Memories: A Short Story

August 19th, 2015

10:48 P.M., E.T.

Sandwich, New Hampshire

“Hey Nicole, put on your seatbelt!” Kate scolded as she pulled out of the driveway in her ‘98 Ford, her two friends Nicole and Jess seated next to her. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna die tonight.”

Nicole laughed. “I don’t, either,” she responded as she pulled the seatbelt across her waist and buckled it at her side.

The truck eased to a stop at the end of the street. “So where we goin’?” Kate asked, turning to look at her two passengers.

Nicole shrugged. “Good question.”

“Let’s just drive,” Jess suggested, her arm hanging casually out of the open window. “We can be rebellious for once and just go wherever life takes us.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Kate revved the engine, and soon they had disappeared around the corner.

Nicole turned on the radio, and some country song began to play at full blast. She smiled, the cool summer wind in her face as they flew down the country road, not a care in the world. That was the last thing she could remember before it all went black.

August 19th, 2015

11:58 P.M., E.T.

Laconia, New Hampshire

“Open the door! Let us in, goddamnit! Why won’t they let us in?!”

Ellen was screaming, banging on the door of the emergency room with her fists. The entrance to the hospital, which normally opened automatically, was locked, and she was enraged. Her husband James tried to calm her down, but to no avail: she was determined.

About a half hour earlier, Ellen had received a phone call from Nicole’s best friend, Jess. “Mrs. Smith, th-there’s been a...a little accident,” she had said, her voice shaking, still in shock from the impact. “Th-there was an animal, or something--I don’t know what there was, actually-- b-but we hit a tree, and um… Nicole is unconscious, but she’s still breathing. Kate called the police, they said they would send an ambulance--”

“Jess, just stay where you are. Stay calm. Everything’s going to be okay, alright?” Ellen had reassured her on the phone, even though she herself was terrified.

Ellen and James jumped in the car and headed straight for the hospital, and now here they were, locked outside the lobby, with no idea where their daughter was or what was happening.

“Hey! Hey, you!” Ellen yelled to a paramedic who was hurrying down the hallway, a first aid kit in his hand. “Open the damn door! My daughter’s in there! I need to see my daughter!”

The paramedic didn’t even look up. He just kept walking at a steady, determined pace until he disappeared behind a door at the end of the hallway.

Ellen gaped. He had blatantly ignored her. “What the hell is going on?! Come back here! Come back and let us in! ”

“Ellen, stop,” James said authoritatively, grabbing his wife’s arm before she could continue banging on the glass. “Making a scene isn’t helping anything.”

“I just want to know what’s going on,” she whimpered, dejected. “I just want to see Nicole.” She buried her face in her hands, fighting back tears, and James folded her into his arms in an attempt to comfort her although he, too, was in a state of panic.

They both looked up when they heard the door open. A frazzled-looking woman stood before them, her hair messy and her clothes streaked with blood. Her voice shook as she spoke: “Can I help you guys?”

“Yes,” Ellen replied, breathing a sigh of relief. Finally someone had noticed that they were there. “My daughter Nicole Smith--she was in a car accident, and she’s in there,” she told the nurse frantically. “Please let us see her. We need to see her!”

The woman’s eyes went wide. “The girl in there--that’s your daughter?”

Ellen nodded.

“Yeah,” the woman said, backing away. “You’re gonna have to wait a while. She’s in pretty bad shape.” With that, she hurried away, disappearing into the operation room.

Ellen opened her mouth to yell something, but James tapped her on the shoulder before she could make a sound. “Ellen,” he said in a curious tone of voice. “That woman--I think she was the receptionist.”

Ellen scoffed. “The receptionist? If she’s the receptionist, why did she just go into the operation room?”

“Because,” James said solemnly, “they need all the help they can get.”

This was much more serious than they had thought.

August 20th, 2015

12:05 A.M., E.T.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

It was the first night of sophomore year. Brian was still unpacking his belongings, hanging up pictures, arranging furniture--trying to make his new dorm room feel like home.

He rifled through one of the many unpacked boxes in his room, taking inventory of what was inside. All pictures. He pulled out a stack of photos and began sifting through them.

Each photo captured a moment with someone he loved. One was a photo of him and his friends at the beach, all smiling, their arms affectionately wrapped around each other as the ocean waves crashed in the background. Another one, taken a few winters ago, showed a sweet, candid moment between his mom and dad, looking at each other as snow fell lightly behind them. His favorite by far, though, was a picture of his sister, Nicole. Taken just a month ago during their annual family vacation, the photo showed Nicole, her back to the camera, sitting on a rocky beach and looking out at the sailboats that were floating by.

