She was falling, surrounded only by an intense darkness. Reaching out, trying to grasp onto something, anything, she continued to fall. Her mouth opened as if to scream, but the voice would not come. The only sound she could hear was her own heartbeat. It was almost a deafening sound, making her head pound. The darkness slowly began to lighten, but remained blurry as she fell. She heard muffled voices as her heartbeat became silent. As she looked down, a bright light appeared to be getting closer and closer. Just when she thought the light would consume her, the dream drifted away, and she opened her eyes.
Light cascaded in through a window, causing her to blink rapidly for her eyes to adjust. Her whole body felt numb, and she thought perhaps she was still dreaming. The dry pain in her throat convinced her otherwise. As she surveyed her surroundings, her eyes stopped on the young man curled in a chair beside the bed. His eyes were closed, his face unshaven, and his head was propped up on one arm.
“Josh,” she whispered almost inaudibly.
His eyes flew open, staring at her widely. “Abbey. Thank God.”
“What are you doing here?” Her voice was raspy.
“It was my turn to sit with you. Justin’s right outside. Let me get the doctor.” Before she could say anything else, he was already out the door.
As she sat slightly up in bed, a lightheaded feeling overcome her. She reached up with one hand, running it gently along the bandage on her head. A dull ache was also prevalent on her sides, one that she only felt when she moved. And breathed. Her eyes were still heavy, willing her to go back to sleep. Several people walked back into the room, some of them smiling; some of them sad; all of them tired and worn.
“I thought I’d lost you, babygirl.” Justin grabbed her hand, holding it delicately in his own. She studied his eyes briefly. They were red, puffy, weary.
She looked back over to JC, who had returned to the seat next to the bed, perusing his expression as well. After a fleeting moment, she returned her gaze to Justin.
“Where am I?”
“The hospital.” Justin poured a cup of water and brought it to her lips.
She drank it quickly, feeling the relief on her dry throat. “What happened?”
JC rested his fingers on her forearm. “You were hit by a car a couple nights ago.”
She closed her eyes trying to gather her thoughts. As she opened them again, she looked around at the other faces in the room, carefully examining each one. Once again, her eyes fell back on JC.
“Why are you all here?” The perplexed expression on her face quickly spread to his.
“Because we care about you. We were waiting for you to wake up.”
“I’m confused.” She pulled her hand away from Justin and covered her face as she sighed.
“Confused about what?” Justin lightly rubbed her shoulder.
Her hands rested lightly across her lap, her face still perplexed. “Who are you?”
Justin’s eyes widened as he met JC’s gaze. Chris noticed the bewildered expression on their faces and took a step closer to the bed. “You don’t know us?”
She moved her focus from her hands to the young man standing at the end of her bed. She studied his face momentarily before speaking. “I do. But. . . I--” Her voice trailed off, the thought not wanting to complete itself. “I don’t know. Everything is so jumbled. I don’t-- I just--” A sigh of frustration was the only thing she could manage.
A gray-haired man and a young woman entered the room before anything else could be said. “Ms. James. I’m Dr. Machado. How are you feeling?”
She stared up at him with her mouth half open, no words coming out. A pervasive feeling of scrutiny overwhelmed her as her focus darted around the room.
“She’s having trouble remembering some. . . stuff,” JC spoke softly.
Abbey squinted her eyes, looking back and forth between the doctor and JC.
“How about you all wait outside for right now. I need to examine her.”
Reluctantly, they all made their way to the door. Justin only removed his focus from her when the closing door blocked his view.
The doctor lightly pressed along her abdomen, raised each arm and leg, and gently massaged along her neck asking if anything hurt. Everything hurt a little bit, some places hurt a lot. When he seemed appeased with his examination, he sat in the empty chair beside her.
“Ms. James, do you know why you’re here?”
She half nodded. “I was hit by a car, I think. That’s what they told me.” She motioned towards the door.
“Do you know what month it is?”
She looked down in contemplation. “December?”
“What about the year?”
“2000.”
The doctor wrote a brief note on the chart before setting it aside. “Ms. James, when you were hit by the car, you suffered several bruised ribs and severe head trauma. In reaction to this trauma, there was some swelling in your brain. You were unconscious for two days, and now some of that swelling has gone down. It’s a miracle you didn’t break anything.” The doctor paused when he noticed her bewildered expression.
“What’s today’s date?” she uttered.
“April 28th, 2002.”
Her face saddened and she turned her face away from him. A million thoughts raced through her head, somehow trying to make sense of the past few minutes. “I can’t remember,” she whispered more to herself than anyone. “All those people. I don’t remember them. How could I lose a whole year?” A single tear fell down her cheek as she rambled.
