And now for the conclusion of Chapter 10...

“Ooooouch my fucking head hurts,” Sarah whined as she slowly opened her eyes. Though her vision was blurry at first, things slowly started to focus.

“W-what the hell?” she groaned, suddenly aware of a new weight on her chest. She cautiously raised the neck of her hospital gown and peekedunder it. “What the hell?! Did I get implants while I was out?!”

Sarah’s mother Meg, who now had her hair pulled up into a cute bun, shook her head slowly.

“Sweetie, you know you’re too young for implants, and even when you’re eighteen I still won’t approve. Do you remember anything? You’ve been in and out of consciousness for awhile now.”

“I remember the mirror, and … God, I was screaming.” She paused to stare up at Peter. “And you were talking to me about not dating Momma,” she winced, closing her eyes. “God this friggen headache.”

“Not dating Meg?” he asked, blinking at her. “Sarah are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

Sarah’s eyes widened as she suddenly remembered the conversation going very differently. Both sets of memories felt equally real, and she slowly brought her hands up to her forehead.

“OH MY GOD! Where’s Katelyn?” she asked frantically.

“She went downstairs to get a snack with Em and Beth,” Meg advised calmly. “Honey, everything’s okay. You’re okay now.”

”My head hurts so bad, Mommy!” she sobbed, a bit unsure where the ‘mommy’ part came from. The room seemed different somehow. The TV was positioned differently, and her bed was on the wrong side of the room. She rubbed her head and whined, “Where am I?”

“Sarah,” Meg began, even as Peter hurried out of the room, “You’re in the hospital, in Alpine Springs. You had an... accident with your mirror, but you’re okay now. The doctors have kept you lightly sedated while your body recovered. Do you remember anything?”

Sarah started to respond that she remembered wanting to ‘cut it off’, but before she could speak, a second set of memories surged into the forefront. She winced hard. “Make it stop,” she sobbed, just as a familiar nurse stepped into the room. Linda smiled gently as she approached.

“Hi sweetie. Peter told me you were complaining of headaches. Do you feel any lightheadedness or sensitivity to light?”

“No, it just feels like my head’s gonna explode.”

Linda frowned slightly and nodded. “Any dizziness, nausea?”

Closing her eyes again, Sarah slowly shook her head. Meg squeezed Sarah’s hand, and Sarah clenched it tightly in return. “Is it serious?” Meg asked. Linda shook her head gently.

“I don’t think so. It might just be a side-effect of the sedatives wearing off. I’ll ask for an LPN to prescribe her some prescription-strength Tylenol. She hasn’t eaten yet has she?”

“No, she just woke up,” Meg answered. Linda nodded.

“I’ll personally go get her something to eat after we get her something for the pain.”

“Thank you, Linda. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

“Just doing my job while I still can,” Linda answered with a smile as she turned to step out. Another couple of months and she’d probably have to take maternity leave, plus time off to care for the new baby.

“God it hurts,” Sarah moaned, trying to rub her temples.

“Hang in there sweetie,” an attractive young woman, perhaps in her mid-20s with jet black hair and violet eyes called from the door as she approached. She wore dark navy hospital garb, and a loose-fitting lab coat, but no name tag.

“Who’re you?” Sarah moaned, without even looking at the woman.

“Just call me Lily, sweetheart. I’m here to help.”

“Just make it stop, PLEASE!” Sarah begged. The woman stepped closer and bent down to kiss Sarah’s forehead.

“I can give you something for the pain, but I’d like your permission to try a massage technique first; that way we don’t risk more side-effects from those nasty medicines.”

Meg frowned for only a brief moment in thought before nodding. “Go ahead, if you really think that’ll work. She’s been through enough already.”

Lily smiled softly. “Yes she has, the poor thing.” She reached out, slowly brushing the very tips of her fingers over Sarah’s forehead. Sarah carefully lowered her hands, and Lily moved further back to the girl’s temples. She applied only minimum pressure, finishing with running her fingers through Sarah’s hair.

“There. That wasn’t so bad, was it? How do you feel?”

“Better,” Sarah sniffed, and without really thinking about it, leaned up to hug the woman. “Thank you so much.”

“Glad I could help,” the woman answered cheerfully. “The LPN will be in a moment. Just tell them you’re feeling better, okay?”

“Um, okay,” Sarah blinked at the woman, who gave her a knowing smile and turned to slip out again.

She turned to stare at her mother, who just shrugged slowly. “Don’t ask me. As long as you’re feeling better that’s what matters. By the way, your father and stepmother called while you were unconscious. They said to tell you when you woke up not to worry about visiting them on the fourth unless you’re up to it.”

“Daddy?” Sarah echoed, stunned silent. Two sets of memories presented themselves to her. In one set, her father was a miserly womanizer who mistreated her, but she was also a boy named John. In the other set, she remembered her father changing and eventually making amends. She turned slightly to see a large teddy bear with a card bearing John and Trisha’s signatures. She reached out to take the card, staring intently at it.

Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she took the bear and held it close to her. “Oh my God,” she whispered.

“Honey what’s wrong?” Meg asked, concerned. Sarah shook her head slowly.

“Not wrong,” she replied, smiling a little. “Um, Mommy?” There was that word again. Sarah wrinkled her nose. “Can you raise my bed a little?”

“Of course sweetheart,” she answered as she reached down for the bed’s remote control, handing it to Sarah. “Here, you can set it to whatever level you want.” She grinned after a moment. “By the way, Doctor Ketz will be by to see you soon.”

