Chapter 4

“Melody, wake up. It’s me,” a voice whispers in my ear with urgency that startles me awake. I look at the clock on my bed monitor and it reads 1:21 AM. Other than the light from my bed, the room is completely dark.

“What?” I ask groggily, rubbing my eyes.

“It’s me,” the voice says.

I hear the curtains close over the window and the door locks. The light flickers on and I see a boy by the lightswitch. But not just any boy- the boy. The one I remember. The one from my memories. The tall one with beautiful eyes. The one that I love.

“It’s you,” I agree in astonishment. He’s here; with me. But how? Why?

“I’m so glad I found you,” he breathes in less than a whisper and he glides over to my side. He kneels down beside me and asks in concern, “Do you remember me, Melody?”

I nod slowly and grab his hand. It’s colder than I expected, but I don’t care because it’s him and he’s here. It feels like it’s been an eternity since I’ve seen that smile that makes me warm inside; but it’s all better now because he’s here. With me.

“You were the only person I didn’t forget,” I tell him and the relief that floods over me is overwhelming. He rubs my hand with his but says nothing. So I continue, “I told my parents and Dr. Havishire about you. But they didn’t know anything about you.”

“They know about me, Melody. They just don’t want you to know about me.” The bitterness in his voice surprises me.

“Why?”

“Well, that’s the question, isn’t it?” he replies, releasing my hand. I try to grab it again, but he pulls away.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, disappointment seeping into my tone. He must have heard it because he takes my hand back and sighs. He shakes his head and opens his mouth like he’s about to say something, but no words come out. “Are you okay?”

“I’m better than okay, Melody. I found you! You’re here and we’re together. Nothing can mess that up.”

“But-” I stop and realize I had forgotten to ask a rather important question. “What’s your name?”

“I can’t tell you.”
“Why not? It’s just a name.”

He shrugs and compromises, “You can call me John. That’s sort of my name.”

“Okay, that works for me. But how can something ‘sort of’ be your name?” I ask jokingly and he smirks, but doesn’t answer me. I don’t push the issue.

“We need to get you out of here,” he says firmly and suddenly.

“I have head injuries. And I just woke up from a coma. I think I should probably stay here for now,” I tell a dejected looking John.

“You’re right, I guess. But I could get you out of here just for a few hours.” He smiles distractedly and then rushes to add, “Only if you’re up for it, of course.”

I’m really not, but I tell him I am anyways.

“You sure?” he asks courteously, but I’m sure he’s hoping I don’t change my mind. So I tell him I am and he grins.

“How do we get by the nurses? And how will they not notice that I’m gone? They check on me like every two hours or some-” I stop when I notice that John had disappeared. “John?” I call out as loudly as I can without bringing attention from outside to me.

I feel the tubes being gently pulled out of my skin and I yelp.

“Did I hurt you?” I hear John ask immediately.

“No,” I assure him. “But I can’t see you.”

“Don’t worry,” he says and his voice makes me forget what I was going to say next. So I say nothing and he tells me softly, “Just wait.”

So I do just that. And after another minute or so, he helps me sit up. I’m free from all tubes and attachments; I can’t help but smile as John helps me to stand.  

“Ready?” he asks, squeezing my hand.

I nod and he leads me out the door, into the crowd of people.

“This is crazy,” I whisper to John. Nobody’s trying to stop us. Not one person has even glanced our way. “How does this work?”

“Not important,” he mumbles as we make our way to the elevator.

I have a feeling that this actually is rather important, but I say nothing.

The elevator dings and we stand beside four other people; none of which give either of us so much as a sideways glance. Soon enough, we are outside the hospital and into the real world.

My first look at the world is honestly not as impressive as I had built it up to be in my head. It smells strongly of second-hand smoke, which makes me cough. The sky is dark gray and covered in smog. The city street is close to empty at this time of night and rarely do I see a car drive past. A train in the distance can be heard, but otherwise, the night is silent.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” John remarks, sighing.

