Page 28 of Big Timber

“Did she just laugh?” The somewhat distorted voice comes again.

“She did! I heard her,” my mom’s voice rings out clearer than the others.

“Talia, I need you to wake up,” Tarak’s voice is right in my ear, his breath against my skin gives me the chills.

“You don’t swim, so I can’t be underwater.” I don’t know why it’s so hard to open my eyes, but I keep trying.

“I’m going to get the doctor.” Now I know, the voice coming from the foot of my bed is my dad.

Finally, I manage to get my eyes open the tiniest bit and that’s when I hear my mom start to cry.

“I love you,” Tarak continues to fervently whisper into my ear, and I wish I could turn my head to look at him, but it isn’t budging. “I’ve loved you from the first moment you told me I couldn’t do something. I loved it when you kidnapped me because you were worried about your silly regulations. I could have gone to another friend’s place, but I wanted to be with you. I love your big, crazy family and your Sundays together. I love you, Talia Workman, even though I don’t know your birthday.”

First, my hearing was a bit wonky.

I still can’t get my eyes open all the way.

Now, there’s something lodged in my throat, and I can’t speak. I think it might be my heart.

“It’s December fifth,” my mom replies after a moment, and it sounds like there’s something wrong with her voice as well.

*

“Take it easy,” my mom says, as the nurse wheels my chair down to where Tarak and Dad are waiting for us with the SUV.

I swear I will scream bloody murder if I ever hear those words again.

Instead, I coach myself to stay calm.

The reason I could not open my eyes when I woke up, the evening after the blast, was because they were bruised and swollen. My neck is still in a brace due to the whiplash from being thrown against a wall and then there were the broken ribs I sustained.

All-in-all, I’m the lucky one.

Donny was killed instantly.

Greyson will have a long road to recovery, mentally and physically. I’ve heard the term survivor’s remorse before, but Inever saw how it affects someone firsthand, until Tarak wheeled me down the hall to see him.

If I could strangle the person who told Greyson that Donny’s body helped shield him from the worst of things, I would.

As it is, being on the opposite side of the ancient machinery from the blast is what saved me.

Others from a different engine company fared much worse than ours, and my guilt comes from relief in knowing that no other members ofmyfamily were hurt.

Tarak gently cradles me, helping me into the back of my dad’s SUV and kisses me on my temple before reaching for the seat belt.

“No,” I say, holding a hand up to stop him. “I don’t think I could bear it.”

“My little rule breaker,” he says with a chuckle as he gently slides a finger down my cheek.

The look we exchange is heavily charged, because now I truly am.

When the police came to take my statement, I didn’t tell them everything the vagrant said that night.

It wasn’t until my third night in the hospital that I even remembered the exchange.

Tarak was there beside me, having sent my parents home for a break. I told him everything, then with my permission, he called Diesel and had me repeat it again, along with a description of the woman.

I studied him for long moments after that call, waiting for him to see what his response would be and when he remained silent, only seeing to my needs, I gave him my decision.

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