Ten years.

Ten years and it never gets easier. Ten years and yet I’m nowhere near forgetting. I really wish I could be thankful. I’m alive, after all. I’ve moved on with my life, but have I moved on in my mind? No. I’m still the same scared little girl I was ten years ago. I still check the backseat of my car before I get in and I still shake when I hear the sound of metal on metal. No, it never gets easier – not for a minute…

--

“I’m sorry, what was your name again,” asked the nurse.

“Jennifer Simpson,” the young woman responded, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “I should be in the system.”

“Are you family?”

“Close enough,” Jennifer responded. The nurse typed something into the computer and nodded in approval.

“Okay, I’ll show you the way.”

Jennifer followed the nurse through what felt like a dozen long corridors before finally arriving at the right door.

“Mr. Ramsey, you have a visitor,” the nurse said before turning back to Jennifer. “Will you need help finding your way out?”

“No, I remember exactly how to get back,” Jennifer responded. “It’s somewhat of a habit,” she added, noting the nurse’s suspicious gaze.

“Well alright,” said the nurse, leaving the room.

Jennifer turned to look at the man sleeping on the bed. He looked terrible. A broken arm, fractured ribs, a black eye…she’d seen worse.

“Howie…Howie!” Jennifer shouted. The man awoke with a start. He smiled, attempted to speak but coughed instead. “Oh shut up,” Jennifer said. She took a seat on the chair adjacent to the hospital bed, put her hands in her arms and sighed loudly.

“J-Jennifer…” The man’s voice was hoarse and he struggled to speak. “Thank you for c-coming.”

“Howie, don’t even start,” Jennifer said, throwing her hands up in frustration. “You knew I’d come. I always do.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Yes I did.”

“No you didn’t,” said the man adamantly. “But thank you.”

Jennifer reached over and brushed the older man’s arm. “You practically raised me, Howie. I guess I’m supposed to return the favor?”

“No, don’t say that,” Howie said with a groan. “Jennifer, I’m so proud of how you’ve turned out over the past ten years. You coming today is just more proof of how far you’ve come.”

“Couldn’t have done it without your help,” said Jennifer. “If you hadn’t taken me in I’d probably be in some asylum in Oslo. Or dead.”

“Jennifer, don’t ever talk about death. You’re here. You’re alive. Don’t ever forget that,” said Howie. Jennifer held his hand.

“Okay so all this talk about me is well and good, but on to more important matters. Are you going to stop the drunken bar fighting, or do I need to babysit you at home?”

Howie laughed at this, coughed, and laughed some more.

--

Eleven flights of stairs and Jennifer still wasn’t out of breath. She was used to it. She would have preferred a first-floor apartment, but you make do with what you can. She never used the elevator.

“Oh Jennifer! Hey!”

Jennifer looked up to see her neighbor and friend Jisela walking down the stairs toward her. Jisela was also the building’s office manager. “Jisela, hey!”

“There’s a package waiting for you in the office,” said Jisela. “I think it’s a music box or something. This song has been playing all day and it’s really getting on my nerves so can you please pick it up soon? Or else I’m gonna toss the damn thing.”

Jennifer laughed. “That’s odd. Well I’ll pick it up on my way out this evening.”

Jisela smiled and continued past her before turning around.

“Oh, one more thing…Jennifer?”

Jennifer stopped. “Yeah Jisela?”

“Um, I don’t mean to pry, but a man came by looking for you earlier. Are you seeing anyone?”

“No. He was looking for me?”

“Yeah, said he had something important to say…maybe he’s an admirer.”

“Probably just a tabloid,” Jennifer said before catching herself. “Err, thanks Jisela.”

Jisela watched as Jennifer disappeared quickly up the stairs. A tabloid? Jisela thought to herself. I swear that girl gets stranger and stranger every day.

--

Jennifer pushed open her front door, turned, locked it, and fell onto the couch. It’d been a long morning. Looking over, she noticed that she had some messages on her answering machine. She reached over and pressed ‘play.’

-Beep-

“Hey Jen, it’s me Samara.” Samara was Jennifer’s best friend and previous roommate, till she got hitched. “I’m just calling to see if you wanted to go shopping or something tomorrow. It’s Saturday so I figured you probably weren’t busy. Kay, call me back.”

-Beep-

“Jennifer, this is Professor Heidi Smith over at the university. You missed your exam today and I just wondered what was wrong, you’ve never missed a class. Hope to see you in class on Monday.”

-Beep-

“Jennifer…”

Jennifer’s heart dropped.

“It’s me…Nolan. Listen, I know I’m the last guy you want to hear from but we need to talk. You know how to reach me…please don’t ignore this. It’s important.”

Nolan Campbell. He was right about one thing; he was the last person Jennifer wanted to hear from. But this got her thinking…how did he track her down? How did he find her?

And if Nolan Campbell could able to find her…anybody could.