All This Time(51)

I stare at her. What does she mean do I remember anything? I just told her.

“Yeah, I fell and hit my head looking for Marley during the thunderstorm. Right?”

Her face falls. What else is there to remember? My heart stops. Please don’t let anything have happened to Marley.

“Marley? I—you were in a car accident, Kyle,” she continues, her eyes boring into mine. “With Kimberly.”

I blink, shaking my head. As if I could ever forget. Why is she bringing that up now?

“Yeah, Mom,” I say, reaching weakly up to hold her hand, the IV tugging at my skin. “That was a year ago. Last night I busted my face in the backyard.”

She stares at me. “You’re confused, honey. You’ve been… asleep,” she says, her eyebrows knitting together. “In a coma.”

“In a—what?” I pause, taking in her expression. How hard did I hit my head last night? “A coma? How long?”

“Eight weeks,” she says.

What? If it was that bad for me, Marley might have had it even worse. Did something happen to her in the storm? “Where’s Marley?” I ask her, feeling more worried every second that she isn’t there.

Mom looks at me, her eyes filled with worry. Finally she asks, “Who?”

I freeze, a sinking feeling growing in the pit of my stomach.

The shriek of the metal. Kimberly’s horrified face. Fluorescent lights flashing overhead as I’m wheeled down the hallway.

But… this doesn’t make any sense.

Where is Marley?

“I’ve gotta get out of here,” I say as panic claws at my chest. I try to swing myself up, but my right leg refuses to move. I look frantically down to see a full cast enveloping the entire length of my leg, and when I move it, pain radiates through the bones. A sense of déjà vu overwhelms me. Déjà vu and horror.

“It’s over now,” my mom says, grabbing ahold of my arm. “Things will be back to normal in no time. You’ll see.”

I yank my arm from her grip and rip the IVs from my hand. As I try to stand, my left leg crumples under the weight. I tumble forward into my mom. She breaks my fall, trying to keep us both upright.

“Nurse!” she screams out. “I need a nurse. Someone, please!”

I struggle to keep moving, but strong hands grab me and something sharp stabs my upper arm. A nurse… with a needle. I fall back onto the bed, my arms and legs like lead weights. Everything is suddenly slow and heavy as my mouth fights to form words.

“I… don’t…,” I manage to get out, my eyes focusing on my mom. “Kimberly’s… alive?”

“Of course she is, darling,” my mom says, confused. “She’s been here every day.”

I wait for the flash to end. For the world to reset. I close my eyes, and Marley’s face burns against my eyelids. Her hazel eyes, the freckles scattered across her nose, her long brown hair. The smile she gets on her face when she’s telling a story. The way she chews her lip when she’s thinking really hard about something. But when I open my eyes, I still see the hospital. Marley’s not here.

The world goes black as the sedative pulls me under.



* * *




I hear voices all around me. My mom. Nurses filtering in and out.

I keep my eyes closed and I wait. For silence. For the chance to get out of here and find Marley.

Soon it’s the middle of the night, and I hear the door close, the air still and quiet except for the beeping of my heart rate monitor.

In an instant, I sit up and rip the IV out of my hand again, ignoring the thin trail of blood that drips down to my wrist.

I take a bracing breath, then ease my legs out of bed, my vision doubling as I put weight on my right leg. The pain is so blinding, a wave of nausea roils through me. But I push through it. I have to.

I stagger out of the room and down the long hallway, my fingers clutching at the wall for support, cold sweat molding the hospital gown to my back. Every step is agony, the world around me tilting as I reach the elevator, the thought of Marley’s face pushing me forward. The pond. It’s the only thing I can think of. I have to get to the pond.

The big metal doors slide open and I lurch inside. I shove down more nausea, relieved to have made it this far. But I can’t stop now.

The buttons blink at me, demanding I choose a number, a floor. I try to think, but the searing ache in my right leg is making that impossible, and my left leg is starting to tremble under the strain of supporting all of my weight.

The buttons blink, blink, blink. Lobby? Is that the one with… the… star…?

Suddenly my good knee buckles. I collapse against the wall, tiny pinpoints of black filling my vision as my leg gives out completely.

Only one thought is left in my mind as I slide to the floor.

I… have…

… to find…

Marley.…



* * *




“Kyle,” a voice says. A hand firmly clutches my shoulder, shaking me awake. “Kyle.”

I open my eyes, and Dr. Benefield’s face slowly swims into view. She lets out a long exhale and shakes her head at me.

“Really?” she says as I look around from the floor of the elevator.

“How long have I been here?” I groan as I sit up.