My head felt fuzzy, like something bubbling inside. A continuous beep rang in my ears and someone called out a name. Gabriella. Gabriella? Why was the light so bright? Nothing made sense. Where was I? Dead? Did something happen. Did I die?
“There you are. How do you feel?”
My eyes opened to bright white lights. An out of focus doctor and two nurses hovered around me. A deep throb was felt behind my eyes, and my mouth was dry. My mind tried to decipher the commotion, failing with every thought. Where I was, how I got there, and what was wrong with me.
“Mrs. Pierce. Keep your eyes open for me.”
Pierce? Pierce? No, that wasn’t right. I wanted to tell him that Pierce was wrong, but my dry mouth took precedence over the misunderstanding. “Can I have a drink?”
Refreshing cool water was brought to my lips and with all my strength, I sipped.
“Can you tell me what happened, Mrs. Pierce? Do you remember how you got here?”
“My names, Delgardo.” I corrected. Who the hell was Mrs. Pierce? Wait a minute. Who the hell was Delgardo? My eyes closed while my head reeled, trying to make sense of what was going on. Nothing came to me. Not one.
“That’s her maiden name,” a voice said from behind the doctor. I opened my eyes again. With great strength, I raised my head to a man in jeans, T-shirt, and a backwards ball cap. With one eye, I noticed a brace, running from my ankle to my hip. Metal bars, running up both sides. I wiggled my fingers on my left and felt one there, too. Same thing. Basically just wrapped. It went from my wrist, clear past my elbow. My head was bandaged and my left eye was swollen shut. I was no doubt in a hospital.
I studied the guy, staring at me with almost a glare. Like he was mad at me. I didn’t know him either.
“Yes, that’s right, Gabby. Stay with me.” the doctor coaxed while holding a penlight in my eye. I knew he wanted me to follow it, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have the willpower. My head fell back to the pillow with not an ounce of strength to hold it up. Flashes went through my mind. The wind. The clouds. The laughs. The wreck. I was in a wreck.
“Nobody calls her Gabby. She wouldn’t answer to that,” the stern voice assured the nice doctor. My first thought was to search him out again with my eyes, but the weakness I felt wouldn’t allow it. I closed my eyes, needing a minute, or a thousand. I had to reflect on my state of mind. Figure out where I was and what happened. Unlike a puzzle, nothing fit. None of the pieces matched. I didn’t think about who I was, or where I came from. I didn’t think about anything. I let it go. Turned it over to the darkness. Again.
I thought I’d had napped for a couple hours, but later found out it had been three days. Pain shot down my neck and my head felt dizzy when I tried to turn my head. The room was dark with the same, beep, beep, beep. The positon of the sun told me that it was late evening, but I didn’t see a clock. A hospital room. I was in the hospital. Everything hurt. My entire body felt like it had been ran through the spin cycle in my washer. An audible moan slipped through my dry lips when I tried to move.
“How do you feel?” a nurse said from my side. Her voice soft and sweet. The room was dark and quiet. Nobody but the nurse and me.
“Like I was hit by a truck. Was I?”
“You were in a car wreck. From what I understand, you rolled it a couple times. You’re lucky to be alive.”
“Was I alone?”
“You were alone. Eighty miles from home,” a deep voice said from the door. The same man with the backwards ball cap stepped in from the hall. This time without the hat. His eyes bore into me while his breath blew steam from a cup of coffee. My eyes narrowed to the man, focusing like hell, trying to place him. Nothing about him was familiar to me. Nothing at all. The guy gave the nurse a look and she cowered like a scared kitten. Her eyes moved to the floor when he looked at her, expression telling her to leave. Even without words, I read it loud and clear. So did the nurse.
“I’m going to get things ready. Dr. Mirage wants to get another CT scan.”
“Is it bad? What’s wrong with me?” I was more concerned with my condition than jerk. I knew without knowing that he was my husband. Not only was I broken, I was married to a dick. Trying to make sense of everything had me whirling with thoughts. One second I would be trying to place who my mother was, and wondering what my name was the next. Searching deep into my mind for answers that didn’t seem to come.
“The doctor will be into talk to you shortly. You’re a very lucky girl,” she said again as she smiled, dismissing herself from my room. An uneasy feeling fell over me once I realized I was alone with him.
His head tilted to the side and he smiled at me, but not a nice smile. He was angry with me. Maybe we had a fight or something before the accident.