A Waterfall Wish

by Anna Samuels

  ‘I know.’

  ‘I’ll phone and message during the week…’

  ‘Okay,’ she said, looking miserable.

  ‘I’m sure it’ll fly by!’

  ‘I’m sure it won’t…’

  ‘Oh Nikki, come on! Snap out of it!’ I ordered.

  ‘I just feel like…’

  ‘Like what?’ I asked, slightly frustrated by her.

  ‘Like this is the end of something.’

  I went to the edge of the bed and sat beside her. ‘Nikki, this isn’t the end of something! It’s just this beginning!’ I told her.

  ‘Are you sure? If you want out of this, I’d prefer that you told me now…’

  ‘Nikki, I will see you next week. I don’t want this to end.’

  ‘No…neither do I,’ she murmured.

  ‘I better go…don’t get up…your leg.’

  ‘Kiss me goodbye,’ she requested.

  I moved to the bed and kissed her long and passionately before holding her close in my arms for long moments.

  ‘I’ll miss you,’ I told her softly.

  ‘I’ll miss you too.’

  ‘I’ll come back next weekend though.’

  ‘Friday night?’ she questioned.

  ‘Sure,’ I smiled.

  ‘I love you,’ she murmured, the look in her eyes telling me how deep her feelings for me were.

  ‘I love you too,’ I replied.

  ‘Bye, Sarah.’

  ‘Bye,’ I said, rising from the bed. I walked to the door and then turned back to look at her. I blew a kiss to her and then turned and left. I had never had to do anything as hard before than walking away from her in that moment. I would have done anything to stay with her a little longer. Work beckoned though.

  I climbed into my car and navigated my way out of the town and onto the motorway. I drove into the blackness of the night, reliving my time spent in Nikki’s arms. As I drove further, I grew more tired. As I grew tired, my concentration slipped. The last thing I remembered was the glare of bright lights and a hard shoulder approaching my face, faster than the speed of light. Then blackness. Sheer, unadulterated blackness.

  Chapter 15

  Lifting the veil

  ‘She’s coming around,’ I heard a voice say, lifting me out of my fog.

  I blinked but the light was too bright so I closed my eyes again. My head hurt and I realised I couldn’t really move. My body felt heavy and lethargic. I was very confused.

  ‘Sarah?’

  It was my mother’s voice. I recognised it instantly. I tried to respond but could only manage a flutter of my eyelashes. It was too hard to open my eyes fully.

  ‘Sarah? It’s me! Mum! Your Dad is here too,’ she told me.

  ‘Sarah! Open your eyes, Sarah,’ he instructed.

  I tried to. I tried hard for my Dad, who was making the request. It was very hard though and I felt myself drifting…off into the abyss again.

  The next time I came around, I could hear strange voices. Voices I didn’t recognise. They were all around me and doing strange things. I could also hear beeping and sounds of a monitor. I tried to open my eyes again but once again the heaviness was there. It was too difficult.

  I lay there, unmoving, trying to work out what had happened. I couldn’t even remember how it had come to this. I felt confused and frustrated by the fact that my memory seemed to be affected. I didn’t know why I was in this position and what had happened to me. I fell back into sleep feeling troubled.

  When I next woke, it was my mother’s voice which roused me once again.

  ‘Sarah?’

  I tried to speak and failed.

  ‘Sarah, can you hear me? Come on, darling! Time to wake up now!’

  Nothing.

  ‘Sarah, come on! Don’t lie there sleeping all day! I have things to chat to you about! Come on sweetheart, just try to open your eyes!’

  I tried, for Mum. I managed a flutter of eyelashes and heard her gasp.

  ‘Sarah! That’s it! I know you can hear me! Come on, honey! Wakey wakey! Come on now…time to wake up now!’

  I opened my eyes. The heaviness seemed to lift and I blinked, seeing white everywhere.

  ‘She’s awake!’ my mother shrieked, shocking me.

  I stared at her, wide-eyed, blinking rapidly.

  ‘Sarah! Sarah! Honey, it’s me! Do you know who I am?’ she asked.

  I tried to give her a look of exasperation but failed. I managed to move my mouth a little and found it to be dry. I couldn’t talk yet but I could see her and my surroundings and knew then that I was in hospital.

