The Blackout ⤖ George Russell

T W O

"Can you squeeze in my hands?" The nurse stuck out her hands. She felt a squeeze as soon the girl squeezed in her hands. "Good, follow my finger, please." The nurse put a finger in front of the girl's face and moved it around to see if she had the right reaction.

"Welcome back, Nora..."

The girl looked at the tall man in the white coat, he was wearing a smile on his face. Her eyes glance over the people at the end of her bed; two elder people, a young girl and a young man, they were crying and looked happy at the same time. She looked back at the tall man, doctor?

"Why..." Nora began, but her vocal cords felt like two different kinds of sandpapers were rubbing against each other.

"You don't have to talk," the tall man said and gave her a warm smile to comfort her. "I'm gonna ask you a few questions. Do you mind if they stay?" He pointed at the people at the end of the bed.

Nora shook her head and looked at the people, she gave them a small smile.

"Let me introduce myself: I'm Maurice Kline. I want you to answer the questions with a nod or a shake, okay?" Maurice Kline said. He had a fresh face, but maybe because he had good genes, he was around 40 years old. His blond hair was curly, like tight curly, and it was messy. It looked fine. Nora nodded. "Great. Let's start with the questions about who you are. Do you know who you are?"

Nora nodded, I'm Nora, right?

"Good. Do you recognise those people?" Doctor Kline pointed at the people at the end of the bed.

Her eyes glanced over the four people. Mum, dad, Aubrey and...and George? Nora bit her lip, looked back at Kline and nodded slowly. She could hear how the people were sighing in relieve.

Doctor Kline nodded. "And now maybe a difficult question and it's totally fine to be emotional, Nora. Do you remember what happened?"

She looked down, at her fingers what laid on her lap. What happened to me? Her mind was working hard to remember anything, but all she could remember was when she heard the captain speaking they were about to land in Abu Dhabi. She shook her head slowly.

"That's fine," he said. "That's okay," he whispered and looked at the family. This wasn't the answer they were hoping for, Nora could read that from their faces. "What is the last thing you can remember?"

"Landing in Abu Dhabi." It was the wrong decision to speak, but she had to say it.

George pressed his lips to a thin line and felt an unpleasant pressure on his chest, she didn't remember anything. He looked away and bit on the inside of his cheek to hide all his emotions. It was probably the best for her to not know what happened, but it was a setback. Landing in Abu Dhabi, that meant she didn't even remember the weekend. George tried to smile, but something was holding him back.

Doctor Kline nodded. "Before I will let you hug your family, I would like to introduce you to Damien, our therapist and physiotherapist. He will work with you, getting you back on track."

A young man stepped towards the bed, his arms were crossed. He was probably the young one in the hospital. His brown hair and beard were framing his face, he had a defined face. His blue eyes pierced into Nora's eyes.

"My name is Damien," the man introduced himself. "I will not bother you for a long time today, but just explain some things to you. Is that alright with you?" Nora nodded. "As much you want to check your phone, watch tv or other stuff, it is important to stay away from devices and additional stimuli. You have been away for almost a month, so your muscles will be stiff and weak, so don't do anything without someone around you because your body has to get used to the fact it will be used again. Tomorrow we will start with the first session, and we will start on some exercises," he explained.

Nora nodded and looked around the room.

"I will see you tomorrow then," he widely smiled and turned away. "And family? Don't tell her yet about what happened, it is part of the process to figure it out by herself." Damien was a real millennial: messing around, not very serious.

Doctor Kline took a deep breath and nodded. "That's it for now. You know where you can find me for questions, or you can press the red button." After sharing some more rules, doctor Kline left the room.

Maude stepped towards her daughter and became emotional again. Tears filled her eyes, and she wrapped her eyes around Nora's body. Nora smiled and hugged her back. There were so many questions racing through Nora's mind, like what happened and is it true I was 'away' for almost a month?

"Oh, darling," Maude softly said and pulled back. She cupped Nora's face in her hands and scanned her face. "You feeling good?" Her voice cracked.

Nora's eyes became watery, her mum looked tired and relieved at the same time. She nodded and deeply inhaled. Her eyes closed and she pulled her mother back into a hug. She had no idea what happened to her, but she was scared.

Her dad Hugo couldn't believe Nora was back again, it felt like forever. He hugged her daughter for a long time, even for him, it became emotional. Nora never saw her dad as a sensitive man, never it the way she saw him now, he was touched.

"That's enough, folks. I really want to hug my sister too. Is it possible to do that today?" Aubrey joked and smirked.

Nora let go of her dad and looked at her sister; she rolled her eyes. Even in serious moments, Aubrey knew how to be annoying or be teasing.

The honey-coloured brown eyes of Aubrey pierced chestnut-coloured Nora's brown eyes. "Next time, don't scare us like that, alright?" Aubrey asked before hugged Nora. "You scared me so much," she whispered.

"I'm sorry," Nora whispered back.

Aubrey let go of her, meaning there was only one person left in the room to say hi to. Nora found the eyes of George. He smiled, but his smile somehow didn't reach his eyes. She had no idea if it was because of this odd, unknown situation or because of something else. Nora her face lit up when he moved closer to her.

"Hey," he softly smiled and grabbed her hand, he squeezed softly in it when he stood next to her.

"Hey," she replied.

He let go of her hand and leaned in. George wrapped his arms around her body. He closed his eyes; having her safely in his arms again, knowing everything was fine with her...all the stress, negative thoughts and tension left his body. His eyes closed immediately when he felt her arms around his waist and her head against his chest.

It was safe in his arms. It was silence in the room, Nora didn't mind it. She slowly leaned back and looked at him. George slowly opened his eyes, and his light-coloured eyes looked at her.

"Don't ever do this to me," he said and grabbed her chin between his thumb and index finger. "Never again, Nora," he said with fear.