Undeniable

Chapter 4: Flashbacks

Dr. Forest was watching from the outside, and as soon as I finished, gasping for air, he walks in applauding. "Well well well," he says, "It looks like a certain somebody is going home today!" I gasp "Really?!"

"Yes Mrs. Hart, I will call your mother and James to let them know you will be coming home today." Dr. Forest now shoots a glance at Staci. "Staci, if you don't mind, would you please let the head nurse know that Oliva will be released today and to please get started on her discharge papers?" He grabs my wheelchair and begins wheeling me away. "Of course!" Staci sings. "Thank you." He says.

As we are walking back towards the room, Dr. Forest tells me I need to take it easy and make sure I'm getting enough rest, along with doing my physical therapy. I agree, and once I get back to my room, I start getting dressed in the clothes I was wearing before I was brought into the hospital. As I put them on, I notice they're a little too big for me. "Why are they so big?" I say to myself. It's all fuzzy.

Just then a sudden flash of something horrible comes to mind. I grab my head in agony. It's a cold, rainy night, and I see myself holding onto a steering wheel. I seem to be alone, I see a flashing red street light. I look down and there's my belly, full and pregnant. I look to my left and a bright light emerges so fast, then that's it. Darkness. I sink out of my bed and fall to the floor gasping for air. It feels like the room is spinning and closing in on me, and at any minute, the four walls of this room are going to crush me.

My mom and Anna walk in and see me on the floor. They both gasp and rush to my side and pick me up "Olivia! Olivia! What's wrong?!" My mom cries as she and Anna try to balance me. "M-m-mom, I-I.." I can't get the words out. They both sit me back down on the bed. I'm staring blankly at the blue and white tile on the floor. "Olivia!" My mom shouts, "Talk to me! What's going on?" I look up at her, and my eyes are scared, petrified. "Mom..was I...pregnant?" She stares at me silently. Anna awkwardly says, "I'm going to go get her some water mom," and dismisses herself from the room.

"Olive," My mom says, "I told you no. Remember? The doctor said those night terrors are," I cut her off. "Normal, right? Then explain something to me. Why are these clothes so big on me? Why was I wearing this when I was brought into the hospital?" My mom answers me nervously, "Amor, before you had the accident you weighed a lot more than you do now. You were in a coma for three months, and your body has lost a lot of weight. Why did you put those clothes on anyway? They're bloody and dirty, did Dr. Forest not tell you that I was bringing you new clothes?"

I stare at her silently. "Olive, I'm telling you these are nightmares you're having." She says. "But I was awake when this happened mom! And it felt real, so real!" I yell. My mother sighs and sits next to me. She rubs my back and rests her head on top of mine. "You've been through a lot amor, maybe this is just a coping mechanism your mind has made up to try to deal with what happened. I stop and think, and I'm reminded of learning about something like this when I was in college.

We did a study in class where we were separated into two groups. One group had normal memories and the other group had “highly superior autobiographical memory.” The second group remembered dates and details that were way beyond the other group's memories. Well, the test revealed that the second group produced just as many false memories as the first group because they thought that a certain memory or event was prevalent, when, in actuality, it had never even taken place. Maybe my mom is right. But still, I can't help but think it feels like a memory, something I've actually experienced.

I look up at her and stare for a while. "You wouldn't lie to me about something like this....right mom?" I ask. "Of course not." She says as she kisses my head. Anna walks in with the water and gives it to me. "Here," she says holding out the cup looking away as she hands it to me. "Thanks, Pajarita," I say as I grab the cup. Anna just stares at me as chug it down. She has always been a mystery since the day mom and dad brought her home. I call her Pajarita because it means "little bird" in Spanish. I have always thought of her as a graceful, tiny, fragile little baby bird. I called her that one day and the name just stuck. In a way, she is my little baby bird whose sweet, shy, quiet, and tiny.

