The Lifetimes I Remembered

Chapter Eighteen: Hannah

The loud knock on their front door woke up Hannah. With sleepy eyes, she dragged herself off of her mattress and to the door. Just as she was about to reach the door, Dominic opened and Emerson suddenly stepped in their home in tears. She was a hysterical mess and the sight of her fully woke up Hannah as she rushed to her friend’s side.

“What’s going on?” Alice said, stepping out of her room. She caught sight of Emerson crying in Hannah’s arms and looked at Dom for answers, “Dominic?”

Dom shrugged, looking absolutely clueless. “She was banging on the door and when I opened, she just collapsed into sobs.”

“Emmy?” Hannah cooed, rubbing her friend’s back, “Can you please tell me what’s going on?”

“Gran…grandma,” Emerson managed to say through tears. The one word suddenly turned Hannah’s blood cold and she pulled away from Emerson. She looked at her friend seriously.

“What happened to Juliet?”

Emerson couldn’t answer as she continued to cry. Hannah led her to the couch and rubbed her back, trying her best to calm her down so she could answer the question. Dom handed her a glass of water that she gratefully took. She drank half of the glass and then turned to Hannah with the answer she’s been waiting for.

“I got a call from the nursing home. They said they had to rush her to the hospital and that I should be there as soon as I could. Cheryl allowed me to go. Mom’s already there. But I…I can’t go there alone, Hannah. I’m so scared to find out what happened to her.”

A gnawing fear crept upon Hannah. She worried for her old friend. “She’ll be okay, Em.”

“You don’t know that,” Emerson whispered and then looked at her, her green eyes big with worry, “Go with me to the hospital, Han.”

She was touched that Emerson had asked her to come but she couldn’t help but wonder why. Yes, they were friends but they weren’t exactly that close. When Emerson saw the confusion in her eyes, she answered the question in Hannah’s mind.

“You’re my only friend. Well, Ivan too but something just tells me that it’d be better to go with you.”

That warmed Hannah’s heart but before she could say something, Alice spoke, “I’ll take you two to the hospital. It’s my shift anyways. Hannah, get dressed.”

“I’ll go with,” Dom said, going back into his room to change. Hannah changed quickly, and when she was back in the living room, Dom was already back and was talking quietly with Emerson. A small smile crept on Hannah’s face despite the situation, a memory from when their father died and Dom comforting her.

“Daddy’s gone,” Hannah whispered, racking with sobs. She felt someone sit beside her and she expected it to be Mitch but was surprised to see Dom.

Dom had been distant to her the past few months. Rarely speaking to her or giving her a glance, her second older brother acted like she didn’t exist. It hurt her but she thought it must be because he was already a teenager and the bond that they built through their childhood had ceased to exist because of different interest and age difference.

Her brother wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in a hug. She leaned on his chest and listened to the rhythmic beating of his heart. “Do you remember what Dad said and when Uncle Tommy died?”

Uncle Tommy was their father’s younger brother who died in an accident at work. It was a sudden death and their father had been stricken with grief for a month. One night, he didn’t come home and the early the next morning, he arrived to their house suddenly looking at peace and like the father that they knew.

Dom and Hannah had been awake when he arrived and he brought the two of them in the living room and told them where he’d been. It turned out he spent the entire night next to his brother’s grave to simply just talk and he confessed that it did the job and he realized something.

“Just because they’re not here physically anymore doesn’t mean that they’re truly gone,” Hannah stated, her voice quiet and meek, “If I wanted to talk to Tommy, I could simply do so. I know he’ll listen. He always did and death will never change that.”

Dom managed a smile and squeezed Hannah in a tighter hug. “That’s right. Dad’s not entirely gone, Han. He’s still here. He’ll always be here.”

“Hey,” Hannah said, making her presence known, “Mom not yet done?”

“I’m done. C’mon, let’s get you all to the hospital,” Alice said, appearing in the room. The four of them marched to Alice’s station wagon and buckled themselves in. The ride to the hospital was quiet and the worry in Emerson’s face worsened with each minute that ticked by.

Hannah reached out and touched her friend’s hand, “She’ll be okay, Emmy.”

As she reassured Emerson, she sent a quick prayer to anyone who was listening to let Juliet be okay.

Juliet wasn’t okay.

Her condition wasn’t entirely critical but she was attached to many machines that monitored her vitals and her heart. She was attached to an oxygen tank because she couldn’t breathe on her own. They were told what happened to her. She had a heart-attack and it was dangerous and potentially fatal for someone of her age.

If a second one occurred again, then that meant worse for Juliet.

Hannah sent Hazel a text concerning Emerson’s condition and that she should have someone fill in for both of them. Even she didn’t want to leave the hospital. Not just for Juliet but for Emerson too. The moment they’ve arrived, Emerson had been rooted to her grandmother’s side and hadn’t left since.

Her mother had already started with her shift and Emerson’s Mom didn’t have a choice but to head back to her job, leaving the kids to tend to Juliet. Dom sat beside her and tapped her gently on the shoulder. She turned to him.

“You need to eat something,” he whispered, the concern clear in his tone, “You haven’t eaten since we got here.”

