Free Autumn Storm by Lizzy Ford Page A

together by stitching and nothing
else. That cartoon, too, had played every day at the hospital.
    She almost smiled. Three months ago, she’d
hurt so much, she wanted to die. She’d awoken the third day in the
hospital to a wall of pain that seemed like it would crush her. The
surgeries, needles, headaches from medications. The agony. The
drugs they gave her took the edge off but didn’t stop it. There’d
been no escape. Unable to move or cry, she’d been lost in the pain
for days, until she woke one day and decided she had to survive. If
she hadn’t died, there was a reason. Something was waiting for her
on the other end of her recovery. She just had to make it that
far.
    She turned her focus from the pain to being
alive. The Wizard of Oz, the blue sky outside her hospital window,
the small victories in being able to move more of her body every
day – these distractions helped her get through the days. Instead
of seeing each surgery as resulting in another journey of pain, she
saw it as a step closer to rebuilding her body.
    Pain was a constant, like the terrible
elevator music in the hallways where she’d waited for rehab or more
surgeries. She vowed it wouldn’t beat her. She’d made it and
better, she’d recovered faster than anyone at the hospital
expected.
    Autumn was proud of herself. Her memories
were gone, but her mind still worked. They’d feared brain damage
after the hemorrhaging. Aside from a concussion, she’d suffered no
lasting damage. Her brain was healthy, and so were her organs. She
simply had to rebuild her musculature. She’d defeated the weakness
with sheer will. These scars and aches were all that remained of
the agony, and they were fading. She was winning.
    Maybe it didn’t matter if she ever
remembered, especially since trying gave her such bad headaches.
She was grateful to be alive. If she survived the accident, she’d
survive anything.
    Drained from her morning workout, she left
the gym upbeat. She’d try wearing her brace half the day and then
leaving it off half the day. The doctors said to do what was
comfortable, as long as she was weaning herself off of it and doing
her exercises. The smell of breakfast made her pause at the foot of
the stairwell and look into the dining room. It was early, just
after eight, but Jenna was at the table. Her hair was tousled, and
she wore her pajamas.
    After a split moment of indecision, Autumn
joined her at the table.
    “Oh, no!” Jenna said, covering her face. “I
was hoping no one was up yet. I didn’t even put on make-up.”
    “I don’t care,” Autumn said with a smile.
She lowered herself into the seat across from Jenna.
    “You’re so good, going to the gym.”
    “Kinda have to.”
    Jenna’s gaze went to the scars. Autumn
ducked her head, but the pretty girl said nothing about her
injuries.
    “Are you going home for Thanksgiving next
week?” Jenna asked.
    “No.”
    “I’m not sure if I am or not. Adam says they
have a big party here. I thought about staying. Have you …” she
leaned forward “you know, figured out this element thing?”
    “Not really,” Autumn said.
    The same woman who served dinner brought
them both huge plates of steaming food: scrambled eggs, bacon, hash
browns and golden pancakes covered with huckleberries. Both Autumn
and Jenna were quiet. Autumn shoveled the food into her mouth,
hungry after her workout.
    “Who was that Beck guy?” Jenna asked.
    “I don’t really know,” Autumn admitted. “I
met him when we got here. He’s nice. A bit strange like everyone
else.”
    “Yeah they are weird. Amber sat down with me
yesterday. I guess I’m a water element. I don’t understand what
that means, though.”
    Autumn nodded, thoughts going to Beck’s
reaction when she told him about her two elements. Maybe it was bad
to have two, and he didn’t want to tell her. In any case, she
wanted to play with the elements today, like the orientation book
said to. They whispered to her. Maybe, if she sat