Page 115 of Until the Sea Runs Dry

‘What is the weather like?”

“Sunny, but I’m cold.”

She shivered, the therapist caught the reaction.

“How are you feeling other than cold?”

Jane twisted her hands. “Anxious. I need to be perfect.”

“Why?”

The question made her face fall. Her entire demeanor changed. She seemed to shrink before his very eyes.

“I can’t talk about it,” she whispered in a scared voice. He noted it down, feeling the first flicker of concern by her reaction.

“Let’s move on then. Other than the ocean, what else is there at the marina?” It was important not to put words into her mouth.

“A building. A glass square cube. I don’t like it. I’ve never liked it.”

“Do you know why that is?”

Her head shook from side to side, a frown on her brow as if the question was too difficult to answer.

“What else do you see?”

“A yacht.”

“And who’s there at the marina, do you see any other people?”

There was a sudden thudding in her ears. The world swam, a black fog clouding her mind. She heard a faint hissing sound that sent terror spiking into her heart.

“No!” She gasped, lurching up in her seat. “Stop!”

Seeing the abject terror that had taken over her, the therapist had to stop the session. It wasn’t safe to continue any further.

“Breath Jane. You’re not really there. You are here in my office with me. I’ll count to three and you’ll start to regain consciousness. On three, you will be fully awake, do you understand? One… two… three… Wake up, Jane. Come back.”

Her eyes flew open.

She blinked, her vision returning. Her fingers dug into the arms of the armchair until they hurt, but she welcomed the pain. Pain meant that she was still here.

Locating her therapist’s face, she held onto the concern she found there, but even though she was safely in his office, it would be some time before the terror of her vision would fade.

“That sounds horrifying.Did he say what he thinks it all means?”

Jane sat in Clare’s Prius, holding Loki in her lap. They were on their way to set to visit Logan. More than thirty minutes had passed since her hypnosis session, though Jane was still reeling from it.

“That something important happened there, but my mind isn’t ready to remember it fully yet.”

Clare shot her a sidelong glance. “And that’s it? We just leave it?”

“No. I’ll go back again, but he said I need to give myself a few days to recover, the mind being more fragile than we realize.”

“Well, he is the expert. At least we’re starting to get somewhere. That’s a breakthrough.”

She was trying to sound positive, but she couldn’t hide the doubt that had crept into her voice. Loki licked Jane’s chin, trying to comfort her in his own little way.

Suffering through the downtown traffic, they pulled into Universal Studios an hour later. Knowing that Clare would never have been to a movie set, much less a major Hollywood production such as this, Jane had thought it a nice way of rounding out the day, giving them some fun to take away the chill of the morning.

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