Versus

Voices again. This time they were not yelling. They were having a serious in-depth conversation as far as she could tell. The voices were on both sides of her.

“Why did she wait so long?”

“Maybe she didn’t notice it until it was too late and then she was in shock.”

“It doesn’t make any sense. Maybe her parent died and never taught her.”

“Maybe she was adopted.”

“She probably would’ve told us silly.”

“Maybe she doesn’t KNOW she’s adopted!” The voice of Kelly was clear.

“I’m not adopted.” Emma softly spoke as she tried to open her eyes. It was hard to roll her eyes at Kelly while they were shut.

The room got completely quiet.

The light was so bright in the room that opening her eyes was not in her abilities. She kept trying but it was burning her eyes and her eyes began tearing profusely. She grimaced in pain.

“Here,” Aala said while laying a towel over Emma’s eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Aala continued.

“I hurt. What happened?”

“Don’t you remember?” Kelly asked while the three girls gave curious looks at one another.

“Oh no. She’s got amnesia!” Abby blurted.

The other girls gave Abby correction without a word, their stares were enough to get their point across.

“That car!” Emma said in disgust, suddenly remembering.

“Why didn’t you tell it to stop sooner?” Abby blurted out what they were all thinking but were all too scared to address.

“We tried to help. We were yelling for you to stop it.” Kelly continued.

She laid there with the protection of the towel covering her face. She almost felt like a child covering her eyes. It was safer with the towel shielding her eyes. “I don’t understand what you’re all talking about.”

“See, amnesia!” Abby confirmed.

“I told you!” Kelly whispered to Aala in a softer tone, “She doesn’t know!”

Emma wasn’t entirely certain who said that.

“Please! Will someone tell me what’s going on?”

“Should we get the Dean?”

“No!” Aala demanded. “He might make her leave.”

“Leave?” Emma yelled while jerking the towel from her face. She quickly covered her eyes with both hands while wincing again from the debilitating sunlight. She had thrown the towel in panic and couldn’t find it again.

“No, he won’t. She’s clearly one of us, she just doesn’t understand it for some reason. He won’t turn her away for that. She belongs here as much as any of us.” Aala explained.

“You’re right.” A deeper tone spoke from the doorway.

Heads jerked around, startled by the masculine voice that was the shocking announcement of someone’s entrance into the room.

“Dean McAlvey!” Aala said quivering, jerking so hard from surprise that she flinched from the pain.

He gave a soft smile towards her to ease her shock and proceeded towards Emma. He sat on the corner of her bed and patted her arm.

“Is now a good time?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Sore.”

“Well, it looks like nothing’s broken from what I’ve been told. But your head took a pretty good hit. A slight concussion. We’d like you to maintain strict bed rest over the weekend. The nurse will report to me if she feels you are well enough to attend school on Monday.”

“OK.”

“Do you remember what happened?”

“The car hit my back tire.”

“Yes.”

“It all happened so fast.”

“I’m sure.”

His tone was fatherly and kind. He wasn’t prying, simply allowing Emma to talk and see where the conversation took them. He was delicately helping without making too much out of the obvious unknowns that had everyone in the room puzzled.

“Sir. I’m scared to ask what I’m thinking.”

“Do we need to speak in private?”

“No Sir. I would like them to stay if that’s ok with you.” It was obvious that a special friendship existed with these four girls. They were supporting each other like childhood confidants. He was certain that she wanted them to stay for moral support but felt it necessary, as their Dean, to ask before explaining anything further to so many ears.

He looked around the room. He dissected the looks of the three girls, whose faces could be seen and clearly understood that their care for their friend, whose face was still concealed by flattened hands, was something not often encountered. Even though this school was for special students, students often focused on themselves at this age. The world had become very self-absorbed and he quickly felt a tinge of relief to find four girls with such deep care for one another.

“I will be here for any of you girls to talk to. I hope you all know that.” The concern was unmistakable. “I feel very badly that I haven’t met with you sooner Emma.” His gaze turned back to her. “It has only recently come to my attention that you may have some questions that I may be best suited to answer.” He eagerly began to explain.

“I am very sorry that I didn’t know of your situation until just before you first visited this school. When you came to take your tour, I was away, or we could’ve met much earlier than today.”

The girls sat quietly. Quizzical brows on every young and frightened face.

“We are used to having the parent, with our shared gifts, accompany our students to their first visit. We believed that this may not be the case with you but weren’t exactly sure of all details and felt it best to assess things as they were made known. After you started school.”

Emma thought for a second that he was waiting for her to say something, but his mind was in thought and he clearly had more to explain. She remained quiet with her eyes still covered from any painful light.

“I feel responsible for having left you in this position for too long. It is my first time having a student with no knowledge of our gifts. It can be overwhelming as I know you must be experiencing. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

A look of guilt filled his eyes.

A look of shock filled the remaining room occupants’ eyes.

“I’m afraid my negligence has caused this. We thought you’d be safe here.”

“Sir, this isn’t your fault.”

“I should’ve prepared you. I was taking my time because I felt this was delicate. I’m so sorry.”

“Sir…” She paused. Fear filled her tone as she was having a difficult time catching her breath. She was nervous and it showed.

“It’s ok…” Dean McAlvey emphasized.

“How were you supposed to prepare me? I don’t understand how this accident could’ve been prevented by anyone. These gifts…What gifts?” She said with her voice quivering.

Gasps were evident in the room from the other girls. It was so quiet that none of them intended to be heard. But even their labored breathing could be heard now.

The girls were in shock that their dear friend didn’t know what they all had known all of their lives. They had become like sisters over their short time here at college, and none of them knew. They felt ashamed. Like they had been better equipped and failed their friend in some way.

His smile parted his mouth into such a large grin that even the guilt of the girls began to lessen. “You are unique indeed.” He laughed as he spoke the words.