Predestined Hearts

“Daniel. Mother his name is, Daniel. He woke up three days ago and spoke some.”

Three days? I’ve been asleep for three days?

Slowly opening my eyes, Colett jumped and smiled. “Mother, he is waking up again.”

An older women who resembled Colett, leaned over me. Placing her hand on my head, she grinned. “His fever seems to have broken. This is good news. I shall call the doctor. Stay with him Colett. Don’t wear him out with your questions.”

Nodding her head, Colett didn’t take her eyes from mine. “Yes, Mother.”

Colett’s mother headed toward the door; opening it she looked back and gave me another smile before shutting the door.

“Colett, where is Sophia?”

Pulling her head back, her eyes widened in horror. “Was she on the boat with you, Daniel?”

Closing my eyes, I tried to piece together what had happened. It slowly began coming back to me. Shaking my head, I whispered, “No. She is in Savannah. She is with child, our first baby.”

Colett’s face seemed sad for one brief moment before she smiled again. “Daniel, that is such wonderful news. This should help you to recover faster, so you can return to her.”

“What day is it, Colett?”

Reaching for my hand, Colett’s smile faded. “November fifth.”

My heart dropped. Sophia was six months pregnant. No. No, this is not right.

Shaking my head, I sat up. “I need to get back to Savannah, to Sophia. What if she thinks I’ve died?”

Yelling out in pain, I fell back onto the bed. “Daniel! Are you all right?” Turning to the door, she threw it open. “Papa! Please come quickly.”

Less than thirty seconds later, a gentleman about my father’s age came running into the room and was by my side. “Daniel, please don’t move. You’ve been badly injured from the shipwreck.”

Looking down, I had some strange contraptions on both my legs. My shoulder was killing me, along with my head, and my right hand. Lifting my hand I noticed the bandages.

“What happened?” I asked.

Colett’s father pulled up a chair and sat down. Clearing his throat, he began telling me what had happened out at sea.

“Daniel, my name is Phillipe. We are also from America. My family lives in France and I have a trading business so we travel back and forth a number of times a year. When my family and I came ashore, a very dear friend of mine came and found me. Said he had found a young man floating in the middle of the ocean, on what appeared to be debris from a shipwreck. You were badly burnt from the sun, and he could not get you to wake up. He is a fisherman and couldn’t afford to call the doctor. The moment my wife, Josephine, and my daughter Colett saw you, they became instantly concerned for you. We brought you here, to my family’s country house, outside of Bordeaux. I called in a doctor and he took a good look at you. You had two broken legs, a broken right hand that was in need of stiches. It was almost cut in half. Your left hand seemed to be broken as well. When you woke up, you had no memory of anything. You’ve been here with us while you have healed. Most of the time though, you have been asleep.”

“It’s … been … four months. I left Savannah four months ago.”

Nodding his head, he looked back to Colett before looking back to me. “Your ship hit a terrible storm and you were thrown off course. It appears your ship sailed about for over two months, lost.”

Closing my eyes, it all started coming back. Nodding my head, I opened my eyes. “Yes, I remember. The storm hit and we were tossed about violently. The captain was thrown over while attempting to do something on deck. Then sickness hit, people started dying. I remember we had to start throwing their bodies over the ship, it was terrible.”

Colett’s hand covered her mouth.

“Then what happened, Daniel?” Phillipe asked.

“Sophia. I must get back to Sophia.” I cried out. Phillipe turned and looked at Colett.

“His wife. She is with child, and is back in Savannah.”

My eyes landed on a painting. It appeared to be of Colett and her mother. I couldn’t help but smile. It was beautiful. Moving my eyes over to Colett, she gave me a tender smile.

Drawing in a deep breath, Phillipe shook his head and looked down. “Son, I’m afraid you are in no shape to be moved. You’ve been running a fever for the last month, and it has finally broken. Your legs and hands appear to be healing well.”

“No, you don’t understand, she’ll think I’m dead!” I shouted.