Missing Pieces

She didn't though. Her slim dancer legs pumped the peddles on the bike while the late afternoon air kissed her flushed skin. Her fingers curled around the handles and she heard the car coming over the hill. She slipped her bike to the side of the road and continued peddling up it. Her dark, black eyes looked to the right in order to avoid dust from the moving vehicle.

Meanwhile in the car, Karen was in the back seat, busy with her hands up her girlfriend's skirt and she knew Todd was driving with one hand on the wheel, the other was fingering his date's sex. Karen happened to look up, something telling her to open her eyes and look around her. She saw the bicycle and the woman, but her voice was trapped in her throat.

Amy, Karen's girlfriend had been leaning back on the seat and she was annoyed that Karen's hand had stopped wandering. "Hey, what the. . ." Her voice stopped when she saw the look of horror on Karen's face. Her ice-blue eyes moved to where Karen's were staring. "Fuck "

Gabi opened her mouth to scream at Todd, but the sound of gravel and rock drowned her out.

Todd felt his stomach lurch as the figure rolled over the front hood of his car and for a moment he saw the prettiest eyes he'd ever seen. Beautiful, dark, onyx seemed to sparkle at him and then the beauty was distorted as the figure rolled away and dropped from sight.

He drove a few yards before he realized what had happened. The three girls were stunned, their bodies turned toward the back window of the car and staring at the motionless figure. Todd stared straight ahead at the cracked windshield.

Everything happened in slow motion, or so it seemed. Todd threw the car into park and sat in his seat for several seconds before he opened the car door, then he ran. His nineteen-year-old body breathed in the tropical air that hours before he and the girls had been partying in. The booze were still in his system, but they weren't affecting him anymore. He'd suddenly sobered. He reached the broken woman and fell to his knees.

The girls ran toward him, one had thought to bring her cell phone and she was already on the line with emergency personnel.

Todd wanted to touch her. His hands hovered over her body. He pulled them back and then let them hover over her again. He wasn't sure what to do. . . touch her, not touch her. Todd shook inside and then he saw her chest rise. The rolling pitch of his stomach made itself known and he scurried to the side of the road and threw up.

*****

Serephina heard the sound of voices. She recognized one. "Serephina," the voice called out to her. She tried to focus on it. Her mind drifted in and out of unconsciousness as pain racked her body.

"She'll be okay, won't she?" Todd asked. He watched the paramedic work on Serephina. He was surprised that the man knew the young girl and he actually threw up a second time when the knowledge that this girl was actually somebody, hit him.

Alex looked at the broken, bruised, and bloody figure that was being carried on a stretcher to the waiting ambulance. He stopped and looked at the young man. His eyes drifted over to the three girls, all of them leaning against the squad card and then he spoke to the young man. "She'll live." That was all he told Todd and for some reason those two words set the man's mind at ease. He was taken with the girls to the local police station where they answered questions and later he was allowed to return to his hotel, but not allowed to leave the Island. In time, when all the legal matters were over, Todd returned to his life and his friends.

He occasionally thought of the woman he'd hit that night. Sometimes when he saw a bronzed skinned beauty with black eyes he wondered if the woman he'd hit ever thought of him. Eventually, something would happen and he'd go back to his life. The girls were all gone and forgotten and that was fine with Todd, he was young and healthy. He had his whole life ahead of him.

*****

Two years later

Terrel smiled at the woman behind the check-in desk at the Outrigger Resort. The place hadn't changed since the last time he'd been there. Neither had he. He was still Terrel, but this time he was on a mission. He'd dreamt about Serephina for two years and he was tired of it. His body would wake up in the middle of the night craving her. His fingers would curl into fists when he thought of how stubborn he was to have not called the restaurant and asked for her. Two years he wasted, two years of drifting on dates that were meaningless. He hadn't been able to even feel anything for another. She was always there, embedded in his soul.

The plane had landed in the late afternoon and by the time Terrel had showered and grabbed a quick bite to eat he was making his way to the restaurant that Serephina had worked at two years ago. He ordered his drink and nursed it while making small talk with other tourists. As he sat there, he thought of the last time he'd been here.

