She tapped on the counter, trying to catch the edges of the memory.
“Bloody fucking hell!” She swiped her hand out, caught a cup and the toothbrush holder. Both went crashing to the ground.
Movement without sound flashed in her peripheral vision.
There was no thought, just action.
Her body twisted, and her left arm came up to swing through as her right hand moved in to punch whoever was in her personal space.
Sasha avoided the swing and ducked the punch. She came up with both hands in front of her, palms spread. “Hey . . . it’s me.”
Every muscle in Olivia’s body was keyed up. Her skin was fire, her eyes laser sharp, and her heartbeat had gone from sixty to a hundred in two seconds.
“It’s me.”
The small space of the bathroom felt as if it were closing in.
Get out!
Get out!
“Olivia . . . take a deep breath. You’re okay.”
Footsteps pounded up the stairs, voices calling out.
“Olivia?”
“What’s going on?”
“Everyone, back off.”
The room slowly came into focus.
Her short breaths fought to overpower her.
Sasha stood an arm’s distance away.
Leo was at Sasha’s side.
All the others piled into the bedroom but stood far away.
“Slow, deep breaths,” Sasha continued to coax.
That’s when Olivia felt the pull on her left side. She looked down at the angry scar that had just started to feel better.
She put her right hand over her skin as if protecting it now would do any good. “Oh, God.”
Pam pushed past Leo and Sasha. “Okay. All boys out,” she demanded. “C’mon. Let’s lay you down before you pass out.” She pushed under Olivia’s right arm as if she couldn’t walk on her own two feet.
Though the first few steps suggested Pam had the right idea.
“Out!” she shouted when the men had yet to leave.
The room spun and heated. “I need to sit.”
“Aw, fuck.”
All Olivia remembered was Leo reaching for her as the world faded away.
“We’re here.” Leo’s voice called her out of the fog.
Someone had placed a cold washcloth on her forehead.
She was on her bed, her feet propped up on pillows.
“Olivia?” Sasha stood behind Leo.
“I attacked you.”
“It’s okay.”
Olivia tried to sit up.
“Oh, no. You lay right there.” Pam had a blood pressure cuff on Olivia’s arm and was blowing it up. “Give it a few minutes.”
“I could have hurt you.”
“Didn’t come close,” Sasha told her with a small smile.
“I needed to get out of the bathroom. You weren’t going to stop me.” She’d felt like a caged animal. “Why would I do that?”
Pam sighed. “Seriously. Calm down.”
Leo stroked her right hand. “It’s okay. It’s over.”
“I don’t understand what happened . . .”
“I’m going to get you some ice water.” Sasha moved toward the door.
“I am sorry.”
“We’re good. Let it go.”
Olivia rolled her head toward Pam, looking for answers. “What’s going on?”
“I’m not a neurologist.”
“Don’t give me that,” Olivia chided.
Pam glanced at Leo. “Could be your memory trying to come back. Your body reacted instinctively. Hard to say.”
“So I attack Sasha?”
“Did you remember something?” Leo asked.
Olivia looked down at her chest, realized only then that someone had tossed a sheet over her. “I broke my collarbone. When I was a kid.”
Sasha returned with the water, and Leo and Pam helped Olivia sit up in the bed.
After a couple of sips, she relaxed against the headboard. Her side hurt like a bitch.
“You remember breaking a bone as a child,” Leo redirected her.
Sasha sat on the edge of the bed and listened.
“I don’t remember breaking it. I just know that it was broken.” She took Leo’s hand, guided it to her collarbone, and pressed his fingertips to the bump she’d discovered earlier. She grabbed his other hand, ignoring the sheet as it slipped to her waist, and pressed it on the left side. “Feel that?”
He nodded. “I do.”
“I remember a voice . . . someone telling me that I couldn’t go to class until it was better. The harder I thought about it, the more distant the memory felt.” She sighed, let go of Leo’s hand, and placed hers in her lap. “I didn’t see you walk in,” she said, looking at Sasha. “Next thing I know—”
“I heard you yell. I came in.”
Olivia glanced at Pam. “Is this what I can expect? Every time a memory sneaks in I’m going to pass out?”
“You were hyperventilating. Maybe next time a memory starts to emerge, sit down and slow your breathing. Call one of us.”
She nodded a few times. “I should be happy I remembered something.