30 Seconds by Chrys Fey

face, a laugh was tickling the back of her throat. She was happy, happier than she had ever been in her life.
    The car stopped at a red light and she fiddled with her fingers nervously. She couldn’t believe what day it was. She was excited and anxious. She closed her eyes. Oh, it was going to be so beautiful. It was going to be wonderful! She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Yup, she was still there, still on the way to the biggest moment of her teenage life.
    She looked out the window where a few stars were glistening. The car started moving again as she focused on the North Star and made a wish. She wished for the night to be memorable. Then a bright light caught her eye. She squinted and stared at the glare of headlights zooming toward her. Her eyes widened a split second before the truck plowed into her door.
    ****
    Dani jolted awake. That was the first dream she had about the night of her accident. It was so vivid she had felt herself sitting in the car, but she still didn’t know where she was going, which aggravated her. She was so close to figuring it out, but her brain didn’t want her to know. Not yet.
    She was a doctor; she understood the brain could erase traumatic memories it didn’t believe you could handle. She also knew brain trauma could cause you to suffer from temporary amnesia. But all of her knowledge didn’t stop her from wanting to remember the year leading up to the accident.
    Outside, the sun was already rising. A pale, golden light came through the window. She peered down at Blake. He was sound asleep next to her. She slithered out of bed, tiptoed out of the room, and down the stairs.
    An hour later, Blake found her sitting on the porch steps. She shivered in the cold with a layer of snow on her lap. Tears wet her face and snowflakes weighed down her long eyelashes. He pulled her to her feet, lifted her into his arms, and carried her into his house. As soon as she was on the couch, he pulled off the sweater he wore and slipped it over her head. She felt his body heat caress her skin instantly. She watched him throw a few logs into the fireplace and start the fire. Then he came back to her, kneeling at her feet. He wiped her cold tears away from her cheeks.
    “You’re a doctor,” he said as he took her hands in his. “Don’t you know about hypothermia?”
    “Y-y-yes.” Her teeth clattered together, obscuring her speech. She knew hypothermia was a condition when the body’s core temperature dropped below the temperature for normal metabolism and body functions. As a person’s body heat lowers, they suffer from shivers and mental confusion.
    “So why in God’s name were you out there?”
    “T-trying to aw-waken my m-memories.”
    “This has nothing to do with Red or his men, does it?”
    She shook her head.
    “What is it about?” He lifted her hands to his mouth. His lips touched her fingers as he blew hot air onto them.
    She fought to control her chattering teeth when she answered. “The c-car accident I w-was in when I was eighteen.” His gaze silently probed hers for more. “I was in a c-coma for a y-year. W-when I woke up, I didn’t have any r-recollection of the accident or my whole s-senior year. I still d-don’t remember where I was g-going or why.”
    The frown deepened between Blake’s brows. “No one ever told you?” She shook her head again.
    “My d-doctor said it was because of the t-trauma and my memory would c-come back on its own time. He told my parents that trying to fill in the blanks would be useless, as my brain would dismiss it. S-so we never talked about it.” Blake’s warm hands were rubbing the feeling back into her arms. “I may not remember it, but the accident h-haunts me. It took four years of my life. The year I don’t remember, the year I was in a coma, and the two years I spent recuperating and rebuilding my life.”
    She paused. “I had a dream, a flashback, like the memory of that night was t-trying to burst through a thick fog.