The ashes of his parents were long gone and he was here with a different kind of determination. He was here to sweep the dancer off her feet and carry her away with him. Actually that thought made him pause and he chuckled to himself. He was hoping she'd sweep him up and keep him here. He wanted to spend his life with Serephina, but he would never ask her to leave the Islands and come to New York.

The music began and Terrel was pulled away from his plans for the future. His eyes sparkled like two black pearls as he turned in his seat and waited to watch the sensual moves the bronzed creatures performed for the tourists. It took Terrel all of two minutes to see that Serephina wasn't dancing. His heart fell and he downed his drink in one swallow.

Terrel stood up and was about to leave when he decided to do what he hadn't done the last time he missed her. He turned and walked back to the bar. He waited patiently until the bartender was finished with a customer and he waved him over.

"Can I help you, Sir?" the man asked.

"I hope so. I'm looking for Serephina. Is she off tonight?" Terrel asked. The bartender made a face and studied the man for a long time. "You know her?"

"Yes, we met a couple of years ago. I thought I'd say hi."

He watched the man wipe down the bar and waited. Something told him he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear. Terrel watched him for what seemed like an eternity, but it was really only seconds, seconds that seemed to take forever.

"Serephina hasn't worked here in two years. She works over at the hospital. She volunteers in the children's ward," the bartender said.

"She gave up dancing?" Terrel asked.

The man sighed and said, "You have been gone two years, ain't ya?" He folded the towel and gave a wave to one of the waitress. She came over and took his place at the bar and Terrel was led outside to one of the benches.

Terrel's stomach was in knots. He knew something wasn't right and his entire thought process was focused on the strangers voice.

Manny took a deep breath and wondered if this was the man Serephina had told him about. It had taken her weeks to speak and then months before she could form complete sentences. Yet, every day he saw her, she was drawing and every day she was drawing, it was a picture of a couple on the beach. She never drew the man's face though. He'd asked her why and she looked at him. She told him she couldn't remember it, but she knew it was important.

"She was in an accident two years ago," Manny stated quietly. His thoughts moving back in time to the morning he arrived at work and saw Serephina's father standing there, his native skin pale and clammy to the touch.

Terrel's heart skipped a beat. His fingers clutched his knees and he waited to hear the rest of the story. One thought ran through his head, "she hadn't died." That was all that mattered to him. She was alive and working at a children's hospital.

"She was riding her bicycle home and a bunch of college kids were on the road. They were all drunk. . . even the driver," Manny shook his head in disgust. "She was on her bike man. . .You know it's a miracle she's still with us."

Again Terrel felt his heart jump out of sync accompanied by a vise gripping his lungs. He fell back against his chair and tried to breathe. "That was why," he whispered to the wind. "That was why," he repeated.

Manny didn't say anything, just continued his story. "Alex, a local paramedic was there. They dated in High School. He said she was pretty broken up, but breathing when he got there. The kids, three girls and a guy. . . the guy was driving, all of them were shocked into sobriety. I don't know what happened to the driver, but Serephina did make it. She was put into a drug-induced coma and the swelling in her brain decreased. In time she was able to speak, but it took forever for her to recall things she'd done the day before or weeks before."

Terrel sat there trying to listen, but all he saw was Serephina's smile, her eyes, her nose. He kept hearing her laughter and feeling her pressed against him. He was so stupid. He'd wasted two years when he could have just taken her back to his hotel that afternoon, made love to her, kept her safe.

"She left the hospital with most of her memories. The doc said it was like a photo album. Some of the pages were taken out and disorganized when they were put back together. Some snapshots are missing and he says they may or may not come back to her." Manny stared out at the thick foliage and figured this man, this stranger had to be the dark man in Serephina's pictures, so he felt he owed it to him to reveal everything.

