Ding! Ding! Ding!
“Turn that fucking thing off,” I mumbled, blinking my eyes open.
My mom’s face appeared over me, a halo of light cradling her head. Her brow knit in concern. “Reece? Sweetheart? Are you awake? How do you feel? Are you in pain?”
Mom’s here, too?
No, that wasn’t right. My mom was a saint; there was no way she’d end up in Hell. But that could only mean…
“Let’s let him wake up slow, Pop. I’ll go flag down a nurse and ask about getting the med bag changed.”
Dad.
Blearily, I looked toward my other side—a great feat, considering my head pounded like it’d been run over by a truck—and found him sitting in one of those horribly uncomfortable-looking hospital chairs.
That’s a familiar sight.
I took in the bed I lay in, and the low ambient murmur filtering in through the door. Somewhere down the hall, another machine began screeching.
So, maybe I wasn’tactuallyin Hell, but a hospital wasn’t far off.
Dad stood, stretched his back, and padded over, gently ruffling my hair. “Good to see you’re awake,” he said, eyes shining.
Shame kicked me in the chest.
How could I have even considered he was anything other than the patient, gentle, loving father I’d always known him to be?
“Dad, I’m—” I began, before a coughing fit took over. God, I needed water. My throat was parched and scratchy.
“Shh,”he said, leaning down to kiss my temple. “Everything’s going to be ok. You just rest, now. I’ll be right back.”
“Want some water?” Mom asked. She offered me a plastic cup with a straw as Dad left the room.
I sipped it gratefully. “Thank you.”
She wiped at a tear that’d tracked down her cheek. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” she said, trying to contain her blubbering. “I just can’t imagine what would’ve happened if your father hadn’t found you in time.”
I wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.
Not because I was afraid to or didn’t want to share things with her. It was more that there was justso muchto say. So much to ask. I wasn’t even sure how I was alive, let alone how Dad found me in time.
But one thing dominated my thoughts more than any other, one thing I desperately needed to know. “Charlie? Is he…”
I couldn’t finish my question.
Had I imagined it all? I was on the boat alone with Leonard, and then suddenly, Charlie was there. He defended me. And when I fell into the water, when I wasshot…
He’d found me in that gray place, too, and he’d saved me. Somehow, by some miracle, we’d seized the chance to live, and we’d stepped into the colorful unknown together.
Were those real memories, or simply my desperate attempts to cling to life?
Mom doesn’t even know Charlie,I thought.She won’t have any idea where he is or what happened to him.
Instead of the confused look I expected, however, she gave me a soft, knowing smile. “He’s still asleep a few doors down. And now that you’re awake, I can scold you for not introducing us sooner.”
I gaped at her. “Asleep? Like, he’s…here?Down the hall?”
“Mmhmm,” she winked. “Officer Morris has been back and forth between your rooms the last few days to check on you both. Now, he’s dreamy, too. Seems to have something going on with that grumpy FBI agent, though.”
