I’d felt that once before.
Suddenly, I panicked.
What if it wasn’t like that feeling? What if it was that feeling? What if I’d never woken up in Afghanistan and I’d dreamed my entire life since then? What if Carter was in a bed on one side of me, Everett across from me. An Afghan medical student, torn from his home hundreds of miles away and trying to fulfill the duty to his parents to help create peace in his country, would come check on me.
Everything was a dream. Tennessee, the logging company, the cabin.
Rebecca.
It was all a dream, and I was still in the desert, recovering from an airstrike that destroyed every vehicle in our party and left me barely alive, being pulled from the wreckage by Carter.
“He’s moving,” I heard a voice say. An impossible voice.
Rebecca’s voice.
I tried to open my eyes, the confusion so strong and my desperation to clear it so intense that I forced it. Light burned in, but I refused to close them. I had to see. I had to see her face.
At first, everything was blurry, just shadows on white. There were two figures there, and they were saying something muffled. There was excitement in their voices. I blinked, and it became clearer, water running down the sides of my eyes.
Rebecca sat beside the bed, tears streaming down her own face as she looked at me. Everett was behind her, and I could see he was talking to someone just outside the door. I put all my focus into moving my hand, and it reacted, lifting up and moving just enough to land on top of Rebecca’s.
She burst into tears.
I tried to reach up, hold her, and pull her in. But my body wouldn’t move. My left arm felt like it was on fire and affixed to my shoulder in concrete. It wouldn’t move at all. But my right hand lay on hers, and I ran my finger up and down on the palm of hers. She clasped it between both her hands and leaned down to kiss it.
Another figure appeared behind her, and she said something, clearly upset. Everett came up behind her and put both hands on her shoulders, pulling her away a bit. Not far, just up toward my head. Her hand never left mine.
The sounds of the room started to become easier to understand. It was still like I was hearing them through a shut door, but I could understand the words. The man that had moved behind Rebecca was wearing a white lab coat and gloves. He had to have been a doctor.
“Mr. Rowe? Mr. Rowe, I’m Dr. Tennant. Can you understand me?”
“Yes,” I croaked out. It was barely a voice, more of a grumble, but it was there. It hurt like hell in my throat, though.
“Mr. Rowe, you had an accident. Do you remember it? A tree fell on your car while you were driving,” he said.
“Yes,” I said again. By my ear, I could hear Rebecca falling into a fresh new set of tears.
“You were severely concussed, Mr. Rowe. We brought you in and sedated you while we reset your arm. You have a series of other bruises, but other than your arm, you seem to not have anything else that is broken.”
“Okay. My jaw.”
“Yes, you may have dislocated your jaw, but the swelling is so bad we can’t tell yet. It may just be badly bruised,” he said. “Personally, I believe it’s bruised. Should be healed enough to eat solid foods in a day or so, though it may be a little painful to chew on that side.”
“You’re lucky to be alive,” Everett said from somewhere near Rebecca. I couldn’t move my head enough to see him, and when I tried, the doctor reached over and put his hand on my chest.
“He’s correct,” Dr. Tennant said. “The tree crushed the roof of your truck, and you were compressed inside. The way the tree impacted the top of your skull, you should have a broken neck. The fact that you aren’t dead or paralyzed is a miracle. As it stands, I think you’ll be up and moving around in no time at all.”
“What does he need?” Rebecca said. “How can I get him home to take care of him?”
“Well, we set the arm and have done just about everything else he would need. I would feel better if he stayed overnight, but if he would like, I would allow him to go home tonight,” he said. “However, with a concussion, it is extremely important to watch for warning signs and to limit movement wherever possible.”
“Why can’t I move my head?” I asked, frustrated I couldn’t see Rebecca.
“We put a neck brace on, just in case,” Dr. Tennant said. “It was a precaution when you were brought in based on the nature of the accident. I’ll bring some nurses in to help you get that off.”