Page 132 of Other Side Of Never
“No, you don’t need that,” a deep voice assured me.
I frowned as I looked around, having no recollection of moving from my comfy bed but suddenly finding myself in some kind of office.Furnished with a couch and a couple of wide chairs, it reminded me of the doctor my mom took me to a few times when I was a kid.
A man sat in one of the chairs across from me.Wearing worn jeans and workboots that had seen better days, he leaned back and relaxed, somehow prompting me to do the same.
Strangely, I wasn’t nervous.
He had a nice face.
Great, fucking beard.
He grinned.
I tilted my head to the side and found myself grinning back at him.“Are you a psychologist?”
“Ech, you could say I dabble.”
“How did I get here?”
Dropping his foot to the floor, he leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees.His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as His eyes searched mine.“Think, Hunter.”
I looked around once more, considered my morning thus far before looking back at Him.Was it ‘Him’ with a capital H?Either way, things had taken a sudden turn.“Shit.”
He waited, patiently watching me as I sorted through the jumble of thoughts and impressions crowding me.
“So, what?I have to choose now?Go back or stay here?”
He shook his head.“Sorry.You were broken beyond repair in the accident.”
I furrowed my brow, the memory of turning my head replaying in slow motion.
“No.You don’t need that,” He insisted quietly.“You can rest.You’ve earned it.”
Earned it?“I shouldn’t have taken his car,” I blurted.
“I didn’t say you were perfect,” He countered.
“I wasn’t thinking.”I brought my hands up to my hair and tugged.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Hunter.”
I blinked at Him incredulously.“Hard on myself?Am I or am I not dead?”
He wagged His head back and forth.“Define dead.”
I gaped at Him.
He peered at me closer.“Do you feel dead?”
I frowned.My eyebrows slowly rose as I took a physical inventory.Then a mental one.“I feel pretty good, actually.Calm.”I took a deep breath, at least I think I did.
He chuckled.
“I feel good,” I admitted.
“As I was saying,” He relaxed back again, “you can rest, or you can help put them back together.”
Them.I closed my eyes.I’d left behind a mess.“Yeah?”
