Blue Future [Completed]

Chapter 7: Memories And Unhelpful Hospital Staff

Chapter 7

I had a dream that night, but it wasn’t a vision.  It was different than any dream I’d ever had.  It was a memory of my mom, and Fate.

I was seven, a year before Mom was taken away.  Fate was four, and it was Mom’s birthday.  Fate wanted to do something special for Mom, so I tried to teach her how to cook.  We tried making Mommy some spaghetti for a birthday surprise, but Fate got the sauce all over the two of us, so mom had to come into the kitchen and spend an hour on her birthday cleaning up the kitchen, and her daughters.

We thought she was sad, or mad, or thought her birthday was ruined, but then she started laughing, and kissed us both on our foreheads, asking where she’d be without us.

Then my dream skipped a few months to when Mom took Fate and I to the pool, and I was so scared to swim, and wouldn’t let go of the side, even though I had a gazillion floating noodles, and a life vest, and I was in the shallow end, where I could stand up anyway.

But when my mom came over, she picked me up, and took me over to the middle of the pool, despite my efforts against her, and she let go of me, and I started screaming bloody murder, until I realized I was fine.

Then I saw another memory, and another, and another.  And it was like I saw my whole life with my mom.  Then, at the end, I heard her voice.  It was the same as I remembered it.  Sweet and soft, saying, “I love you, Destiny.  I love you, and your sister, and I would give anything to come back and hold you one more time.”

And then I woke up.  Light was streaming in through my window, and my clock said ten o’clock, but I was so upset about losing my mother’s voice, that I started sobbing into my pillow.

“Mom, I miss you.  I know you can’t hear me, but I miss you.”

I lay like that for a while, until Fate came in and saw me, with tears on my face, and my hair in a huge rat’s nest.  I must have been a sight to see.

“What’s wrong?”

I sniffled.  “I had a dream.  Not a vision,” I added quickly when I saw Fate’s face.  “A memory dream.  It was nice.  I saw Mom.  Remember when she took us to see Finding Nemo?  I saw that.  And her spaghetti birthday, and everything.”

I told her about what my mother’s voice had told me, and she started tearing up, too.

“I miss her, too.”

“I know you do, Fate.”

She sniffled and we laughed for no reason.  We just needed to smile.  “Well, I think we should get dressed.  Are we going out for ices cream?”

“Yeah.  But I was thinking we should go see if Derek’s okay beforehand.”

She smiled.  “Okay.”

She left me to get dressed, and I remembered I hadn’t showered the previous night.  I grabbed my towel and robe, and walked to the bathroom, and was relieved when I didn’t hear anyone in there.  I opened the door and locked it before turning on the water and stepping under.

I read once, that the best place to cry is the shower.  The water washes away your tears, and no one can hear you over the water beating down on you.  I always thought it made sense, but not until today, did I know how true it was.

When I was done, I pulled o the robe, wrapped my hair in the towel, and grabbed my clothes before going back to my room, nearly running into Lisa.

Her hair was a mess and there were bags under her dark eyes.  She was wearing a light blue robe over her pajamas like every other Saturday, drinking coffee from her mug that said “I’m with awesome,” and an arrow pointing up.  It had been a gift from me and Fate for her thirty-fifth birthday a couple years ago.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

I wanted to stay and talk, but I didn’t like talking to people when I was wearing nothing but a bathrobe.  I ducked into my room and hurried to get dressed in a maroon t-shirt that said, “Group conformity scares the pants off me because it's so often a prelude to cruelty towards anyone who doesn't want to - or can't - join the Big Parade. –Bette Midler”

I put on some khaki shorts and flip flop sandals, and then went into the kitchen to scramble some eggs for breakfast, but saw Lisa and Fate had already made me pancakes.  They did this sort of thing whenever I did something good.  It’s just them, I guess.

“Oh.  Thanks guys.  You really didn’t have to do this.”

Fate laughed.  “Who said we did this for you?  I like pancakes, too, you know.”

I walked over and smacked her head lightly, picking up a piece of bacon from the plate next to the pan.

“So, Destiny, Fate says you’re going to the hospital to check on that guy.  What was his name?  David?”

“Derek.”

“Right.  So I looked it up.  Visiting hours start at eleven, and end at five, so you ought to leave in a bit.”

“Got it.  I was just going to head out after we ate.  And Fate, do you want to grab some lunch to keep in the car, or just eat when we get back?”

“The ice cream can hold us a while.”

“Okay.  So Fate, go get my black bag, and we can get out of here in five.”  I had a plate of pancakey goodness in front of me, and started pouring maple syrup on top of my stack.

“Okay.”  She left the room and was back in a few seconds with my black bag that held my wallet and car keys inside.

We walked out of the house and into the car.  Fate turned on the radio to a pop station, and even though I really wasn’t in to a lot of current music, I did know most of the words to the songs, so Fate and I would always sing along.

“Make me come alive

Come on and turn me on!”

We laughed, and sang at the top of our lungs as we drove.  We decided to go to the hospital, see how Derek is doing, and then go to Cold Stone creamery for a bit before heading home.  I put the hospital into my GPS app, because I have no idea where it was, and got to the hospital in about twenty-five minutes.  We quickly walked into the huge building and walked up to the desk.

“Hello.  Can I help you,” the lady at the desk asked sweetly.

“Um, yeah.  I called for an ambulance last night for a friend of mine, and I just wanted to know how he’s doing.”

I assumed she was opening up some file on her computer, because she started clicking all over the place.  After a minute, she asked for his name.

“Um, Derek,” I looked at Fate, terrified.  “Derek, Rogers, I think.”  I wasn’t sure if that was his last name, but I thought the teachers this week had called out Derek Rogers for roll call.”

I was relieved however, when she clicked again, and said, “Okay.  Derek Rogers, anonymous source called 911, an ambulance came and took him away, and he almost died.  Head injuries, foot injuries, and both of them caused him to lose a lot of blood.  I can’t give you a lot of details, since you’re not closely related, but he’s unconscious.”

I was shocked.  “Still?  That was hours ago.”

“Yes, well he lost a lot of blood.  He’s lucky he didn’t lose his life as well.”

“Well can I go see him?”

“I’m sorry, but only family can see him.  I can tell you now, that we don’t think he’ll be waking up for a few days, at least.”

“Well, how long do you how long do you think he’ll be out, tops?”

“Honestly, comas can last months, or even years.”

“But this won’t will it?”

“I can’t say.  Miss, you should go.”

“But-“

“Go.  And by the way, you were the one who called 911?”  I nodded.  “Well, you could have saved this boys life.”

[A/N:  Hey!  I really want you all to tell me what you think!  My first chapter got me one vote!  So please, keep it up!  Oh, and feel free to read my other stories, too!]