“Where’s Linda? I’m so hungry I could eat an entire stack of pizzas.”

Meg giggled a little. “At least your appetite hasn’t changed. I swear when I was your age I could just look at a slice of gramma’s apple pie and gain five pounds.”

“Look who I found loitering downstairs,” Peter called as he entered with an arm around Katelyn’s shoulders. It was clear the girl had been crying judging by her reddish eyes and puffy cheeks. She practically sprinted over to Sarah’s bedside, nearly tripping on the IV pole in the process.

She wept as she threw her arms around Sarah’s neck and kissed her several times. “Oh my God. I love you, you little brat, but don’t you ever fucking scare me like that again!”

Peter smiled as he returned to Meg’s side, even as the girls exchanged a brief, tender kiss.

“Katelyn thank God. I was beginning to think everyone had gone insane. I just knew I’d lost you when you weren’t here waiting for me.”

“I’m so sorry Sarah,” Katelyn whispered. “I hadn’t eaten anything since noon yesterday. I haven’t left your side because they said you’d be waking up soon, until Meg finally convinced me to go get something.”

“Meg?” Sarah blinked, tilting her head slightly to stare at her mother. Again she found herself with two sets of memories. In one, her mother continued to go by Margaret. Meg was the name only her father and other members of the family used, though Sarah and Margaret’s effectively being disowned changed all that.

In the other set though, Margaret became informally known as Meg among family and friends, and eventually it just kind of stuck.

Meg turned to give Peter a concerned glance. Peter frowned slightly. “The doctor said you might experience a little memory loss or confusion when you woke up, sweetie.”

Sarah just grunted, squeezing Katelyn’s hand. “Em and Beth are still normal right?”

“As normal as twins get,” Katelyn giggled. “Whaddaya mean ‘still’, though?” She glanced at Sarah’s mother, who just shook her head slowly, changing the subject.

“Listen, I need to pop over to the restaurant, and make sure everything’s in order there. Sarah honey, will you be okay for an hour or so?”

“Um, what restaurant? Mom we only just talked to Ashleigh about you opening one in...” she paused, blinking several times. “Maybe I’d better talk to Barbara before I say anything else and embarrass myself,” Sarah frowned, utterly confused as she lay back against her inclined bed and sighed. Katelyn frowned as well, squeezing Sarah’s hand.

“Poor baby,” she whispered. “You at least remember how we met don’t you?”

“Some oaf knocked me into a shelf and caused a bottle of lotion to hit you in the head?” Sarah asked, hopeful. Both sets of memories played out in her mind almost as one, right up until the part about screaming about Nathan beating the shit out of her. She scowled darkly.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “I-I was nearly raped, wasn’t I? Nathan, he... He...” She started to sob quietly, bringing her hands to her face.

“Shh, I’ve got you honey,” Katelyn whispered, pulling Sarah close.

“How are we doing in here? Oh,” an older man that had just entered the room stopped short and frowned. “How is her headache?” he asked softly.

“She says she’s fine now,” Meg answered gently, even as she tried to help Katelyn comfort her daughter.

“I-it was him in the mirror,” she whimpered. “I thought I saw him, so I smashed it,” she wept as the man quietly let himself out, pulling the door closed after him.

“It’s okay Sarah,” Meg cooed. “Remember? Nathan’s in prison. Forty years, and he might get parole in fifteen, but after the way he behaved in the courtroom that’s unlikely.”

Sarah managed a quiet giggle as the spectacle of that day came surging back. She thought about the joyful memories she’d had in both sets of reality, and the incident in the girls’ bathroom. Somehow the new version stuck out in her mind more than the old. She had nothing to ‘cut off’ anymore, so it was harder to hold onto those memories now.

“Two girls... They were talking about me in the bathroom. It wasn’t anything bad. They just... they thought I was raped, and listening to them talk about how they felt sorry for me, it just... I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry Mommy. I’m so sorry.”

“Honey, no, there’s nothing for you to be sorry about. You were upset, and you had a nasty nightmare and reacted accordingly.”

“Yeah, if it had been me I would’ve done the same thing honestly. I would’ve tried to punch that fucker’s lights out, probably wouldn’t have survived either. You’re such an amazing girl. I Love you Sarah,” Katelyn choked up, kissing Sarah’s cheek.

Sarah smiled faintly at the kiss, squeezing Katelyn’s hand. She slowly looked up at her mother again. “You said you had to go check on the restaurant. Bring me back some tater tot casserole for lunch?”

Meg laughed despite her tears as she nodded. “Sure thing honey. Linda should be back soon with your breakfast, and then Barbara will want to talk to you.”

“When can I leave?” Sarah asked softly.

“That depends on you, but probably tomorrow.”

“Good. I don’t know why, but I feel like I need to yell at Robin for coming home early,” she giggled a little, causing Katelyn to snicker.

“I thought you were asleep when she stopped by. I had to tell her that I knew her secret, but for what it’s worth, I still don’t care. She’s an amazing friend and a really sweet girl, and I feel lucky to know her. I told her as much too.”

“So she’s … she’s not upset with me?”

“Of course not. She loves you like a sister. It’s that whole... scout thing I guess,” she teased. “No, but really, you’ve been there for her, and now we can both be there for her.”

Sarah smiled brightly for the first time that morning. “Yeah, we can.”