With a deep sigh, he reached over and placed his hand on Terrel's knee. "She's not all there. She has good days and bad. Sometimes she throws a fit other times she doesn't. She works in the children's ward the good days, the days she feels sad or angry she doesn't leave her parents' home. They operated on her legs too. She was paralyzed for short time, until the swelling in her spine decreased, then she had some therapy, but she limps really bad, and her legs just. . .they just don't cooperate for her all the time. Cramps and stuff. Like walking and then suddenly they just give way."

Terrel swallowed and took several deep breaths. The air smelled of Serephina, though it was the tropical wind and flowers, but to Terrel that smell was Serephina. His "Sere." He stood up and extended his hand to the bartender. "Thanks. The children's ward, huh?"

"Yeah, or her parents'. . .if it's a bad day."

He kicked at a pebble on the ground. "Her parents'? Do you have an address or number I could have?" he asked.

Manny thought for several moments and then decided it would be okay to give this man the Kahookano's phone number. He jotted it down on a restaurant business card he had and then handed it to the man. "How did you and Serephina meet?" he asked.

"I was her date two years ago. We were supposed to meet that night after having spent lunch together on the beach. But she never showed . . .I guess I know why now," Terrel said. He looked at the numbers on the card and noticed they were blurred, it was then he realized he was holding back the well of tears that were threatening to escape his dark orbs.

"I thought so. She's not forgotten you, buddy," Manny stated quietly as he gripped the man's shoulder. "She doesn't remember you though either." He saw the confusion in Terrel's face and sighed. "You'll see when you see her. Go to the hospital first, she may be there. If not, be sure to tell her parents how you know her, they'll be happy to see you."

Terrel nodded his head and got into his rental car. He drove out of the restaurant parking lot and down the road several miles, before he pulled off to the side and covered his face with his hands. His body trembled as the hot tears flowed down his face as he remembered the dancing maiden with the beautiful smile.

In time he collected himself and went back to his hotel. There he stayed the rest of the day and evening. He'd called the hospital and had been told that Serephina was there, but he wasn't ready to face her. He wanted to see her, touch her, hold her. But, according to the man at the bar she didn't remember him, but did. He wasn't sure what that meant. Was he one of those fleeting memories that just came to her and then disappeared, a black and white picture that was distorted with age?

That night Terrel dreamed of Serephina, just like he had most nights, but this time it was different. He saw the story unfold as if he were watching from the side of the road. He saw the bronzed beauty peddling her bike, felt the impact and the jarring shock that ran through her as she tumbled in the air and slammed against the windshield. Terrel's mind conjured up the images of four drunken college teens running around confused and afraid. He saw the paramedics lifting her broken body and when his mind shifted in his sleep, he was suddenly at the hospital where they tried to save her life.

He awoke the next morning in a cold sweat. His entire body felt as if he'd been put through the wringer and he knew it was because of the dream he'd had. Terrel's feet landed on the plush carpeting and he headed to the shower. After washing away the sleepiness and the aching muscles, he pulled on a pair of denim shorts and a sleeveless shirt. He pushed his feet into his sandals and went downstairs to grab breakfast. He'd called the hospital and was told if Serephina came in it would be around 1:00. Terrel tried his best to plan his morning around ways to keep himself occupied.

As the morning progressed he found himself driving out to the coast and then taking a walk along a secluded beach. The beach was imprinted on his memories. Their beach. He found the place where he'd loved her, tasted her, and even now as he sat down in the sand he swore he could smell her. She was everywhere. She surrounded him and Terrel knew he had to get that back. He had to keep the scent of Serephina with him no matter where he went.

The sun slipped higher in the sky and he pushed himself up and brushed away the Hawaiian beach. He was determined to see her whether it was a good day or a bad day. Even if all he did was look at her that would be enough. He had to make sure that she was okay.

He arrived at the hospital just after one and made his way to the Children's wing. He was nervous; his belly flipped and flopped as he waited at the desk with the other nurses and staff. Once he was noticed, he put on his warmest smile and reached out to introduce himself.

"I'm Terrel Robinson. I'm here to see Serephina Kahookano," he said. The nurse behind the desk took his offered hand shook it and waved him over to a row of chairs that sat under a large tree that had children's hand prints that made up the leaves.

