“It’s so real …”
“It’s not. I’m here. You can touch me. I’m fine. You’re fine… we’re fine.”
“Don’t go…” I whispered.
He peeled off my soaked shirt and grabbed his white tee from the end of the bed and slipped it on over my head. “I’m not going anywhere.” After switching off the light, he pulled my back into his chest and held me tight until sleep came for me again.
“Must be serious.”Luke smiled, standing at the door.
My whole family and Cage’s were in Minneapolis for the Super Bowl that was just three days away. Cage had a big house, but not big enough for the entire Jones clan, so everyone except our parents stayed at a hotel.
“Where’s Jessica and the kids?”
“They stayed back at the hotel. You said you needed to talk to me… you said it was really important so I came alone.”
I nodded, closing the door behind us.
“Where are Cage’s parents?”
“They took Hayden and Isa shopping. Mall of America.”
Luke nodded, making himself at home in the black and white striped side table chair nearest the kitchen windows.
“Coffee? Tea? Beer? Wine?”
“Water.” He smiled. “You look off.”
“You mean a fucked-up nervous wreck?” I handed him the glass of water and sat down across from him.
He took a sip. “Brother to sister? Yes. You look like a fucked-up nervous wreck. I was playing the polite doctor role.”
“Do you believe in premonitions?”
“The sixth sense? I’ve dealt with patients who have hadpremonitions. It’s not a well understood phenomenon, but I’m not opposed to the possibility that some people have them.”
“God!” I shook my head, running my fingers through my hair. “This is why I never talk to you about shit. It was a simple yes or no question.” And just like that… it hit me how much thisfeelinghad affected me. That’s not what I meant to say to Luke.
His brow furrowed. He knew it too. “Yes,” he said in a soft voice. “I believe people have premonitions…feelingsin their gut that are absolute truth. Sometimes it’s just a feeling. Sometimes it’s more vivid, something that comes to them in a dream. I had thefeelingwith Jess. My gut knew something was terribly wrong before my head could make sense of it. I just… knew.”
I nodded, staring out the windows at the sun shimmering along the snow like diamonds. Swiping the tears from my cheeks, I drew in a shaky breath. “It started out as a feeling for me, like cancer eating away at my gut. I had physical pain with it, but then…” I swallowed hard “…I had the dream—nightmare. It was so clear, so real. The field. The game clock, it had exactly one minute left. Cage was…” More tears raced down my cheeks. The pain was real. The dream was real.
“Cage was?”
I looked up at Luke. “Lifeless.”
Luke let my confession sink in as he nodded slowly. “Hurt?”
“Paramedics. Coaches. Players taking a knee. And the crowd… silent. But Cage, he doesn’t move—not one muscle.”
After a few more moments of silence, I laughed through the tears. “Tell me it’s crazy. Tell me I’m crazy. Tell me it’s impossible. Please,pleasetell me something to make it goaway.”
Luke said nothing, he just eyed me with what felt like pity.
“Say something,” I pleaded.
“I’m sorry.” He shook his head.
I bolted out of my chair, sending it screeching across the tile floor. “You’re sorry? What does that mean? You’re sorry I’m going crazy? You’re sorry there’s nothing you can do? There’s nothing I can do?” I tugged at handfuls of my hair. I was crazy. Crazy felt like shit.
