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Defenseless against the assault, Isaac curled further around Kate, desperate to protect her.
The room stopped moving, and a breeze fluttered across Isaac’s naked back.
The sound of voices was the first thing to penetrate his mind, then he noticed the light.
Before he had a chance to get his bearings, Kate was pulled from his arms.
“Kate!” he yelled for her, but his words were only a soft whisper.
Hands clamped down on his arm, and Isaac tried to wrench it free. Without even the strength to bat away a fly, he was no match for the grip holding him.
In the rational part of his mind, buried deep below his fear and exhaustion, Isaac knew the hold on him was there to help. But the loss he felt from not holding Kate wasn’t rational. Did she die? Was that the reason they took her away from him?
Closing his eyes, he tried to picture the dream with Kate and the little boy, then let his body go limp.
Something warm wrapped around him, but it wasn’t like the sun in the field. A blanket? He wanted to feel the warmth of the sun and see Kate laughing amongst the wildflowers.
When someone tugged on Isaac again, he gave in. In the next moment, he felt like he was floating. Then his bare feet were lowered to some grass. Was he in the field? The grass was cool and soft against the pads of his feet. The blades felt short, like a manicured lawn, not like tall, wild grass in the field.
Muffled noises surrounded him, like voices yelling from a great distance. It was dark but not like it had been in the room. He blinked repeatedly, hoping to bring his vision into focus. When he looked up he realized it was nighttime. Had another day passed?
Jack? Isaac threw out the question as someone helped him sit. A hand on his shoulder pushed him backward, to lie down. Too weak to resist, he allowed himself to be guided. His back muscles protested as they stretched out fully for the first time in a week. Or maybe longer. Isaac didn’t know what day it was.
December twenty-sixth! Was it that date? It couldn’t be because then the rescue would be too late. He tried to sit up, the compulsion to know the date propelling him, but someone pushed him back down.
Jack? he asked again.
We’re here, Jack answered. Let Meredith heal you.
Healing could wait, he needed to know what day it was. What’s the date? he asked Jack.
December 25th.
Isaac blew out a breath and settled back onto the grass. Christmas Day. They’d made it.
Isaac threw his hands up, covering his ears. He’d been drifting off to sleep when loud voices bombarded him from all angles, like someone had turned the volume up high. The sounds were painful in their intensity, and then they stopped.
“Sorry. You should be fine now.”
Slowly, Isaac opened his eyes to see Meredith hovering above him. “Kate?” he asked. His voice still sounded rough, but it was a bit louder than before.
“She’s going to be fine. Mirek and Jack are healing her. Fiona and I were healing you, but I didn’t realize your hearing was damaged when the wall fell. Then, well…” she shrugged and gave a sheepish smile. “I guess I amplified it too much when I fixed it.”
He struggled to get up, his need to get to Kate driving him.
“Not yet,” Meredith said, as if sensing his growing panic. “Kate is being well taken care of.”
“I must see her.”
“I get that, but just give yourself a few minutes.” Meredith didn’t wait for his answer, obviously assuming he would follow his take-charge friend. “Now that you’re healed, let’s start with getting you to sit up. Okay?”
Hands landed on him, and though he didn’t know who they belonged to, they helped him into a sitting position. “Lean back against the tree,” Meredith said. “You’re going to be really weak for a while.”
“Let me,” a deep voice said beside him, and he turned to see Damon.
For an entire month, it had been just him and Kate. The sudden change was overwhelming. There were people everywhere touching, helping, and all the noise was disorienting.
Could this be what Kate felt like when people told her what to do? He tucked away the thought, making a promise to remember the feeling whenever Kate started to push back.
