EmpressOfDarkness's blog: "Torn Part 5"

“Lisa? Lisa, wake up,” a low voice whispered in her ear. 

Lisa's eyes fluttered open. The light hurt her eyes, so she closed them again. She didn’t want to be here, wherever here was. She wanted to go back. 

“I saw that Pippy, come on! Wake up!” 

She was confused; who was whispering, why was someone whispering, and why did she have to wake up? She was in a safe place. Brian and her were laughing and talking like they used to. It had been so long since things felt real between the two. Struggling to sit up, she looked around the room. It wasn't her room. “Where...? Where the hell am I?”

“The hospital,” Josh said matter-of-factly. 

“Why? What happened?” 

“You don't remember?” 

“I remember I'm supposed to be going to a dinner party for my friend Wendy tonight, but other than that... no it's all a blank. Where are my parents? My brother?” Panic was beginning to creep into her voice. 

“Maybe you should wait until they get here. Doctor's said this might happen.” Josh got up from his chair and went to the door. “I'll be right back. I'm just going to let them know you're awake.”

“Yeah, I'm awake because you kept telling me to wake up!”

Josh pulled the door open and walked out, saying nothing. Minutes later he returned with Lisa's parents and doctor's in tow. 

“You're awake, you're okay,” Mrs. Callington exclaimed, rushing to wrap her arms around Lisa.

“Yes, I'm fine.” Struggling out of her mother's grasp; she looked from her parents, to the doctors, to Josh. “Would someone please tell me what is going on? Brian and I have a dinner to go to.”

Mrs. Callington gasped and grabbed her husband. “She doesn't...?”

Mr. Callington looked to the doctor. “Why doesn't she remember?” 

“The bullet itself was a miracle, we told you that when she first came in. How it didn't penitrate the skull was an absolute fluke, especially from the close proximity.”

“Whoa, wait just a minute. Bullet? What bullet? I wasn't shot!” The panic was now overwhelming. 

“She doesn't know?” Mr. Callington asked, confused.

“She doesn't remember,” Mrs. Callington repeated, sobbing. 

“That's to be expected. While the bullet didn't get through to the skull, there was the impact injury. This caused some bruising and swelling. Whether she will remember the incident or not will remain to be seen. It could be caused by the injury or the emotional stress.”

“Can someone please tell me what's going on? I am still in the room you know.” Lisa looked at each of the people standing in front of her. 

“Your brother is gone,” Mrs. Callington said, her eyes misting over. She reached for Lisa's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “We thought we were going to lose you too.” 

“Gone?” Lisa couldn't think. It wasn't possible. They were just going out for dinner. How could this happen? “Tell me.”

“Lisa, we should wait ‘til you're stronger.” Her father patted her legs. 

She could see he was upset but she had to know what happened. “Please?” 

“Why don't you let me?” Josh stepped forward, until then he stayed quiet. 

Lisa's parent's nodded; Lisa could see that whatever happened to her brother was still fresh. 

“Why don't you take a few minutes and grab a cup of coffee. She's awake now. We’ll talk and then you can speak with her again.” Josh seemed to have a handle on the situation. 

“That's a good idea. I have a few things I need to discuss with Mr. and Mrs. Callington,” the doctor supplied. “Why don't you follow me, we can have a little chat and then you can return to be with your daughter.”

Mr. Callington led his wife out of the room by the arm. Lisa watched them go, her mother appeared to be leaning heavily on her father. This worried her but she said nothing. 

“Do you want to sit up?” Josh didn't move but appeared ready to if needed. 

“Please, I haven't got a clue how this bed works.” She tried to prop herself up but her head had other ideas. 

“You had quite the night last night,” Josh said, his tone sombre. 

“Apparently, yet I remember none of it. Tell me what happened.” 

“Well from what I've been able to find out. You and Brian were on your way home. Some guy was swerving all over the road and hit a pole.” He told her the rest of what happened and watched her face as he recalled the evening for her.

Lisa could see he was struggling about something. She didn't want to push but she had to know everything. “There's more isn't there?” 

After a few minutes he replied, “When the ambulance arrived on the scene, they found you cradling your brother in your lap. You were slumped down over him. The driver of the car was gone.”

Lisa's stomach dropped. She remembered none of this. The last minutes she and her brother shared and she remembered nothing! That didn't seem fair to her. “How do I make myself remember?” Her eyes pleaded with him. 

“You can't. It'll either come or it won't. You can't focus on it.” 

“When's the funeral? I haven't missed it?”

“Nothing's been arranged as of yet.”

“I'm tired.” Lisa slumped back against the bed and began beating herself up for not protecting him. “If I hadn't pushed...” 

“Don't start that. You had no more control over that than I did,” he said sternly. “He wouldn't want you lying here pulling this and you know it.”

“I don't know anything anymore. If I hadn't convinced him to come out, he'd have been staring out his window and still be alive.”

“You don't know that.”

“The hell I don't.” She turned over and closed her eyes, dismissing him.

to be continued...