Puzzle Pieces

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

My stomach fell to my feet and I gasped, choking on the cereal I was trying to swallow. My mom turned around and started hitting my back, yelling for me to breathe. The cereal went down, but I coughed and coughed, unable to tear my gaze away from the TV. They showed family pictures and the picture of her again, asking if anyone had seen her, to please contact the Sheriff's Department immediately. Suddenly a cloud went around the girl's face and it got dark.

"Anna! Anna! Noah, call 9-1-1!" My mother's muffled voice shouts. Is she in a tunnel? Gravity weighed me down and I could barely open my eyes. My back rests against the cool smooth tile of the kitchen floor. When my eyes flutter open, my mom hovers over me. Noah is standing behind her on the phone. His hair is a mess and he isn’t wearing a shirt.

"Ow…What happened?" I asked, looking from Noah to my mom. I tried sitting up, but my mom pressed her hand against my chest to hold me down.

"Just stay lying down," my mom said. Her eyebrows were lowered and she bit her bottom lip. Noah still spoke on the phone giving our address.

"Mom, I’ll be fine," I said, trying to sit up.

"You are not fine! People don't just pass out for no reason!”

"Mom, I’ll be fine. I have to get to the bus,” I said, making an attempt to lift myself up.

"No, Annabel. You are going to get checked out by the paramedics, and possibly go to the hospital" she said, shaking her head. That's the last time she's going to say it. Well, what excuse can I give her? That I froze in shock that the girl from my dream, who was kidn*pped, got kidn*pped? She'll think I'm crazy and I'll end up in the mental institution. Noah slams the phone down and comes to my other side.

"They're on their way" he told my mom. He knelt beside her and stared down at me. He didn’t have the same worried look as her, but he rubbed my shoulder. Not sure if it was to comfort me or him, but I didn’t stop him.

A few minutes later, two paramedics burst through the door before coming into the kitchen. One is a tall blonde-haired guy with a slim body build. The other is a short, dark-haired man with a slightly more muscular build. They both wore the usual paramedic outfit. They went all out asking me and my mom all kinds of questions. Wondering what I'm allergic to? How do I feel now? Does anything hurt? What's my name? My birthday? So on and so forth.

They put me on a gurney and put me into the back of the ambulance. My mom's eyebrows were knitted together and she kept locking her fingers together. I held her hand and she squeezed mine, making me regret holding her hand in the first place. This is embarrassing. Making me go all the way down to the hospital for nothing.

"So what happened right before?" The doctor asked as I sat on a hospital bed. He is in his mid fifties. He was about my height and had a belly that hung over his belt. His mostly gray hair was swept in a comb over. His brown eyes go well with his dark tan skin.

"She was eating and started chocking, so I started hitting her back. She started coughing and I thought she wasn't choking anymore, but then she just fell to the floor" my mom answered before I could say anything. Sure. I'll let them think that I passed out from choking. The doctor looked at me before writing that down.

"Well, we'll run a few tests. Just to be sure" he said, putting on his stethoscope. After the doctor checked me, he walked out of the room to order labs, leaving me and mom alone in the quiet room. Noah wasn't in the room or ambulance with us, so he's probably at school.

"Mom, we have to call my school or I'll get another demerit" I said, playing with the hospital bracelet on my arm. She shook her head.

"Forget about your school right now, Annabel. Right now I'm just focused on what's going on with you" she said, tapping her foot on the ground. Not sure if it's from being nervous or impatient.

"Sorry you had to miss work"

"Don't be sorry. You are my daughter, you are my priority. If my boss doesn't like it, he can fire me and end up with a lawsuit."

Dang, mom wasn’t in the mood. I laughed at her statement. Not because it's not true, but because this woman at times wants to sue anybody. That's her first threat when someone doesn't let her get her way. I guess that's what being married to a defense attorney does to you.

"Mom. There's something I have to tell you," I said hesitantly. Sure I've been able to tell her dreams or nightmares that have bothered me before, but can I tell her this one? Is this one a bridge too far?

"What is it, Anna?"

"That girl from the TV. The one that has been abducted..." I started. She tilted her head at me with wide eyes. Her stare made my hands get sweaty. Can I do this? Can I tell her?

"Yeah? What about her?"

"Well-"

"Annabel James?" a lab tech asked, coming into the hospital room. He resembled Jet Li and if it wasn’t for Xavier, I would have put my charm on. Instead, I smiled and nodded at him.

"Yes. That's her" my mom said, shaking her head at me.

"I'll be drawing a few tubes of blood, okay?" he said with a nice smile that showed off his nice teeth.

