After a brief chat with her mother, Nia followed the directions she'd been given to find Emery, her steps cautious yet determined. Her heart raced as she approached the room, unsure of what awaited her. When she finally reached the door and slowly opened it, she caught sight of Emery standing beside a hospital bed, gently adjusting the covers over a young, unconscious woman.
The sound of the door caused Emery to glance at Nia briefly before returning his gaze to the patient. As Nia closed the door behind her, a chill ran through her body. Her eyes widened as she finally recognized the girl lying there—Emerald, the same girl she had seen flashes of in her scattered memories. Her breath caught as emotions crashed over her like a tidal wave.
Her legs began to tremble, and before she knew it, she sank to the floor. “I didn’t mean it, Emerald,” she whispered shakily, the words spilling from her lips in barely audible murmurs. “I… I never meant for this to happen.” Tears slid down her cheeks as she repeated the words, her voice breaking with each syllable.
Emery quickly crossed the room, kneeling beside her as he pulled her into a comforting embrace. “Calm down, Nia,” he urged, his hand gently stroking her hair as she clung to him. The warmth of his touch offered an anchor amidst the storm of her emotions, and gradually, her shaking subsided. But as her body stilled, Emery noticed something was wrong—Nia’s eyes had closed, and she was completely unresponsive.
He gently lifted her onto the empty bed beside his sister’s, his heart pounding with worry. The situation felt all too surreal, and he was filled with guilt, wondering if bringing her here had pushed her too far.
---
Thirty minutes trickled by in agonizing slowness as Emery sat by her side, his hands clasped together in restless worry. Nia had yet to regain consciousness, and Mrs. Ford’s words of assurance that she would be fine barely eased his mind. He continued pacing, glancing at her every few seconds, his heart heavy with a storm of conflicting emotions.
"What really happened between them?” he wondered. He’d always heard rumors that Nia had been involved in the incident that led to Emerald’s coma, but he’d dismissed them, unwilling to believe the worst without hearing her side of the story. The two girls had once been inseparable, but everything fell apart after that night. Emery had left the party to take a call, only to return to find his sister in an ambulance and Nia in a daze.
Just as his thoughts swirled, a faint groan pulled him from his trance. He quickly returned to Nia’s side as her eyelids fluttered open. “Are you okay?” he asked, relief evident in his voice as he helped her sit up.
Nia held her head, wincing from a sudden, throbbing headache. “What… what happened?” she murmured, her voice soft and disoriented.
Emery studied her, uncertainty flickering across his features. “You… you don’t remember?”
She shook her head, her expression blank. “I remember walking in, and then… nothing.”
Just then, Mrs. Ford entered, her gaze softening as she approached. “Nia, honey, are you alright?” she asked, her tone filled with concern as she stroked Nia’s hair. “You gave us quite a scare.”
Still piecing things together, Nia glanced between her mother and Emery, confusion etching deeper into her features. “Mom, what happened? Why was I here?”
Mrs. Ford sighed, brushing off her question. “We’ll talk about that later, but for now, just rest. Emery and I need to step outside for a moment.”
Nia watched her mother and Emery walk to the entrance, feeling like she was missing pieces of a puzzle that everyone else seemed to understand. She sighed and turned her attention to the other patient in the room—Emerald. Nia couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt that twisted her stomach.
“What connection do we have?” she whispered to herself, staring at Emerald’s peaceful face. It was as if her past self—Nia’s memories and emotions—were tied up in the tragedy of this girl lying before her.
But one question lingered, haunting her with each passing second: Did she do this?
As Nia continued trying to make sense of the events that had landed her here, a sudden thought struck her. “Wait, what about Mavin?” she asked, her voice a little sharper, filled with fresh worry. Her mother paused by the door, looking back at her.
“Mavin’s with your father,” Mrs. Ford reassured her gently. “He’ll be here soon, don’t worry.”
Nia relaxed just a little, watching as her mother and Emery slipped out of the room, leaving her alone. Silence quickly filled the space, and she found herself glancing over at Emerald once again. The other girl’s face looked pale but peaceful, a stark contrast to the turbulent emotions Nia felt roiling inside.
Slowly, Nia’s gaze softened as she studied the resemblance between Emery and his sister—the familiar arch of their eyebrows, the slight tilt of their chins. Seeing Emerald like this made the memories flicker in her mind, even though they felt like scattered pieces of a puzzle that refused to align. She couldn’t help but wonder what had truly happened that night, and why her mind seemed so determined to bury it.
Nia let out a shaky breath, a twinge of regret blooming in her chest. “What link do we three have?” she murmured softly. She shifted closer to the edge of her bed, her gaze fixed on the other girl. “Was it you who called me here, Nia? ... or did something else bring us together?”
Her words floated in the silence, unanswered, as she gazed out the window, lost in thought. The questions lingered, gnawing at her, as if answers were hiding just out of reach, waiting to surface when she least expected it.