8. Isabella
8
ISABELLA
I sabella’s attention drifted from the TV on the wall to the window. The sky was a beautiful shade of pale blue, and the clouds were white and fluffy.
What was it like out there? The marker board on the wall said it was June. Was June here like June in Omaha?
If only she could open the window and feel the air. The hospital was fine, and the workers had been good to her. Why was she dying to feel the sun on her face when she should be grateful for what she had?
On the TV, a bachelorette welcomed a bachelor onto a yacht with a scorching kiss, but Bella had just watched the woman say she didn’t see a future with him.
The whole show had her scratching her head. In the last half hour, the woman had kissed at least three of the men on the show, and no one thought this was weird. No wonder statistics about divorce rates were so high. Who valued commitment and fidelity anymore?
Bella looked at her bare finger again. She could have a boyfriend out there somewhere. If she did, why hadn’t he found her by now?
A knock at the door jerked her thoughts away from the missing pieces of her life. “Come in.”
A train of three women entered the room with bright smiles. The last one carried a large vase filled with colorful flowers.
Bella sat up in bed. The soreness lingered, but it wasn’t keeping her down anymore. “Hi.”
The dark-haired woman waved. “Hey, I’m Olivia, these are my friends, Hadley and Anna.”
Anna lifted the vase. “We brought a pick-me-up.”
“And treats,” Hadley added as she rested a food bag on the tray beside the bed.
The flowers were beautiful, and whatever was in the bag smelled like baked bliss. Bella took a second to study each of the women, but there wasn’t any familiarity there. “Oh, um. I’m sorry, but do I know you?”
“Nope,” Hadley said as she plopped down on the end of the bed. “We’re Travis’s friends. He told us about you, and we wanted to introduce ourselves.”
Travis? She hadn’t heard from him since he left Thursday morning, but that was expected. She had his phone number, not the other way around.
She’d flipped back and forth about whether to call him, but she couldn’t ask him for more than he’d already given. Calling him to say she was bored and missed talking to him sounded incredibly lame.
“That’s… so nice of you. I’m Bella.”
Olivia scooted the bag toward Bella. “We didn’t know what you’d like, so we brought a variety.”
Bella opened the bag to find half a dozen pastries individually wrapped in white paper. “You didn’t have to do that. I get meals here at the hospital.”
And that would be all she ate. One of the nurses said they’d found one hundred eighty dollars in the pocket of her jeans, but that was all she had. It wouldn’t last more than a few hours once she was released from the hospital.
Then she’d have a hefty bill for her stay here. The mere thought threatened to cripple her.
“Yeah, but Tracy’s goodies feed your soul, so eat up!” Olivia said.
Olivia and Anna pulled up chairs and sat around Bella as she raised a cream cheese Danish to her nose. The warmth alone had her mouth watering and her stomach begging for a taste.
“So, Travis said you can’t remember much. That’s wild,” Anna said.
Bella picked up a muffin and sniffed it. Strawberry. “Yeah. That’s one way to put it. It’s frustrating.”
“I can imagine,” Olivia said. “You think your brain doesn’t want to remember the accident because it was so bad?”
“It’s not just that,” Bella said. “I can’t remember a lot of other things. Where I worked. Where I lived. Why I’m here.”
Anna held up a beautifully manicured hand. “Wait, you basically don’t remember who you are?”
“It’s not that crazy. It happened to Camille Harding, remember?” Olivia pointed out.
Anna’s eyes widened. “Oh! I forgot about that.”
Olivia rested a hand on the bed beside Bella. “If it helps, Camille made a full recovery. She remembered all the things that matter, and she got to hit restart on her career. She left corporate law, and now she’s practicing family and civil law like she always wanted.”
“Nothing like a head injury to put things into perspective,” Hadley said.
Anna sat up straighter, and her long blonde hair draped over her shoulder like a golden curtain. “How fun would it be to start over?”
“Well, it would be a whole lot more fun if you could at least remember your friends,” Olivia pointed out.
Hadley raised her hand. “I did the whole starting over thing last year. I recommend it.”
“You’re right about the friends thing,” Anna said before turning to Bella. “But we could be your new friends.”
These women swept into her room and just decided they were her friends. It was both comforting and scary at the same time. Starting over held some appeal, but leaving behind a chunk of her past was dangerous. What if she forgot something important?