“Neither have you,” she murmured back, her eyes glued to Emerson who was intently staring at her grandmother.

“Let’s give them some privacy, Han,” Dom whispered and stood up, gently nudging her to do the same thing, “C’mon.”

With a sigh, she heeded to his demands and told Emerson that they’ll be right back after they eat and that if she wanted something. She simply just shook her head and waved them off. Dom and Hannah headed to the cafeteria without saying anything. As Dom went to buy them food, Hannah secured them a table and was left alone with her thoughts.

When Dom came back with a tray of two sandwiches and water bottles, they started eating. It was only then that she realized she was actually hungry. “You don’t have work?”

Dom shook his head. “I have a leave of absence. It lasts for a week.”

Hannah stopped chewing. “Why?”

Dom shrugged. “I thought about Kelvin. He’s the only living blood relative I have that I know of. I wanted to spend some time with him.”

Hannah smiled. Dom was taking things better than she anticipated. She thought he would become recluse and angry but it was clear that he had already accepted the reality of his life. “That’s nice, Dom.”

“And about Juliet…” Dom started to say and the mention of her old friend’s name made her look at him seriously, “I feel like I’ve known her but I can’t place where and when.”

Hannah fought the urge to tell him everything, to confess to him the memories that she had and tell him everything that she’s known. The previous lifetimes, the obsession, the destiny that was gone against and the truth that lingered between them that neither of them had ever voiced out.

“Maybe she reminded you of grandma,” Hannah suggested instead.

He shrugged and bit his sandwich. “Maybe. Look, I promised Kelvin I’ll visit today. I’ll be gone for an hour or maybe two. But I’ll be back.”

Hannah nodded. “I’ll be here. I can’t just leave Emerson at that state and if something happens to Juliet…”

Dom reached out and touched her hand. The innocent gesture sent treacherous tingles to her body that she quickly shoved away. She couldn’t let her emotions dictate her. Not anymore, not in this lifetime.

“Nothing’s gonna happen to Juliet, Han. You have to believe that,” Dom reassured her and squeezed her hand lightly. They finished their food without another word and Dom headed off to the nursing home while Hannah made her way to Juliet’s room.

Emerson still remained on her spot when Hannah came back. She dragged a chair across from Emerson, “Emmy?”

Her friend finally looked up. “You’re back. Where’s Dom?”

Hannah noted how Emerson didn’t refer to Dominic as her brother. Biologically, he wasn’t. Legally, yes, he was. “He promised to spend some time with Kelvin. He’ll be back here later.”

She was happy that Emerson was finally talking again. She’d been quiet the entire time since they’ve arrived. Emerson looked at Hannah with levelled eyes. “I saw you two earlier, when you were sitting beside each other. He was drawing circles on your back.”

“It calms me,” Hannah murmured. She didn’t even remember that Dom did that but then, most of the actions he did went unnoticed by her since they were too normal. “I though you said you two weren’t close.”

“We were distant,” Hannah answered. She thought back to Dom’s explanation. He had simply said that he didn’t want to hurt her in another way. He didn’t say how he was going to end up hurting her but she had a very good feeling what he meant. But she didn’t need to tell Emerson that.

Emerson merely nodded. “For a moment it didn’t look like you two grew up as siblings. The close proximity. The way he looks at you. I’m not sure if you noticed it.”

Hannah closed her eyes for a fleeting second. She knew what Emerson meant. She had memories of her and Dominic in previous lifetimes. In lifetimes when they had the same names as they did now or different ones, they were always best friends or something close to that and then Ivan just always comes in the picture and steals her from him.

A never ending cycle.

A loop.

“What are you saying?” she asked, her voice a whisper.

Emerson sighed and glanced at her grandmother. “When I visited her yesterday, she was animated. She told me about her old friends and ironically enough, they had the same names as you, Ivan and Dominic. She told me how much Dominic apparently loved Hannah but she chose to be with Ivan.”

My head began to spin. The memories of the previous lifetime, the one with Juliet, suddenly coming into focus. I used to like Dominic too back then but I couldn’t risk losing the friendship and I thought the feelings were one-sided. When Ivan came to town and he showed interest to me and well, I responded.

“That’s ironic,” was all I could comment, afraid that I might end up saying something else.

“What’s weirder is the picture I found. Gran told me she kept pictures of you guys in her drawers. I remembered last night and searched for them. You all looked so eerily alike,” Emerson stated, her gaze not wavering.

“It must be just a crazy coincidence,” Hannah said, waving her off.

Emerson leaned forward a bit so she was slightly close to Hannah’s face. “I don’t know what’s going on, Hannah. I’m worried about my grandma but I can’t shrug off what I found. She talked nonstop about you three last night. And then I found the pictures.”

“The way Dominic acted around you earlier. It’s not anyway near how Ivan acts towards Hazel or how any brother acts towards their sister. There’s something off about his gestures.”

Hannah turned away from Emerson and focused on Juliet. “Just drop it, Emerson. There’s nothing to it. They’re all just crazy coincidences.”

Emerson leaned back on her chair, looking at Juliet. “I hope so, Hannah. I hope so.”