“I don’t know… Five minutes. Ten. I don’t know,”she cries.
She needs me.
“Medics are pulling in. Hang on, buddy.”
“Ma’am, we’ve got him now. We need space.”
“No, no, I can’t leave him. No!”
“Let them help him.”She’s not alone; someone’s with her.“We’ll follow them to the hospital.”
She’ll be okay…
She lost me once…
She’ll be okay…
My Olive–
* * *
It’s so bright.
I can hardly peel my eyelids apart as if someone glued them together.
Everything was black, and now I can see.
Is this the afterlife?
A face appears in front of me, too blurry to make out.
“There he is.” A woman’s voice… So soft. So familiar.
“Mom?”
“It’s me, honey.” Her soft hand strokes my cheek, and I startle.
“Am I… Alive?”
A sad laugh escapes her, and her eyes finally come into focus in front of me. Pain-filled eyes, gazing down at me.
“You’re alive. Thank God. Your stab wound was an inch from being fatal.”
Stab wound…
“Olive! Where’s Olive?” I shift to move, and every part of me cries out in pain.
“Shh, shhh, she’s right here. She’s finally sleeping. Let her rest.”
I glance to where my mom is looking and see the curled-up form on the hospital couch. There’s a blanket covering herfrom her chin to her toes, curled under her tightly. Her back is to me, but I can see her chestnut hair, pulled into a ponytail, falling over the edge of the cushion.
She never wears her hair up anymore. It reminds me of when we were younger.
“They said she’s been awake nearly two days, since you’ve been unconscious, but I convinced her to rest when I got here. I think she needed to know someone was watching over you. Though I don’t know why… There is a lobby full of people down the hall, and the nurse said they haven’t left since you got here either.”
My eyebrows furrow, and even that hurts as I let my head fall to my pillow. I’ve never felt so heavy and immobile. Lifting my arms is nearly impossible, but I do it just enough to see the bandages wrapped around my forearms.
“They said those are mostly superficial. They’ll heal quicker than your stomach.”
