Page 97 of Counted

He choked slightly but managed to get whatever it was down.

Nothing changed after that. The pain throbbed and throbbed and throbbed.

He tried to tell them about it, ask them to help. But no one did anything.

Eventually the room felt quieter. There was only one other voice, and it was soft and soothing and familiar. He strained to hear what it was saying.

A prayer.

It was a prayer.

She must be an angel.

Maybe she was going to take him home at last.

He’d love to see his mother again, but he still didn’t want to go.

He had too much left to do.

So he prayed too, mumbling out words he knew by heart.

He wasn’t sure what they could possibly accomplish. They hadn’t worked with his mother. But he spoke them anyway.

It was even quieter after that, but she was still there, still beside him.

“Don’t leave me, Jude,” the voice whispered. “I love you. You can’t leave me yet.”

He prayed he wouldn’t have to, and he kept praying through the fog in his mind.

Until finally the entire world darkened completely.

At least then he wasn’t conscious enough to feel any pain.

The next thing he was aware of was relief.

Deep, earth-shattering relief.

His head wasn’t hurting. At all. Not even a little bit.

It was a miracle. It could be nothing short of a miracle.

He lay perfectly still and reveled in it.

When he was convinced the relief wasn’t going to disappear if he moved his body, he was able to lift his head and look around.

His eyes were clear. His brain was working. He was in Eve’s bedroom. It was utterly quiet. No one was in the chair beside him or standing near the doorway looking in.

A shift of his head allowed his eyes to rest on the bed beside him.

Eve was curled up there on her side, facing his direction. She was sound asleep on top of the covers with a soft throw wrapped around her.

He relaxed his head back on his pillow and smiled at her.

He had no idea how long he’d been out of it. Days, evidently. And there wasn’t a single moment she hadn’t been there.

Eventually the pressure in his bladder compelled him to his feet. He moved slowly at first, testing his strength and stability. He was definitely weaker than normal, but he could walk without support.

That felt like a miracle too.

---