Chapter ELEVEN

"She's okay. Her vital are good. It looks worse than it is."  A voice I didn't recognize.

"Oh my god, Jenna. I can't believe this. Look at her..."  My dad. I could hear my dad.

"The doctor said she's okay, Johnny."

I could hear them but I wasn't awake? Was I sleeping? How could I hear them? What was going on?  Where was I? I didn't know how much time had passed, but I didn't "wake up" until I heard another voice in the room.

"Oh my god. No. No, is she... will she wake up?"

Mateo. He was there. He was okay.

"The doctors say she will. We just have to be patient," Jenna answered.

I could still hear what was going on around me, in the room. A bit more conversation, my dad's worried voice each time he spoke. But I wasn't awake.

I focused really hard and willed my eyes to open. I needed them to know that I was okay. I was okay, right?  I forced out a noise, through my eyes were only half open. I could see my dad, in the corner of the room. He was looking at his phone. Jenna was, too. I had heard Mateo, I knew I did. But I didn't see him now.

And then I realized I was in a hospital room. I was the patient. There were wires and tubes taped to my arms. A cast on my wrist. My head hurt. Everything hurt.

I tried to make another noise.

"Oh my god, John, she's awake." Jenna's frantic voice.

My dad jumped up from the chair he was sitting in. His eyes were red and swollen but he was smiling. Big.  He was looking right at me.

"Oh god, Elena, honey, thank god." His voice was quiet.

He wore a grey t-shirt and jogging pants. I remembered him the night before, at his wedding. How happy he had been. And now. What now? What happened?

"I... what..." I tried to talk, but my brain was foggy. I knew what I wanted to say but couldn't really say it.

"El, it's okay sweetie. You were in an accident. This morning, when you were coming back to my house..."

An accident? I shut my eyes. I tried to think, or remember anything. All I could remember was the wedding. Mateo's speech. How handsome he looked. And then being on the beach, with Mateo beside me. Holding his hand. Falling asleep with my head on his shoulder.

I remembered that morning, waking him up. Leaving him there in the parking lot. And nothing else.

"I don't..." I said, my voice scratchy, then shook my head.

"You don't have to talk, honey," my dad said, grabbing my hand that was not in a cast. "We are just so happy you're awake."

I nodded, sort of. But I was so confused. I knew he was my dad, and I knew his new wife, Jenna. I knew her son, Mateo. I wished I knew where he was. But for some reason, I couldn't think of anything else.

"Is Mateo... here?" I asked, finally getting the right words out.

I saw the confused look on Jenna's face immediately. She probably had no idea Mateo and I had even talked at the wedding. She had been preoccupied, obviously.

"He was. He had to go, but he asked us to update him on -" Jenna began, but I stopped listening.

So he had been there. He has seen me. I had heard his voice.

"What... time is it?" I wanted to know.

My dad looked at his phone and then back to me. "Quarter after four."

I'd left that parking lot that morning around 9 A.M. I could still remember what song was playing as I drove. How had seven hours past by? I knew I was on my way to have breakfast with my dad. And that was all I knew.

"I called your mom, honey. This morning, when we first got here. She was working, but she said -" My dad was talking again, but I couldn't focus on what he was saying.

"My mom?" I asked, thinking hard. I had no memory of my mom. Nothing. I was so confused.

"I told her that the doctors said you were okay, we were just waiting for you to wake up," my dad went on. "She said she'll head here tonight, okay?"

No, that was not okay. Who was she? My head hurt. I couldn't picture my own mother. I didn't know her. All I knew was my dad, and Jenna. And Mateo.

"She'll come? From where?" I asked, still trying so hard to focus. To remember.

My dad looked at Jenna, who looked concerned.

"Elena, your mom lives in Ann Arbor. She had to work today, but she's going to -"

"Where are we? Where do we live?" I interrupted. Nothing was familiar. I was starting to freak out. I needed all the facts. Everything was so blurry.

"Honey, it's okay. We are in South Haven. You came for the wedding, remember?" He squeezed my hand, but looked so worried.

Jenna stood up and slipped out of the room.

"I know we were at your wedding yesterday," I said, and he nodded. "I know I was outside, sitting near the water."

"You went to Mateo's apartment..." he said slowly. "To sleep. After the wedding. And this morning, when you were driving back to my house-"

I hadn't gone to Mateo's apartment last night. I'd slept on the beach. I remembered that. I knew things about the night before, and that morning. But why didn't I know my mom?

"I don't live here? In South Haven?" I asked my dad.

For some reason I couldn't picture where I lived. My house. My stuff. My bedroom. I was trying, but I couldn't come up with anything.

"No, Elena. You live with your mom, in Ann Arbor. Paige lives there, too," my dad continued. I could tell he was getting more and more scared.

"Paige?" I asked, blinking hard. "Who's Paige?"

She was someone I was supposed to know, I could tell by my dad's face.

"She's your sister," he spat out, then took a breath. "Elena, you know me?"

"Yes, Dad."

"You don't remember the accident?" he asked.

"I was driving to your house. Make You Mine was on the radio. That's all I know."

Suddenly Jenna was back and a doctor followed her into the room. He was older and had grey hair. He smiled at me right away.

"Hi there, Elena. I'm Dr. Holton, I was here this morning when the ambulance brought you in. We've done a bunch of tests, you've been stable all day... I'm so glad to see you awake."

I took in a deep breath. "My head hurts. And my chest."

The doctor did a quick check of the monitor and listened to my chest. "Everything looks fairly normal. Your step mom says you can't remember some things? That's normal, too, with any head injury. You had signs of a concussion."

"But I don't... I don't know anything from before yesterday," I managed to say.

"Okay. What is the last thing you remember?" he asked.

I had just told my dad. "Being in my car this morning. I was driving to my dad's. I remember last night, my dad's wedding. I remember him, and Jenna..." I looked at Jenna, who had tears in her eyes, then I looked back at the doctor. "But I don't know where I live. I don't know anything about myself." I was panicking now.

"Okay, just try to relax. We will do another scan to see if anything shows up. But some memory loss can be normal, don't worry," he said, writing something down.

"Her mother is driving down from Ann Arbor. She doesn't remember her," my dad told the doctor.

I saw the look in his eyes. "Let's wait to have her come until after we find out if anything's going on, okay? We don't want to confuse or upset Elena."

My dad nodded, and I saw him look at Jenna. She looked worried, too. I was already confused and upset. I wanted to know why my brain was messed up. My dad said that my mom was coming, but what would happen if she knew me and I didn't know her?