My heart jumps when her fingers move ever so slightly in mine.

She moved. Dad was right.

“Mom…” My voice wavers as a tear tracks down my cheek. “Can you hear me? If you can, just move your finger again. Please…”

I wait, unmoving, barely breathing until her ring finger moves a teeny bit, giving me goose bumps.

“I felt that,” I say softly. “You have to try to wake up, Mom. I know it’s hard and maybe it hurts. But we’ll take care of you. No matter what. You’re okay. You’re still beautiful. Are you afraid that you’re hurt? You’re not. You’re perfect. You just hit your head and you drowned for a few minutes. I don’t really know what happened, but I know that you’re okay other than you can’t wake up. You’re breathing by yourself,” I can’t help but wonder if maybe she thinks she’s broken, or disfigured, or other horrible things like that. Maybe it’s scaring her into staying suspended where she is. “And you can understand me. I think you’re just tired and weak. That’s all. But we can fix that.” More tears stream down my cheeks.

“Are you okay, Miss Valentine?” The older, gray-haired nurse places her hand gently on my shoulder. “What a nice surprise to see you here today.”

I blink back my tears and look up at her. “She moved her hand. I felt it. Then I asked her to do it again and she did.”

She nods and smiles, the corners of her eyes creasing. “Yes, I’m sure she hears you, honey.”

“Then she should wake up, right?”

The nurse shifts her eyes over to my mom then back to me. “She will when her mind and body are ready.”

“But what if that just never happens?” I ask desperately.

She squeezes my shoulder. “You just have to have faith, Miss Valentine. It’s all in God’s hands. But I think your mother is very happy you came here today. Sometimes all we need is a little time to get things right in our heads. I hope you come back.”

As she walks away, I turn back to my mom.

“I have faith in you, Mom. And I love you. I promise I’ll come back soon.”

35

Kenzi

Kenzi ~ age eighteen

Tor ~ age thirty-two

A tiny package came in the mail for me today, and I’ve been afraid to open it. Even though it has no return address, I recognize his handwriting on the address label. I put it off to the side to open when I’m alone.

Later that night as I’m sitting in bed at the Inn, I tear open the padded envelope, and inside is a small black velvet pouch. Taking a deep breath, I reach inside and pull out two tufts of fur, which I immediately recognize as Diogee fur and Kitten fur.

There’s a tiny note inside:

“I know how much you must miss their fur, so here’s a tiny bit for you. Be impressed – I vacuum every day. :) They miss you. I know you love my hair, too, but sending you that seemed creepy. Don’t forget me, Angel. I love you forever and longer.”

Tor

“Oh my God,” she covers her mouth with her hand and starts to cry as soon as she sees me. “I can’t believe he did this to you.”

I pull her into my arms, ignoring the pain in my ribs and chest. All I care about right now is being close to her. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

“It’s not okay, Tor. This is awful. He broke your ribs.” Her voice cracks as she holds onto me.

“They’ll heal. I’m way more worried about what this is doing to you.” I swipe my thumbs across her damp cheeks. “You’re so beautiful, Angel. Please don’t cry.”

“I can’t help it. I hate what’s happening to all of us.”

“I do, too.” We cross the room to sit on the couch together. “He’s too mad to talk to, Kenzi. Maybe in a few days I can try again to explain to him how I feel about you and make him see that I never hurt you or did anything unethical with you.”

“I told him you didn’t. It makes me sick that he could even think that about you.”

“I think he just needs time.”

She chews her bottom lip and grabs both of my hands into hers, squeezing them tightly as she peeks up at me from beneath her long bangs.

“Tor…I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I even went to see my mother this morning.”

I’m shocked, but in a good way. Kenzi hasn’t seen her mother in over a year. “Wow. I would have gone with you, so you wouldn’t have to go through that alone.”

She shakes her head. “No. I needed to do it alone. And that’s kind of what I want to talk to you about.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if a black cloud just settled over my house, because I can feel it, like a dark shadow, stealing away all my light.