I’d also given him a letter and a package as well. I hoped he liked what I gave him. It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough, but it would do until I had him back in my arms again.
The little girl next to me started to pick up the crying, and I felt my heart ache for her. She had no clue why her daddy was leaving. The mother tried to shush her, but it didn’t help.
I searched through my purse until I found the American flag pinwheel I’d bought at the store the night before and handed it to her. The mother looked grateful for my help, and gave me a relieved smile when she quieted down to mere whimpers.
A man that stood in front of all the aligned soldiers started barking orders, and the crying picked up as we watched them go into the back of a massive plane.
“Daddy! Don’t leave us daddy! Please stay. Don’t leave!” A young girl wailed and slipped from her mother’s arms.
The mother cursed and started disentangling herself from the car seat at her feet. The young baby she had in her hands started to grunt and fuss at the commotion; I got to my feet and helped.
“Do you want me to hold her while you go?” I offered.
“Daddy. No!” The hoarse screaming continued.
She gave me a supremely grateful look and gently laid the baby into my arms before running after her other child.
The young girl was fast; I had to give her that. She’d made it past the gate and onto the runway by the time the mother had caught up with her. The father of the little girl had stopped at the base of the plane and looked torn on whether he should try to help or not, but the roar of the engines starting up drowned out the little girl’s wails and made the decision for him.
A strong hand on my shoulder made me look behind me and away from the tearful pleas of the young girl. I turned and eyed Mr. Stoker with tears in my eyes; his rough palm cupped my face.
“No, it doesn’t get any easier girl. It does get easier to hide from them, though. This is his second deployment in three years. I’d hoped that they would have stationed him stateside but that’s not what he wanted. He wants to make a difference.”
I nodded. We’d discussed his career plans in length. After this next deployment, he planned on going to Ranger School. From there, he would most likely have a different military path, but regardless of what he chose, there would always be dangers.
“Yeah, I know. The man is as stubborn as they come.” I grumbled and then stared back at the little girl as she continued the heartbreaking crying.
“I can’t wait for Jack to give me one of those.” He said, making me turn back towards him.
My eyes followed his gaze’s direction to the tiny little baby in my arms. My heart felt like it was flying as I thought about having his child. Yes, I wanted to have kids with Jack, but it was definitely going to be on the back burner until I got my degree.
“You never know, Bill.” Adam said, raising his eyebrows with a sly smile on his face.
Although we got along better these days, Adam still annoyed the absolute shit out of me. We were more like brother and sister now, and it made me happy that he finally accepted me.
Ignoring his rude comments and his mother slapping him on the arm, I watched Jack finally make it to the back of the plane. He placed an arm around the man who was staring at his daughter crying, crying himself now too, and moved him into the belly of the plane.
They both disappeared from site and just a few precious moments later, the back of the plane closed, sealing them all in for the ride. The plane moved slowly at first, but quickly picked up speed, propelling the massive beast down the runway.
The tearful little girl finally made it back to the bleachers, and the weeping mother took her baby from my arms and hugged them both close as they watched the plane go.
The further away it went, the tighter the knot that was forming in my throat seemed to be. As soon as the wheels left the ground, I tore into the package he’d left me. Inside was a small black velvet jewelry box and a note written on notebook paper.
I delved into the note with little to no patience.
I hope you don’t stay sad for long. If I know you, you’ll hide it from everyone, but I have high hopes that you will share with my dad, Adam, his parents, and your sister if you need to. You know I will be here for you always.
I love you with all my heart and soul.
Wait for me.
Jack
My eyes welled at his words, but I tamped them down and opened up the jewelry box. Inside, nestled down deep into the folds of velvet, was a simple silver band. On the inside of that ring, it said four simple words in cursive.
Forever my dream catcher.
Chapter 1
I saw you have tattoos and a real job, excuse me while I take off my clothes.
-E-card
Jane
Shaking like a leaf, I dropped the car down into drive and pressed my foot down on the accelerator. The car propelled forward, narrowly missing the parked car that was illegally parked behind me.
My mind kept replaying what the man said.
“Get out now. Don’t stop. Go straight to this address and look for him.”
As I stopped at the next traffic light, my eyes trailed down to the picture. It was of a man in jeans, a red t-shirt, and a red bandana covering his inky black hair. He had a tool in his hand, connected to an air hose, and he was leaning over into the depths of a pickup truck.
His arms were buried under the hood, but his face was looking straight at the camera. Almost as if he knew his picture was being taken.
Something about the man made the depths of my mind start to swirl. Memories that I hadn’t had in over seven years flashed through my head, but none stayed long enough to let me remember.
I just knew the instant that the old biker handed me the picture that this was going to be a turning point in my life.
I was scared shitless but something about the picture kept pushing me forward.
Towards him. Something huge. Something that was about to blow me away. Make me remember. Change my life.
***
Two days later
I was parked two blocks down from my favorite place ever.
Free was a motorcycle shop that resembled a secure military base. Although about five men, and tons of women, frequented the place, only one kept my attention.
