Free She Belongs to Me by Carmen DeSousa

wallet, and it was too dark to ID him, so the crime went down as a hate crime. Kenny knew better. It was a crime of passion; Brian was obsessed.
    As he drove away, he scrolled through his playlist on his iPod for Korn . He needed to clear his mind. The guitar solo in Did my Time stole his cares away for a few minutes, but then he thought about what Brian would ask of him.
    Brian wouldn’t be happy about Caycee’s new beau. He wondered what he would expect. Kenny couldn’t beat someone down with a tire iron. He was a petty thief nothing more, just enough to survive. All he needed was enough money to smoke a little weed, get drunk, and skim and surf when the waves were up.
    Brian was the big-money guy. Always wanting more, always needing more. Intelligent too…smarter than Kenny ever was, but he had gotten busted and would be away for five years. He expected Caycee to wait, even though she broke off their relationship almost six months before his arrest. Kenny knew Brian wouldn’t accept this fling. He was fine as long as she didn’t date anyone else, and she hadn’t, until now.
     

 
 
 
    63

 
    Carmen DeSousa

Chapter Five
    (December 2009)
     
    Jaynee could hear Jordan’s whispered words, but they sounded distant. He wanted her to wakeup . She attempted to open her eyes , but they were heavy, as if a massive wool blanket was smothering her.
    She tried to roll over, but she couldn’t feel her hands, her feet or any other part of her body for that matter. Muffled sounds filled the air, but they were difficult to discern. They sounded far away, as though they were outside her wool cocoon.
    Where was she? How did she get here? She tried to call for Jordan, but her lips wouldn’t respond either. Would he even endeavor to rescue her from her prison? She vaguely recalled he was angry, but couldn’t remember why.
    Her entire body felt numb. The only thing she could feel was her head and it started pounding uncontrollably. Without warning, the throbbing increased, and she cried out in the darkness for relief. The voices were closer now, but they weren’t helping. The pain was unbearable. It felt as if something were crushing her skull in a vice. Her screams echoed inside this fleeced darkness, making the pain worse.
     
    “What’s happening?” Jordan wailed as several nurses rounded the corner when the alarms pierced the silent space.
    The first nurse who entered pushed by him then flashed a light in Jaynee’s eyes. Another nurse checked the wires connected to Jaynee’s head, but then suddenly whipped around to look at the screen. The P.A. that had been attending Jaynee earlier ran into the room.
    Jordan stared in horror as they bustled around her, rearranging wires as if they were going to take her away from him.
    Jaynee was hurting. She hadn’t moved, but her features creased as if she were in pain. “Is she— ”
    “You’ll have to leave, sir!” The male P.A.’s voice rang out in a frenzy as they wheeled Jaynee out of the room. He shouted orders to the nurses as they sped her down the corridor.
    Jordan had been talking to Jaynee, holding her hand just minutes ago. The machines were keeping a steady rhythm lulling him to slumber. It had been almost seven hours since her surgery when her eyes started darting under her lids. He had begged her to wakeup . He had apologized repeatedly for pushing her to this extreme. He was certain she was coming around until the alarm sounded. Dear God, I can’t lose her , he prayed. He hadn’t stopped praying all night, but he wasn’t sure that God was listening. After all, he was the one who got drunk and told her to leave.
     
    It had been three hours since they wheeled Jaynee away to operate again. After pacing the floor of the antechamber for those long three hours, Jordan got frustrated and searched for someone who could release information.
    “Michelle!” He spotted the nurse who was in Jaynee’s room earlier. He’d spoken with her in the past. She had always