“I guess.”
“That is a strangely normal comment,” he smirks. “The old you would have said ‘To me, life itself is beauty in it’s purest form. And being in this street with you, late at night, is truly what life is. The butterflies in my stomach, the spinning in my head, the adrenaline from sneaking out- all of it. This is what life is supposed to be. So, yes. It is beautiful.’”

“Uh,” I let out, not sure what else to say. “That was weirdly well thought out.”

“Because that is a direct quote from you. The last time we snuck out,” he tells me with a grin and I laugh. I think I used to be a really great person. There’s no way that person is completely lost. I have to try to remember. For him.

“Was I always that,” I pause, trying to find the right word. When I don’t, I settle with, “philosophical?”

“Always. That’s why I loved you,” he says sadly, then adds with a small smile, “You were just so you. You didn’t conform to society and what they all expect. You didn’t care what anyone else thought of you. Even me. You were completely yourself all the time and if people didn’t accept that, you wanted nothing to do with them.”

I laugh, “I wish I could still be that girl.”

“Melody, I hope you know that I love you. Then, now, and always. You are still you, even without your memories. And while I do love the memories we had together, they’re not the reason I love you. There’s so much more than that and nothing can change my thoughts on this. Ever,” he tells me very quickly, as though the very concept of not loving me was preposterous.

I know the old me would have had the perfect response to this. She would have said something unprecedented and original. But as that Melody was nowhere to be found, I just say, “I love you, too.”

He chuckles at the simplicity of my response. “So, we have about four hours before I need to get you back into your cell.”

“I don’t think ‘cell’ is the politically correct term,” I say with a smile.

“Are we really going to spend our four hours being politically correct? Where’s the fun in that?” he asks with mock confusion.

I laugh and he begins to walk away from the hospital, dragging me behind him.

“This is the Kennedy Hospital and it is the only one for miles around,” he tells me when we’re far enough out to see the entire building. “It’s on the very edge of the town. That way,” he points right, “is the city. And that way,” he points left, “is forest and mountains as far as the eye can see.”

I look out into the endless trees and think it just might be beautiful. The old me would have thought so, too. Probably. “It’s amazing,” I mumble.

“Agreed. Both sides of our town are amazing. In very different ways, though,” he notices then walks out of the parking lot and into the middle of the street. “So which way do you want to go?”

“I want to go straight forward instead,” I yell out with a certainty in my voice that I didn’t know I possessed.

Past the road, looking straight out, I see the silhouettes of small hills that seem to go on forever.

John looks amused as he remarks, “Good choice, Melody.”

He gestures at me to follow him as he moves out of the street and into the hills. I walk across the street cautiously and as quickly as I can without making my head spin. I make it across and we begin trudging out into the hills.

“You know, this is the way you chose to go last time,” John tells me with a smile.

“Why?” I ask, simply for the sake of learning more about myself and my motives.

“Because it wasn’t an option. I asked ‘Left or right?’ and you said, ‘Straight.’ You wanted to go that way simply because it would be spontaneous.”

I snicker. The new me doesn’t feel very spontaneous. Actually, I’m not even sure why I wanted to go straight ahead right now. Left or right would have felt just as new to me.

“Why did I choose to go straight now? I’m not the old me. I’m not spontaneous,” I say, mostly to myself.

But John answers anyways. “Because you’re still you, no matter what. You really need to understand this. You were, are, and always will be Melody Evans.”

“I know, I know,” I groan exasperatedly. “People keep telling me that, but I just don’t believe it.”

“Well, why not?” he asks with equal vexation.

“Because we’re completely different people!” I stop walking and turn to look at him.

“Are not.”

“Are too.”

“Really? Really, Melody?”

I open my mouth to respond but only laughter comes out.

John smiles and pulls me in close. “You’re just as stubborn as you were before,” he whispers, his voice muffled by my hair.

I step away. “Good,” I grin, and he laughs.