He heard Serephina's name come across the intercom and he shifted nervously in his seat. His palms suddenly became sweaty and he wiped them on his shorts. He felt as if he were about to get sick and he pushed back the nauseated feeling. Did this have to happen to him now? It seemed to happen whenever there was a chance he'd see her. The moment he made the decision to come back to the islands he experienced the wave of uneasiness. When he bought the plane tickets, when he landed, even when he was on his way to the restaurant, he felt queasy. Why? He would have to answer that question later, he told himself, as the scent of the tropics filled his senses.

"Yes?" the voice spoke to him.

He opened his eyes and looked at the shoes that were in front of his sandaled feet. His eyes traveled up her long legs, skimmed the white skirt and danced quickly over her narrow hips. He itched to press his palm over the flat stomach and his cock jerked slightly when he passed the round breasts. Terrel took in the shoulders, neck and chin of the beautiful creature before him. As he stood, he studied her hair, neatly pulled back away from her face. He looked at her eyes then and he knew he loved her more then life itself and he would not leave Hawaii this time. She was stuck with him.

"Can I help you?" she asked. Serephina stood there looking at the older man. She had been coloring with some of the cancer patients when she was called down to the lobby. She'd been told she had a visitor and she naturally thought it was her mother or father checking up on her. As she made her way to the reception area, she thought of the picture she'd been coloring with the hospital's collection of colored pencils. It was the beach again and again there was the couple with the picnic basket.

When she saw the handsome man sitting in the chair, she felt a twist in her stomach. She wasn't sure why. She didn't recognize him, or did she. In the end she mentally shrugged her shoulders and headed over to him to see how she could help.

Her question brought Terrel out of his trance and he blinked. He put his hand out and by the look in her eyes and the question she asked he knew she'd not remembered him. His heart sank and for a moment he thought of running again. But he didn't. It was this Serephina that God had given him and it was his job to make sure it was this woman that he loved for the rest of his life, even if Serephina didn't realize it.

"Hi," he said, swallowing his fear before he continued. "My name is Terrel Robinson."

They shook hands and she waited for him to continue. Her head was tilted as she studied him. There was something, a flash and then it was gone. She inwardly shrugged her shoulders and waited for the stranger to continue.

"We met a couple years ago and I was back in the area. . .thought I'd say hi," he told her. He waited to see if she'd remember, but nothing crossed her face to indicate she did.

"Oh, that was nice of you," she smiled. "I'm sorry. I was in an accident and well," she blushed and lowered her head. "I don't remember things very well. I, ummm. . ." she spoke quietly. "I don't remember meeting you." She looked sorry. She had a feeling she would have liked remembering this man.

"I heard about the accident. We were supposed to meet that night." He said nothing else, just waited so the words could sink in.

Serephina scowled, not at Terrel, but at herself. She knew something like this would happen to her. She just didn't know when. She knew someone would show up and know her and she wouldn't know him. Now this man, this stranger was standing before her claiming they had a date. Her brow lifted and she wondered how close they had been. Surely her parents would have told her she had a boyfriend. They were always shoving memories down her throat and a boyfriend would have been the biggest morsel to swallow.

"I'm sorry," she told him. "I just don't remember you at all. I mean. . .we're we dating a long time or just met?" Serephina sat down across from him and motioned for Terrel to take his seat. "I mean, you have been gone two years, so surely I wasn't that important to you to worry about. Right?"

Terrel took a deep breath. How did you tell a girl that you knew her three days and on the fourth you gave her oral sex, in the open, on a beach, in broad daylight? Not to mention she was willing to return the favor right there, but made plans to meet him at his hotel later. He pushed his fingers through his hair and bit his lip. Then he constructed what he thought would be the best way to go, a truth with missing intimate details.

"You were and are very important to me. I came here two years ago to spread the ashes of my mother. We spoke the day before I did it and the following night. I loved talking to you. You enjoyed getting to know me too." He paused and watched her sit back and relax, still listening to his story.

"We decided to meet for a picnic," he said. He stopped after that. Her face had gone pale and she jumped out of her seat. Terrel stood up too and reached for her.