Chapter Five

            Olivia…Olivia….She felt the summer heat and the smell of familiar scents like the ones in her visions.  She felt her body shake and go cold, No, not another one!  She forced for her eyes to flutter open only to be blinded by a piercing light.  She quickly shut her eyes again shying away from the brightness.  She felt a warming touch on her hand and she looked down the see someone holding her hand in their own.  Olivia could recognize those delicate hands anywhere: they were her mother’s.  “Mom!”
            “Oh hunny, I’m so glad you’re okay!”
            “I’m happy you’re here.”
            Her mom “oh”-ed sweetly and leaned in to give her daughter a hug.  “You had me worried young lady.”
            She was about to ask “why” when Olivia remembered everything that happened.  She was certain that what she saw was all real, but she wasn’t sure if anyone would believe her, even her mom.  She knew that for now she had to keep what happened to herself.  She looked back to the window and realized it was sunset.  When she was at Devon’s house it was 3 pm.  Have I only been sleeping for five hours?  That didn’t seem right even though she was still incredibly tired.  It had felt like she was sleeping for weeks.  Her mom must have realized the questions going on inside Olivia’s head because she randomly spoke up again:
            “You’ve been asleep for a little more than a day.  They said a couple hours ago that you should be getting up soon.”
            Olivia tried sitting up in the bed to find a sharp pain coming shooting from her back.  She gasped from the sudden sting.
            Her mom eased her back down.  “Careful, dear.  You’re all stitched up on your back and you don’t want it to reopen.  You were in quite the accident,” her mom said in somewhat of a scolding voice.
            “Wait—what?  What accident?”  Olivia said clueless, she wouldn’t really call what happened an accident.
            “Your car accident.  Oh gosh, they said you would have a hard time remembering what happened at first,” she said softening her voice. 
            Hell no, I remember exactly what happened!  And it definitely wasn’t a stupid car accident!  Just as she was about to open her mouth to tell her mom how wrong she was, she remembered that something inside her was telling her she had to keep quiet.  So she sat there silently waiting for her mom to go on.
            “The witness said there was an animal crossing the road and you swerved to miss but the gravel caught your tires and pulled you in,” her eyes started to fill up with tears and she continued between short sobs.  “And your car flipped three times leaving you trapped upside down under your car.  He found you, got you out safely, and brought you here.  He said an ambulance would’ve taken too long to get out to Pearl City from Freeport,” she said weakly as she wiped away her own tears.  “I don’t really care how everything happened, I just care you’re safe.”  Her mom leaned in another time giving her another hug holding onto Olivia longer this time.
            Olivia finally spoke once her mom pulled away.  “Well where’s the witness?  Did anyone get his name?  I need to see him!”  Her mom looked at her questionably detecting the urgency in Olivia’s voice.  “It would just be nice to know, that way…I could personally thank him,” Olivia quickly added.
            Her mom sighed happily clearly thinking about how great of a daughter she raised.
            “And now that you recall the story for me, I think I’m getting clips of my memory back.”
            They both managed to jump at the sound of a stranger’s voice.  “That is good Olivia, although quite a painful memory to have.”  Olivia relaxed when she easily remembered the gentle voice of the wise doctor that had been amongst the others when she first came into the hospital.  It was nice to finely put a face to the calm voice she heard that night.  Her features seemed to match her voice perfectly.  The woman smiled and her beauty was far greater than anyone’s she had seen before.  She seemed to glow in the darkening room and her dark gray hair framed her face and swooped into an elegant bun.  A dainty gold chain lined along her collarbone and down her neck.  Upon it hung a rich emerald stone.  “But some of us must live and learn from such memories because it is those experiences that pull people together and make us stronger.”  Her words were like honey but it wasn’t until what she had to say last that Olivia finally realized the meaning behind her words.  “I urge you to look deep inside yourself to fit together the hidden pieces of the puzzle.”  Olivia understood she was no longer talking about a car accident and part of her wondered if the person in front of her knew something her mom and the other doctors didn’t.  “I’m Dr. Dahlia Baumann, let’s take a look to see how you’re doing, Olivia.”