He held the photo up to the light to get a better look at it. It was one of the best pictures he had ever taken: to him, it represented the vastness of the world, the endless possibilities of the future.

When he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he welcomed the diversion from the tedious task of unpacking. Picture still in hand, he pulled the phone out of his pocket to see who was calling. He answered with a smile.

“Hey, mom,” he said cheerfully. His smile faded when he heard the despondent voice on the other line.

Brian was silent as his mother delivered the bad news. The picture in his hand slipped through his fingers and fluttered to the ground.

* * *

All at once he was a child again. It was summer. The sun nearly blinded him as he ran after his sister, who raced off into the distance without a care in the world. She ran as fast as the wind could carry her, a shock of strawberry-blonde hair flying behind her. He ran and ran down the grassy hillside, but try as he might, he couldn’t catch up to her.

Until she took a wrong step.

In a split second she lost her footing and collided with the rough ground beneath her, tears filling her eyes and pain engulfing her senses. Before she could open her mouth to call for help, her brother was by her side.

“Don’t worry, sister,” he reassured her. “Brother’s here.”

* * *

“Brian?” questioned his mother’s shaking voice on the other line. “Are you there?”

He snapped out of it. “Yeah,” he answered. “I’m here.”

“Alright. We’ll keep you updated.”

Click. The line went dead. Alone again.

He sat there, wide eyed and bewildered, as his world seemed to fall apart around him. He glanced around the near-empty room, his eyes moving from the unpacked boxes of his belongings to the picture that had fallen to the floor and finally the Holy Bible that sat beside his bed.

And it was then that he did something he hadn’t done in a long time. Hands clasped together for dear life and eyes shut tightly to hold back the tears, he bowed his head and prayed.

August 20th, 2015

12:45 A.M., E.T.

Laconia, New Hampshire

It seemed like forever that they had been sitting in the waiting room. Nurses, doctors, paramedics, and--yes--even the receptionist ran frantically back and forth from the operation room as Nicole fought for her life. As the hospital staff did everything in their power to keep Nicole alive, all Ellen and James could do was pray.

“Mr. and Mrs. Smith?”

Ellen and James looked up immediately upon hearing their names. Their gazes were met with a doctor standing in the doorway, his face stoic. They couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t look too optimistic.

“I’m afraid your daughter’s situation is very, very serious. We’ve done all we can do here--we need to transfer her to Dartmouth. Ideally, we would airlift her, but due to the cloudy weather tonight, we’ll have to take her in an ambulance. There is a slight problem, however.” He paused, as if to give Ellen and James a moment to prepare for what he was about to say.

“In the critical condition your daughter is currently in, she might not survive the ambulance ride.”

Tears filled both of their eyes. The words “she might not survive” hung in the air like an ominous storm cloud that promised to erupt in a monsoon at any moment. All either of them could think was that this had to be a dream--just a terrible, horrifying nightmare.

The doctor spoke up again. “If you give me your cell phone number, I’ll call you if she passes away during the ambulance ride.” Ellen told him her cell phone number, and he punched it into his phone. “I will call you if and only if that happens. If she survives, you won’t get a call from me.”

Ellen and James both nodded. They understood.

The doctor looked at Ellen, then at James. “Listen to me,” he said, grabbing them both by the arm. “Your daughter is a fighter. I have confidence that she will make it through this. I can’t guarantee anything, but I can tell you that I have faith.”

“Thank you,” Ellen said softly, tears filling her eyes.

And so they got in the car and drove for what seemed like an eternity, tears running down both of their faces, as they prayed and prayed that the phone wouldn’t ring.

An hour and a half later and the phone hadn’t made a sound. When they pulled into the parking lot of Dartmouth hospital and their car came to a stop, all they could do was hold each other tight and thank God that they hadn’t gotten a call.

August 20th, 2015

1:28 A.M., E.T.

Los Angeles, California

It was way too late, and Leah was way too tired.

She fumbled with the key to her dorm, eyes drooping with fatigue and hands unsteady with weariness. She was halfway into her college orientation, and after day three days of running between back-to-back activities and constantly trying to remember the names of people she would probably never see again, to say she was exhausted would be an understatement.

Finally the door unlocked and she stumbled into her temporary accommodations. She dropped her purse on the floor and slammed the door behind her, immediately making a bee-line for the bed. She flopped on her back, and only then did she realize the extent of her fatigue. She looked at the clock on her nightstand. 10:28. Looked like bedtime to her.

