The Things We Bury

Chapter Six

Ember

Present Day

Savy picked Ember up the next morning.

Today she wore a pair of black, skinny pants and a light pink button down. Her hair was carefully clipped up, make-up minimal but skin still glowing. Ember felt small and very out of place standing next to her. She didn't have much in way of clothes and desperately need to wash what she did have. So she wore a pair of torn up jeans and one of Charlie's sweatshirts, it was grey and smelled like him.

They had ended up staying up late watching TV where they eventually fell asleep. When she woke up, she was back in the guest room and had slept without nightmares.

"Feeling okay this morning?" Savy asked as the walked off the porch towards her truck.

"Yeah...", Embers voice trailed off. Should she tell her? "Savy...how much do you want to know? I had a dream last night but I don't know how helpful it would be."

They climbed into the truck and Ember was surprised to see a Starbucks drink sitting in the cup holder. "That's for you—and whatever you can remember will be helpful."

It was some kind of sweet coffee that tasted of caramel and vanilla. Ember was shocked—sweets normally made her stomach churn. She quickly relayed the dream to her while they drove and noticed Savy started to pale.

There was a very heavy beats of silence before Savy cleared her throat. "So we know you were in a sound proof room and there was one man. It might not seem like much now, but it is important."

"I just wish I could remember his face." Ember sighed, tipping her head back against the head rest. "Every time I try to conjure it up, my head starts pounding." 

"Don't push yourself. The sooner the better but we don't know what all happened and you could have some medical issues that are causing this mental block." Trauma. That was the medical issues Savy was inadvertently referring too. They rode in relative silence, except for the low hum of music on the radio. "Would I be able to see--to see my old family?" The question slipped out of Ember before she could stop it. 

It would be painful and hard for them to understand she was no long Ashley, that the beautiful blond no longer existed. "Of course, we can keep this totally quite for now. The media will hound you once they find out, it would be best to be prepared for that." 

Ember nodded her head, falling back into thought. Eventually the dull, rectangular building of the hospital appeared. It was older, concrete building with nothing frilly about it. They pulled up to a side entrance, where Savvy pulled into a spot saved for law enforcement. "We'll be seeing a Doctor Sanger today, she is a very kind woman and will keep everything very quiet."

"Okay, thank you." Ember hadn't realized she was nervous till the weight started to lift off her shoulders. A female Doctor was best and even better if this wouldn't be leaked. They walked up the sidewalk, lined with dormant bushes where Savvy entered a code into a key pad. The door buzzed and then opened for them. She didn't take them to a desk for check in, just straight to a room where a nurse waited for Ember. 

The nurse confirmed her name then started taking the basics, weight, blood pressure and then drew blood for some testing. Ember was surprised to be grateful that Savvy didn't leave her side through any of this. In fact, she went as far to hold Ember's hand when they drew blood. After what felt like a long time there was a knock at the door and a beautiful woman walked in the room. She had long blond hair that was perfectly curled away from her face and kind brown eyes. "Hello, I am Dr. Sanger. You must be Ember."