Outer Banks
Chapter 7
Veronica's POV
How long was I going to be in this darkness? I wanted to come out of it. I wanted to talk to the voices I was hearing. I wanted to see their faces. I wanted to wake up. It felt like months that I've been in the dark. It was peaceful for some until I heard the voices. I heard a set of different voices and sounds today. Something was making a loud bang against what I was guessing is glass. The voices belonged to a man and a woman. Their voices felt familiar, but I didn't know from where. I opened my eyes slightly. There were two people with their heads bowed. The woman held my hand tightly. I moved my fingers around. She looked up and gasped.
"Bobby! Bobby!" She said hitting his arm. He jumped.
"Go! Go get the doctor, now! She's awake! Go! Go!" She told him. He got out of the chair and ran out the door.
"Oh, honey. You don't know how happy we are that you're awake." She told me. She got up, kissed my cheek. I tried to speak but no words came out. The man walked back in with another one who wore a white coat.
"Well, it's wonderful to see you awake." The white coat man said smiling. I was confused. He poured a pitcher of water into a cup and held it up with a straw. I gulped it down as if I was dying for it. I sighed and closed my eyes in relief.
"Alright, Veronica. I'm your doctor, Dr. Arnold. You've been out a few days. Can you tell me the last thing you remember?" He said. I tried to think back. Everything was blurry. He started listening to my chest.
"No." I answered.
"Do you know where you are?" He asked taking the things out of his ears. I looked around.
"A hospital." I answered.
"Which hospital?" He asked.
"I don't know." I said. He looked at me.
"Can you tell me your full name and date of birth?" He asked. I panicked. I didn't know my name except when he called me, Veronica. I didn't know my birthday, either. I shook my head no.
"Do you know what state you're in?" He asked. I shook my head no again. The tears started to fall then.
"It's okay. Umm. Mr. and Mrs. Heyward, may I speak with you in the hall, please?" He said softly. They nodded and walked out the door. I sniffled and looked around. I didn't know where I was or who I was.
Heyward's POV
This poor girl. First busting her ass to keep her ungrateful brother and herself from DCS to being the talk around town about how she was attacked. This child didn't deserve this. Now her brother was dead at sea like their daddy. She was alone now. We walked out of the room with the doctor. He closed the door behind us and turned to us.
"Dr. Arnold?" My wife asked.
"With Veronica being in a coma, it's seems that she as acquired amnesia or loss of memory. It's the brains way of protecting itself from anymore damage. I'll contact Mr. Cameron and let him know she's awake. Then when he gets here, I'll explain everything to him." He told us.
"When will she regain her memories?" I asked him.
"Honestly sir. She may or may not. It all depends on what her brain wants. Now to help her regain her memory you can bring photos, books, anything to help her try to remember." He said nodding.
"They just released her house from a crime scene. I'll grab Pope and go over there and get some things." My wife said nodding. He nodded and walked off.
"We should call the kids and have them meet us at the house." She told me. I nodded and texted Pope. We told Veronica we'd be back with some friends soon. We were sitting at our table when they walked in.
"Hey Ma, pop. What's uh. What's going on?" Pope asked.
"You kids may want to have a seat." I said nodding to the table. They looked worried but sat down. I sighed and looked at my wife.
"Kids. We went to visit Veronica today at the hospital. She." She started then she got choked up on tears.
"No! No. She can't be. She." JJ said standing. He started his pacing and freaking out. I got up and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Hold on, hold on now, son. Nothings wrong. Okay? She's awake. She woke up while we was there." I told him. He sighed with relief.
"But there's something else." I said looking at all of them.
"What?" Kiara asked wiping her face.
"She's got amnesia. Loss of memory. She doesn't know who she is, where she's at, nothing. Doctor said it would be best to bring her things from home to help her try to remember." My wife said sniffling.
"We can uh. We can go get it. Take it to her. Help her. We, we can do that." JJ said nodding. He nodded again and wiped his face with his arm.