  The doctors rushed in then and suddenly I was being scrutinised in every way possible. They checked me over and I found that I was able to begin talking a little as time went on.

  ‘You’ve been in an accident…a car accident,’ the doctor informed me. ‘Can you remember it?’

  ‘No,’ I managed, my voice coming out in a croak.

  ‘Do you know your name?’ the doctor asked me then.

  ‘Sarah.’

  ‘Who is this?’ he asked, pointing to my mother.

  ‘Mum,’ I managed.

  ‘And this?’

  ‘Dad,’ I told him.

  ‘When is your birthday?’ he asked.

  ‘May…thir…teen,’ I said, brokenly, finding all the effort to speak and keep my eyes open hard.

  ‘Good…good,’ he said, turning to my parents with a smile. ‘I think Sarah has been extremely lucky,’ he told them, as I listened on. ‘She doesn’t seem to have suffered the brain damage we feared.’

  Brain damage? I thought to myself, feeling my heart accelerate. What on earth had happened to me?

  Over the next two weeks, I recovered in the hospital. I found out that I had been driving on the motorway near Brighton and had collided with a truck. I had driven head-first into the hard shoulder and suffered horrific injuries to my head. They had put me into an induced coma in order for the swelling to go down. Luckily, I seemed I had come off lightly. I had come back to consciousness and was regaining my strength well.

  What I didn’t remember was why I was on the motorway near Bristol. My parents had told me that I was holidaying in Wales-or so they had thought. I found I couldn’t remember this time though…I couldn’t remember much of anything just before the accident.

  As I improved in health and grew stronger, I was able to go home. Instead of going back to my flat, I went to my parent’s house to recover further. I spent the next four weeks in their company, growing stronger by the day and receiving their help in getting back to normal.

  ‘Hey honey,’ my Mum said, coming into the lounge where I sat in the makeshift bed they had made for me.

  ‘Hey Mum,’ I replied.

  ‘You alright?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah, fine…’

  ‘You sure? You seem kind of down today.’

  I frowned at her. ‘I guess I am a little…I’m just confused. I mean, why do I remember everything about my life apart from the bit before the accident? What was I doing? Why was I near Brighton when I should have been in Wales? It makes no sense!’

  She sighed. ‘I guess we just have to hope those memories come back over time.’

  ‘I don’t want them to come back over time. I want them back now!’

  ‘Oh honey,’ she laughed, ‘you’re so impatient!’

  ‘Yeah, well…I just want to understand.’

  ‘I know…I wonder if you did ever actually get to Wales,’ she murmured.

  ‘Of course I did!’ I exclaimed.

  ‘Why do you say that? Do you remember?’ she wondered.

  ‘No, but I sense I did.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Well because I stick to plans! I was determined to go because of Gran.’

  ‘I know you were…you were going to see her house, explore the area and visit some of the beautifully picturesque waterfalls.’

  My mouth fell open and I gaped at my mother as a very specific waterfall came into my
mind. A scream and then a rush followed as my memory came back full force. A torrent of emotion flooded me as I remembered Nikki…everything that had happened in Wales was suddenly at the forefront of my mind and panic seized me.

  ‘I remember!’ I gasped.

  ‘You do?’

  ‘Yes!’ I exclaimed. ‘Mum, I remember everything!’

  ‘Well, what happened?’ she asked.

  ‘I was in Wales! There was a waterfall! There was a woman!’ I gabbled.

  ‘Oh honey…why hadn’t I guessed there was a woman involved?’ she chuckled.

  ‘I need to go to her!’ I exclaimed. ‘She’ll think I’ve forgotten her!’

  ‘No, she won’t, honey. She’ll understand when she hears what happened!’

  ‘No, Mum, you don’t understand! I made a promise!’ I told her, my eyes filling with tears. ‘She’ll think I don’t love her anymore.’

  ‘Love?’ she questioned.

  ‘Yes! She was special, Mum! I’ve never met anyone like her, ever! She’s the one, I swear!’

  ‘Well if that’s the case then she’ll be waiting for you. I’m sure of it.’

