Chapter 19
—Kasey—
I fought my way forward and surfaced to a hushed voice. A feather-light touch breezed down my cheek as the words, “Hey baby. I’m here now. Keep swimming upward, darlin’,” were murmured close by.
His voice—so soft and sweet—called to me. His touch never left. So comforting and reassuring, I instinctively knew I was protected.
Allowing myself to be drawn further into the promise of rest, I let my body relax and returned to the calm place.
~
An immeasurable time later, an invisible bolt ran through my body like an electric current. It jerked me awake with a dry gasp that threw me into a coughing fit. The pain experienced throughout my entire body was almost enough to send me free-falling back into the darkness.
When a straw was pressed to my lips, I closed my eyes and sipped, then took multiple moments to catch my breath. Every lethargic movement took more effort than it should have. With a weighted head and heavy lids, I opened my eyes and slowly blinked while they focused.
Simone’s ash-blonde hair immediately caught my attention, triggering memories and desperate relief. My bestie in Denver. I gripped her hand as hard as I could with pitiful strength.
“Sim,” I croaked.
She blinked back tears and smiled. “Hey, sleepyhead.”
I went to touch her with my other hand but couldn’t move. I tugged again, unable to budge from its anchor.
Disoriented and confused, I flicked my eyes right, then stilled upon seeing a tall, dark, and handsome man looming over me with the most wretched expression I’d ever seen on a stranger. His caring dark-brown eyes held a silent plea, though I was unsure of exactly what. He lifted my hand and pressed his lips to my knuckles for the longest time.
The effort to work my dry tongue around my mouth was monumental.
I frowned as a jumble of questions entered my head, only to be lost to the constant white noise. Without receiving an explanation as to why a stranger was kissing my hand, I uttered three words that caused the relief to shatter from his expression.
“Who are you?”