Page 97 of Through The Woods

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Strong arms slipped beneath my lower back and behind my knees, lifting me up off the mattress. I groaned in protest and got a throaty chuckle in response.

“I know it’s early, baby. We need to talk.”

Those four words were enough to jolt me fully awake. “Talk?” I rasped. “Did we not already do that?”

In fact, I’d been hoping to sleep most of the day to make up for all the ‘talking’ we’d done last night. My brain was mush and I longed to stay buried underneath the covers until it had recovered.

He carried me downstairs, stopping to grab a blanket on his way out the back door. “Need to tell you somethin’.”

I tried to sit up in his arms, briefly throwing him off balance. The cold early morning air hit my face and nearly took my breath away. “Couldn’t you just tell me in bed, where it’s warm?”

Charm shook his head. “Nope, wouldn’t be the same.” He led me onto the patio where he had a fire burning in the outdoor fireplace. He wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and settled me on his lap.

The sky began to lighten and I had a flashback to being in the truck with streaks of sunlight beaming through the trees onto my face. “Kane?”

He rubbed my shoulders through the blanket. “Yeah?”

I leaned into his chest. “Um, last night in the bathroom, those things you said…had you said them before?”

His grip tightened around me. “What do you mean? You think I’d say shit like that to anyone else?”

Either this would make perfect sense to him, or he’d think that the coke and fentanyl had done a number on my brain.

I took a deep breath. “No, it’s just—god, this is gonna sound crazy—I heard you. When I was in that coma, I could see and hear everything. In the waiting room, you told the doctor to do whatever he could to save me—”

Charm interrupted. “Neve, I did say that, but it’s somethin’ anyone would’ve said given the situation. Maybe you dreamed it—”

I shook my head impatiently. “No, you wanted to know who gave me the Narcan—it was Blade, by the way. You—you—” I was getting frantic to prove that I hadn’t imagined what had happened. “You talked to me about Luck…told me I was your lucky charm. You gave me mistletoe and…” I trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

Charm let out a low whistle. “Jesus, honey…”

My cheeks flushed as I stuttered, “I—I know it sounds insane; maybe it was just some crazy hallucination—”

He tightened his hold on my shoulder, turning me around to face him. “You didn’t dream it—I’ve heard of coma patients being able to hear people around them talking, but nothing like this. It’s true then—you said my name the morning I left you with Blade, didn’t you?”

I nodded. “You heard me?”

He brought his hand up, running his thumb over my cheek, while seemingly lost in thought. “Clear as fuckin’ day. I could’ve sworn you were standing right behind me.”

“What did you say—before you left?”

Charm suddenly looked uncomfortable. “It—uh—I just said that I loved you.”

I laughed and poked his side. “You did not. Tell me!”

“You’re not gonna drop it, are you?” I shook my head and he sighed. “I gave you the mistletoe and said that I would petition every god necessary to resurrect you.”

“Is that why you brought me out here? To declare your undying love for me?” I laughed easily, but his face turned solemn.

Clearing his throat, he lowered his hands down to clasp mine. “I found the money, Neve.”

I couldn’t help it; I laughed again at the sheer madness of it. “Oh, okay. Good to know. That’ll really clear up everyone trying to kill me for it now, won’t it?”

His expression never changed. “I’m serious, baby. Blade was close, but he was a fuckin’ moron.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and shifted closer to the fire as the sun hit the horizon; chasing away the darkness and bathing everything in light. “I don’t understand—how did you find the money if I didn’t even know it existed?”

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