Chapter 45 Daisy
I was squeezing my eyes shut, concentrating on the sounds coming through my phone as Jim’s breathing and words flowed through the speaker.
I had tried to match his breathing. To calm down my panic.
But I couldn’t. It felt like my chest was being physically crushed.
I could only gasp small incremental gulps of air.
I was suffocating, drowning on dry land.
“I found you, Daisy…I’m at your door. Unlock your door,” I heard Jim say. “C’mon Daiz, open the door. I’m right here, My Queen. Please look at me.” Slowly the sound of tapping broke through my dark haze and I opened my eyes. I couldn’t see anything beyond a pinpoint straight ahead.
“Daisy, open the door. I’m here.” Then a tap on the window.
I turned my head and he was there. I fumbled with the lock, but before I could open the door, Jim had it open, and his arms reached for me.
His body sank into a squat next to my car.
I scrambled out of the seat and onto him.
One arm wrapped around me as he braced himself, then the other arm slowly gripped me as I felt his lips touch my head.
“I’ve got you,” he repeated to me, his breath in my hair. He lied. I had him in a death grip. My fingers tangled in his shirt, my face buried in his neck. My gasps were filled with the taste of leather, soap, coffee, and that unique scent that was safety. My place to rest.
He scooped me up and lifted me high in his arms. I guessed from the sound of the traffic that he was taking me around the car and off the road further.
I just gripped him and fought the blackness at the edges of my vision.
I was safe, but I couldn’t convince my body.
I still couldn’t breathe. My body wasn’t letting me.
Jim sat down on the embankment and rocked me, soothed me.
But it wasn’t working. I was still fighting for breath.
I felt him work something out of his pocket. “Bull, I need you. Bring the pickup.” His voice was tight as he gave coordinates and then returned his arm around me. He continued to rock me as I fought the panic, and sobbed, and gasped, and waited.
It was hours, days, of pushing the darkness away until I heard a truck pull up close by. Heavy boots crunched closer as someone walked down. I still had my face buried into Jim.
“What happened?”
“No idea. She sent me a message that said help, and that she was on the side of the road, but nothing else. I found her like this in the car. She’s not improving,” Jim replied. He sounded worried, his voice holding an edge of panic.
“Let’s take her to the hospital. I’ll get someone to pick these up later.”
I felt myself get lifted up again. Jim tried to pass me off to the other person, but I gripped his jacket harder. The person holding me grunted and ripped me from Jim’s arms. I screamed and flailed my arms and legs, trying to reach for Jim.
“Get your ass in there quickly. I’ll pass her up,” the gruff voice grunted. “Move!”
I kept thrashing, my hands and feet hitting metal.
I was returned to Jim’s arms, and I sobbed in relief.
Doors were shut, doors were opened. Doors were shut again.
I concentrated on Jim.
“What’s going on, Midwife?”
“No idea. She called and I came,” Jim replied.
“Shit, I wonder what happened. She’s such a strong person,” the other voice growled angrily. I kept breathing into Jim’s neck. He kept holding me together, stopping me fall apart.
* * *
“It’s okay, tough girl, we’re at the hospital and they’re putting a mask on you. It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. You’re not alone. You’ve done this before, My Queen. It’s okay, you can relax.”
I felt my body getting placed on a barely soft surface, Jim’s arms slipping from me. I’d lost my strength to hold on to him. His voice kept talking, answering barked questions.
“I don’t know what happened, I just got a call about an hour ago and found her like this on the side of the road,” Jim replied calmly. “Her father’s funeral was yesterday, but I don’t think that’s what set this off. She was fine when I dropped her off at her mother’s house yesterday.”
“I guess her next of kin is her mother, Molly…”
I screamed internally, trying to make myself heard. No, no, no, she was dead to me. Finally, my voice broke through the barrier in my throat.
“No! You! You, Jim. Jim is my—Jim is my…” My throat was raw, but my voice was loud. I had to be heard. I flailed about, trying to reach the oxygen mask and pull it off to be heard. Jim is mine.
Hands grabbed mine. Warm, safe, secure.
“It’s okay, Daisy, I’m here. I’m your next of kin. I am.”
For a moment, there was silence ringing around me. Then Jim said, “I’m next of kin and I’m here.”
I sagged into unconsciousness. Safe, secure, with Jim.