“I have to show you something,” he says suddenly and pulls my hand. His pace is faster than before and I struggle to keep up.

“I just woke up from a coma. I can’t walk this quickly,” I complain under my breath.

I didn’t expect John to hear me, but he did. So he stops and lifts me into his arms for a minute, but then quickly sets me down.

“I don’t think I should do that,” he smiles.

“Are you saying I’m heavy?” I ask with fake offense.

He laughs, “No, I’m saying I’d carry you, but we’re here.” He pulls me gently to the side of a hill.

A small creek surrounded by dirt reveals itself as I walk towards John. The creek is barely big enough for two people to stand in, but the clear water sitting on the pebbles truly is a lovely sight.

“We used to come here all the time,” John tells me.

“Because it’s pretty?” I suggest.

“Partially,” he agrees, and then adds, “but mostly because it’s completely isolated. You were fascinated by the concept of isolation.”

“Why?”

“You ask that a lot,” he notes.

“Yeah, because I want to know why I thought the things I did,” I tell him, a bit defensively.

He nods and says, “You liked what isolation meant. You told me once that you were always isolated because true isolation was when you were surrounded by people and not one of them understood you.”

“And what was your response?”

“I said that I understood you.”

I smile. “Did you?”

“No,” he admits. “But I did more than anybody else ever was willing to.”

“What do you mean? People weren’t ‘willing to’ understand me?” I mumble in confusion.

“You’re amazing. But you’re wild and you like to take risks. Most people don’t take the time to see past all that and understand the real you,” he says, all very quickly. Then he looks at the ground and stops talking.

I hold back a smirk. “That’s a nice bit of dirt you’re staring at,” I comment sarcastically.

“Sorry,” he laughs, looking up. “I thought you were going to be mad.”

“Why?”

“You said it again,” he groans playfully. With more seriousness, he adds, “Well, because you might not be thrilled to know that most people only know the pretend you and don’t care enough to look deeper.”

“You did, though. So I can’t be mad,” I say as I sit down, putting my hands in the cold water. John sits next to me, not saying a word. “What about Kas?” I ask. I like her and it would be a shame to figure out she didn’t actually know me.

“She’s different. A few of them are. Some try to understand you and you talk to them. But they still don’t get all of it,” he says sadly. “Well, even I don’t understand all of you.”

“Neither do I,” I mutter and he laughs humorlessly.

“I’m not sure you did even before the crash.”

“Well-” John puts his finger on my lips and I pause. The crinkling sound of footprints stepping through dead grass echoes through the near-silent night. “Who is that?” I whisper urgently.

I look at John. His eyes are wide with fear and his fists are clenched tight. “We need to get out of here,” he says quietly in my ear.

For once, I don’t ask why.

John helps me stand up and gestures at me to follow him. I do so as quietly as possible. He makes his way around a small hill that’s just tall enough to conceal us, as long as he bends down a bit. He peers over the top of the hill.

“Who are they?” I ask as soon as he bends back down.

“That’s irrelevant. Let’s go,” he says and I hear a trace of worry in his voice.

I don’t move. “Who are they?” I repeat.

“You’re exhausting,” John sighs. “Guys from school. Mean guys.”

“Why?”

“Meeting up with Kas, probably,” he scoffs.

“Kas?” I ask in amazement. “Why would she be hanging out with these guys?”

“She has a lot of dirt of them. She can make them do anything she wants,” he grins. “Kas is scary.”

I laugh, “But she’s so tiny! And she wears purple glasses and skirts. She doesn’t really look the type.”

“That’s what makes her so good at it. Nobody suspects her and she never gets caught. She gets everything she wants. Her plans are practically flawless,” he tells me. “Now can we get out of here?”

“Do we have time to stay and watch?”

He pulls out his phone and looks at the clock. “We have seven minutes before we would be technically behind schedule,” he admits and I grin.

“I’m going to get closer,” I tell him and he instantly grabs my hand.

“Get as close as you want, they won’t be able to see us in this light.”

