The Ghost That Saved Me

I was glad that Liam was the one who found me, but I was embarrassed that he found me at all. How many times would he see me while I was at my worst?

It just so happened the he had an abundance of food in his truck, so we didn’t have to go anywhere, which was good because I kind of wanted to stay out of the public eye for a while, at least until I was fully healed. Only because people liked to stare, and those who didn’t stare wanted to stare and I knew that, and somehow it made it worse.

I didn’t expect a guy like Liam to drive a truck. It was an old truck, but it was in good shape. I didn’t know the make or model- I was never good at distinguishing one car from another.

“So you’re a nurse, yet you have time on a Monday afternoon to go for a jog? Must be nice to be you,” I said, halfway joking.

He smiled lightly at me and handed me a bottle of water.

“Drink this you’re probably dehydrated too,” he said. “I have time to do a lot of things. I make time.”

I wished I had time…well I did, but I was always studying. I always had my face in some sort of book even if it wasn’t school related. Something about reading and learning fascinated me. I didn’t care about what anyone thought about it, I loved to read.

“Do you work at the hospital a lot? I mean, are you full time?”

I noticed he was letting me eat all of his food. He didn’t seem interested in it. Liam was so skinny, I figured he didn’t eat much. I was skinny too, but I loved to eat. Good thing I had a fast metabolism or else I'd probably be 300 pounds.

“I’m not there a lot, no.”

He kept it brief, and it made me think that he didn’t want to talk about it for whatever reason, but I was so curious about him, I had to pry a little.

“Oh that must be why the doctor didn’t recognize your name when I-” I blushed realizing I had said too much. “…when I asked if I could still have you as my nurse. Lame, I know. But I just felt comfortable with you.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “You did? What did the doctor say?”

I shrugged and opened up a bag of cool ranch Doritos, my favorite. They were so good, and I hadn’t had them in such a long time.

“He just said that a different nurse was taking care of me. But that makes sense now because you told me before that you weren't my nurse. I actually never thanked you for checking on me. So thank you,” I said with a smile.

“Nothing to thank me for, I was just doing my job. So um. I almost hate to ask but, did…anything come back to you?”

I shook my head. “No. And no one will tell me anything either.”

Liam sighed and he looked so distraught. I felt bad for him feeling bad for me. If that made any sense at all.

“I told you already, and I’m sure a hundred other people told you the same thing. You have to remember on your own.”

I put down the bag of chips. “I don’t understand, Liam. I know that’s what they said. Because it’ll effect me badly. But sitting here and going about my day having no recollection about why I’m hurt and why I haven’t seen my brother is making it horrible. How can I recover if I’m clueless about it all? It’s backwards to me. I think that in my case I need the truth and THEN I’ll get better. I can’t heal this way.”

He bit his lip and nodded, hopefully with understanding. I couldn’t get over how sad he looked.

“Rayne…I know I’m not supposed to. But if it’s tearing you up inside- I um. I’ll tell you.”

My eyes got wide and my heart started to feel heavy.

“Really? You’d do that? I swear I won’t tell anyone. I’ll say I remembered on my own I promise.”

He looked at me, then out of the car window, and then back to me.

“I really don’t want to tell you,” he admitted.

“Please? Come on you just said you would. I know that ethically you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place but I need this, Liam. You’ve done so much for me and I appreciate that but I need to know the truth. Please just tell me.”

“You’re right. I know. Just take a breath and try to relax. You…you aren’t going to like what I have to say, I’m warning you ahead of time.”

I felt my stomach turning and twisting and I didn’t like it. The suspense was killing me.

“It’s alright. Go ahead,” I said trying to keep calm.

“You and your brother were at a party; I think you know that part. But on your way home, you guys got into an accident. The Hummer that hit you was going about 80 miles per hour. The driver was drunk and high. It was…a head on collision-”

As he spoke little flashbacks of what he was saying started popping up in my head. It was like I could see it behind my eyes. It was so scary. I could picture my brother and I in the car- just talking.

“…Rayne,” he continued. “You didn’t have your seat belt on, and you were ejected from the car. You skidded onto the street, and rolled into the woods on the right side of the road.”

I couldn’t control my breathing- I felt like I was hyperventilating.

“W-What happened to Marek?”

I hated the way he was looking at me.

“At the last second, your brother cut the wheel as much as he could to the right so that the impact would be on him. I’m so sorry Rayne, but he’s gone.”

I felt my whole entire body get hot, and my face was wet from tears that I didn’t even knew fell. The feeling in my chest was indescribable.

“No. You’re sick. How dare you! Why would you lie to me like this, what kind of sick freak are you?!” I shouted, not being able to control my emotions.

“I’m sorry Rayne. So so sorry. If it makes you feel any better, he didn’t suffer. It was quick-”

“You’re a liar! This can’t be true!”

I was sobbing and my mind was all over the place. It all made so much sense. I didn’t want it to. I didn’t want Liam to be right.

“I wish It wasn’t, Rayne. I know this is a lot to take in, but I know what you’re thinking. Please do not be angry at your brother for doing what he did. I was told that there was no way both of you could have survived. He did what he had to do to save you, or else you both would be dead. Wishing he hadn’t made that split second decision would mean you wished you were dead too.”

I just sat in my seat and whimpered like I was alone. I didn’t think I could take it. I couldn’t accept that my big brother was gone.

And to make things even worse, I was starting to remember. Liam’s words echoed in my head as I started to have vivid memories of what occurred that night.

I remembered headlights in my face, I remembered shouting, I remembered covering my face with my arms, and I remembered the crash.

I remembered everything.