"I'm sorry for scaring you, kids. I didn't mean too." Ma said nodding.
"What about telling her about John B? Should we tell her?" Kiara asked looking between us.
"Not until she can remember him. We don't want her to go into a panic so soon." I told them.
"But that's her brother." Pope argued.
"I know that son. But she wouldn't be able to remember to grieve him properly. I'll get word around to everyone to not say anything until she can remember." I said. They nodded.
"Can we go see her?" He asked.
"Of course, honey. No one is stopping you." Ma told them.
"Have you seen her guard dogs?" JJ scoffed.
"Rafe was the one who found her, honey. Wouldn't you be the same if you had found her?" She said raising her eyebrow. He nodded.
Rafes POV
I was getting ready to go back to the hospital to be with Veronica. I had came home, showered, and get fresh clothes on. The Heyward's were visiting and I didn't want to leave her alone. I was walking down the stairs when I heard dad on the phone. I went into the kitchen and saw him hang up.
"Dad?" I asked him. He looked up at me.
"She's awake, son. But before we go into see her, the doctor wants to speak with us first." He told me. I nodded and we walked out of the house. The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever. When we got there a nurse pulled us into the doctors office. A few minutes passed and the doctor walked in.
"Mr. Cameron, thank you for stopping by before you go see Veronica." He said sitting down.
"Yes sir. It's no problem. Is everything okay?" Dad said.
"During the procedural examination on a coma patient waking up, I asked Veronica a few questions. What state was she in, what hospital she was in, her full name and date of birth. She doesn't remember any of these. She has amnesia. It's the brains way of protecting itself from any damage. Now as I told the Heyward's, it may help if you brought some things of hers from home, tell stories to her, something to jog her memory." He explained to us.
"When will her memory fully return?" I asked.
"In some patients, I've seen it return within a few days. Some a few weeks. It all depends on when she is ready to remember. But I've also seen in some cases where they don't regain their memories." He told us.
"So, a 50/50 chance that she can or won't remember?" Ward asked.
"Yes sir." He said nodding. We nodded.
"I'd like to run a few tests, make sure there's no swelling or anything on her brain before releasing her into your care though." He said. Ward agreed.
"Thank you, doctor. For all your hard work and time. We really appreciate it." Dad said standing. He stood up and shook hands.
"You're welcome, Mr. Cameron. Also, I know Mr. Routledge was her brother, I'd strongly advise not telling her about him and his passing until she regains some memory of him." The doctor said. We nodded and walked out. When we walked into the room, the Pogue's were standing at the foot of the bed.
"Mr. Cameron." Pope said looking at us.
"Kids. It's very nice of you to stop by and see Veronica." Dad said nervously. I looked at him then at the bed. Veronica looked confused. Her face wasn't as bruised as before and the swelling had gone down.
"Who are you?" She asked us.
"Umm. We should go. We got school and uh. Yeah." Kiara said nudging Pope and JJ.
"Yeah. Yeah, we do. Umm, we'll come by later and see you again, okay, Ronnie?" JJ said tapping the bed. She gave him the confused look now. Then they left.
"Hey, sweetheart. How're you feeling?" Dad said walking up to the bed.
"Who are you?" She asked again. We sat down beside her.
"I'm Ward and this is my son, Rafe. We're the ones who found you." He said. She looked between us.
"Who are you to me?" She asked. I looked at dad and he nodded his head.
"He is your guardian and I'm a friend of yours." I told her. She hummed and looked at her hands. Well, her one casted and one free hand.
"What happened? How did I end up here? The others wouldn't tell me anything. They said they didn't have a clue how I ended up here." She said.
"Honey." Dad started.
"Please, don't lie to me." She whispered. Dad cleared his throat and looked down. I reached over and took her good hand in mine. She looked at our hands.
"Ronnie, a few days ago, you were attacked in your home and hurt badly, that's why you are here. We're not sure why you were attacked yet, but the police are looking into everything." I told her.
