Started With a Lie

Chapter Forty Four

I leave the house around noon, preparing a mental checklist of things I must do. I have to pick up groceries, go receive Mom's test results, go to work, and at some point today or this week, start school things like finding dorm room furniture and actually speaking to my roommate. I also have to go check out the campus. I've only been there once last year during spring break but I can barely remember it. I visited so many colleges at that time and I hadn't really cared back then. I was too engrossed in stupid high school drama. If only I had known how my life would expand by now.

Groceries are first and I'm a madman as I basically race to stuff my cart with all the essentials and zoom out of the market. My stomach jitters every time I think about Mom's results.

I'm at the hospital nearly twenty minutes after, waiting up by Dr. Chung's office. My foot won't stop shaking against the ground. My fingernails somehow end up between my teeth too.

His door swings open and a small elderly woman is walking out, saying goodbye and mispronouncing his name. "Bye, Doctor Choong!"

The doctor just laughs and waves. "Bye, Kathleen." When the old woman hobbles over to the elevator, he turns to me with a confused expression. "Miss Flores, are you already prepared? Your appointment isn't for another hour."

I nod, standing abruptly. "If it's not a problem for you, I'm good now."

"You're very lucky I have an empty slot," he says, checking his wrist watch. "Very well, come on in."

Doctor Chung holds the door open for me as I walk into his office. I guess he's been relocated since his previous room had been much smaller. There is a big grand oak desk, one that reminds me of Principal Appleton's, and glass windows that look out into the parking lot and the suburban areas. On the walls are certificates and awards. There are two white leather sofas and one brown leather chair in front of his desk.

He takes a seat in his chair while I sit across in the brown leather chair. For a few moments, he shuffles away papers and files that belong to the woman that had been in here before. When he's done, he folds his hands and looks up, flashing a smile. "What can I do for you today, Ivory?"

I return the smile, suddenly getting more nervous. "I...I'm here about my mother's test results? Yesterday, she moved her hand and all...."

Doctor Chung swivels around in his chair and looks into a drawer full of manila files. He runs his finger over the files until he reaches my mother's, pulling it out and examining its contents. "Let's see...," he says, turning pages.

My foot is restless, tapping at a fast speed. "Well, what is it? Does it say she'll wake up soon or what?" I can't wait any longer. I need to know. Now.

He's quiet for a few moments before closing it and turning back to me. Doctor Chung places the file on the desk, closed. "Ivory...."

"Yes? What is it?"

"We did run through some tests," he admits. "But they're not going to blatantly tell us if she's going to wake soon or not. We couldn't find anything irregular during her brain scans. No new activity or abnormal pulse. Nothing to determine she even supposedly held your hand in the first place. Are you sure what happened was real?"

I've been slapped. It feels like I have been. A sting burns through my throat and travels across my chest. How could I be making this up? I was so sure the scans would tell me something. A change. Her gaining conscious. Something. But there seems to be absolutely nothing, up to the point where it's questionable that I even experienced my mother moving her hand.

"Yes, I'm sure," I say, looking down. My voice is weak.

I didn't see her move her hand. I had felt it but I hadn't been watching her. I also haven't been sleeping well lately. It could've been just an episode of mine. I could've fallen asleep for one second, thinking it was real when it was only a dream. Did I really feel her hand move?