I edge my way around the hill and stand within earshot.

“Boys!” I hear Kas’s voice ring out and a few of the guys jump back. “So glad you could make it.”

“We didn’t really have a choice,” one of them mutters.

“You’re very right,” Kas smirks. “So did you talk to Melody?”

Silence.

“You mean to say you didn’t do your job?” Kas asks rhetorically in a terrifyingly sweet voice.

More silence.

“Hmm,” Kas exhales and steps within inches of the leader of the group. “Pity,” she whispers.

“She was in the hospital, they wouldn’t let us all in!” one of the boys whimpers.

“Idiots,” Kas mumbles. “You could have gone in one at a time. You could have told her parents you were her friends. You could’ve-” Kas stops for a moment then whispers, “That’s not important. What’s important is that now my best friend might be in danger because you couldn’t follow one simple plan!”

“We’re sorry, Kas,” a few say quietly.

“Yeah, we’ll do better next time,” the leader agrees.

“There won’t be a next time,” Kas assures them. “I’m done with all of you.”

“Why couldn’t you just warn her yourself?” a seemingly brave member of the group asks.

Kas turns to him and smiles a tight lipped grin. “Don’t you think I would have if I could?” she almost yells back and the once-brave guy cowers behind another group member. I can't help but laugh at the irony of the entire situation.

"We're sorry, Kas," another boy says quietly, not meeting her eyes.

"No, you're not," Kas says, shaking her head, "But you will be."

The group fidgets uncomfortably.

Kas shakes her head. "Go home. I’ll figure out another way to warn her."

The guys all mutter discontentedly, but still begin to walk back the way they came. Kas walks in the opposite direction and both of them quickly disappear from my sight behind hills.

"We need to go," John tells me with more force than I've heard him use before.

So for once, I do as I'm told and walk directly behind him. We take a different, shorter route back to road and John walks too fast for me to keep up with. But I don't complain.We make our way through hills and dirt until we reach the edge of the street that we would have to cross.

"Wait," I shout as John steps into the street. He jumps back and turns to me.

"Yes?"

"Kas said they were supposed to warn me. Why?" I ask.

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do," I insist. And I know for a fact that this is true. If it wasn't, he wouldn't have seemed so scared when Kas was talking; he wouldn't have been so forceful when he said we had to leave; and he wouldn't be so vague in his responses now.

"No, Melody, I don't!" he yells in frustration. He sighs. "Let's just get you back before it's too late."

"What do you mean?" I ask. Too late? For what?

"That's irrelevant," he says, and begins almost pulling me across the street. "I'll get you inside and then I have to leave. Okay?"

"Okay," I agree with a sigh as we walk quietly towards the hospital entrance. "When will you come back?"

"That depends," he sighs. "Kas's warning might prevent me from coming back."

"Why?" I ask.

"Long story," he says quickly as we arrive in front of the hospital door. He grabs my hand. "Now be quiet, we can't be heard."

I nod and we make our way back up to my room without anybody noticing. He helps me get back in my bed and reattach all the unnecessary cords and tubes that I have to be hooked up to. As soon as I look exactly the way I did before we left, he disappears.

"John?" I whisper, holding on to my last hope that he was still here. My heart drops when I get no response. I close my eyes and try to sleep, knowing that my parents would probably be here in a few hours. But my mind is buzzing and my heart is pounding fast and hard. So try as I might, I can not sleep. I sit awake for a while, thinking about Kas and John and my parents. I try to remember, but nothing has changed since I tried this morning.

Eventually, I fall into an uncomfortable sleep full of tossing and turning and thinking. It's not enjoyable, but still better than no sleep at all.

Reviews

[Craig2591]

Hmm... the mystery deepens. Good job giving just enough clues to keep the reader guessing but not enough to reveal what's going on. This story is getting very complex.

[Megan Simpson]

haha thank you! I might be making it a bit too complex at this point.. I'm a little worried about that part.