"Sure. Why not? Then we could have a pint!" I answered awkwardly. My mom nudged my arm, but the lab tech just laughed. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. He is the one with the needle. He wrapped a rubber band around my arm and started feeling around. My hands started sweating for another reason now. To distract me, I asked, "So. How long have you been a lab tech?"

"A few years. Don't worry. I won't hurt you. I could, but I won't," he said with a laugh. I took a deep breath and just turned my attention back to my mom. Really? That short answer? I was expecting a whole life story. Not the answer I got.

"She doesn't like needles" my mom explained to the lab tech. He laughed.

"Who does?"

"Tattoo artists and people who pierce other people. I'm thinking of adding lab techs to that list," I said, waiting for the moment the needle would go in my arm. He laughed again.

"I think you might be my favorite patient.”

"OOOUUUCCCHHH!" I whispered when I felt the needle dig into my arm. I continued not to look because if I did, I might very well pass out again. It was very quiet in the room for a moment. I tried not to pay attention to the fact there was a needle in my arm. It might freak me out thinking that I hear my blood draining.

"And…you can go back to breathing," he laughed after a minute. I turned and saw him wrapping my arm with that bandage stuff. He wrote something down on some forms and placed the tubes in a small rack before walking out of the room.

"Goodbye" I said after he walked out of the door.

"Okay honey. You were telling me something before he walked in. What about the girl from the TV?" she asked, turning all her attention back to me. She rubbed my arm to sooth me. Just like when I was a little girl and had an "ouchy".

"I-I saw her. While I was walking to school yesterday," I said hesitantly. My heart raced as I tried to put the words together. I mean, that's not just something you come right out with. I can't tell her that I dreamed of Katrina being kidn*pped by some man that scares me to my very core and then the next day she’s kidn*pped. Or that I saw that man and it could very well be him. But what if it’s not? What if it is just a coincidence?

"Really? On your way to school?" my mom didn’t really have much of a reaction as she fidgeted in her chair. I watched her to see if it’s nervous fidgeting.

"Yeah. Right before the stop sign, but there's more," I said, unable to keep it to myself anymore. My heart started to beat out of my chest, word vomit was forming in my throat.

"Okay?" She asked, tilting her head to the side again. I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the doctor walking in. Great! "Will you quit interrupting me!" I wanted to shout. I really feel like I need to get this off my chest, but I don't want to say it in front of the world.

"Alright, we'll have to wait on the labs, but everything else has come back as clear. It may have been that you were choking, but there are no signs of asphyxiation. Lungs are clear, throat is clear; just keep your eyes open the next few days. Any sign of struggling to breathe or another fainting episode, come back to the hospital. Should we have any concerns with the labs, we’ll call and discuss it then. Okay?" he said, handing us some paper.

My mom signed a sheet then handed the paperwork back to the doctor with a smile pasted on her face. It was a faux smile, but we didn’t have to let him know that. Instead she shook his hand and said, "Thank you."

"Go ahead and get dressed. You're free to go," he said with a smile before walking to the door.

"Can we get notes? I need one for my school and my mom for work," I interrupted him as I got up off of the bed.

"Sure" he said, going through some papers on his clipboard. He wrote something on two of them then handed them to us.

"Thank you" I said as he walked out the door.

After I dressed, I hesitated leaving the bedside. I turned to my mom and let out a deep breath. She watched me with a soft pout. She’s my mother and I can’t get anything past her, but how do I tell her? What if she thinks I’m weird? Or too much? What if this adds stress? She shook her head as if knowing my trail of thoughts.

"What is it, Anna?" she asked, coming over and wrapping her arms around me.

"Mom, I didn't pass out from choking. My throat was already clear.”

"O-kay? You still passed out so I wanted you to get looked at. Don’t be upset at me.”

“I’m not upset,” I said, holding her close to me. "I think I passed out from shock or fear."

"Fear? Why would you say that?" my mom repeated, jerking her head back to look at me. I took a deep breath.

"Remember that nightmare I told you I had yesterday?" I asked, taking a step back so I could see her face.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well. It was about her."

"Her who?" she asked, studying my face.

"Her. Katrina," I explained, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath again. Here it goes. Crazy coming through. "I dreamed that I saw her. I saw her and then I-I was her. That I was Katrina Peterson and...I had been kidnapped.”

She was quiet as she watched me. I turned away from her, sitting on the bed. After a moment she let out a breath, but didn’t say anything, so I continued, “Not only that, but I, uh, also saw and w-was him.”

“Him? Him who?”

I sighed, turning towards her before answering, “The bad man.”