She shut her eyes for a moment and began to doze off. Within seconds, however, she was startled awake by the sudden sound of her phone ringing.

“Ugh,” she groaned before dragging herself out of bed and digging through her backpack to find the source of the noise. When she finally found her phone, she hit “Answer” and raised it to her ear.

“Hey, mom,” she said, never stopping to wonder why her mother would be calling her at 1 A.M. Eastern time.

“Leah,” said a solemn voice on the other line. “Are you sitting down?”

Leah furrowed her brow in confusion. “Uh- well, no…”

“Sit down. I have to tell you something you’re not going to like.” She paused. “I didn’t want you to hear about this through Facebook.”

Now she was worried. Silent, she crossed the room and returned to the bed. This time, though, it provided her no comfort. “Mom,” Leah asked urgently, “What’s wrong?”

“There’s been a car accident.”

Memories of the car accident she had been in just a few weeks before flashed before Leah’s eyes. She hadn’t been hurt, but the experience had traumatized her beyond words. Not this again, she thought. “Um, okay...who-...?”

“Kate, Jess, and Nicole. There were no fatalities, but…”

Silence.

“But?” Leah urged, a sinking feeling making itself known in her stomach.

“Nicole is in the hospital, and she’s still unconscious. They don’t know if there’s serious brain damage. They’re hopeful that she’ll wake up, but they don’t know for sure.”

Leah’s first response was to cry. The tears came quietly at first, and then they were accompanied by loud sobs that wracked her whole body. This couldn’t be happening--not to her best friend…

Suddenly, her mind took her back to a day not too long ago--a day that, although she couldn’t have known it at the time, was mere child's play compared to what was to come.

* * *

It was late July in New Hampshire. Leah and Nicole lay stretched out on beach towels by the lake, basking in the warm sun and chattering about the college boys Leah was sure to meet when she left for her orientation in a few weeks.

Suddenly, Leah had an idea. “Hey, my mom got these new paddle boards a few weeks ago,” she said excitedly. “Wanna try ‘em? They’re supposed to be really fun.”

Nicole sat up, pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and looked over at Leah. “Paddle boards--those are the surfboard things that you stand on and paddle through the water, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s do it,” Nicole agreed. “I’ve always wanted to try one of those!”

The girls raced off towards the lake, the midday sun growing brighter with each step they took. Soon they were out on the water, the waves lapping at their feet in the gentle summer breeze. With each stroke of their paddles they went farther and farther out on the lake, and by the time they had gone a little too far, they were both having too much fun to notice. Until, that is, the gentle breeze they had felt earlier transformed into a chilling, formidable gust of wind that howled in the opposite direction from the shore.

Leah looked back at the shore and realized just how far out they had gone: they were almost in the middle of the lake. “Nicole,” she called to her friend who had drifted even farther out than she had. “Nicole, we have to go back!”

The girls began frantically paddling towards dry land. Leah had made it almost halfway back to the shore when she looked back at Nicole and was startled by what she saw: Nicole, although paddling hard, hadn’t moved an inch. The wind was blowing hard now, and towards the middle of the lake. Nicole was stranded.

That’s when Leah knew she had to get help.

She spotted two men docking their boat in the distance. She wasted no time in starting towards them. “Help!” she yelled frantically. “Help! Please help me!”

Pushing away from the dock and out into the water, the two men made their way to Leah. They pulled her out of the water and onto the boat. Exhausted and breathing heavily, she pointed to Nicole, who was off in the distance paddling as hard as she could but making no progress. “My friend,” she panted. “She’s stuck!”

The two men steered the boat towards the middle of the lake, heading straight for Nicole. The boat’s engine proved stronger than the wind, and soon they were by Nicole’s side, pulling her out of the water and returning her back to dry land.

Later, when the girls had sat down to eat dinner, they told Leah’s mom everything.

“God, that was scary,” Nicole said, shaking her head.

“Yeah...I mean, you could’ve died,” Leah agreed. “But thank God you didn’t!”

* * *

This time, Leah couldn’t do anything to help Nicole--but she hoped, as she wiped the tears from her eyes, that she would be able to say the same thing at the end of this ordeal as she had at the end of that July afternoon:

You could’ve died...but thank God you didn’t.

August 20th, 2015

12:30 P.M., ET

Manchester, New Hampshire

Ellen was exhausted.

The past few hours had been a parade of hospital visitors and well-wishers--family members, Nicole’s school friends, and Ellen’s pastor, to name a few--and although Ellen appreciated the support, all she wanted was some peace and quiet.

