Lauren Hammond - Famished

He took small steps away from the door. “I’m just glad that you’re okay.” He turned and walked down the hall, leaving me alone. His words sounded meaningful enough.

“Colin, wait!” I shouted, hoping that he might turn around and come back. “Come back! I have more questions!” He ignored me. The sound of his footsteps against the muddy floor continued then faded in the distance.

Minutes later, Grace poked her head through the open doorway. I smiled at her as she rushed to my bedside. “Oh, Georgie,” she exhaled. “I was so worried about you.”

I smiled. “I asked to see you last night, you know?”

“Yeah,” she grumbled. “My mom wouldn’t let me see you.” She picked up one of my hands. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Not really.”

“Did you see Colin?”

“He was just here.”

“Well, what did he say?

“Absolutely nothing.”

Grace raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“There is something really weird going on with him. It’s driving me crazy because I can’t remember a portion of what happened when we were up there and I feel like he knows and is keeping it from me. Have you heard him say anything?”

“No. You know I’d tell you if I did.”

“I know.”

Grace stayed with me for another hour. It was a Monday so she had to go to school, but she told me she’d be back to check on me.

Throughout the day, I had numerous visitors, but Colin never came back. After our conversation, I was pretty sure he was going to avoid me. But he would only be able to avoid me for a little while. Because I was regaining the use of my arms and it would only be a matter of time before I could use my legs. And when I regained the use of my legs, I would stop at nothing until I figured out just what exactly Colin Martin was hiding from me.

Frankie remained by my side for most of the day, always eager to help me or get me something I needed. My mom let her miss school for the day so she could spend time with me. She had me convinced that she might actually make a great nurse in the future. “Here.” She reached behind my head. “Let me fluff your pillow.” Sitting up, I watched her punch the pillow several times, bunch it up and pull it apart, then she patted it, until it was extra fluffy. “There,” she said as she sat back down. “How does that feel?”

I nestled into it and smiled. “Great. Thanks, sis.”

She nodded. “Anytime.” Frankie lifted her knees to her chest and hugged them. “So, when did May say that you could get outta here?”

“She didn’t say.”

“Well, can you walk?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t tried to yet.” The upper part of my legs were still as stiff as a board, but I could roll my ankles. “Maybe in a day or two,” I said with confidence.

“Do you know why Colin Martin wasn’t hurt as bad as you?” Frankie asked, with a puzzled look on her face.

What I wanted to say was, “you tell me.” My sister was the colony gossip queen. Nobody would say anything important when she was in hearing range, because they knew better. Normally, I hated that she could never keep a secret but, her last question sparked a genius idea. I frowned. “No. I don’t know why. But you can find out for me.”

She pointed to her chest, looking astonished. “Who, me?”

“Yeah, you.”

Frankie scrunched her face together. “Well, what is it exactly that you want me to do?”

A wide grin spread across my lips. “Do what you do best, my little talking parrot.”

If Frankie, the one person with the best hearing in the entire colony, couldn’t pick up something about what was going on with Colin Martin, then I was pretty much screwed.

She nodded and smirked. “I like that idea.”

By day three, May had me up and walking. “You’re doing great,” she gushed as she escorted me from my bed to the opposite side of the room.

My legs were still wobbly, but getting out of the bed felt good for a change. I’d only been immobile for three days, but it felt like an eternity. I wasn’t the type of person who liked to stay put for too long. Before my accident I was always on the go. A few hours earlier, I had reached the point where I contemplated pulling strands of my hair out just to give myself something to do. “So, how long do you think it’s going to be before I can return to what’s left of civilization?” I joked.

May smiled. “I’m going to recommend that you stay in the infirmary at least one more night.”

“That’s all?” I questioned. Honestly, I expected her to say two more, at the least.

“Do you want to stay longer?” she asked, trying to keep a serious face.

I couldn’t reply fast enough. “No.”

“Well, then.” May helped me back into bed. “Tomorrow it is.”

Finally something I could look forward to. Tomorrow, I was going to be in my own room, I could see my friends, and if Frankie didn’t pull through, I was going to get to the bottom of the Colin Martin situation. But, I had a lot of faith in my kid sister.

An hour later my mother came in and brought my lunch. She set the tray down next to me and kissed me on the cheek. “And how’s my brave girl doing?” she cooed.

I rolled my eyes. “Mom, you’re talking to me like I’m two years old. I’m a big girl. I’m fine.” Now I was walking. I was able to use my arms too. The only part of me that wasn’t the same was my memory. Not all of it had come back yet.

Frankie checked in with me every few hours reporting some piece of gossip that had no value to me. Like Colin flirting with Molly Edwards or that Mr. Baker had a massive booger hanging out of his nose and no one bothered to tell him. She might have more to report but she was probably waiting until my mother left. My parents were always scolding her for being a big mouth.

What pissed me off more than anything was that Colin didn’t seem concerned at all? He went right back to his flirtatious ways. Closing my eyes, I envisioned him running his hand along Molly Edwards thigh and it made me grind my teeth. I thought there was something between us. I thought he cared about me, the way I cared about him, but I guess I was wrong.

“So, Mom,” I changed the subject. “What am I missing out there, anything good?”

My mother rubbed my hand. “Not really, if you ask me, you’re better off in here alone. I’m sure you don’t want everyone asking you a million questions if you don’t even know the answers to them yourself.”

I nodded. She was right. I didn’t feel like facing the crowd. For one, like my mother said, I didn’t know the answers. And two, even if I did, what if I couldn’t handle the truth? Then I’d be barraged by question after question, feeling like I was drowning in a deep, dark pool of misery. I imagined I would feel a lot like May did, every time someone asked her about Monica.

My thoughts were interrupted when my mother rose out of her seat. “Where are you going?” I asked. She just got here and she was already leaving.

“Your father and I gave that letter we found with your things to Mark Baker. We’re supposed to meet with him to discuss it.”

I nearly shot up out of my bed, outraged. “What? Why in the hell would you do that?” Mark Baker was a sneaky, conniving weasel of a man who could not be trusted.

My mother shrugged. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but your father thought he might be able to help.”

“Right,” I said sarcastically. It pissed me off that my father was such a poor judge of character. Mr. Baker, walked around here like he owned the place. Technically, my father owned the place because he was the one who started building the underground colony and invited the other families to join. Mr. Baker took his position on the council way too seriously. I said before that we needed the rules and order to avoid chaos, but he took it to the extreme and the cost didn‘t matter. Mr. Baker would sacrifice his own children for the sake of our little colony, and that struck me as the type of person who was obsessed with control, order, and being superior to everyone else. A lot like someone else I learned about when I went to an actual high school—Hitler.