I battle harder and try to scream for help, but when I open my mouth, no noise comes out. I can’t escape the burning, the stabbing, the?—
“Brynn, stop. It’s okay.”
I gasp at the low rumble of his voice, inhaling a long, shaky breath.
It’s familiar, it’s comforting.
It’s home.
“Brynn, open your eyes.”
Grizz.
A large hand cradles my cheek, his thumb swiping tears from my face.
Where is he? I need to find him, I need to get to him.
The pain is pulsing and throbbing, and the faster my heart races, the more intense it becomes. I have to find Grizz. He’ll make it better, make it go away, but my eyelids feel like lead doors—impossible to force open on my own.
“Me and Jon Bon are here baby,” he murmurs and a smaller hand slips into mine.
“Mom?” The sound of Jovie’s voice and her tiny sniffle almost breaks me. “I really miss you, but if you’re not ready to come back yet and want to rest some more, that’s okay too.”
No.
No, I want to be with her.
I want to be with them.
I grit my teeth, willing my eyes to cooperate, fighting the numbing darkness that’s eager to drag me back under. I don’t want to be there. I want to be home.
I want to be with Jovie and Grizz.
And I’ll claw my way out of these shadows if I must. If that’s what I have to do to get back to my family. The people that may not have been there forever, but that have been there when it matters the most. Like right now.
My eyelids flicker, letting in a little flash of light.
That’s it, a little more, a little further.
“We’re right here,” Grizz whispers, his breath grazing my forehead. “Whenever you’re ready, we’ll be right here.”
Another flash of light stabs at my eyes. It’s bright and cold, and even though I wince, I keep pushing, forcing the lead doorsopen until I’m finally able to make out a blur of colors and shapes. Faces, even!
I furiously blink away the tears that are plaguing my vision, and Jovie’s face is the first thing I see, leaning over me, her smile bright and her eyes puffy and bloodshot.
“Hey you,” I manage to whisper, though it doesn’t sound anything like me.
My voice is scratched and raspy, and the instant the words are out I start coughing, my throat and mouth far too dry. Unfortunately, the coughing jerks my shoulder, bringing back the burning sensation, along with a new stabbing pain in the back of my head.
“Grab Mom’s water, Jon Bon,” Grizz says and Jovie quickly rushes around the bed to a small table, grabbing a tall glass with a straw in it.
She inches closer to the bed, carefully leaning in and holding it out for me.
I manage to force a smile, and sip a couple of times on the straw, my body relaxing as the cool water coats what feels like the Sahara Desert within my throat.
“Good work, Mom!” Jovie praises, stepping back with a triumphant smile. “Do you feel better?”
“A little,” I murmur, sounding a little more like myself.