I place the empty cup onto the overbed. My mom stands up and digs into the bag she had in her hand when she walked in. She hands me a brand new pair of extra small, white and baby blue sweats, with a matching hoodie, new socks, underwear, and a new bra. "Mom you didn't have to buy me new clothes, you could've just brought me some from home." I say as I start taking off the clothes I'm wearing. Well, I didn't have time to stop by your place. I was so excited to hear you were coming home that I just stopped at a*****e and bought these for you. A thank you would be nice." She jokes as she takes the old worn-out clothes and throws them in the bag. "Thanks, mom," I say as I roll my eyes. "Your welcome, now hurry up and finish getting dressed, James is waiting for you at home." She says as she starts tidying up the room.

I finish getting dressed and throw on the black slippers James bought for me. They're so comfortable, I'm happy he got them. My mom tells me she will be right back and that she needs to make a few calls. I wait for the nurses to come in and tell me that it's okay to go home. My mom makes her way back after a little while and tells me it's time to go. She puts me into the wheelchair, and we make our way toward the elevator doors. My mom pushes L for the lobby, and we start to drop down slowly with stops in between for other people to get on. We finally make it to our floor and the rush of fresh air greets my nostrils. I can't help but take a deep breath in, close my eyes, and take it all in.

Mom wheels me to a black Tesla. "Mom," I begin, "When did you get this? Can you even afford it?" My mom shoots me a huge smile. "James actually bought this for me. While you were in the coma, Papi's car finally gave out." My mom and dad had that car since before I was born, and I'm twenty-five now. So it makes sense that it would give out eventually, although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad about it, another reminder that my dad's gone. I wish I could have at least seen it before she got rid of it, but I know it's not her fault, you can't control these kinds of things, and I was in a coma for three months. She couldn't sit there waiting for me to wake up. I shoot a big smile on my face and look at her. "I'm glad you like it, mom," I say.

Anna hops in the back seat and my mom loads me up to the front. I strap on my seat belt and lean my head back onto the headrest. My mom loops over to the driver's side and hops in, checking her mirrors and fixing her infamous, dark red wine lipstick before strapping on her seatbelt. She pushes the ignition button in and backs out of her space. We get on the road and start making our way to the 101. The sun is so bright that I have to put down the sunshade because my eyes haven't had a chance to adjust to the outside light. Once we are out on the busy streets, I realize it kind of frightens me now, and I have to get used to these kinds of things again.

During the ride, my mom starts rambling on asking me if I'm hungry. I tell her yes, so she pulls off on a random exit to stop somewhere and get me something to eat. The off-ramp street light isn't working, so there's tons of traffic and the light is flashing Red repetitively. "Mom, why would you get off here?" She starts talking all fast, as she tends to do when she gets defensive. "How was I supposed to know? I didn't know the light was going to be down!" She yells. "Okay okay, calm down! Geez, mom." I say laughing at her and Anna chuckles in the back. I almost forgot she was back there with how quiet she was.

My mom turns on the radio to hear the traffic updates. She's so old. I laugh to myself because I've told her so many times she needs to use GPS to help her navigate and get through traffic, but she always brushes me off when I mention anything about technology. She goes on this long, endless rant about how they didn't have that stuff growing up and she refuses to succumb to my generation's mind-control technology.

Finally, it's our turn to get off of the offramp. I glance at the red light and immediately my head starts throbbing, I see a scene of a night sky, a flashing red light, and to the left, a car's headlights zooming as fast as it can toward me. A car flipping over and over again. My eyes widen and I hear someone screaming my name. Olivia! Olivia!

"Olivia!" "Olivia!" My mom's screaming my name as she shakes my arm, and I'm snatched out of my trance. "Didn't you hear me calling you?" She says with concern on her face. "Sorry mom....I didn't hear you." She stares at me with concern "Are you ok mija?" She asks, still holding onto my arm. "I-I'm fine." I say as we pull into the restaurant.

I order a number five, my favorite. A burger with secret sauce, a medium curly fry, a small chocolate milkshake, and a large lemonade to wash it all down. I always get the same thing from Fat Burger. They have the best burgers in town, and after eating hospital food for the past three days, I'm in heaven. We've finally made our way to my beautiful house, and as we pull into the driveway, I see my wonderful, sweet, husband, waiting for me to enter our humble abode. Home.Sweet.Home...