Olivia's POV
"Olivia Han?"
I snap my head up to find a nurse with a clipboard in her hands standing just outside the doctor's office. "Here."
I stand and turn to send one last pointed look at Mom's Guardian, Eliza. To my surprise, she grumpily raises into a standing position as well.
"What are you doing?" I whisper, aware that we're in the middle of a crowded waiting room. "You're Mom's Guardian, so you need to wait here for her."
Eliza, however, shoulders her way past me and enters through the wide-open door, which the nurse is still holding open for me. Her decision to come with me takes me by surprise because she's been ignoring me for the past couple of hours. For some reason, she's been refusing to share anything else about Guardians with me ever since I stopped that thief from stealing the woman's wallet.
"Ms. Han?" The nurse repeats.
"Coming." I enter the doctor's office, while the nurse closes the door behind me.
Eliza is already inside the room and is sitting on the only other chair apart from the doctor's chair. This leaves me with no other option but to sit on the examination bed. The paper sheet, which is covering the bed, rustles with every small movement I make until I finally find a comfortable position and rest the crutches against the bed's side.
"Are you back to speaking with me?" I focus on Eliza, who is sitting across the room from me. "Because if you are, I really want to know if it's a Guardian thing to be so bipolar, or if it's just you?"
"Are you that dumb?" Eliza rests her elbow against the window ledge beside her and leans her head onto her open palm.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You seeing me isn't exactly normal, and the last thing I'm in the mood for is to get in trouble with our Head. Which would surely happen, had I openly spoken with you inside that waiting room."
"Your Head? As in Head Guardian?"
"No." Eliza shakes her head. "We're switching roles now. This time you're going to answer my questions, starting with what caused your ability to see us."
I open my mouth to answer just as the door opens. Instead of the hot doctor from my first visit, a beauty in her later forties walks in. Her brown curls and olive skin are emphasized by the blindingly white color of her doctor's coat. What catches most of my attention though, are the wide smile and the warm eyes that begin to sparkle the moment they land on me.
"Oh, you're already here?" The doctor closes the door behind her. "So sorry to have kept you waiting."
"Dr. Kattan." I read her name tag as she rushes over to her desk.
"No, none of that doctor business. Call me Kate." She lays the file from her hands onto the desk without ever glancing at it and then turns around to face me. "You must be Olivia. It's so nice to finally meet you."
"Okay." I glance at Eliza, who is staring through the window instead of paying attention to us. "Is the hot doctor from my last visit not available today?"
"I'm afraid not," the doctor chuckles. "I wasn't at work on the night you were brought in, otherwise, I would have been there to make sure you were okay. Now, tell me, how are you feeling?" While speaking, she diminishes the distance between us and pulls a small flashlight out of her pocket.
"I'm fine." I force myself to remain still, while she shines the light first into my right and then into my left eye.
"Good." She nods and removes the bright light. "What about your head? Have you've been experiencing any headaches?"
"Not really." I continue to sit still, while she checks my head and then looks over my cuts and bruises. "But I still can't remember anything."
"What do you mean?" She stops in the middle of her examination and pulls back to look at me.
"I don't remember anything from the night of the accident. Not what I was doing in that part of town, and absolutely nothing about the accident itself."
"Are you sure?" She heads to her desk and takes what I assume is my file into her hands. "I didn't read anything about a massive head injury. Are you sure you can't remember anything?"
"You sound just like my mother." I scoff but don't miss the way her shoulders stiffen. "I didn't mean it as an insult. You're obviously way too young to be my mother. I just meant that she was also doubting my sincerity. But as I've already told her, if I was pretending to have lost my memory, I would have started by claiming not to know who my mother is."
"You don't get along with your mother?" The doctor glances up from my file with knitted eyebrows.
"We get along splendidly. Why do you ask?"
"But you just said... Never mind. What about your father? Do you get along with him as well?"
"Of course." I shrug, having no idea how any of this is connected to the examination. "He's on a business trip out of town, but I'm sure he'll be worried sick once he hears I was in a car accident."
"Good." The doctor nods and then continues with her work.
The last part of my body she inspects is the ankle still wrapped in the short cast. And once she makes sure I'm not putting too much strain onto the foot, she explains that everything seems to be fine with me.
"Thanks, Dr. Kattan." I slip off the examination bed with the help of my crutches.
"Kate. If you must call me doctor, then at least call me Dr. Kate. Dr. Kattan sounds way too formal and impersonal."
"S... Sure. Dr. Kate."
The moment I head in the direction of the door, Eliza finally turns away from the window and moves to follow me. Together with Dr. Kate the three of us exit her office and move into the waiting room.
"Call me if anything happens, okay?" Dr. Kate waits for my nod in conformation and then once again shoots me a shining wide smile.
While she invites the next patient to follow her into her office, I glance around the waiting room. On the seat where Mom is supposed to be waiting for me now sits an older woman. I glance further around the room, but there's still no sign of her.
"Maybe she's at the reception," I think aloud and make my way in the said direction. "Is it just me, or was the doctor acting a tad too friendly? We did just meet for the first time."
I glance at Eliza, who is walking beside me with her hands deep in her pockets, but she only shrugs and continues to walk forward. I, on the other hand, can't help but think that there was something off about the doctor. She was acting like we've met before, while I was sure I had never seen her.
Several turns later, Eliza and I round the last corner, and as expected we find Mom standing in front of the reception. She is talking with a nurse, who looks like she wants to be anywhere other than here right now.
"Look." The nurse sighs. "I already told you. Either you pay for the hospital fees, or you get the driver or his insurance to do it. There is no other way."
"But what if we don't know who the driver was?"
"Then there's nothing I can do for you."
Mom opens her mouth again, but before she can say anything else, I hop over to her. "Let's go." I stop right beside her and nod at her to follow me.
"What did the doctor say?" Mom asks while we begin to make our way to the main exit.
"She said I'm fine, but that there's no medical reason for my missing memories. This is why I've decided to go back to the intersection from the accident and see if I can remember something."
"I've already wasted most of my morning by coming here with you. I don't have time," Mom says just as we exit the hospital. "But I can come with you in the evening."
"I'm seventeen, Mom." I stop and turn around to face her. "I can ride the bus and snoop around an intersection on my own."
"I know you can do it on your own, but you're probably going to end up doing something stupid, like getting into another accident, or saying something stupid to anyone dumb enough to try and talk to you... Then again, I probably won't be in the mood to come with you after work, so you go right ahead. But don't you dare do anything that might land you in the hospital again. Because the next time, I won't cover your fees."
"It's okay. I'll just ask Dad to do it." My answer, of course, draws her eyes into an instant glare. "Have fun at work, Mom. You too, Eliza."
"Again with that Eliza. Do you that desperately want me to cut your bangs?"
I snap my hand to my forehead and cover my bangs. The action earns me an eye-roll from Mom, who then waves at me and begins to walk away.
"You're lucky I'm in an agreeable mood. We'll continue with my questions after Mina's work."
Eliza waves at me and then follows Mom in the direction of the hair salon, while I turn around and take the first hop forward to take me to the intersection from the accident.
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