"Oh." She said. She pulled her hand away and put it on her casted hand.
"Hey. You're going to be okay. Alright, kid? I promise." Dad told her. I noticed the bear she had in her elbow.
"Did one of your friends give you that bear?" I asked her. She picked up the bear and looked at it.
"No. It was here before them. I think the couple who was here before them gave it to me. I don't remember their names." She said shaking her head. She stared at the bear for the longest time.
"Veronica?" Dad asked her. She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"Sorry. Something feels familiar about this bear, but I don't know what." She said sniffling. I looked at it and thought back to the conversations we had. She never told me about a bear. She put it back in her side.
"When can I go home?" She asked.
"They're going to run a few more tests and you should be home within a couple of days." Dad explained. She nodded and leaned back against her pillows. Dad got up and left a while later. I let her rest while I went to call Topper.
John B's POV
It was days now since Sarah and I were chased out of the OBX, down to Nassau, being chased around there, being chased by Ward and Sarah getting shot by him too, now we were in Charleston. We took some gas for the Cameron's second My Druthers boat. I let it known to Kie, JJ, Pope, and Veronica that we were alive a few days ago. Then we ran into them in Charleston and came home to the Chateau. They told us about Popes meeting with LImbry and how she had evidence of my innocence. We started a small home party after we docked. I was looking at the tree that had my name on it.
"Where is she?" I asked as JJ walked up.
"She's umm. She's at the Cameron's, now. She's out of the hospital." He started.
"Get me to her. I want to see her." I told him.
"John B, I uhh. It's going to be hard. Rafe and Topper haven't left her side since she came out of the hospital." He said rubbing his neck.
"Great. She's got guard dogs." I said sighing. He nodded.
"Hey, man. Look when I told Sarah that she was awake, Topper." He started. I looked at him then over at Sarah.
"Woah, what do you mean? You. You talked to Sarah? When?" I asked him. He looked over at Sarah then sighed.
"It was after Nassau, I think. She had a phone and called." He said nodding. I scoffed and shook my head.
"What man? What is it?" He asked. I started pacing around and running my hands over my face. I groaned and crossed my arms.
"You told her. You told her that Veronica was awake?" I asked him.
"Yeah. Didn't she tell you?" He asked.
"No. No, she didn't." I said shaking my head. I nodded and placed my hands on my hips. JJ laughed and covered his mouth with his fist.
"What?" I asked him.
"You look like Ronnie right now. You know when she gets angry and she's got her hands on her hips?" He said laughing. I scoffed and shook my head.
"Is she okay though? Ronnie?" I asked him.
"Yeah man. She's great." He said nodding. I nodded. I wasn't about to let her down again. I was going to do whatever it takes to get her back in my life. I walked over to Sarah and sat down beside her.
"Hey babe." She said hugging my arm.
"When were you gonna tell me?" I asked her.
"Tell you what?" She asked looking at me.
"Tell me that my sister was awake. JJ told you and you didn't tell me. Why?" I said trying not to get angry.
"John B. I uh. I was. I just." She stuttered out.
"Just what? Forgot? Forgot to tell me about my sister? The last person I honestly have of family besides my friends?" I asked looking at her.
"I'm sorry, okay? I meant too." She said. I stood up and shook my head.
"No. No you didn't. You should go home. We're done." I told her. I walked away.
"You're ending things with me because of one mistake?" She yelled. I turned back around and stalked up to her.
"My sister! She is my sister! The last blood person I have! You didn't tell me she was awake!" I yelled back.
"After everything that's happened you really consider her a sister?" She snapped.
"Yes! She shouldn't even consider me her brother! I've done nothing but lie to her! Betray her! Broke her heart! She's done everything for me! Do you know what all she's done? Huh? She quite school, just so we didn't lose this house, she turned down a scholarship for me, she's out here busting her ass with a broken leg and an arm so we didn't go without food or water or electricity! She cleans up after me and my friends even though she never had too! I haven't done anything for her!" I screamed. She looked down. I shook my head and ran my hands through my hair.
