Then she felt a glimmer of recognition, but very weak.
“Jake?”
From far away, she heard the inner voice that had become so familiar to her.
Good bye.
“No,” she screamed in anguish. “No.”
But he didn’t answer.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“No!” Rachel shouted again, aloud and in her mind. “No!”
But she knew he was gone–departed to a place where she couldn’t follow.
With that terrible knowledge, she felt her own heart fracture, her own spirit die.
She was still screaming, still enveloped by the terrible agony of losing him. It was the worst pain she had ever felt. But out of the unimaginable grief came a new kind of resolve. Shewould notlet it happen. Not now. Not when she had finally filled the terrible void in her life.
She must bring him back--or die trying. And maybe that was better, because she couldn’t imagine going on by herself. Not after the joy of what they’d found together.
Determined to shut out the world, she squeezed her eyes tight and clung to him with her arms, her hands, her legs, and her spirit. His soul was drifting upward, and she went with him.
No longer able to feel her own body, she stayed with Jake.
He hadn’t answered her cries when he lay on the bed, but now he did. At least she had that much.
Go back, he shouted in her head.
Not without you.
I can’t.
Are you a coward?
How can you ask that?
You’re leaving but we have work to do.
They killed me.
Don’t let them win. If you let them win, we’re both dead.
A long, empty silence followed. It might have lasted for seconds or minutes or hours.
She didn’t know precisely where she and Jake were. They must be suspended somewhere between life and death. It could still go either way, she knew. But if she could pull him back to the world she would.
She clung to him with everything she had, trying to bring them both back to earth.
By tiny degrees, she felt something change. The balance was shifting. At first she couldn’t be sure it was working. Then her heart leaped as she felt herself coming closer to the earth, bringing him with her. Against all odds, he was coming back, too.
Gradually she felt her own body, felt her arms wrapped around Jake, felt her breasts pressed to his chest.
And then the biggest miracle of all. She felt his arms come up and clasp her. Not tightly, but it was enough.
She opened her eyes. Through a film of tears, she found herself staring down into his face.
