Page 56 of Collision

“Oh, so you remember telling me that?”

“Of course. I remember everything.”

I felt a twinge in my stomach. “I should probably see how Shelly’s doing. And take a shower.”

He stood, but lingered. “Thanks for taking care of me last night.”

I waved my hand. “Please. You’ve taken care of me enough times. I didn’t mind.”

He stepped towards the door, but then turned back around. “Maybe we can finish that conversation sometime. The one we had last night.”

“Sure.”

After a pause, he walked out of the room to grab his things.

I waited until I heard the front door close before I hopped out of bed and into the shower.

For the remainder of the morning, I relaxed on the recliner watching movies, waiting for Shelly to wake up. My mind frequently wandered back to dancing with Chase the night before. His lips were so close, it would have been easy to have kissed them. I wondered how differently this morning would have gone if I had.

A knock at my door in the late afternoon pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Look away!” Shelly shouted, as I swung open the door. Hiding her face in the crook of her elbow, she walked past me and continued her dramatics as she threw herself onto the couch.

I closed the door, chuckling to myself.

“I can hear you laughing at me!”

“If you opened your eyes, you could see me laughing at you, too.”

“I think I threw up my spleen around three-thirty.”

“Fun night, huh?”

“I only remember it in fragments,” she groaned.

“Most people consider that a great night.”

“Please tell me you’re coming to dinner. If my parents ask me one more time how you’re doing, my head might explode.”

“I’ll be there.”

“What’s wrong? You seem distracted or something.”

“Something happened. Something weird.”

“Between you and Chase?!” She sat up, instantly feeling better.

“No, no. Let me finish. I had my nightmare again… but this time, at the end, there was a black figure walking towards the car.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing. Chase woke me up. He said he heard me crying.”

“Wait – Chase was here?”

“He slept on the couch. Focus, Shell.”

“Sorry. Okay, so you saw someone coming towards you. Maybe it’s the person who pulled you out of your car. Maybe your brain is remembering more. The doctor said you might gain some memories back from the night of your accident over time.”

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