A bright light danced across the lens of Sabrina’s eyes. She gazed without blinking. She heard a voice called her name, “Sabrina!” The beam got more intense like a vehicle’s headlight in the darkest night headed towards her. She screamed and oscillated her arms in defense.
“Sabrina! Sabrina! It is okay,” a soothing voice echoed.
“What’s going on? Where am I?” Sabrina asked. She laid on her back and looked around the small space with thick blue drapes for privacy. As her vision adjusted, she noticed embedded in her arm was a tube that led to a bag of clear liquid attached to a pole. There were wires extended from a machine that suctioned to her body like the tentacles of an octopus. And there was a familiar face, Novia with her beautiful smile.
“Hi, Sabrina,” she said and stepped to the bedside. “You are in the hospital, the ER, to be exact.”
“Why? What happened?” Sabrina asked, her brows furrowed.
“You fainted in my home, so the ambulance took you here. How are you feeling?” She touched Sabrina’s shoulder.
“My head hurts,” Sabrina answered as her body relaxed on the bed.
Novia continued with her examination. “We ran some tests, and it showed that you suffered a mild concussion from the fall. Can you remember anything that happened last night?” Novia asked. “What is the last thing you can remember before you fainted?”
Sabrina closed her eyes to recapture the moments prior. She remembered she had a fainting episode at sixteen years old, after the first qualifying heat of the marathon for the Regional school’s competition. The doctor had told her that the loss of consciousness was because of dehydration. After that episode, she quitted the track team.
Her next memory was the day she went into labor and gave birth to her first child. She and Trevor were so happy. That day was one of the best days of her life. She was looking into her baby’s face for the first time after nine months of mysterious bonding. After nine months of being solely responsible for a baby she did not know and only got glimpses of it through ultrasounds, it was pure joy as she looked at the angel the creator placed in her life. She was the proudest mommy. Sabrina lets out a giggle that caused Novia to look at her.
“Do you remember something that happened last night?” Novia asked.
Sabrina tried to refocus, but nothing that would cause her to faint appeared in her memories. “Can you at least tell me something, maybe that can jar my memory,” she replied.
“Do you remembered going over to my apartment?”
“No.”
“Do you remembered talking to Craig, last night?”
“Mmmmm, no.”
“Do you know anyone by the name of Carlos? Craig said that was the name you screamed out before you fainted.” Novia looked at her for any signs of recognition. “I will be right back.” Novia purposely left the room for Sabrina to mull over that new information. She walked to the nurse’s station to check the status of another patient’s blood results. She was about to enter her password on the computer when she heard a scream. The scream was a type of call she had become accustomed to in the emergency room. That scream informed her that someone needed immediate attention.
Novia ran towards the shrieking sound, which came from Sabrina’s area. “What is wrong,” Novia asked when she pulled the curtains apart. Sabrina was sitting on the bed with her feet planted on the floor. Her hand held her belly as if that was where the pain radiated. Sabrina’s face blushed red from the wails that agitated the heart to generate faster blood flow to her veins. “What is wrong?” Novia asked again.
Sabrina turned to look at her, “What happened to Carlos?” she asked.
“There was an intruder in my home in my bathroom with Carlos. Please, what happened to Carlos?”