. I was all too familiar with where I was. I was in the hospital.

"Val..."

I turn my head and see Carmen beside me. Her eyes were puffy and her clothes were wrinkled.

"You look awful," I say. My voice it hoarse and dry so I cough after. Carmen hands me a glass of water. 

"Yeah, well you don't look so good yourself."

I try to take a sip of the water. It hurts to move my arms so Carmen helps before taking the glass away. "What happened," Carmen ask.

I look at her confused. What did happen? My memory is a little fuzzy. "I - I'm not sure."

"Come on Val, don't give me that. You told mom and I to trust you. Then we get a call saying you're in the hospital. You promised you would be okay. You promised me Val."

Oh wait. Does she think ...

I don't have a chance to respond before the door swings open. Nadine enters and she looks worse than Carmen. There were tears running down her cheeks and it looked like she just rolled out of bed. She can barely hold back a sob as she looks at me. Carmen excuses herself and closes the door behind her. 

Nadine doesn't sit down. Instead she begins pacing back and forth across the room. She runs a hand through her hair. "Nadine," I try and call out. 

She stops suddenly and turns towards me. She no longer looks sad but angry. The only time I'd seen her this upset is when Cole crashed homecoming. She points an accusing finger at me. 

"What the fuck?"

Nadine rarely curses. 

"You tell me you have something to do and the next time I see you is in a hospital bed. You lied to me. So everything at Christmas was a goddamn joke. You got me to let my guard down. Shit, Valentina how could you be so selfish. Your mom can't even come in here right now. What the hell and I suppose to think when Carmen calls and says you've been in an accident? I love you Valentina. I love you so much that I can see a world without you in it. How could you do this? How could you try after everything we've been through? After all the work you put in to get better. Valentina, how could you?"

She looks so broken. She collapses to her knees and my heart aches. "Nadine."

She doesn't even look up. "Nadine please. Please look at me."

She finally meets my gaze and those blue eyes I've come to love so much are so full of agony.

"I never lied to you. I didn't try and kill myself. I promise you I didn't."

She gets off her knees and sits on the edge of the bed. "What?"

I turn my arm so she could see the tattoo. She gasp. "I wanted to surprise you." She moves closer and takes my arm gently in her hands. She does a feather like rub over the ink with her finger. "I always wanted to have a piece of you with me."

She looks up at me. "What happened then?"

I try and remember what happened. I see flashes of a car and then it all goes blank. "I can't really remember. All I remember is there being another car."

"Are you saying someone ran you off the road?"

I learned that I was unconscious for a few days before coming to. My mom finally came and saw me when she was told I didn't try and kill myself. My injuries were pretty bad. I hit my head and that's why my memory was spotty. I had glasses all over my body and was impaled in my leg. I wouldn't be able to walk for awhile so I was learning how to use a wheelchair. 

Also, the police were involved. My mom wouldn't let them talk to me until I was home so today I had my interview. There is a possibility that someone tried to kill me. The car was to badly damaged from the wreck to tell if someone ran into me. Now all the police have to rely on is my memory. Which is still not in mint condition. 

"You don't have to do this is you're not ready."

Nadine offered to be with me while the police were here. She's been with me ever since the accident. I've gotten some time off from school so Nadine brings my homework and teaches me whatever their learning. Karlie and the boys have also been over to check on me. 

"No, it's okay. If someone did try and kill me they might come back and finish the job."

It was a joke but the way Nadine looks at me tell's me she doesn't think it's funny. "Sorry."

My mom walks into the living room with two officers trailing behind her. She allows them to sit on the couch and then excuses herself. I didn't want her to be in the room. When she found out that someone might have been trying to kill me she went off. I'd rather her not have to si here and listen to how it happened. 

"Hello, Valentina. I'm detective Russo and this is James."

I nod towards the both of them. "This is Nadine. my girlfriend."

"So, what we're going to do is called a cognitive interview. It'll basically use your senses so that your brain can piece together what happened," detective Russo says.

"Should I close my eyes?"

She nods, "It can be helpful."

I let my eyes close. I feel Nadine's slip into mine and squeeze reassuringly. "Now, listen to the sound of my voice. Remember that this is just a memory. Whoever did this can't hurt you anymore."

"Okay."

"Now, tell me where you are?"

My mind drifts back to a few days ago. "I'm in the car. I just finished getting a tattoo."

"Okay. You were in the car. Did you play music? Were the windows rolled down?"

"Yes. I was playing music. It was the first time driving by myself."

"When did you notice the car?"

"Uhm, I just saw it getting closer to me. It was so close."

"So, what did you do?"

"I tried to let it get in front of me. But it didn't."

"Can you see whose behind the wheel?"

I try and shake my head. "No. No I can't see them."

"That's okay. What kind of a car was it?"

"A truck I think. It was a lot bigger than mine."

"That's good. Tell me what else."

"It started pushing me off. It was too big for me to get back over."

I grip Nadine's hand tighter. "The car is crashing!"

"It's okay, It's just a memory."

I relax a little. "Tell me what you see."

"Uh - trees."

"Is that all."

"Yes ... no wait. There's someone walking towards me."

"Who is it Valentina?"

My eyes open . "It's Cole."