Hadley unwrapped another pastry and handed it to Bella. “I mean, don’t give up on remembering things. It might come back with time.”
Bella chose the Danish and took a bite. The soft cream and the fluffy pastry had her tongue tingling with the taste. She let out a content hum. “You’re right. My soul needed this.”
Olivia scooted closer and studied Bella’s bruised face. “Anything broken in there?” she asked.
“A little fracture,” Bella said, pointing to her cheek.
“I’m a nurse, but I don’t really deal with injuries like yours. If you need a primary care physician when you’re released, I can recommend someone.”
“Thanks.” Bella huffed. “I hadn’t even thought of that. I haven’t thought of most things. It’s overwhelming.”
Anna stood and moved closer to her. “Did they wash your hair? There’s still some dried blood in it.”
Bella reached up to run her fingers over a strand of her hair. It was stiff and wild. “A nurse did the first day I was here, but I haven’t tried to do much with it. My arms are still sore.” She tried to lift them, but her muscles pulled before she reached the top of her head.
“I’m on it,” Anna said as she walked out of the room.
“So you don’t know if you’re from Blackwater?” Olivia said.
Bella shrugged. “I have no clue. It doesn’t sound familiar.”
Olivia perked up. “Let’s talk about some things in the area, and it might spark a memory.”
Olivia and Hadley talked about schools, ranches, and popular places in town. None of it was even remotely familiar.
Anna returned a few minutes later with a bowl and a bottle. “I got the goods.”
“Is that a bedpan?” Hadley asked.
Anna gasped. “It better not be. I’m not washing her hair in a bedpan.”
Olivia let out a trilling laugh, throwing her head back and slapping her thigh. “It’s not a bedpan! It’s for washing hair.”
Anna gave Olivia a stern look. “Are you sure?”
“Yes! We use them at the assisted living center all the time,” Olivia promised.
Anna slipped into the bathroom and turned on the water in the sink.
“You don’t have to wash my hair,” Bella said. “That’s too much.”
Olivia leaned forward and whispered, “Don’t worry. Anna is going to love this.”
“This shampoo isn’t going to do your hair any favors. I’m bringing the good stuff next time,” Anna said from the bathroom.
She turned the water off and returned to the room carefully holding the pan in front of her. “Someone get her situated in the bed.”
Olivia and Hadley got to work moving the bed around and moving Bella into position. Bella lifted her head as Anna slid the pan under her, and Olivia rolled up a towel and positioned it under Bella’s neck.
“Now we’re in business,” Anna said as she started wetting Bella’s hair.
She relaxed as Anna’s fingers moved around her hair, careful not to disturb the bandage on the side of her head.
“So,” Hadley said as she scooted around on the bed. “Travis, huh?”
Of course they would touch the one topic Bella wasn’t ready to face. “Yeah?”
“He’s a total catch,” Hadley said. “I’m engaged to his best friend.”
Well, that was one observation Bella had made on her own, but it was nice to know he hadn’t just put on an act because they’d just met.
Anna massaged Bella’s head as she lathered the shampoo. The touch was relaxing, but she was hyperaware of the new topic of conversation.
“Agreed. Travis is awesome,” Olivia added. “He doesn’t date a lot, but he has a good job, and he’s nice.”
“You already know he’s good at his job, but he really cares about helping people,” Hadley said. “I fell off a cliff a few months ago, and he just happened to be there. It’s scary being injured, but it helped that he knew what to do. He kept me calm when I was on the verge of panicking.”
“You fell off a cliff?” Bella asked. “That sounds awful.”
“It was terrifying. Thankfully, the river broke my fall.”
Bella recalled the clawing fear when she’d woken up in this room. Having Travis here had calmed her too.
She’d been trying to keep a tight leash on her emotions, but it was difficult not to like the man who’d been so good to her when he didn’t have to. Knowing he’d done the same for Hadley when she was in a relationship with his friend had Bella wondering if he thought of her like any other woman.
It wasn’t a bad thing if he was just being nice to her out of the goodness of his heart. Why did it sting to realize it was probably platonic?
“Anyway, Travis sounded concerned for you when I talked to him,” Hadley said. “Do you think he likes you?”
“Come on, Hadley. We can’t get in the middle of that,” Olivia said. “She has more important things to worry about.”
“I know, but wouldn’t it be so sweet if they ended up together?” Hadley asked. “He saved her. How cute is that?”