"You should go. Stay away from all of us." I told her. She just walked off without another word. I looked at JJ as he clapped me on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry bro." He said. I nodded.
"It'll be fine. Now just to get my sister home." I said sighing. He nodded and lit a joint. He took a hit and smiled.
"Let's bring her on home, John B." He said smiling.
Veronica's POV
I sat on the porch of the house I was staying in looking out at the water. The moon was hitting the water just right. I couldn't sleep. When I did close my eyes, I heard screaming, things breaking, then I could hear somebody talking to me. I looked down at the bear in my hand. Something felt special about it.
"Hey you. What're you doing out here?" I heard. I jumped and turned my head around. It was Ward.
"Hey. I uh. I couldn't sleep, so I came out here." I told him. He came over, grabbed a chair, and sat beside me.
"Doctor said sleeping wouldn't be easy for you the first few nights. You also don't need to be moving around by yourself." He said sighing. I nodded and looked at the bear again.
"When I close my eyes all I hear is screaming, breaking of things and people talking. Makes it harder to try and sleep." I told him.
"People talking? Like who?" He asked. I shrugged.
"I'm not sure. If I hear someone talking to me again, maybe I'll be able to piece it together but right now I've only talked to your family, that nice couple from before, and those others." I said shaking my head.
"Rafe probably had a show on or something that was talking. Maybe you heard their voices." He said. I nodded.
"Maybe." I said. I hugged the bear tighter. He stood up.
"Come on. It's getting cold and we don't need you back in the hospital. Let me take you in." He said. He helped me up out of the seat and helped me into the bed they had set up in an office.
"Who gave that bear to you?" He asked.
"I'm not sure and neither is Rafe. It just appeared." I said shrugging. He nodded and walked out. I sighed and leaned back into the pillows. I closed my eyes and fell asleep. I heard someone laughing. I looked around and saw a little brown-haired girl being chased by a boy.
"Bird! Little Bird! Bring it in!" A man hollered out. I looked at him. I've seen him before. I just couldn't place it. The two kids ran to the guy and jumped into his arms. He laughed and hauled them up. Then a gunshot went off. The guy grunted and fell to his knees.
"Daddy? Daddy? What's wrong?" The little girl asked.
"Pops? Pop?" The boy said. The man just fell to the ground. I saw someone in the bushes but I couldn't see their face. I heard another shot which made me jump awake. I gasped and grabbed my stomach. I groaned and took a deep breathe. I sighed and eased out of bed. I heard the door open.
"Woah! Woah! Easy. You're not supposed to be moving around by yourself." Rafe said standing beside me.
"I'm fine." I grunted.
"Mhmm, sure you are. Bathroom here." He said opening the door. I went in, did what needed to be done, and walked out.
"You're more stubborn than you were before." He said sighing. He wrapped his arm around my waist and helped me walk. We walked into the kitchen and he sat me down at the table.
"Morning everyone." Ward said walking in. Rose, the wife, came in behind him and the other daughter, Wheezie followed.
"Morning." We said. The lady making the breakfast handed me a cup filled with something pink and with a straw. I looked at it then at her.
"Sorry. Mr. Cameron's orders." She said. I looked at Rafe and Ward.
"I'm sorry, Ronnie. Doctor Arnold has given orders for no alcohol or solid food consumption until your stomach can heal." Ward said sipping his coffee.
"Perfect." I said sighing.
"It's only for a little while. Then you can go back to eating your granola bars and drinking your energy drinks." He said. I saw myself digging around in an old bag pulling out a bar and a red can.
"I had a bag." I said.
"What?" Wheezie asked sitting next to me.
"A black bag. I uh. I had one. I think." I said trying to remember.
"Yeah. You do. You remembered something!" She said excitedly. I looked at her. She smiled at me then looked at the others.
"One memory down, a million to go." Rose said nodding. I hummed and grabbed the cup I was given.