She sat upright on the bed, nervously chewing on her nails.
"Goodness", Ava said, watching her chew on her nails, "That's a terrible habit. Very unhygienic. You could get sick".
She glared at Ava. " Where were you Ava? You said you were working an afternoon shift, and the sun went to
bed hours ago".
" I've got other patients to look after you know."
Her eyes fell and she felt a little guilty.
" Okay look, I'm sorry. I should've checked in on you before going off to work".
She still wasn't satisfied.
Ava sighed. "I've got an hour left of my shift. How's about I spend it with you".
A huge smile spread across her face.
Ava's heart warmed at her pretty ivory face, but she frowned and traced the bruises on her face lightly.
Hoooooonnnnnkkk!
She gasped and jerked her head up looking at Ava. "What time did the accident happen?"
Ava ran her hand through her luxurious ash blonde locks. "You were brought in to the hospital a little after eight thirty".
Ava came to stand behind her. She braided her hair into high pigtails.
She closed her eyes and forced her mind to remember what happened before the accident but she couldn't.
She let out a whimper. "Relax Alea. Your memories will come back at the right time".
" What'd you call me?"
" Alea. It's a nickname. Since you can't remember your name, I figured I call you Azalea".
She smiled. " It's pretty", she paused, " I overheard Dr. Morris say I don't have any internal injuries. True?"
Ava hesitated. " No. He only said that because we knew you were eavesdropping".
"I'm gonna die, right?", She asked after a few heartbeats.
Ava gasped. " No sweetheart". Her eyes pleaded with Ava.
She sighed. " The impact of the crash was very severe. No one thought you'd make it out of that coma. It's a miracle you're here today".
Huge balls of tears rolled down her face. She covered her face with her hands. "I can't remember anything. My mom,my dad, my friends,my age, my birthday. I've got several fractures".
Ava froze, she rolled her tongue in her cheek and came to squat beside the hospital bed.
She held her hand and rubbed circles on it. "Alea, take it easy. We're going to make it, together, okay?"
She spread her arms out and Ava eased herself into the bed beside her and wrapped her arms around her, cautious of her injuries.
"Why don't we play thirty questions?"
" What's that?"
Ava went back to braiding her hair. " I'll ask you thirty questions. I'll answer first and then you will". " Okay", she replied quietly.
" Your name?"
" Don't know"
" My name's Ava Hilton". " Age?"
She crinkled her brows. " 10?"
Ava smiled. " You remember your age?"
" No. That date you showed me yesterday, it's kinda familiar".
" Yes!", Ava cheered, "We're getting there".
She smiled. "Are you married Ava?"
" Not yet".
" Hmm", she hummed.
"Favorite color?" , Ava asked,as she finished braiding her hair. She shook her head. "Mine's blue".
" I don't wanna do this anymore".
" But I'm tryna see if you can remember anything".
" Well it's not working". Ava sighed. " Azalea…", she cooed.
"That's not my name", she snapped.
"I know it's hard for you baby,but I promise, we'll do the best we can".
She searched her face and nodded.
****
Hoooooonnnnnkkk!
"Little girl? Can you hear me?"
She watched from a distance the bloody girl on the asphalt and the ginger haired man tryna get a response from the girl.
The girl sat up and waved her over. She frowned. She shouldn't be moving. She should be unconscious. Her legs moved her toward the girl on their own accord.
"Hi, can you remember our name?" The girl smiled. " Trust nobody", she replied.
" Thanks,but uhh, that won't quite help my situation", she sat down on the asphalt next to her, " You see, we survived after this accident,but the thing is I can't recall a thing, can you help me?"
The girl pointed to a dark wall. She creased her brows and stared at the wall.
She got up and walked to the wall. It wasn't a wall. It was a void. She stood at the very edge and looked down. There was nothing.
The girl stood beside her and laughed. She jerked, and struggled to balance herself. "Woah there, you scared me". "Trust nobody", she said and pushed her into the void.
" Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!", she shrieked.
–––
She woke up, panting. The sweat trickling down her body made her robe stick to her body. "I wanna go home", she cried to herself.
She eased herself off the bed and grabbed her crutches. It'd been four weeks and Jack said she was recovering quickly. All the tubes and the cannular on her hands had been removed and was replaced by the crutches that aided her movement.
She walked to the window and stared out into the garden. It was a lovely day and she longed to go outside. She hadn't seen Ava in two weeks. It made her sad but she knew Ava had other patients to look after.
"Alea". Speak of the devil. Ava walked into the room and she turned around. " Someone wants to see you".
She gasped as the ginger haired man from her dream walked in. "What is he doing here?" , she gritted out. She turned to him. " What're you doing here? Who let you in? I'm pretty sure you bribed your way in, cause the hospital won't let a stranger in".
" Relax missy", he said with a cowboy accent. " I didn't bribe no one. To the hospital, I'm your family cause I brought you in, paid the bills and so and so".
She gritted her teeth in embarrassment.
" Ma name's Orion Ross. I know you're mad at me cause of the accident,but I swear, it wasn't ma fault. I saw you a little too late and I tried honking cause ma brakes were jammed andd….."
" Why didn't you get it fixed? You knew you're breaks were faulty, why didn't you fix it?", she interrupted him.
"Ah didn't know,miss. But I fixed it after the accident. You can check it out".
She eyed him suspiciously. She understood why he was so fidgety. She cleared her throat softly. "If you're worried about a lawsuit, don't. My parents, which I don't remember won't be doing that".
" Did you say you don't remember your parents?" He turned to Ava. " Did she say she don't remember her parents?"
" It's not just my parents,my name,my age,my address,my birthday. All of it. Everything,gone".
Orion nodded slowly and his Adam's Apple bobbed as he gulped. "Wha that's terrible".
" Yup, so now you understand why I'm so ascerbic to you".
" Yeah", he wheezed. " Well,I'm gonna let you get some rest,eh?"
She nodded though she knew he was just looking for an excuse to leave.
She sighed and hobbled over to the bed, letting her crutches fall halfway.
"You've got so much confidence for a ten year old", Ava praised.
She glanced at her. " You've really conned me into believing I'm really 10".
" Well", Ava started and sat beside her, "You've got the body akin to most 10 year olds. But your mind, your brain's like that of a 15 year old".
She cocked her brow. " My brain's currently scrambled. Can't remember a thing about my past".
" Your brain's not scrambled".
" Really? Cause I don't exactly know how to write, my handwriting's awful and identifying the alphabets is hell".
Ava laughed.
" It's not funny Ava. It's serious".
Ava smiled and held her hand. " Everything will be fine, alright?"
She smiled at her and stared at their interlaced hands and back at her face. "Okay".