Page 111 of Jameson’s Salvation

“I already called the doctor. She’ll be in soon.” Shar’s upbeat, chipper voice was the absolute opposite of Jameson’s somber mood.

“Why am I here?”

Shar’s body rocked back and her eyes went to Jameson before they gentled on me. She took a few steps closer to my bed and seemed to be contemplating something.

How bad was it?

“You almost drowned,” she told me.

“Drowned? I know how to swim. Why can’t I remember?”

Panic hammered in my chest. Drowned? That wasn’t possible.

“Memory loss is normal when the brain is deprived of oxygen.”

Deprived of oxygen?

No. I shook my head in denial. That wasn’t possible. The last thing I remembered was delivering honey to Jonas. I’d been nowhere near the water. Did I cross the Chester River Bridge and crash?

“Kennedy, baby, slow down. Everything’s okay now,” Jameson cooed.

“Okay? Nothing’s okay. I can’t remember. How? Where am I?”

My chest started to burn and my stomach was rebelling. Why couldn’t I remember?

“I can’t breathe,” I wheezed.

A blood pressure cuff started to inflate and I wanted it off. I wanted everything off.

“You’ll feel better when you wake up,” Shar said with a sad grin, and warmth spread through my arm and finally through my body.

Peace.

* * *

“It’s all your fault!” Deloris Marshall yelled.

“No!” My body jerked upright and strong arms wrapped around me. “No. Get off me.”

“Kennedy, wake up. You’re safe. I’ve got you. Open your eyes, baby.”

Jameson.

My eyes cracked open and Jameson was there.

He saved me.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered. “I had another one.”

Jameson gently lowered me back to bed, just like he’d done the previous three times I woken up in a fit.

You know, I’d heard the saying, be careful what you wished for, but I’d never understood the true meaning until then. When the nurse had sedated me, I’d wished I could remember what had happened. Then I’d fallen into a restless sleep and the day’s events unfolded in my dreams.

As the holes in my memory filled, I’d woken up terrified to a haggard Jameson who’d coax me back to sleep only for the merry-go-round to continue.

I’d remembered everything up to falling asleep in the car. I’d gone from blazing hot to freezing cold and shivering.

“Close your eyes, I’m here.”