Page 9 of Free Heart
“Of course you can stay,” the unfamiliar woman chirps cheerfully. A gentle warmth pulls at me, trying to keep me from fully waking. “Though if you don’t want to, I wouldn’t blameyou. Many more comfortable places to be. Your Dan’s doing well. We’ll call you if something happens.”
Is that a nurse? Yes, I think the other person must be a nurse.
I lick my mouth so I can speak, but it’s rough and dry. A garbled sound comes out.
“You finally gonna wake up and say hi to your sweetheart?”
I pull open my gummy eyes and see a pretty Black lady adjusting some tubing by my bed. Oh. I’m in the hospital. Did I already know that?
“Danny? Danny, are you waking up now?”
Ah, that Appalachian accent. I love it.
To my left, Sejin is sitting with his hair in a messy bun and with a very swollen face. He’s been crying. I feel an odd sense of déjà vu, but I can’t remember from when.
“Dan, you with us, honey?” the nurse says. “You know where you are?”
“The hospital,” I croak.
“That’s right, you’re in the hospital,” Sejin confirms.
“Do you know why?” The nurse asks.
I scan my body. Something about my right leg feels wrong. “My leg,” I say.
The nurse pats my hand. “Good. I’ll give you some privacy now. My name’s Shamika, and it’s written up there on the white board. Just push this button here if you need me. And your boyfriend’s here. He can help you.”
It hits me I don’t truly know why I’m here. Something with my leg, yes, but what? And how? Because if I fell trying to send Heart Route, I should be dead.
Why am I not dead?
Maybe I didn’t fall.
Maybe I’m here for something else entirely. A car wreck? A bear attack? Was I struck by lightning?
I remember being in a medical helicopter. Rye was there. Right?
But when Sejin leans forward, face crumpling with tears, I might not remember, but Iknow.
I did fall.
I tried to free solo Heart Route, and I fell.
But how?
“What happened?” I get out despite my dry tongue.
“You didn’t make it over the lip on the roof,” Sejin says. His voice is gritty with despair, and it sounds damaged. “You downclimbed and fell, or maybe you jumped. The ledge caught you.”
Fell? To the ledge? Rye and I had worked that downclimb and practiced my leap to the ledge for the “rest stop.” I had it down. What went wrong?
“I’m confused…”
“It’s all right,” Sejin says. “The meds they gave you can mess with your head.”
“I mean I don’t remember why I fell. Why’d I fall?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t see it happen. The nurse said the trauma might cause a memory block. Apparently, you couldn’t tell them when they rescued you up on the wall either. But you don’t have a head injury, aside from a nasty cut on your face.” Sejin’s fingers touch near my temple, and I wince. “And some chipped teeth.”
