CHAPTER 1

I woke up to the beeping of the IV as the drip passes through my hands.

I did not understand where I was or what I was doing here, but one thing I did know was that I was in a hospital. How I had gotten there was what I could not remember. The nagging headache discouraging me from trying to think deeper.

A man came in, putting on scrubs and one look at him, I knew he was a doctor.

I tried to speak, but my throat felt numb, scratching the surface of my tongue, the hurt causing me to keep quiet. He looked at me with a small smile before saying

" You have been asleep for too long so it's normal that your throat might feel a bit uncomfortable than normal. I would pour you a glass of water and then I have some questions I would love to ask you" he said.

Because of the mortification I felt with my voice sounding horrible, I decided to keep silent, nodding instead to show that I understood him.

He grabbed a glass of water from the table I had not noticed before and handed it over to me.

It was at the moment I saw the water that I realized just how thirsty I actually was.

The whole glass was gone in just a moment and I felt instant relief in my throat, as though it had brought it back to life.

" I supposed you feel better now?" He asked.

I tried speaking again.

" Yes" I said, glad that my voice was back to normal.

" Do you remember anything from two days before?" He asked.

I strained my memory to think for a while.

And slowly it all started coming back to me.

The phone call, me crying my eyes out as I drove, the huge trailer that came out of nowhere and sent me driving straight into a tree.

That was the last thing I remembered until I showed up here.  I had been in a fatal car accident and somehow, I had survived it.

My face paled at the thought of that.

What call? Who was I talking to on the phone that had me so distracted that I had let the wheels slip out of my hands?

I could not remember that little bit.

" Thankfully, you are okay and just gained a few scratches. You would be able to move around and it was dangerous when you were in coma but seeing that you are out now, I can tell you for a fact that you would be fit to leave here tomorrow." He said, beaming at me.

A sick bile rose up in my belly at the question I was about to ask.

" And what about the person driving the truck?" I asked him.

His smile faltered a bit and he sighed, taking off his glasses and wiping it before putting it on back.

The bile only grew.

" He was an old man in his seventies. He was bleeding extensively when they brought him in. We could have saved him if it was a younger person, but he was old and his heart was already giving up. I'm so sorry but we lost him" he said and i felt my heart break.

I had claimed the life of someone. Perhaps someone who all he wanted was to eat and provide for his family. I killed someone's husband.

He probably saw the look on my face because he turned to look at me, giving me a small pat on my hands.

" I know most of the times it's hard to hear about the death of someone. The police already concluded that he was probably driving at high speed and you were not able to swerve out of his way, you were not at fault." He said.

I appreciated his little effort at trying to comfort me, but the deed was already done, I could already feel the guilt crippling me as my mind made up different numbers of scenerios.

What if I had been more focused and not on my phone? What if I had been able to drive smartly and avoided him. He would still be alive.

I did not want to share all these concerns with the doctor because a part of me knew that he would not understand it. So instead I said.

" Thank you so much. For everything"

He gave me anotehr reassuring smile before continuing .

" Well we tried to reach your family members here in los Angeles but unfortunately none of them showed up. Your fiance gave us the number of your friend in london and she has been the one paying the bills, I'm sure she would be here very soon to check up on you" he said and i felt my heart thrum wildly.

What was that phone call that I received just before the world started spinning? Why could I not remember it?

" So none ...none of them came to visit? Including my mum?" I asked him, noticing the pain that dawned in his eyes as he slowly shook his head.

" None did." He said.

The room fell silent and he finally said again.

" I have to do a routine check with the rest of my patients, I hope your friend gets here soon enough and I will be back again to check how you have progressed and see if you are fit to leave tomorrow " he said.

As the door shut behind him, the feeling of anger washed over me. None of them came to visit. After every single night I spent with them, after my childhood with all of them, no one came to visit.

" Oh my baby!" A voice cried out as the door banged open, my friend, Tasha coming in.

She pulled me into a hug and I obliged, breathing in her earthy scent to comfort me.

" I'm so sorry about what happened. And also about your marriage. Louis is a real jerk" she said, her eyes sympathetic.

" What did he do?" I asked her and her face contorted in shock.

" You don't remember?" She asked.

And as though that was the only question I needed to hear, the bit of that accident that I missed came roaring back to me. I had called Louis to confront him, to ask him why he would want to marry my sister.