Bess
Something wet was on my forehead, but my arm didn’t feel strong enough to reach up and touch it. Maybe it was Brooks licking me? No, it didn’t feel like that.
I heard a few hushed voices.
“It doesn’t appear as though she hit her head, so it’s probably more a reaction to stress. She’ll come out of it. Her pulse is steady and her heartbeat sounds good.”
“Are you sure?” a deeper voice asked. “Maybe we should be more careful and take her to the hospital in the city.”
“No, she’ll be fine. Let her rest on the couch and she’ll come to.”
The voices all sounded garbled, as if they were underwater. Or maybe I was underwater? Was that why my forehead was wet?
I concentrated on lifting my hand and it worked. Bringing it to my forehead, I felt a towel or something soft there. It was cool and wet. I patted it in place, making sure it stayed put, and heard all the sounds in the room go quiet.
“Bess?” the first voice said. It sounded like Doc. I’d just seen him, so I would know.
“Bess?” he said again.
I think I nodded my head, or at least I was trying to. Prying one eye open, I tried to turn my head to the direction the voice was coming from.
I squinted and saw a blurry Doc, May from work, and someone else who looked like Lane, but he had short hair. A buzz cut.
When did he do that? Where am I? How did Lane get here from Florida? What happened?
And then I remembered. The call. AJ. Lane yelling on the other end of the phone.
I shut my eye and attempted to open both together. It took two attempts, but I did it. Taking in my surroundings, I noticed it was still dark out. I wondered if it was the same night or a night or two later.
I swallowed. “Doc?” My voice was broken and raspy.
“Bess, honey. Don’t strain.”
“What happened to me? How long have I been like this?” I said while patting my hand along my body, making sure I was still all there. “Where’s Brooks? Forget me,” I added, straining to look around the room.
“He’s in your bedroom. He was pacing and nervous while you were unconscious, and he seemed to settle down back there.”
“Get him.” I managed to say it firmly, and Lane with short hair turned and walked away.
Doc frowned down at me. “As for you, I think you had a panic attack and passed out. You sort of came to shortly after, but fell into a deep sleep right away. Probably stress-induced.”
I took a shuddering breath and pressed my hand to my stomach. “How long ago was that?”
“Well, AJ called Shirley about two and a half hours ago as he was peeling down your driveway, and said you were passed out. He was having some kind of fit himself, so Shirley decided to go after AJ and called May to take care of you. May found you about fifteen minutes after AJ called. That’s when you woke for a moment.” Doc came close and bent down, taking my pulse.
Brooks ran to me after being released and nearly knocked Doc out of the way, sticking his snout right in my face and giving me his own snuffling once-over.
In the soft light coming from the lamp, I reassured my dog as I watched Lane continue to stay back. He was hesitant, so unlike his normal direct self.
“Lane?” It came out all wrong, hoarse, unsteady, questioning.
He stepped closer and shook his head. “No, I’m Jake. His brother, Jake Wrigley.”
When I tried to frown, he explained.
“His twin brother. Identical. I can see he doesn’t talk about me much ... I get it. But he called me in an absolute panic when you went silent on the phone. He said there was screaming and fighting in the background, and he was beyond worried. I’ve never heard him yell like that. He begged me to come here.”
“You’re his twin?”
