Breaking the Ice

We stayed inside the classroom as she wanted to talk to me. I also wanted to take this opportunity to get an explanation. As we sat side by side, we stayed oddly quiet for at least a couple minutes or so. Finally, she asked, "Aren't you going to ask?" I mustered up my courage so I could finally sense out the recent events I had.

So I asked, "Do you know me? Why do you headlock strangers? Are you a psycho?" She laughed hysterically while hitting my arm. I was honestly thrown off. "Why are you laughing?", I asked. She replied, "Am I a psychopath? Sometimes I wonder too. Why? Am I scary?" As she finished up her last question she chuckled, it was funny for her, but it scared the heck out of me.

Panicked and even more scared, I asked, "Are you seriously a psychopath?" She denied while just giggling and laughing. I got a sensation that she was actually quite friendly. She seemed very familiar with me.

"Jake, have you ever wondered what it would feel like when you get abandoned by someone you really love?", a question she threw at me out of nowhere. Confused, I replied, "I don't really know how or what that feels like, but I imagine it to be very painful and devastating. Why do you ask though?"

"I was abandoned by my blood family when I was seven years old.", she said. The mood fell to the ground. I couldn't help but pity and sympathize with her. I asked her, "How did you manage to take it and get by? Who took you in?" As I asked my question, the look on her face suddenly changed. She was looking directly into my eyes without saying a word. I noticed that her eyes were starting to well up tears and so I took back my question by telling her she did not have to answer the question and that I might have been overstepping my boundaries and apologized.

She asked me if I could keep her company during our college life, and I should say, after this night, my perspective on her completely made a thousand degree turn. She isn't a total psychopath. She had a very depressing childhood. But the mystery of the headlock still remains unsolved. I wanted to ask her about it, but she suddenly fainted.

At first I thought she just fell asleep on my shoulder, but something just didn't quite seem right. She was sweating liters on a very cold night. I put my hand onto her forehead to check if she had a fever and goodness gracious is she piping hot. I rushed her to the nearest hospital and found that she was apparently very sick, but the doctor said she would be fine after a few hours of rest. They gave her some IV fluids (intravenous fluid) to help aid with her energy nutrients. I called home and told them about what happened and told them I would sleep in the hospital since Rose didn't seem to have any relatives, let alone her own family, who would care for her, and I couldn't just leave her, so I spent the night in the hospital.

When I woke up in the morning, I was shocked at what I was doing. I was sitting beside Rose's bed, holding her hand tightly. I immediately let go and patiently waited for her to wake up. As I was waiting, she suddenly spoke on her sleep, "Jake, why can't you remember? Have you really forgotten about me?" At this point I had to know who she really is and why does she know me so well? And most of all, what was she talking about in her sleep? Is it me? Is it another Jake? I don't know. All I know is that we are somehow connected by something or someone and I have to find out.