“For what?”
“For all of this. Because of me you had to—”
“Sir,” the medic said. “We really need to get her to a hospital.”
“I’m going with them,” I said.
The two medics exchanged glances, and then the one working on Nana Mama said, “We’ll make room.”
Louisiana state troopers and coastguardsmen brought stretchers. I went to my children, and as I held each of them, I broke down, thanking God they were alive.
“Do people at school think I’m dead?” Damon asked.
“They held a memorial service for you. I was there.”
He frowned at that. “What’d they say?”
“That you were the very best kind of person. You have made a big impression on the Kraft School. You have many friends and admirers. And I am very proud of you.”
“I screwed up,” he said, blinking back tears. “That woman. Karla Mepps.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” I said. “We caught her.”
After a pause, he said, “It was Bree’s idea for some of us to act like we were still out and then follow her lead.”
“You did good, son,” I said, stroking his hair. “Real good.”
He whispered, “She almost bit his fingers off, Dad!”
“I saw that. Well, almost.”
“I would never, ever mess with her,” he said. “Or Nana Mama either.”
I smiled and laughed softly. “I learned a long, long time ago never to mess with the women in this family.”
CHAPTER
99
JANNIE AND ALI WERE sitting up on their bunks as medics removed their IV lines.
“I knew you were looking for us,” Jannie said, breaking into tears that wrecked me all over again. “That was the first thing I thought when I woke up. Dad’s looking.”
“From the moment you were taken,” I said. “And I never gave up hope that I’d find you and that one day you’d run again.”
“Will I?”
“Of course,” I said firmly. “You will not let this stop you in any way.”
Jannie nodded and kissed me. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too,” I choked.
“What about me?” Ali asked.
“You!” I said, kneeling to hug him with my good arm. “You are my best little boy. My …” I stopped and couldn’t say anything while they were moving Bree onto the stretcher.
Ali said, “He was that guy who wore the red beard and came to school, wasn’t he, Dad? The one who smelled like a zombie?”