Anna reached for a cup on the tray and started rinsing Bella’s hair. “I agree. Travis is a good guy.”
“Noted,” Bella said as she worked to keep her eyes open. She’d been sleeping a lot, but the medical staff promised it was what her body needed. She’d already been up for an hour longer than usual.
“Oh! I almost forgot,” Olivia said. She rummaged in a bag and suspended two books over Bella’s face. “I brought you these.”
The Holy Bible was stamped in gold on the front of one, and the other was a book of devotions for women.
“Thank you.” Bella reached up for them, but Olivia jerked them back.
“I’ll just put them right here beside your bed.”
Anna wrapped Bella’s hair up and took the pan to get fresh water. Hadley and Olivia chatted while Anna finished rinsing Bella’s hair. The warm water and soft words of the women nearly lulled her into sleep.
“All done!” Anna said in a peppy voice.
“Wow. I feel like a new woman,” Bella said as she raised her head.
Anna handed the pan to Hadley and brushed her fingers gently through Bella’s hair. “This is a beautiful color.”
“Thanks.” She’d always thought her hair color was dull, but it was nice to hear someone with hair as gorgeous as Anna say anything about it.
“You want me to braid it?” Anna asked.
Bella sat up and raked her hands through the clean strands. “That would be great.”
Hadley plopped back down on the foot of the bed when she returned from the bathroom. “So, you liked the strawberry muffin. What else can we bring next time?”
“Oh! They have an amazing Philly cheesesteak sandwich at Sticky Sweets,” Olivia said.
“Gage loves their roast beef sandwiches,” Hadley added.
“You don’t have to bring me anything. I appreciate you stopping by,” Bella said.
In fact, she’d loved the visit with the women. She’d relaxed more in the last hour than in the whole time she’d been in the hospital.
“I can come back tomorrow,” Olivia said. “Hadley and Anna have to work.”
“I’ll send you some good shampoo and conditioner. That stuff wasn’t the best for your hair,” Anna said.
A surge of gratefulness threatened to choke Bella, and her words were hoarse. “I haven’t been very hungry, but thank you.”
“What do you need?” Anna asked.
What did she need? A brain that worked, a phone with contacts in it, and an address to her home. Oh, and a way to make the outrageous hospital bill she was racking up disappear.
“I don’t really know yet,” Bella answered honestly.
Olivia scribbled on a napkin. “Here are our numbers. Call us if you need anything.”
“Or call Travis,” Hadley added with a smile. She leaned closer to whisper, “You know you want to.”
Bella tried to hide the grin spreading on her face. She had too many insecurities and fears to date anyone right now, much less a handsome man who came with good references. “Thanks for everything.”
Anna finished braiding Bella’s hair and tied it with a band Hadley supplied. “All done.”
“We’ll let you get some rest,” Olivia said. “You look tired.”
Bella was tired, but she didn’t want the women to leave. “I’m glad you came. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Bye, friend!” Anna said as she led the way to the door.
The others said their cheery farewells, and Bella rested back against the pillow. Exhaustion hung heavy on her shoulders, but a smile lingered on her face, tugging at the bruise on her cheek.
Bella raised her head and looked around. The flowers the women brought were a bright burst of color in the monochrome room. The books by the bed drew her attention, and she reached for the one on top.
The deep-brown Bible had gold lettering on the front, and she brushed her fingertips over the embossed letters. It was a big book, but the size didn’t intimidate her like she expected.
Turning it over on its spine, she parted the pages and let the book fall open to the book of Psalms. The words were foreign, yet familiar and intriguing enough to pull her in.
She picked a random chapter and started reading. The heading called it a Psalm of David, but she could have written the words herself. They matched her own heart’s cry.
Protect me from my enemies.
Guide my paths.
Forgive me for my sins.
Bella’s eyes drifted closed, and she fought against the lure of sleep. The words were steeped in hope for a man who completely humbled himself before God.
She didn’t remember reading the passage before, but the assurance of a God who saved wasn’t a new concept. Did she believe in a God who could love and forgive anything and everything?
She wasn’t ignorant enough to believe she was blameless, but what kind of sins had she committed? How could she ask for forgiveness if she didn’t know what she’d done?
A dull ache slowly pulsed in her head, and the words on the page began to blur. Closing the book, she rested her head back against the pillow. Piecing together her memories screamed of urgency, but exhaustion pulled her into a deep sleep.