Page 118 of The Scars I Bare
They were wrong. I was trying to find my way back to you.
The nurse who’d, unbeknownst to her, taken a poor fisherman’s heart with her all those years ago.
You wondered why you had chosen Ocracoke.
It was me. Me and that stubborn heart of mine calling you home.
Like a lighthouse beacon.
And now that you’re here, I never intend on letting you go.
I no longer need a journal because I have you. You heal my wounds, fade my scars, and ease my pain.
And, if you’ll allow me, I have a very important question to ask you.
Meet me at the marina at sunset.
My hands were shaking as I read the entry/letter over once more.
“Jake!” I hollered. “I know you’re lurking around in the hallway. Get in here.”
“I never lurk,” he said, stepping into the now-empty lobby.
“Do you know anything about this?” I said, holding up the notebook toward him.
“Oh, uh…that? Maybe. I was told, if that ever appeared before me, to tell you to go see Molly. Immediately.”
“Molly? Why?”
“Because Dean figured you might not want to be in scrubs for this specific occasion.”
I gulped. “And what occasion might this be?”
He smiled a wicked, evil grin. “Oh, well, you see, that part was told to me right here, in the office. And you know what a stickler I am about patient-doctor confidentiality.”
I wasn’t proud of it, but I might have thrown a stapler at his head.
Dean
“Think your mom will forgive me for letting you skip your lesson with the tutor today?” I asked Lizzie as we headed back to my house after another successful lesson with my spring-break kids.
They’d been instructed to go have a fun day out on the water with their families and report back the next morning, giving me plenty of time to pull off this proposal.
Hopefully.
“After tonight?” She giggled. “I don’t think she’ll mind at all. Besides, you do take me to the mainland three times a week for all those special classes.”
I smiled back at her, pulling into my driveway. “That is a pleasure, believe me. Besides, if it means you can stay in school here, on the island, while still growing that gigantic brain of yours, it’s a win for all of us.”
“Why?” she asked, big enough now that she could undo her own car seat.
“Because, one day, I’m quite certain that amazing mind of yours is going to do amazing things. Such amazing things that the whole world will benefit.”
“You think so?” she asked as we both got out of the car and headed into the house.
“I know so.”
I opened the door as Lizzie raced past me in search of snacks.
