Dale Brown - Dale Brown's Dreamland 04 - Piranha(and Jim DeFelice)(2003) (63 page)

 
          
“I
woke up and you weren’t here.”

 
          
“You
did?”

 
          
“Yes,
I did. Where were you?”

 
          
“I
went over to see Stoner. He’s at the Navy air base. I had a hell of time
bumming a ride.”

 
          
“How
is he?”

 
          
“Looks
like you.”

 
          
“Oh,
thanks.” She pushed up on her elbows; Zen reached over and slid her pillow,
then realized he could adjust her bed by the control. He fiddled with it,
getting her to about a thirty-degree angle.

 
          
“My
dad was here, and Danny,” said Breanna. “My mom. Did you meet her?”

 
          
Zen
shook his head. “I talked to her on the phone twice. She didn’t remember
anything I told her. Pretty dizzy for a doctor.”

 
          
Breanna
smiled weakly. “That’s my mom. Opposite of my dad.”

 
          
“Yeah.”

 
          
“I
saw Chris die. I couldn’t save him.”

 
          
“You
couldn’t.”

 
          
“Collins
and
Dolk
. They’re gone too.”

 
          
Zen
took her hand.

 
          
“And
Curly’s
missing. Fentress.” Her eyes welled up, but
as she started to cry she laughed too. “Remember all your nickname for him?”

 
          
“I
was a bastard to the poor kid.”

 
          
“You
made him a good pilot. I couldn’t save them, Jeff. I tried. I did.”

 
          
“Sometimes
you can’t.” Zen leaned over and kissed her. Breanna’s lips were warm, but the
exposure to the salt water made them feel like sandpaper, and he could see her
wince even though he barely brushed against them.

 
          
“Sorry,”
he told her.

 
          
“It’s
okay, babe.” She patted his hand.

 
          
“Listen,
I saw you and Stoner in the raft,” he said. “I saw you and two tangled
together. I thought—look, I’m an asshole, but I thought you were in love with
him or something. Last fling on earth. I went a little crazy.”

 
          
Pain
creased her face.

 
          
“I
know you’re not in love with him or anything,” he said. “And that you didn’t.
I’m sorry. It was just the idea of losing you, you know? I’m sorry.”

 
          
“That’s
good, baby,” she said, drifting back toward sleep. “You know I love you.”

 
          
“I
do,” he said.

 
          
Her
eyes closed. Zen sat back in his wheelchair, his hand still gripping hers.
Exhausted by the last few days, he slipped off to sleep as well.

 
          
The
End