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Date Posted: 00:46:40 05/28/02 Tue
Author: Leigh
Subject: Re: Holiday, 61
In reply to: Leigh 's message, "Holiday" on 00:38:20 05/28/02 Tue

Nikita opened her eyes and found she was standing alone in an endless world of white. Confused, she looked around; where was this place? She tried to recall where she’d been before, what she’d been doing but it was like grasping at air; her mind was blank and she could recall nothing.

There was an aching in her chest, a longing for something that she couldn’t quite remember. She turned, looked back, hoping to see something or someone familiar but there was only more of the white mist that swirled at her feet.

“Michael!”

The name rose unbidden to her lips and Nikita stopped, surprise raising her brows. She looked around, expecting someone to appear. There was comfort in the name, reassurance, safety. But as hard as she tried, Nikita couldn’t remember to whom the name belonged. Her pulse raced, panic rising as she felt the name slip away from her.

“No! Come back, don’t go!

Nikita ran through the mist, searching and calling, not wanting to give up the fleeting warmth the name had brought her. But everywhere she turned there was only more white emptiness. Fear gripped her and she ran faster, trying to escape. She stumbled, tripped over her own feet and fell. Despair welled up in her as she felt what she’d been looking for slip further away. Not knowing what else to do she collapsed to the ground and wept.

**

The nurse entered the dimly lit room where the American woman they’d brought in earlier that day lay unconscious. Dr. Adana Cabrillo, the attending physician, was standing at the woman’s bedside reading her chart and frowning. She glanced up as the nurse approached and handed her a slip of paper.

“What’s this?”

“Her name. They got it from her registration form at the hotel she was staying at. The police have tried contacting that number but no one answers. She probably lives alone. They’re going to contact the authorities up in that area and ask for their assistance” The nurse turned her attention to the woman on the bed and she shook her head. “Poor thing. It’s a good thing that car wasn’t going too fast.”

“It was going fast enough,” Dr. Cabrillo said distractedly, as she read through the information before her. She nodded her head in Nikita's direction. “She’s got the bruises and fractures to prove it.” The doctor slipped the paper into her coat pocket and then took out a pen and updated the information on the chart chart. “At least now we know her name, that’s a start.”

The nurse had made her way to the other side of Nikita’s bed and she leaned over to check Nikita’s IV drip and then her blood pressure. Afterwards she straightened the sheet covering Nikita and brushed her hand gently over Nikita’s hair. An oxygen mask was taped in place over Nikita’s mouth and nose. The left side of her face was swollen and scraped where she had hit the pavement and there was an angry gash above her brow. “She’s going to have a scar,” the nurse said, frowning. “Too bad; she’s such a pretty girl.”

“That’s the least of her problems,” the doctor commented, looking up. She was more concerned with the blow Nikita had sustained to the head and the possibility of internal bleeding. Not to mention the other matter… Dr. Cabrillo sighed inwardly. She wondered if the young woman had even known that she was pregnant. It was still early enough that she might not have been aware of it. “You said there was no answer at her home phone?” she asked, turning to the nurse.

“That’s what the police said.”

Dr. Cabrillo frowned, trying to recall what it was the woman had mumbled repeatedly when they brought her in that afternoon. Could it have been a name? The doctor’s brows furrowed in concentration; Mike… Michael? Was that the name she’d been calling? She leaned over Nikita and spoke softly in a soothing voice. “Nikita, can you hear me? My name’s Dr. Cabrillo. I’m here to help you. Can you open your eyes for me?”

There was no response.

Dr. Cabrillo tried again. “Wake up, Nikita. You can do it, listen to my voice.” She paused, then said, “Do you want to see Michael? You have to wake up if you want to see him again. Do you hear me?”

“Who’s Michael?” the nurse asked, and Dr. Cabrillo straightened. She shook her head once.

“It's just a haunch I have,” she said, and sighed again. She replaced Nikita’s chart on the hook at the end of the bed and after one last glance at her patient, prepared to leave. “Keep a close watch on her tonight,” she instructed the nurse. “Let me know immediately if there’s any change in her condition or if the police locate her family.”


**

Nikita didn’t know how long it was that she sat there crying. Slowly she became aware of another presence. Someone was brushing her hair with the lightest of touches.

She looked up and blinked as a little girl, no more than two or three years old, crouched down and stared at her with wide blue eyes. Her hair was as blond as Nikita’s and it fell in soft curls to her shoulders. She had eyes that were as blue as a summer’s sky. The little girl smiled and Nikita’s sorrow ebbed. Slowly she reached up and touched her hand to the girl’s shoulder.

The little girl, in response, raised her hand and gently touched the path that the tears had left on Nikita’s face, staring at it curiously. “Don’t cry” she said, gazing into Nikita’s eyes. “I here.”

She slipped then into Nikita’s arms, sitting on her lap. She looked up at Nikita and smiled again. “See? I here, Mommy.”

Nikita’s heart lurched. Mommy? She had a child? Nikita slipped her hand beneath the child’s chin, tilting her face gently. The little one looked up at her with complete trust and love.

Nikita’s eyes filled with new tears as her heart filled with a love unlike any she’d felt before. My child. I have a child!

She stroked the child’s hair, traced the outline of her cheek; marveled at the softness of her skin. Nikita held her close and rocked back and forth as she held her daughter. “My little girl,” she whispered, kissing the top of her head. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” the girl answered, and Nikita's joy was complete. She forgot all about being lost and alone and was content to stay there in that strange world with her daughter.

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