She sat by Nicole’s bed, her head in her hands as she dozed off. James had gone down to the hospital cafeteria to grab a bite to eat, and Ellen was glad to have a moment alone so she could relax. Her moment of relaxation came to a sudden end, however, when the door opened and a doctor stepped inside.

He was young and fresh-faced, right out of medical school. He held a clipboard in his hand--Ellen eyed it curiously, wondering what sort of news it brought.

“Mrs. Smith?” asked the young doctor, looking over at Ellen with sharp, analytical eyes.

“Yes, doctor.”

“I have the results of your daughter’s CAT scan. There’s good news and bad news.” He paused, lifting the clipboard to eye level so he could read the results. “The good news here is that there doesn’t appear to be any serious brain damage--no bleeding or swelling. She did sustain a serious concussion, but that will heal with a lot of time and rest.” Ellen’s heart soared at the news. She squeezed Nicole’s hand, which she held firmly in hers. The doctor continued: “However, there is bad news as well. The severity of her concussion suggests that she won’t be fully healed and able to function normally for give or take six months after the accident--which means she won’t be able to start college this fall.”

Ellen nodded, conflicted. Although she was elated at the fact that there was no serious brain damage, her heart broke for her daughter. Nicole had been so excited about starting college in just a week--in fact, the morning of the accident, Ellen recalled Nicole telling her about the many ideas she had for decorating her dorm.

“So there’s no chance? No way she could possibly go off to school?”

The doctor shook his head. “It’s doubtful. And if she did, she would have to make an already difficult adjustment while recovering from serious injuries and considerable head trauma. However you decide to look at it, it would be best to postpone her freshman year until next fall.”

Ellen nodded. “You’re right,” she agreed. “Thank you.”

The doctor nodded curtly and stepped out of the room.

It was quiet again. Ellen looked at her sleeping daughter, at her bruised and swollen face: she couldn’t imagine the pain she must have been in. And she dreaded the additional pain she would have to inflict when she broke the bad news to Nicole.

August 20th, 2015

2:00 P.M., ET

Meredith, New Hampshire

Word spreads quickly in a small town. By mid-afternoon the next day, everyone had heard about the accident. Friends, acquaintances, and even strangers had learned about what had happened to Nicole, Jess, and Kate the night before either through social media or word of mouth, and before long the whole town was talking about it.

Rumors spread like wildfire. Some speculated there had been alcohol involved; many assumed that Nicole had been driving; others even heard there had been a fatality. Although none of these things were true, they quickly became common knowledge, and soon everyone was talking.

Everyone, that is, except for Alicia.

Alicia had just clocked out of work after a long day of looking after unruly 3rd graders at the community center. Exhausted and ready to go home, she grabbed her car keys from her purse and started towards the exit.

Just as she had put her hand on the door handle, she heard a woman’s voice behind her: “Alicia!”

She turned around and saw Mrs. Morgan, the mother of one of the kids she had been babysitting earlier today. She was also the mother of a girl who had been in Alicia’s grade in high school, Emily. “Hi, Mrs. Morgan,” Alicia said as she put on a smile.

Mrs. Morgan hurried over to where Alicia stood, enveloping her in a huge, suffocating hug. “Oh, honey,” Mrs. Morgan gushed, a tone of sympathy in her voice. “I heard about what happened to Nicole. I hope she’s okay--I’ve been praying for her all day!”

Alicia’s eyes widened. Nicole had been one of her best friends since freshman year of high school--how had she not heard that something had happened to her?

Mrs. Morgan pulled away. She looked stricken when she saw the look of confusion on Alicia’s face. “Wait--you did hear about what happened, didn’t you?”

Alicia shook her head. “Actually, I didn’t.”

“Oh, honey, I hate to be the one to tell you,” Mrs. Morgan reached out to put a reassuring hand on Alicia’s shoulder. “Nicole was in an accident last night. I heard she was airlifted to Dartmouth, and she’s still unconscious. Apparently her car was totaled--the crash was very serious.”

All Alicia could do was stare, wide-eyed. “How did you--?”

“Emily told me,” Mrs. Morgan answered, cutting her off. “I thought of you as soon as I heard.”

Alicia was in a state of shock. How had she not heard? More importantly, why hadn’t someone told her?

“Anyways, I’ve got to get going, but I’ll keep you and Nicole in my thoughts and prayers. Stay strong, honey.” Mrs. Morgan gave Alicia another big hug, and then she turned on her heel and disappeared around the corner.

