The early morning traffic matched her mood and expression, slow-moving and dull. The fog-filled skies only added to the tastelessness of the day ahead of her. As Clara sat in the midst of honking and cursing, her mind lingered on her nightmare. Everywhere she looked she could see and feel the dominant presence of the hideous antagonist in her dreams. She stared off into space as if her body was only a carcass, only taking up space, and her soul was fleeting away from her curse.
The free soul burst from her chest, leaving trails of luminosity. Her soul exited the car and flew beyond the noisy traffic, almost deafening the profanity and horn. It seemingly leaped away into the unknown, it's luminosity brightening the sky, adding vibrancy and warmth. It flipped and swirled and spun in swiftness, and everywhere it went, it left remnants of beauty. Curse became kindness. Horn shifted to pop radio. The sun shone at its brightest and even the carcass that her soul once inhabited appeared dazzling in this new light. All was perfect, all was well.
CRASH! Clara was violently knocked forward, airbag deployed as her head hit impact of the safety mechanism. Her car's rear was smashed and her car's front as well, and rear and front of the other two cars were crushed in this sandwich. Clara could see her soul reentering her as her mind went black.
She could hear the faint sound of people speaking in panic. Various phrases such as, "She needs attention immediately!",and "Keep pressure on her head!" and "She's losing blood fast!". She felt the slowing down of her brain as she faded in and out of reality. In consciousness she could only see a bright light, doctors, and only hear frequency in her ear drums. In and out, in and out she went.
She awoke with pain in her head and soreness all over.
"Look! She's finally awake!", a voice of a young woman said excitedly.
"Clara. It's me, Jacob. How are you feeling?" He turned to address the young woman, "Maya go get the nurse."
Clara, still deciphering her predicament, struggled to reply, "J-J-Jac-"
He interrupted, "Yeah it's me. I'm here." He took hold of her hand, she could feel him shaking and see the look of relief on his face.
"Thank God. Thank God.", he continuously whispered to himself.
The woman returned with the nurse. The nurse asked a variance of questions and performed many different tests and left the room to report to the doctor.
"You had us scared to death.", said Maya.
Clara was still unsure of what happened, but she knew that her life was inches from ending. She began to remember her dream.
"Are you okay?", Maya asked.
Hesitant at first she answered, "Yeah, just a bit shaken is all."
She surveyed her quaint hospital room, and noticed flowers and balloons and cards overflowing in the far corner. She was able to see a card that had large print, sitting on the table, that read, "Get well soon!"; there was a cartoon of a sick sap on the front of it.
Maya continued, "Yeah everyone was so worried. I called mom and dad on their vacation; they're waiting for an update. They say they love you and miss you." She pointed, to Jacob, "You're lucky Jake was there to pull you out of the car and get you to the hospital." Clara remembered it was a car crash that caused her predicament. She looked at Jake in disbelief,"You were there?", she asked him.
"I saw the whole thing on my commute to work.", he replied.
"I though you were living in New York?", Clara asked confused.
"I moved back to LA. I wasn't really adjusting in New York. I was able to get my job back at the car shop, yep, back to fixing cars.", he chuckled with a side of skepticism. "Yeah, I'm planning on transferring back to UCLA."
"Well it's good to have you back.", Clara smiled, "--and thank you for saving my life."
"Anytime." he said as he smiled back.
Instantly Clara was hit with another harsh reality, Jacob is back. All her long-forgotten emotion suddenly rushed back into her head, allowing the ache from the blow to take over. Was he really back? She thought to herself. A slight anger overcame her. She studied the expressions of his face--happy and relieved. She observed the fullness of his lips, how they curled into a smile, his dimples reappearing as they had before long ago. His broad chin and shoulders, lasting beads of worry sweat making its way down his temple. The lighting of the room accentuated his darkened skin-tone. The handsomeness of his face only angered her and her emotion began to show.
"Is everything alright?", he asked.
Clara looked at him disdainfully, "Just peachy." He hurt her. He betrayed her. And now she owes him. Of course it had to be him to save her life, to somehow make up for marring her before. She knew it, he knew it and he acted like everything between them was now forgotten. Clara did not want to forgive him, in fact her unwillingness began to radiate off of her as her sister and Jacob conversed with each other. Their conversation only seemed like a jumble of words, insignificant to Clara. Her fire began to smolder deep inside her, she impatiently said, "I'm getting a migraine, can't one of you be useful and get the doctor?" She realized the rude tone in her voice but she could care less. Before anyone could respond to her demand, the doctor entered the room, looking as all male doctors do.
"You're very lucky Clara. It's rare for anyone to survive a head trauma like the one you received." He flipped through pages on his clipboard, taking note of something and continued to ask her, "How are you feeling? Any dizziness? Headaches?"
Jacob interjected, "She mentioned a migraine." Clara found another source a fuel to her fire, his now annoying presence. The doctor looked at her to confirm if it was true. She only gave a slight nod.
"Well it shouldn't be long before you're able to go home; most likely for the duration of this week. In the meantime, I strongly suggest you stray from any strain on the mind, stress, etc and I'll get you pain reliever for that migraine. I'll be here everyday to update you on your progress." The doctor acknowledged everyone in the room, "I'll be here if you need anything."
As he left, Maya got up from her chair and walked over to Clara's bedside. "I have classes at two, I'll be back around dinner time okay?" She kissed her forehead, "Love ya." She embraced Jacob and left.
It was just Clara and Jacob now. "I can speak for myself, you know. I'm injured not mute.", she said.
Jacob smirked, "Still the same old Clair-Bear."
This infuriated her,"Still the same jerk who broke my heart. How does it feel to know that I could care less that you're back?"
"Really? Because I could have sworn I saw a smile when you saw me and you said, and I quote, "Well it's good to have you back." What a comeback! If I do say so myself."
"You need to leave.", was all she could say without jumping out of her bed to hurt him. Jake's dimpled grin shifted to a frown, making his face seem a tad distorted; this delighted her. As he made way towards the door he stopped in his tracks and said, "I am sorry. I hope you feel better." He continued out the door and eventually out of the hospital, leaving Clara in solitude.
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