CHAPTER 4-2
691 Words
Mara felt something pressing down on her chest. Her eyes felt glued shut, unwilling or unable to open, even though she sent the correct signals from her brain. She mustered up the will and tried again.
A brown crystal sat on her chest.
She lay in a bed, covered to her neck, with a cinnamon stone sitting on her chest. It was heavy enough to feel, but not so heavy as to hamper breathing. She shifted her field of vision past the rock and focused on green eyes almost identical to her own, but accented by crow’s feet and concern.
“Mom?”
“Hey, honey. You’re awake,” Diana said. She stood up at the end of the bed. “Can I get you something?” She pushed a button on the wall.
“Get—”
“Yes?”
“Get this rock off me.”
Diana moved to the raised head of the bed, grabbed the crystal and put it on the nightstand to Mara’s left. Diana reached over and brushed hair from Mara’s forehead. “Hey there, how are you feeling?”
“Where am I? What happened?” Mara felt like she was talking through a tunnel into an unfamiliar beige room. She was in bed, but not her bed. This one featured a metal railing looming above the mattress on the right side. A curtain hung beyond the railing. A television set floated in the air above the room.
“You’re in the hospital. Don’t you remember what happened?”
“I was on the flight to San Francisco to see Dad....”
A middle-aged nurse wearing a yellow smock walked in and smiled. She thrust a knobby hand toward Mara’s face, sticking a digital thermometer into her mouth. After a few seconds, the nurse plucked it out and lifted her black eyeglasses to see the results.
“Do you have a headache? Are you dizzy?” the nurse said.
“No. I’m a little confused.”
“That’s to be expected,” she said, bending over Mara and pulling her right eyelid up with a thumb. The nurse flashed a penlight into Mara’s eyeball, did the same with the left eye, straightened and held up three fingers. “How many fingers do you see?”
“Three,” Mara said, squinting.
“Excellent. The doctor should be around to see you later this afternoon. You can drink some water if you’re thirsty,” she said. “You’ll have to wait for the doctor to give the okay before you can eat solids.” She smiled again, turned and walked out the door.
“Very efficient. Not very holistic, but to the point, I guess,” Diana said. “I put a small amethyst under your pillow. I hope that doesn’t get you bent out of shape.”
“The cinnamon stone, how’d it get here?”
“A woman named Maggie saw your name in the newspaper and brought it by a little while ago. Said she was sorry she took it from you.” Diana fussed with the covers. “You should have checked the bag. It would have made the flight.”
“A magic stone couldn’t fix the plane, Mom.” Concentrating was taking an effort.
“So you remember the crash?”
“It crashed? I thought, I assumed it landed.” Her tongue stuck to her lips and the inside of her mouth.
Diana grabbed a plastic cup from the nightstand and held it to her.
“No, Mara, the plane crashed into the Columbia River when it tried to make an emergency landing.”
Mara coughed. “All those people. How many?”
“Everyone survived. Every one of them either swam to the bank or was fished out of the river. No one died. They’re calling it a miracle. No one was seriously hurt. You are the only one still in the hospital.”
Mara shuddered, felt panic rising. Her eyes fluttered, threatened to roll into the back of her head. She envisioned drowning, not able to help herself, the current pushing her under. She held her breath, closed her eyes, trying—but hoping she failed—to remember what happened. Nothing. She could recall nothing, especially being in water.
The fear drained her. Her eyelids drooped.
“Who pulled me out of the river?” She pushed back against the drowsiness.
“The EMTs said a couple joggers found you on a boat ramp, of all things. They said you had already dried out before they got to you, but you had a nasty blow to the head.”
“I wonder how I got there.”
“I don’t know. I’m just glad you did,” she said, patting Mara’s leg.
“How long have I been here, Mom?”
“Four days. Today’s Thursday. They kept you sedated to make sure you were all right. You got a good knock on the head,” she said. “I think you better get some rest. We can talk again later.”
Mara was already asleep.
*
- Writer
