Chapter 19 - "What are you doing in Vermont?"

    When my senses came to me I could hear the dull beeping of a machine. The air smelled of sanitizer and antiseptic and I involuntarily crunched my nose at the smell. I peeled my eyes open for what felt like the first time in years and peered around warily. The walls were a blinding white causing me to close my eyes once more.

When I opened them again, this time slowly adjusting to the bright lights, I let my gaze sweep around me. The first thing I noticed was Luka sitting next to me, his head on the bed and his form hunched over. His back was going up and down in steady rythem and his curls were messily slung over his face and the bed.

The next thing I noticed was the chairs on the other side of the room, empty of any people but I couldn't miss the laptop perched on the table next to them. I knew whose laptop that was. I noticed my arm had an IV in it, and it was connected to the machine I'd heard when first coming back into consciousness. It had my heart rate and my blood pressure on it.

I was in the hospital room. I peered around, confused on why I was in the hospital and why Luka was here with me. I looked down to see bruises on my arms and frowned.

What happened?

I tried clearing my throat which felt unusually dry and it came out as a weird sound which caused Luka's head to shoot up automatically. He gasped, throwing himself over towards me and cupping my cheeks in his hands. I gave him a blank look, unsure of why he was being so friendly and he sighed in relief as his eyes scanned my face.

"You're okay, Cheese Puff."

Luka leaned in, placing his forehead on mine and looking into my eyes. He let out a shaky breath, his eyes swimming with unshed tears as he murmured, "I really thought for a minute there I'd lost you."

I raised an eyebrow as he backed away, looking around for water. He seemed to get the hint and went to fetch the cup of water sat across the room from us. My arms felt heavy like lead and I couldn't move them but Luka surprised me by lifting the cup to my lips and letting me take a small sip. I thanked him with a look and he seemed to get it because he nodded.

When he finally pulled the cup away, I smiled. "So, not that I don't appreciate it, but what are you doing in Vermont?"

Luka's eyes widened and he took a large step back as if he couldn't understand what he was hearing. The tears came back to his eyes, not falling but they were there and I was confused. What was wrong with him?

The door opened, Gia and Chris bounding in happily and giving me hugs as they saw I was awake. I smiled at them, but gasped when they leaned towards each other for a quick peck. "Whoa, when did this happen!?"

Gia's eyes widened as she exchanged a look with Luka. "Uh, two years ago?"

"You guys have been dating for two years and didn't tell me?"

Chris looked over to Luka. "Oh no."

The door opened once more and Zoey came in with some guy and Owen. The random guy smiled. "Hey Chloe."

"Who are you?" I blurted. He was cute, but I didn't remember him. How did he know my name?

Zoey's eyes widened as did Owen's and the random guy's. I smiled, batting my lashes. "Hey Owen."

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, looking towards Luka. "Hey Chlo..."

Luka went out of the room, slamming the door as he went and I flinched. My friends and brother were all exchanging looks with each other and I felt like I was left out of the loop. When Luka returned he motioned towards me frantically and a guy in white scrubs walked over. "Hi there, I'm Doctor Thomas. I just have some questions for you, okay?"

I nodded. "Sure thing."

"First off, do you know why you're here?"

I pursed my lips in thought. "No can't say I do."

The doctor nodded, scrawling on a notepad. "What's your name?"

"Chloe Russell."

Luka sighed, grabbing my hand once more. I eyed it warily. The doctor nodded, writing something down. "Okay, can you name everyone in the room?"

"Chris, Gia, Zoey, Owen, Luka and some random guy."

The random guy sighed sadly. The doctor frowned but nodded. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

All my friends took a sharp intake of breath at that and Luka eyed me incredulously. "Nineteen!?"

"Yeah, or did you forget my birthday Luka?"

The doctor scribbled something furiously, looking from me to the notepad. "What year is it?"

"2017."

More intakes of breath. I made a mental note to ask my friends if they had breathing problems. "Chloe, what do you do for a living?"

I bit my lip. "I go to college in Vermont."

"What are you going for?"

"To be a teacher."

"Okay and your relationship status?"

I smiled fondly at the thought of my boyfriend. "Oh, taken. His name's Zane."

I heard glass breaking and looked over to see Chris had dropped his phone. He, along with Owen and Luka had scowls on their faces and Luka dropped my hand. The doctor ignored them. "What's the last thing you remember doing?"

I thought back. What was the last thing I remembered? Oh! Going with Zane to dinner, of course. It was our favorite thing to do. "Going out to dinner with my boyfriend. Why? Is he okay?"

The doctor looked down solemnly. "Uh, I'm not sure. I'll be back."

I watched as Doctor Thomas walked out of the room, Luka, Owen and Chris rushing to catch up with him. Zoey came and took the seat next to me, the random guy sitting next to her. "Chloe, this is Brad."

I looked over towards Brad and said, "Hey."

"I'm her boyfriend," Brad mumbled slowly, as if testing the waters. I smiled at that, happy Zoey had finally found someone. She was always popular in high school, but I couldn't help but wonder just how serious they were if she brought him to Vermont with her. "Zane's brother."

I frowned at that. Zane had never mentioned a brother to me, and neither had his parents. I'd have to ask at the next family dinner why they didn't mention him. "He didn't tell me he had a brother. I'll have to ask him why he didn't tell me."

"You're still gonna talk to him?" Zoey asked incredulously. That confused me because I knew for a fact I'd told her about him. Maybe I hadn't mentioned him by name but I had talked about us dating each other.

I raised an eyebrow. What was everyone's problem? Why was everyone being so weird towards me? "Uh... Yeah? He's my boyfriend."

The doctor came back in, my brother and his two friends trailing behind him with sad expressions on their faces. The doctor looked solemn as he glanced from his clipboard to me. "Ms. Russell, there's something I need to tell you. You were in an accident-"

"Where's Zane?" I blurted, looking around furiously. "He's my boyfriend, he should be here for me."

He pursed his lips. "He's with the police. The accident involved him-"

"Is he okay? I need to go see him-"

"Ms. Russell, I hate to have to tell you this, but you've got amnesia. You're remembering things from three years ago. The year is 2020, you're twenty-two, and your accident was caused by Zane."

My eyes widened and I looked around the room to see the sad and frustrated expressions the people I grew up with were sporting. I didn't think Zane would ever hurt me, the few months we'd been together had been wonderful. We were happy.

All I knew for sure was, Zane had a lot of explaining to do.