A man then appeared placing his arms around her as they both continued laughing.
“Please, help me!” I yelled again, hoping the man would be more sympathetic to my cries. But he wasn’t. They both disregarded me. I grabbed at the grass with my hands and tore it out of the ground in anger and frustration.
Damn it!
I looked up again to scream out, but they were flirting with each other and laughing, paying no attention to my screams for help. The woman was putting something into the man’s hand. A shiver ran through my body. I then realised it was them — Victoria and Jonathon — the couple in my dream. My eyes opened wide in disbelief. The man opened his hand and pulled out the locket. He opened it and smiled, exactly like my dream.
Could I be dreaming now? That would explain my being outside rather than inside on the bottom of the staircase. Maybe I didn’t even fall? Or maybe I am still lying down on my bed in my room, dreaming this all? Yes, that’s it. It’s all a dream, it has to be…
So I decided to wait till I woke up. I closed my eyes, rolled on to my back and let the sunshine warm my face, while I lay in the lush green grass.
“What are you doing?” a young voice asked.
I opened my eyes and was surprised to find a beautiful little girl standing over me in a white, old-fashioned lace dress, smiling.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“My name is Elizabeth,” she replied politely.
I wasn’t even sure why I was inconveniencing myself with this conversation. It was only a dream. I noticed Elizabeth looking towards the couple, who were standing there laughing and talking to each other. The girl looked anxious as she watched.
“Are you alright Elizabeth?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied hesitantly.
“Do you know them?” I reluctantly asked.
“They are my parents, but I have not seen them for a long time,” she replied.
“They are your parents? Well, I don’t know why, but I am always dreaming about them. But you! This is a first, having you join the dream!” I joked.
She looked puzzled. “Do you not know who I am?”
“What?”
“You don’t remember me?”
“How can I? We just met.”
“No, we have met before.”
“You must have me mistaken for someone else, Elizabeth.”
“No… I remember you,” she said, slightly disappointed.
I wasn’t amused. This was my dream and she was starting to annoy me.
“You have to go back, and remember me.” She took a small twig of baby breath from her hair, placed it in the palm of my hand and then closed it.
“I wonder if they…” she added as she looked towards her parents and ran off to them.
My eyes followed her. Watching Elizabeth running towards her parents made me feel extremely emotional. I felt as though my heart was going to pound out of my chest, watching her little arms swing from side to side and her long hair swaying. Seeing her leave tore my heart apart. Even though I was sure this wasn’t real, I was overcome by uncontrollable emotions. As her parents turned towards her, her mother fell to her knees with open arms. Her father also fell to his knees, his hands over his face with disbelief. The tears were now pouring down my face as Elizabeth joined her parents and was held in her mother’s arms, I felt the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders.
Why was I bearing that weight? This has nothing to do with me! This isn’t true…
Watching the way that woman held onto her daughter, and hearing her cry was the most amazingly beautiful experience I had ever witnessed. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them, but I was starting to feel tired. These powerful emotions were exhausting. I lay down on my back again and decided to try to fall asleep so I could wake up. But I couldn’t sleep. One minute everything was so peaceful and calm and now there was a racket all around me.
How was I supposed to sleep?
I didn’t bother opening my eyes. I didn’t want to see what all the chaos was about. There were now so many unfamiliar voices around me calling out things that I didn’t understand. Still, I didn’t open my eyes. I sensed that I was just about to fall asleep…
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I felt like I had been asleep for hours. Yet I was still not hurried at all to wake up. When I eventually opened my eyes, I wasn’t in my room on my bed staring at the ceiling thinking about James. Nor was I in an unfamiliar place, lying face down in a garden, dreaming. I was in hospital, with tubes in my arm, machines on both sides of me, a doctor and a few nurses over me. The doctor told me not to speak or move. He explained I had fallen down the stairs and I was very lucky.
I already knew all that, but my version of events was different and I was far from lucky. I took the doctor’s advice anyway. I didn’t speak or move.
“I am just going to take your blood pressure,” a nurse said as she gently grabbed my arm. “Relax your hand please.”
My hand was in a tight, uncomfortable fist. I released my hand, and in my palm was a flat, lifeless baby breath twig. The nurse didn’t notice such a small thing, but for me, it was unbelievable.
“Perfect,” she said as she went back to her seat beside me.
I touched the baby breath in my hand.
Oh Elizabeth, you were very, very real! Who are you and how do I know you?
I thought about what she had said, over and over. I didn’t know any other Elizabeth.
Is it supposed to be a riddle? This is all too hard…
I tried to think of the Elizabeths I knew. There was my neighbour in Sydney, but she was Italian and it just couldn’t be her. The only other was the elderly Elizabeth who I met on the plane trip to England.
Could it be her? That’s not possible. She’s so old. This is too crazy. Surely there has to be some end to all this bedlam. There has to be!
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. All of a sudden, I had a great urge to see Elizabeth.
When I can move, I am going to London to see her!
I had no idea why or what I would say to her.
The next day, my thoughts were solely on Elizabeth — her words, her parents…
What was the connection to me?
The nurse assigned to my room was present around the clock. She never left in my room without being replaced by another.
I hope I’m not on suicide watch!
Thinking rationally, I realised that this would be the work of James, trying to look after me. I looked at the nurse. She was reading a novel and was incredibly engrossed.
“Excuse me.” My voice was rough and dry, and barely recognisable.
“Yes, dear,” she replied, immediately closing her book and getting up to approach me. She was quite young and seemed nervous.
“How long have I been in hospital?” I asked.
“Um, you came in on Sunday… and today is Thursday,” she replied.
“What?” I cried, “That’s not possible. I have only been awake one day, at the most.”
“Miss White, you have been in surgery.” She stopped talking. I think the look on my face and my panicked breathing was too much for her to handle.
“Let me call the doctor and he will speak with you.” She used my buzzer, and in less than a minute, another nurse came by.
“Could you please call the doctor, so he can speak to Catherine?” the first nurse asked.
“Yes, of course.”
In a few minutes, the same doctor who was with me previously came to my room.
“Catherine, welcome back! You have been catching up on some much needed sleep perhaps?” he said.