Tiny Crown

Chapter 6

She wasn't sure what time it was when she woke up. She didn't even know if it was night or day since there were no windows. Emilia turned onto her side and immediately regretted it as her body screamed out with pain. Closing her eyes again, she took a few deep breaths. She'd have to move eventually. And even though she knew it already, something just finally seemed to sink in.

She didn't remember the last few weeks.

There was a click and the door swung open.
"Morning," she heard. Groaning, she watched as Evan set a pile of folded clothes on the drawers next to the wardrobe. He turned to look at her. "Is everything alright?"
Emilia shook her head. "No." Wincing, she forced herself to sit up on the bed.
"Are you in pain?" he asked. She nodded. "I can get you painkillers if that will help." Emilia slowly nodded again.

What day had it been? What date could she remember?

January.

January 17th 2017.

Her Mom had been released from the hospital a few days ago, she needed to get back to her Mom.

"What's the date?"
Evan furrowed his brow as he watched her. "April 7th."
"It can't be," was her first reaction.
"Emilia," said Evan as he knelt on the floor in front of her. "What do you think the date is?"
"January 17th, that's the last date I can remember."
"And the year?"
"2017," she said quickly. Hopefully it was still the same year.

"Okay," said Evan. Slowly, he nodded. "Okay, you're missing, like, three months, it's April 7th."
"How?"
"Do you remember what happened yesterday on the road?" he asked as he pushed some of his curls out of his face.
"A car accident or something?" said Emilia as she realised she couldn't actually remember whatever had happened to her. She'd seen the road and she was in pain so she had just assumed... but she couldn't remember what had happened before. "I... I don't know."

As soon as she spoke, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't want to cry.
"Hey, Emilia," said Evan. He spoke softly and she found it hard to believe the angry man from the night previous was the same person as the one kneeling in front of her. "Look at me, everything will be fine, alright? Your memory will probably come back soon."
"What if it doesn't?" she asked as she looked into his blue eyes.
"Well..." he said, trailing off and looking away. "We just have to hope it does and it could always be much worse."

Emilia wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. The silence was disturbed by the beginning of a song, one that seemed familiar to her. Quickly, Evan pulled his phone from his jeans' pockets and looked at the screen. He frowned as he rejected the call.

"I came here to tell you that you can wear my sister's clothes, if they fit. Obviously I'm going to have to get you some new things but if they fit, you can wear them," he said as he looked over his shoulder at the clothes on the drawer. "I'm cooking bacon for breakfast too, if you want some."
Emilia nodded as she looked at the clothes. "Yes, thank you."
"I'll be downstairs then," he said, smiling as he stood up.

Once he had left, Emilia shut the door. It didn't click and lock as she had expected. She walked over to the clothes and sifted through them until she found things she could wear. Emilia peeled off her leggings and cleaned the first and specks of blood off her leg where the leggings had ripped. Then, she washed her face and hands before changing into clean clothes.

She tried to keep her mind off her memory, or lack thereof, and headed downstairs. The smell of bacon cooking was distracting enough. Emilia reached the bottom of the stairs and could see Evan cooking the bacon. The sleeves of his red plaid shirt were rolled up.

"Do the clothes fit?" he asked as he made the bacon sandwich. He cut the sandwich and pushed the counter. Somehow, he pushed it with just enough force for it to stop in front of Emilia. She smiled a little.

"That's pretty cool," she said with a small smile. She couldn't believe she had just said that to him.
"Yeah, I guess it is," he said, smiling back. When she went to take the plate and sit somewhere else, he called after her. "Stay in here." Emilia turned and put the plate back down. Evan turned back to her, still avoiding eye contact.

"What's that?" asked Emilia, noticing a stretched scar on his forearm. It looked old. Evan looked down and realised the scar was visible.
"It's nothing," he said as he pulled his sleeve down to cover it. The other sleeve was then pulled down.
"Are you sure?" asked Emilia, furrowing her brow. It didn't look like nothing.
"It's nothing," he repeated. It seemed like Evan was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Emilia.

Emilia decided against mentioning it again and busied herself with eating. She didn't want to anger him again. When she had finished eating, he took the empty plate and put it in the dishwasher. Emilia tapped the counter as she wondered what she was supposed to do. Evan had just put his own plate in the dishwasher and had started speaking when he was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Evan froze.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Whoever it was, they were impatient. Evan motioned for her to go upstairs and Emilia was hesitant. But she didn't want to anger him and he could easily pick her up. Evan followed her up and locked her in the room. She could hear his quick footsteps as he sprinted downstairs to open the door.

"Hey Evan, what's up?" asked a man. Or at least, they sounded like a man.
"Hm?" That was Evan's voice.
"I asked, what's up?" they repeated in an irritated tone. The voice sounded sort of familiar.
"Nothing," was Evan's short reply. It was almost like Evan was bored.

Whatever they were saying became quieter and Emilia couldn't hear what they were saying. She wondered why the voice was familiar, maybe she had known them in those three missing months. Emilia sat with her back against the door in hopes of hearing something.

Footsteps.

"Hey, Evan, have you heard about Emilia?" asked whoever had come upstairs. Did they know her?
"Emilia?" asked Evan as he headed up the stairs.
"The one who was on the news this morning? My friend?"
"I didn't see the news," said Evan. His voice sounded completely devoid of emotion, almost like he was a completely different person.

There was a groan of frustration on the other side of the door. "The one I was talking about at dinner the other day? Mom picked her up for her first day at school the other day?" There was a short silence. "No? You're useless, you know that?"

Emilia tried to process what the stranger had said. He had said that he was her friend. But she couldn't remember him. And that she'd started the first day of school. Had she switched schools?

"The one who moved in with her aunt?"
"Yes!" they said in an exasperated tone. "Yes, that's her. She's gone missing. They found her phone smashed on the road and her bag was there too."

Emilia wanted to call out but she had the feeling that would end badly.

"Where is she, Evan?" he asked sharply. "Mom said you ruined whatever she was doing so what did you do?"

It was silent again and Emilia was glad she didn't call out for help. It seemed whoever the person was, they knew something about whatever was happening and it didn't sound like they were interested in calling the police.

"I don't know," Evan lied. "I don't know where your friend is."
"Don't lie to me, Evan."
"I'm not lying!" There was his anger again.
"Sure," the person said. "If you say so."

There were more footsteps.

"I'm going, I can show myself out."

More footsteps.

The door slammed shut.

A few seconds later, the door was unlocked and Emilia scrambled away from it. The door swung open and Evan stood in the doorway.
"I'm guessing you heard some of that," he said quietly.
Emilia nodded. "He knows me."
"Yeah," said Evan. "He was your friend. I'm his older brother."
"That's kind of weird," said Emilia as she got to her feet. Her ribs were still sore. "You both know more about me in the last three months than I know."
"I can tell you what I know, if it would help," he offered.

Emilia shrugged and winced. "I'd like that," she said. "I'd also like those painkillers you offered earlier."
Evan smiled. "Yes, if you'd like."