"About your birthday... I'm sorry."
"It's fine, I wouldn't have remembered either, so..."
She seems to hesitate, then, to my surprise, she declines the call, and turns toward me. Amy sighs, a little uneasy, and talks without looking at me, her arms crossed.
"The... The first year after you came to live with us... Your school had all the children in your class prepare a present for Mother's Day. You apparently didn't tell them you... had lost your mom. When you came home on your next holiday, you came to my bedroom to give me your present. You didn't explain anything, you just put it on my desk and ran away. It... I never really asked you anything about it, but... it was actually my birthday when you did that. You were the only one who had gifted me anything that day."
Wow... I didn't expect her to bring up this kind of moment. I'm a bit uneasy for a minute. Why did she bring that up now? Because of my memories? Or as a... thing between sisters?
"Do you still have it?" I ask.
"It was a very ugly pot decorated with paper mache, blue paint, and beans."
I grimace. Oh, yeah, probably not that nice to keep around for too long... It hurts a bit, but at least, she remembered that for me. I chuckle and nod, a bit touched. Her phone starts ringing annoyingly again. It's usually like this. Whenever she came to see me, it kept ringing until she turned it off or picked it up. Damn, she really doesn't have a minute for herself.
"Thank you, Amy," I say.
"...I'll call you later."
She leaves the room while putting her phone to her ear and starts talking in a tongue I don't recognize.
I'm left alone in my room, and after a few seconds, that wave of excitement comes back. I'm leaving the hospital! I struggle hard not to scream or bounce around my room, I don't know what to do with myself! After a while, I realize I'm still holding on to the bills she gave me. I roll them up, a bit uneasy with all this money in my hand, and leave it on my bedside table for now. Then, I run to the bathroom. I take a shower, being careful about my bandages, and get my body and hair clean in record time. Once I'm out of the shower, I try hard to discipline my hair but fail miserably. Damn it, I guess I'll just leave it as it is. I should have asked Amy how she does it; her hair is perfect compared to my wild mane... Oh, whatever. I jump back into my room, grabbing a sleeveless top and some denim shorts. It feels so strange to be wearing some proper clothes after all this time in a hospital gown... I check myself in the mirror. I guess I have a tall yet bony figure, but the hospital food will do that to anyone. I grab the money and put it in my pocket just as a doctor walks in with Bonnie to check on me.
To my surprise, the check-up is rather fast, though they carefully redo all of my bandages, giving me instructions on how to take care of them, with the cream and all, and I still have to come back to the hospital once every two days so they can check on them. I'm amazed at how fast all of it goes. Bonnie seems happy for me, but we can't talk much with her superior there. When the doctor leaves, she stays behind.
"You finally convinced her," she says.
"Yeah, I still can't believe it!"
"Mara, you have to be careful, okay?"
I nod. Bonnie pats my shoulder gently.
"We have called you a taxi, you can leave whenever you're ready. You can leave some of your stuff here, though, it's still your room for now. Also, Selena will send someone to your apartment tomorrow, so please don't be reckless, before or even after that, okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Bonnie."
"Don't thank me yet," she sighs. "Honestly, knowing you, you're going to get in trouble soon enough, so..."
I chuckle. Yeah, I haven't exactly been very patient so far. Bonnie suddenly takes my hand, sitting next to me on the bed.
"Mara, witches are not bad people, but it doesn't mean they cannot do a lot of harm. You have to make sure you remember that at all times, okay? Even if you think you're strong, it means nothing if you end up hurting people instead."
"...Do you think I caused that accident?"
She hesitates for a second.
"I don't know... but what I know is that there are always two sides to every story, so I hope you'll find your side of the story soon."
"Thanks, Bonnie."
She chuckles and stands up, pulling my hand.
"Come on, let's get you ready to go. My shift just ended, so I'm coming over to your place tonight!"
I laugh. So she is supposed to be the one watching me for now, and they are not even trying to be subtle about it!
Chapter 4