  I bowed my head and felt regret for all the time which had been wasted. ‘I hope so, Mum,’ I replied. ‘I truly hope so.’

  I headed off to my old childhood bedroom with my mobile clutched in my hand. As I dialled Nikki’s number, my hand shook.

  I put the phone to my ear as my heart beat rapidly in my chest. It rang and rang as just as I thought the anticipation would make my heart burst, she answered.

  ‘Hello?’

  Her voice was familiar and gorgeous, just how I remembered it. How had I forgotten meeting her? It seemed impossible! ‘Nikki?’ I said tremulously.

  Silence filled the ear piece.

  ‘Nikki?’ I asked again.

  ‘Sarah?’ she finally said, her voice registering disbelief.

  I almost began crying. ‘Nikki…I…’

  ‘Why are you calling?’ she interrupted. ‘You haven’t for six weeks! Why now?’

  ‘There’s a very good reason for that,’ I began, but she cut me off.

  ‘If you had wanted to call me you would have done it six weeks ago.’

  ‘Nikki!’

  ‘No, Sarah…you clearly don’t care about me like you claimed too. I’ve moved on anyway,’ she told me angrily.

  ‘Nikki, please listen!’

  ‘I don’t want to hear it! I have moved on…this isn’t going to happen.’

  ‘Nikki, I had an accident,’ I told her bluntly.

  ‘What?’ she asked then, stopping in her tracks.

  ‘I left your house that day and drove onto the motorway…the next thing I knew I was in hospital and it was two weeks later. I drove into the hard shoulder, Nikki. I was in a coma for two weeks and been recovering ever since.’

  ‘Why didn’t you call?’ she asked incredulously.

  ‘I lost my short-term memory,’ I revealed. ‘I didn’t even remember the holiday to Wales and you until today.’

  There was silence on the end of the line.

  ‘If I had I would have called as soon as I was able to! You have to believe that!’ I exclaimed passionately.

  I heard her sigh on the other end of the line. ‘Sarah,’ she began softly. ‘I’m so sorry you’ve been through this…’

  I frowned to myself. ‘Nikki, don’t do this,’ I said, pre-empting her letting me down gently.

  ‘I wasn’t kidding when I said things have changed for me…it’s too much to explain over the phone but I don’t know if we can do as we planned…I thought it was over…’

  ‘Can we talk face to face? I asked her, somewhat desperately.

  ‘Of course. Uh…are you driving?’

  ‘I just got out of the hospital,’ I told her. ‘I’m not allowed to drive.’

  ‘Then I’ll come to you,’ she said softly. ‘I guess I could come tomorrow.’

  ‘I would love that…’ I told her, although the sadness in her voice made me dread what she was going to tell me. I was sure in that moment that she was back with her ex-girlfriend and she didn’t want me anymore. ‘Have you got a pen? I can give you my parents address…they’re looking after me you see.’

  ‘Okay. Go ahead.’

  I reeled off the address and then she cleared her throat.

  ‘Well, I should get back to work,’ she told me.

  ‘Okay…uh, what kind of time will you come?’ I asked.

  ‘Whenever suits you,’ she replied.

  ‘Um…as soon as possible?’ I requested, wanting to hear what he had to say.

  ‘Okay…I’ll set off as soon as I’m up. It should be about nine or ten by the time I get to Bournemouth.’

  ‘Okay…well, I look forward to seeing you!’

  ‘Yeah,’ she said, but she didn’t sound too happy. ‘See you tomorrow, Sarah.’

  ‘Bye.’

  ‘Bye.’

  I hung up feeling dejected. What had she got to tell me and why had everything changed so drastically in the time I had been in hospital. Sadness engulfed me. I had finally found the person I wanted to spend my life with and it seemed she no longer wanted to be with me. Silent tears slipped down my bruised face. I swept them away with my hand. I would wait until tomorrow. If she was going to let me down, I would just have to deal with it.

  The rest of the day passed agonisingly slowly.

  Chapter 16

  The following day I was awake early and waiting for Nikki at the window early. My Mum seemed concerned about my well-being but I reassured her I was just keen to see Nikki.