I could see him, but not very well. I slid down low into the seat of my Chevy Cobalt; so low that I could barely see over the side of the passenger side window. To make matters worse, I pulled out my next-door neighbor’s Dora the Explorer binoculars and placed them up to my eyes. Lucky for me that the kid left them in my car. Apparently, it was a shitty gift for a ten year old. Who knew?
I spotted him instantly. Although these binoculars were the cheapest things I’d ever paid forty dollars for, they worked exactly how I wanted them to at that moment.
That exceedingly beautiful man. He was magnificent. He was all sinew grace, and long limbs. His fist had to be the size of half my face. A large, well-defined chest, and probably a six pack on top of that, if the ripples at the front of his shirt were anything to go by. His arms were quite large. So large that they probably were the size of one of my legs. Well, maybe not that big, but still.
Today, he was wearing black jeans that fit him to perfection. A dark grey sweatshirt pulled up to his elbows, and black motorcycle boots. A red bandana covered his hair, but what hair I could see was black and silky.
I’d been torturing myself for two full days trying to figure out who he was, but I just couldn’t get my brain to work right. I knew something drew me to him, but I didn’t know what. Something so strong and magnetic emanated from him that I just knew he was someone special to me.
When I had my accident just before my first semester of college, there was nobody. I was alone in a small town in the Texas Panhandle. No one knew who I was, only that I’d been found on the side of Route 66, seconds away from death. A sheriff’s deputy had stopped to move what he thought was a dead animal of
f the side of the road. Motorists had complained of buzzards flying low at the one sixty-one mile marker. What he’d found was anything but a dead animal.
I was airlifted from the right shoulder of Route 66. According to the town, they stopped traffic in both directions and loaded me in to the helicopter, then took off as if our tail was on fire. Apparently, I was coding at that moment in time, and it was a struggle to keep me alive long enough for the two hour trip to the closest trauma center. They’d bypassed the local hospital due to the extensive damage to my face.
It took months and months of reconstructive surgery, but, finally, they were able to repair most of the damage to the fractured bones. The plastic surgeon who worked on me made sure that everything was as close to perfect as it could be. Yet, that didn’t bring back the memory that I’d prayed for every night for the last seven years.
I’d made the time to thank the cop who found me, as well as the Medevac pilots. Their heroism was what inspired me to be a paramedic. I’d stayed in Shamrock for seven years. Throughout all that time, I’d never found out one thing about myself. I’d poured through every single newspaper within five hundred miles of where I was dumped, but I came up completely empty.
Either the family I had in my previous life didn’t want me back, or I was further from home than my instincts told me I was. The one piece of information I did have was a tattoo that spanned my left side. It was the one place on my body that wasn’t messed up in my accident.
The tattoo, itself, spanned from my armpit to my hip. It was a dream catcher that was covered in frost. Pieces of the winter snow froze it in its place, forming icicles in certain places. It was frozen in motion, almost as if a swift winter storm permanently altered the dream catcher’s structure. Underneath the dream catcher, there were initials. J and W. The initials intertwined with the dream catcher’s frozen feathers.
My doctor’s had used the initials on my hip for my made up name. No one knew what it was, so they called me Jane Wind. Where they came up with Wind, I don’t know. Maybe they just went by the Native American tattoo I was sporting, but I went with it because I didn’t have any better ideas. Despite the fact that it never felt right.
It was about six months ago that I started to dream. At first, they were nothing more than snippets, but they turned into full on dreams. It was as if I was watching a movie starring myself. However, when I woke up, they’d disappear as if I’d never even watched them.
The only thing I ever remembered was a man, a dream catcher, and what I thought to be a motorcycle, but could never be sure.
A slap on the hood of my car startled me so bad that I threw the binoculars at the window and screamed like a banshee. The disturbingly large figure in black fatigue pants and a black polo that read KPD yanked my door open and hauled me out of my car with unparalleled strength.
Pure terror coursed through my body. I wasn’t paying attention to the cop car that was parked behind my car. I also wasn’t paying attention to the badge that was attached to the front of his belt. Otherwise, I might not have freaked out quite so badly.
However, I didn’t see the badge, only the huge ass man that was holding me and not letting me go. My mind went to the worst possible place in that moment, and I lost it.
“Jackopa!” I screamed, terror evident in my voice.
***
Jack
“Luke’s here.” Elliott said from beside me.
I ignored him and continued replacing the gauges on the newest bike we were building.
“Looks like he’s getting that chick with the binoculars. Sam must’ve gotten fed up.” He observed.
I grunted, but didn’t say anything.
I knew she was watching me, but I didn’t know why. I figured that I’d give her another week or so to come to me, and then I’d go to her. I didn’t know who she was, and the name Jane Wind didn’t ring any bells. The plates told me she was living six hours from here, and they told me she wasn’t wanted for anything; that’s why I wasn’t worried. She was harmless. Let her look.
I’d just tightened the nuts that held the tank in place when a scream that haunts my dreams cracked through the afternoon air like a whip.
“Jackopa!”
Instincts drove me.
I dropped what I was doing and sprinted through the parking lot of Free. My legs propelled me towards the terror-filled scream until I came upon Luke and a woman struggling. Throwing an adrenaline fueled punch, I ripped Luke’s arm away from the woman in the next instant, and crushed her into my body.