Alicia wasted no time in hurrying out the door. The first thing she did when she got in her car was pull out her cell phone and call her friend Jess. Jess, Nicole, and Leah were Alicia’s three best friends--Leah was at her college orientation in California and probably didn’t know what was happening, so Alicia figured talking to Jess would be her best bet to figure out what was going on.

The phone rang again and again. Alicia was beginning to think she wasn’t going to get an answer when the ringing stopped and a small voice spoke up on the other line.

“Hey.”

“Did you hear about Nicole?” Alicia exploded, her voice a mixture of worry and confusion and anger at the fact that she was apparently the last to know.

“Um, yes,” Jess replied, her voice shaky from exhaustion. “I was there.”

“You were there!?” Alicia exclaimed incredulously. “What do you mean you were there? What happened?”

“Yeah. Kate was there too. She was driving, actually. Long story short, we hit a tree. Kate and I are both fine, except for some bruises and sprains--we were both sent home from the hospital last night--but we’re both really shaken up.”

“What about Nicole?” Alicia demanded.

“I was getting to that,” Jess snapped, annoyance evident in her voice. She exhaled sharply. “Sorry--these painkillers make me really irritable. Anyways, Nicole--well...she hit her head off the dashboard, and she was knocked unconscious. She had stopped breathing when the paramedics arrived, but they revived her, and then they took her away in an ambulance. Kate and I weren’t allowed to go with her because I guess her condition was too critical, so they sent another ambulance for us a few minutes later. We were both so scared, we didn’t know what was going on, or if she was...” She paused, heaving a deep sigh. “Anyways, Mrs. Smith has been keeping me updated, and she seems to be doing better, but…”

“But?”

“Alicia, I was in the room right next to Nicole’s in the hospital last night, and it was bad. I mean bad. I’ve never heard her cry like that before. I can’t get it out of my head.”

At this point, Alicia was fighting back tears. “Oh, God,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I can’t even imagine--”

“Trust me,” Jess interjected, “you don’t want to.”

They were both silent. After a moment, Alicia spoke up again. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that--I had no idea…”

“It’s okay, really. I mean, it’s not okay, but--it’s not your fault.”

“Well, I’ll let you rest. You sound like you need it,” Alicia said, tears still threatening to fall. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Jess replied. “Thank you.”

Alicia hung up the phone. After a moment, she remembered something--the day of the accident, she had called Nicole and asked if she wanted to go to the movies that night.

“Oh, I wish I could,” Nicole had replied, “but I just told Jess and Kate I’d hang out with them. Kate’s leaving for college on Sunday, so it’s my last chance to see her.”

“Oh, okay,” Alicia had said in response, thinking nothing of it. “That’s totally fine. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow after I get out of work?”

“Yeah, sounds good!” Nicole had answered before she said goodbye and hung up the phone. That was the last time Alicia had talked to her before the accident.

Alicia felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Maybe if I had called her earlier, none of this would’ve happened…

She put her key into the ignition and turned the radio up as loud as it could go, trying desperately to drown out the thoughts of “what if?” running through her mind at a mile a minute.

August 21st, 2015

8:53 A.M., ET

Manchester, New Hampshire

It had been two days since the accident.

The morning light streamed through the hospital window, its soft, golden quality mingling with the harsh fluorescence of Nicole’s hospital room.

Having barely slept the night before, James sat by Nicole’s bed, staring blankly at the wall. The events of the past few days had blended into a never-ending sequence of tests, procedures, and convoluted medical terms. The doctors had, hours before, expressed concern regarding Nicole’s continued lack of consciousness: if she didn’t wake up soon, they said, it could mean bad news. Although James was hopeful, he was numb: his nerves were shot, and he was trying desperately not to fall prey to false hopes.

Exhausted, he buried his face in his hands and shut out his surroundings, and all he was aware of was the steady beeping of Nicole’s heart monitor and the uncertain rhythm of his own heart beating in his chest. He sat there, unmoving, for a long time.

Until he heard her speak.

“Dad?” croaked a small, shaky voice. Startled, he looked up, and his eyes were met with the most welcome sight he had seen in the past forty-eight hours: Nicole was awake. Confused and in pain, but awake. “Dad? Where am I?”

James immediately got up and knelt beside Nicole’s bed, taking her hand in reassurance. “It’s me, it’s Dad,” he said softly. “You’re in the hospital. You’re okay. Everything’s okay.”

Nicole took in her surroundings: the white walls, the fluorescent lights, the IV in her arm and the cuts and bruises all over her body. She had no idea what had happened, how she had ended up here. She opened her mouth to speak, and the only thing she could muster was one simple question:

“What happened?”