My Silver Mate

Hospital

[Samara]

It didn’t take long for the Sheriff to show up, but I hadn’t been expecting him to bring an ambulance with him. Not only that, but my parents were right behind him. I stared at them in shock and panic. I had no idea what I was going to say yet.

“Samara Da Luca?” the Sheriff asked as he peered down at me. He looked unsure as he glanced at my parents.

“It is,” my mother whispered. “Oh, honey! Where have you been?” she asked as she hurried forward. I don’t know why, but I flinched back, which made her freeze. “Samara? Honey? It’s me…mom,” I stared at her, my eyes wide as I tried to figure out a way out of this.

“Ok, let’s give her some room. Get her to the hospital so that she can be checked out,” the Sheriff suddenly took control, and I was carefully ushered to the back of the ambulance. Once the doors were shut, the paramedic took over as he had made sure I was comfortable. He chatted about he weather and other random s**t, but I wasn’t paying much attention. By the time we got to Oakville hospital, I was relieved. I kept my head down as they led me inside and I didn’t say a word when a doctor and two nurses came into the room to check me over. I knew they wouldn’t find anything, because there was nothing wrong with me. Right? When they left me alone, I stared at the ceiling. This was awful. I had thought it would be easy to keep Evan’s secret, but in reality? No, it was a lot harder.

“Samara?” I looked over to see the Sheriff was back and he wasn’t alone. My parents, Ben and Heather, were right behind him. “Your family and friends would like to see you,” I stared at them blankly as I tried to figure out what I was going to say. “I would like to ask you a few questions if that’s all right?” he then asked as they quickly filled up the room. I could tell that Ben looked worried and that Heather was desperately trying not to cry.

“Sure,” I whispered.

“Samara, do you know what day it is?” he asked, and I frowned.

“No,” I said truthfully.

“It’s Monday,” Ben said, but that meant nothing to me. “You’ve been gone for over a week,” he added. The Sheriff shot him a look and Ben quickly shut his mouth.

“Do you know who you are?” the Sheriff then asked, and I nodded. “Ok, good and do you remember who these people are?” he looked over his shoulder and I remained silent. I couldn’t exactly pretend that I suddenly didn’t know who they were if I knew who I was.

“My parents,” I whispered, and my mother whimpered.

“And these two?” the Sheriff asked, and I frowned.

“Heather,” I said, and she clung to my mother. “Him…I don’t know,” I lied. Ben’s face fell and I felt bad for lying.

“Ok…ok…so…can you tell me what happened to you?” the Sheriff asked, and I turned my head back to stare up at the ceiling. I couldn’t lie so I tried my best not to.

“I don’t really remember. I remember walking and I remember getting a ride and I remember Daisy from the store. She was nice. She gave me food and water,”

“Who gave you a ride?” he asked, but I shrugged.

“I don’t know. Some guy. He picked me up alongside the road and took me into Lakeson. He dropped me off,”

“Daisy said it looked like the two of you were having an argument before you got out and slammed the door,” he said, and I nodded.

“He wanted money…I don’t have any money…he wanted something else so I got out as quickly as I could,” I said. Again, it wasn’t a complete lie. Evan did want something from me. He wanted me to join his pack. I wouldn’t tell them that though.

“Oh honey,” my mother whispered, but I ignored her.

“Ok…Samara…I understand that you don’t remember anything, but you had gone camping with your friends…you had, we assume you had gotten up during the night, and…we found blood nearby and it tested positive as your blood. Do you remember being attacked?”

“No,”

“The doctor…he said that you are perfectly healthy…not a even a scratch on you…um…?” he was asking me something and I wasn’t sure what he was looking for.

“Where were you bleeding from, honey?” my mother then asked as she untangled herself from Heather’s clutches and approached the bed. I frowned as I turned my head to look at her. “The doctor…he didn’t find any scratches or bruises or anything…where were you bleeding from?”

“I don’t…know…I don’t remember,” I muttered as I started to cry.

“Ok, it’s ok honey,” my mother quickly said as she grabbed my hand. “Any other questions Sheriff?” she asked him, and he looked frustrated.

“I’m sorry…I just…I don’t remember much,” I said through my tears, and he sighed softly.

“Of course, but we do need to figure out where you were, Samara,” he said as he pocketed his notebook. “I’ll be back a bit later and we can talk some more then,” and with that, the Sheriff hurried out of the room. My father joined my mother and Heather came over on my other side. Ben stayed by the foot of the bed.

“You don’t remember me?” he asked sadly, and I frowned. “I’m Ben…your boyfriend,”

“Ben,” I whispered.

“Yes, Ben,”

“I’m sorry Ben, a lot of things are hazy for me,” I lied softly, and he nodded before he made a run for it and left the room. I felt terrible and I wasn’t sure how I was going to fix all of this, but right now all I wanted to do was sleep. I listened as my parents and Heather told me about how everyone had been looking for me and I closed my eyes and pretended to fall asleep so that they would leave. Once I was alone, I turned my head and cried into the pillow.