Page 89 of Wasted Time

Knocking on the door, I waited and said a silent prayer that someone would answer. I heard footsteps seconds before a male voice sounded from the other side. “Who’s there?”

“Hello,” I called out over the sound of the rain. “Can I use your phone?”

He opened the door a crack, and his eyes widened. “What happened to you?”

“I…” I hesitated, unsure how to reply to that. “I was in an accident. Can you call 911 for me?”

“Yeah, alright.” He nodded. “You wait there, okay?”

“Okay.” I agreed, but I was deflated when he closed the door. I understood why he did, but I wanted to go inside where I knew he couldn’t see me if he drove by.

Within a minute, he opened the door again and peeked out. He was a much older man, probably in his seventies if I had to guess. “They’re on their way.”

When he handed me a bottle of water, I sighed. “Thank you.”

“Where’s your car?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I’m not really sure.”

“You have a pretty nasty gash on your head so that’s no surprise.”

“Where am I?

He leaned his hip against the doorframe but stayed inside the house. I was grateful he stayed out here to talk to me, though. “Just outside New Hope.”

When I nodded, he continued. “You from New Hope?”

“No,” I replied, but my voice sounded shaky, “but I have friends here.”

“Why don’t you take a drink?”

I stared at the bottle, and even as thirsty as I was, I couldn’t find the energy to take off the cap. A chill wrapped around me, and suddenly, my legs felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each.

Sliding down the wall, I sat by the door. “I’m so cold.”

He closed the door, and I laid my head against the side of his house. My body was shaking when he finally opened the door again. He attempted to hand me a blanket, but I couldn’t reach out. Something was wrong. I hadn’t felt this bad earlier. I never heard him move, but soon, the blanket surrounded me.

Not much later, I heard his voice again. “You better hurry. I think she’s going into shock.”

I closed my eyes, the weight of the blanket a comfort, but I couldn’t stop shaking. I woke when I heard sirens and breathed a sigh of relief. Paramedics rushed toward me, along with a few cops. I was placed on a gurney, and they rushed me toward the ambulance when I finally focused on a cop trying to get my attention.

“What’s your name?”

“Jane Williams,” I muttered softly.

“Stay with me, Jane,” one of the paramedics said when I was lifted inside the ambulance. “What day is it?”

“I don’t know.”

There was a lot of talking around me when the ambulance finally pulled out, but I just wanted to go to sleep.

“What’s the last day you remember?”

Flashes of Tank appeared in my mind, but those memories hurt. I didn’t want to remember how I felt leaving him that day. I didn’t want to think about him at all, but the paramedic needed to know. “Sunday.”

“You have no memory since Sunday?”

I didn’t know how to explain that I had some memories but not all, so I ignored his question and asked one of my own. “What day is it?”

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