She turned her glance back to the doctor, her eyes pleading for an answer.
“The swelling in your brain has started to go down, but there is still a ways to go until you recover. In time, the memories should come back.”
“Should?”
“Well,” his voice trailed off. “There’s no guarantee.”
“I don’t understand. When will I remember?”
“Sometimes the memories come back in a couple days. Sometimes it takes a couple months. Sometimes. . .”
“Sometimes they’re gone,” she finished his sentence.
He merely nodded. She turned her face away from him once again and closed her eyes. After a few minutes of silence, he stood up and walked towards the door. “Get some rest. I’ll be back to check on you.”
Tears began to form in her eyes as the doctor’s words echoed over and over in her mind.
Justin had been staring desperately at the door, and when the doctor emerged, he was the first one to get up. The expression on the doctor’s face was enough of a clue, but they all needed an explanation.
“What happened? Is she confused? What’s wrong?” The questions left Justin’s mouth quickly, frantic for an answer.
“I told you all of this was a possibility. The head trauma has affected her memory. Whether this is temporary or permanent, only time will tell. We have to wait for the swelling to subside before we can get any clear answers.”
“What do you mean it’s affected her memory? How much does she not remember?”
No answer would dispel the despondency in his eyes. “She thinks it’s December of 2000. I didn’t press her because she needs her rest. But the past sixteen months are non-existent to her right now.”
JC closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. Chris hugged Stephanie close as she began to cry. Justin continued to stare at the doctor, the answer he wanted still not coming. “When will she remember?”
The doctor shook his head and looked down at the chart. “I honestly don’t know.”
“You’re her doctor. You’re supposed to know these things.” His voice was raised, his frustration evident.
The doctor threw up one hand in defeat. “I’m sorry,” he muttered before turning to walk away.
JC walked after him down the hallway. “Doc, can we go see her?”
He stopped as JC caught up with him. “She really needs her rest right now. And her family.”
“That might be hard since the only family she has wants nothing to do with her.”
“Well, she needs someone she remembers to help her through this. Imagine if you woke up tomorrow and I told you it was a year later than you thought. Imagine how you’d feel losing all that time. That’s what she’s going through.”
“She knows me. She remembers me. I’ve known her for a good portion of my life.”
The doctor placed one hand on JC’s shoulder. “Then help her remember everything else.” He turned and walked down the hall.
JC made his way back to where everyone was waiting. A mixture of confusion and sadness visible on their faces. Stephanie wiped the tears from her eyes and cleared her throat. “Maybe we should all go home and get a bite to eat. Ya know, change our clothes and everything. We could come back in a bit. Now that we know she’s okay and all.”
“She’s not fucking okay, Steph.” Justin’s voice was soft but angry.
“I know, I just meant she’s awake and all. I didn’t mean--”
“Whatever, just leave then. I don’t fucking care.”
“Dude, back up. She didn’t mean it like that. We’re all upset here, so don’t take it out on her when she’s only trying to help,” Chris retorted.
Justin stood up, getting in Chris’s face. “You can go with her, too. We don’t need you here.” Chris and Justin began yelling back and forth, drawing the attention of others in the hallway.
“Stop it,” Joey declared, pushing himself between the two. “We don’t need this bullshit right now.”
“Stephanie has a point. We’ve all been here for the better part of two days. We’ve had a minimum amount of sleep. These clothes are getting stinky, and the vending machine food is not doing wonders for our bodies. We’re all a little on edge,” Lance said.
Justin ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s just. . .” He shook his head in frustration.
“We know, Justin. We’re all in this together,” Stephanie rubbed his back in comfort.
JC had remained quiet through the whole ordeal. He was too busy with his thoughts to pay much attention to his squabbling friends. He rubbed his tired eyes and stood up.
“You guys go home and get yourselves cleaned up and rested,” he said nonchalantly as he walked back towards her room.
“I’m not leaving, JC. I want to go talk to her.”
JC stopped and walked back to where his friends were standing. “Let me talk to her. She remembers me. While I’m in there, just go home and get a bite to eat and a shower. You can come right back.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need to go home now.”
JC put his hands on Justin’s shoulders, staring him straight in the eyes. “Justin, you won’t be any good to her if you go in there looking raggedy and starving. One hour. She’ll still be here.”
Justin agreed reluctantly as he watched JC walk down the hall. He turned and followed the guys out onto the street towards the cars. Immediately, he felt guilty for leaving, but he knew JC was right. The past two days had felt like an eternity.
Chapter 5: Remnants of Friendship
Take Me Home!