  By nine o clock, I was pacing around the living room. By nine thirty, my heart was pounding and my palms sweating. At nine forty-five, Nikki arrived.

  I saw her car pull up outside the house and I hurried to the door-as fast as my still-bruised body would allow.

  ‘Nikki!’ I exclaimed, pulling the door opening with excitement.

  ‘Sarah!’ she gasped, and looked at me with scrutinising eyes. ‘Oh my God!’

  ‘Oh, don’t worry…it was a lot worse. I’m actually getting a lot better.’

  ‘You…you…’

  ‘I damaged my head pretty badly so the bruising is pretty severe. I’m okay though,’ I reassured her. ‘I really am. I’m on the mend.’

  Tears came to her eyes at the sight of me and I ushered her in.

  ‘Don’t be upset on my behalf…come on in!’

  She walked inside and followed me into the lounge where we sat together on the sofa.

  She met my eyes and her the look she gave me was one of concern.

  ‘You look…’

  ‘Awful?’ I laughed, chuckling nervously.

  ‘No, I wasn’t going to say awful. I was going to say you look like you’ve been through a lot.’

  ‘Yeah…’ I sighed.

  ‘I feel so guilty!’

  ‘Why should you feel guilty?’ I asked with a frown.

  ‘Because it happened as you left my house!’

  ‘Well yes…’

  ‘So, it’s my fault!’

  ‘No,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘It was an accident-pure and simple.’

  Nikki looked at me sadly. ‘Well, I’m sorry…’

  I shook my head a little. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for…’ I told her. ‘I’m sorry I forgot you!’

  ‘I can’t be that memorable!’ she joked, smiling for the first time since I had seen her again.

  ‘That’s nice,’ I commented.

  ‘What is?’

  ‘Seeing you smile,’ I told her.

  It instantly faded and a frown replaced it. ‘I…Sarah…I have something to tell you…’

  I met her eyes and nodded sadly. ‘I can guess.’

  ‘You can?’

  ‘Yeah…’

  ‘What do you think I’m about to say then?’

  ‘You’re back with your ex-girlfriend. It’s over, right?’ I asked.

  She looked appalled. ‘No! I would never get back with he
r!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘No? Then what on earth else could you be looking so glum about telling me?’ I wondered.

  ‘I thought you had changed your mind,’ she said sadly. ‘I decided to stop putting my life on hold and went ahead with something that I hadn’t originally planned on doing…’

  ‘What?’ I asked, on the edge of my seat.

  ‘I’m pregnant,’ she told me, shocking me deeply.

  I gaped at her, stunned.

  ‘I thought we were over…I decided if I couldn’t have you, I’d at least go ahead and have a family like I’ve always wanted. Now, I realise I should have waited…’ she said, trailing off but looking at me closely.

  ‘You’re…pregnant?’ I questioned, still stunned.

  ‘Yes. I only found out yesterday morning. Obviously, it’s early days but I’m feeling positive.’

  ‘Nikki! Congratulations!’ I exclaimed, ‘I’m so happy for you!’

  ‘You are?’

  ‘Of course I am!’ I said, leaning forwards and giving her a hug.

  ‘But…I mean, this changes everything! The plans we made…’ she trailed off again.

  ‘The plans we made can still be real,’ I told her. ‘I hope so, at least!’

  ‘But…but I’m having a baby, Sarah!’

  ‘I know! I’m happy for you and a bit envious! Maybe I should try and get pregnant too! That way your baby will have a brother or sister to live with.’

  She stared at me for a long moment, while her face registered what I had just said.

  ‘You still want everything we talked about?’ she asked slowly.

  ‘And more!’ I told her. ‘If this accident has taught me anything, Nikki, it’s to live life to the full! No more waiting around for life to happen,’ I rambled, ‘I’m seizing life by the reigns. I want to start living it to the fullest!’

  ‘So, what does that mean for us?’

  ‘It means I still feel the same way I did in Wales, Nikki. I fell in love with you in the short time we were together. I want to keep dating you and then become your girlfriend and wife. I’d love to have children with you and buy a house…I want it all.’

  She smiled at me, her eyes radiating love and happiness. ‘How can you be sure after just one week with me?’

  I laughed. ‘You want to reason about this?’