Page 58 of The Final Storm
“But you never saw Matthews before the Thalassa,” she questions.
I shake my head. “No, not at all. The Thalassa was the first time I laid eyes on that man.”
“You really think he was there that night, years ago?”
I nod. “I do. I don’t know why I’m seeing it now. It already happened, and I can’t change anything. It’s not a warning.”
“That must have been some hit to your head,” Lori jokes.
“Right,” I scoff. “I should give up being able to meditate and control it now. I’m seeing visions every time I close my eyes, and backward. My brain’s lost it.”
Lori sits ramrod straight. “Control it?”
“Well, I can control it a bit now when-”
“You could always control it,” she argues. “Didn’t you say you sort ofwilledyour visions away when you were younger? For almost a decade, right?”
“I mean, I had a gap after my sister asked me to meditate and see them. I wanted the opposite, and then they stopped for a while,” I admit.
“You stopped them,” Lori explains. “Don’t you get it? You fucking stopped them.”
I tilt my head, but I don’t understand her meaning. “What?”
Lori places her hands on my shoulders, looking me square in the eye. “What if these past visions are what you should have seen? You pushed them away. They were somewhere in your mind, ready to come out, and you stopped them. What if it’s coming through now because you’re more open to it and some psycho whacked you in the head?”
“Well, you got whacked in the head too, and all you have to show for it are those messy stitches,” I say. “But anything’s possible.”
Lori touches the jagged line on her skull. “I’ll tell you one thing. If I see that red-headed asshole on this ship, I’ll chop his dick off. Fucker hits me when I’m not looking, then unplugs my man.”
I want to laugh or joke back. I need to tell her the next vision and work the problem together, but I’m frozen. I grip the sheets on the bed and curl my fingers, my body unable to breathe or move.
I’m transfixed by the flash of Lindell’s face that enters my mind.
Chapter 21
One Night
BeLewrushesintotheroom before I’m able to say a word about Lindell. Their beautiful faces make my heart melt, and Lori has to hold them back from jumping into my bed and throwing themselves on top of me.
“Little help,” Luke says from the other side of the door. They sprinted in, and the door shut behind them. He stands up from his wheelchair, holding a large plastic container with metal spokes and wheels.
Lori moves her finger up and down his items and tilts her head.
“Isn’t this the most beautiful crib you’ve ever seen?” he asks. “Just the color scheme I’d go for.”
She takes the plastic bin from him and holds the door open. “Your baby’s out of prison,” Lori smiles. “That’s good news.”
“And so am I,” Luke beams. “And we get new quarters down the hall. Just follow the sounds of Tank tearing the place apart.”
Lori grabs his face and kisses him. “How’d you manage all this?”
“Sam worked it out with the captain.”
Just when I open my mouth to ask about Sam, the boys chime in with an enthusiastic story about animal traps.
“And when you go back to check the cage, they’re as mad as a damn hornet,” Beau tells me.
“Boys, the cursing,” I groan.