My arms wrapped around her tight, caging her in with my arms. Pulling her in so tight to my body that I was afraid I’d hurt her; yet I couldn’t make myself let go even if a freight train was barreling towards me.
Her piercing scream stopped the instant my arms went around her body.
I buried my nose into Winter’s hair. Hair that was mine; hair that belonged to me. Hair that I hadn’t smelled in seven years. Hair that I thought was fucking dead. Yet, she was here, very much alive. How the hell did I not know that the woman watching me was her? What the fuck was going on? I looked up to see blood streaming from Luke’s nose, yet I didn’t feel any remorse. In fact, I could probably hit him again for scaring Winter the way he had.
“Jesus Christ, did you have to manhandle her?” I seethed.
If I had been thinking more clearly, I would have known better than that; but I wasn’t.
He held up one hand in a placating gesture while the other tried to stem the flow of blood. “I didn’t, man. All I did was help her out of the car. When I put my hand on her, it was like a switch was flipped and she went nuts.”
Winter still had her face buried in the crook of my neck, and her arms wrapped tightly around my chest. “Baby, what’s going on? How are you here? Jesus Christ, I must be fucking dreaming. This isn’t possible. I’m not that lucky. Somebody fucking wake me up. This isn’t funny.” I said, but I wasn’t aware that I was sounding crazy. Hell, I probably was crazy.
I had a riot of emotions pouring through me and I didn’t know what the hell to do. It’d been seven years since I’d seen her last. Seven years since I felt the soft curves of her hips. Smelled the unique smell that was her. Sweet pea and chocolate. I’d teased her mercilessly about how she mixed two lotions together, but somehow it worked for her.
“I don’t know!” She moaned into my shirt. “I don’t know what the heck is going on. Why do I know your name? Why do you smell so familiar? Why can’t I keep my freakin’ eyes off you? Why am I not still screaming? Why are you pulling my hair out of its ponytail?”
Ice started coursing through my veins, and I froze mid motion as I was pulling the band out of her hair. Leaning back, I regarded her questioningly. “What do you mean?” I asked, genuinely confused now.
She didn’t remember me?
Tears filled her grey eyes. “You’re calling me Winter. Is that my name?”
Now that I was looking more closely, things started to stand out. Like the thin scar that ran the length of her hairline. The scar along the outside of both arms that denoted surgery. They didn’t miss the vertical cuts that ran along the main artery on her forearm, either.
“Let’s go to my place. We’re going to talk.” I said, as I grabbed her hand and pulled her along beside me.
We were alone on the sidewalk now. Sam, Luke, and Elliott stood just outside the garage’s bay door talking in a huddled whisper that cut off as soon as we came within hearing distance.
“Y’all can quit whispering about me like little girls on a playground. I’ll be back later,” I said, as I pulled her through the garage and out the back door. We walked to the very end of duplexes until we came to mine. Winter looked around with wide, confused eyes, but I suppressed the desire to pull her into the hug I so desperately wanted and kept walking. I unlocked the front door, held it open for her to pass me, and closed it behind us.
While my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I hit the lights with my free hand and dragged her to the cou
ch. Kicking her shoes off, she sat and dragged her feet up to her chest, curling into herself. The sight of that action brought back the memory of every time she used to do that very action, seven years ago.
Winter used to curl into a ball every single time she sat down, laid down, or was just sitting in the kitchen. She didn’t like it when her feet touched the floor, and kept them off the floor at all times. Hell, we could have been eating out at an expensive restaurant and she’d still have her feet curled underneath her.
“God, you still haven’t stopped sitting like that?” I mused.
“Ahh, no. It’s more comfortable,” she said, sounding confused. Her forehead was wrinkled adorably.
Her eyes darted around the room frantically, taking in the sparsely decorated area. The only thing that ornamented the wall was one lone picture, and she hadn’t noticed it yet. The rest of the room was bare. I never used this room, so it didn’t have much more than a couch, a Lazy-Z-Boy and a coffee table. The kitchen was the same. There was one pot, one pan, one plate, one cup, one knife, one spoon, and one fork.
Her eyes finally came to rest on the picture, and she froze. Every muscle in her body became tight and rigid, and then she bounded from the couch to stand directly in front of the picture.
“Oh my God! Look how good my ass looks in those shorts!” She exclaimed.
I chuckled. That would be her first observation. Yet, the two wedding rings, and the wedding date underneath it doesn’t affect her in the slightest. The picture was of the both of us on my bike the day before I left for Afghanistan for deployment.
She was wearing short blue jean shorts and her Chucks, straddling my bike backwards. Her thighs are draped over my thighs, and my hand is running up the back of her shorts. Her sister, Stormy, took that picture, and Winter sent it to me. It was the first and last piece of mail I’d ever received from her.
Winter’s hand lifted to the glass, and her fingers ran over the dream catcher tattoo I had on my right forearm. Then they went to her side as she ran her fingers lightly over her side. I watched her making a connection in her brain, finally, and then she turned to me with wide scared eyes.
Last Day of My Life Page 3