Free She Belongs to Me by Carmen DeSousa Page B

He looked back at his eyes. He was proficient in reading people. His job demanded the skill.
    “What’s going to happen now? Will she awake, or will you keep her in a comatose state? Will she be okay?” Desperate for any positive information, the words rushed from Jordan’s lips.
    “If the pressure remains normal, we’ll wean her off the medication in slow increments. Then we’ll have to wait and observe.” The doctor turned and walked away, leaving Jordan with his reason for living wrapped up in additional wires and covered by thick hospital blankets.
    She hated her feet covered. He reached down and untucked the blanket and sheet from the bottom of the bed before sitting beside his wife.
    Resting his head against the side of her bed, he felt the tears track noiselessly down his face. He assumed she was through the worst and was returning to him. He felt uncomfortable talking aloud, but they insisted he needed to converse with her. Did she want to hear his voice? Maybe he was upsetting her.
    “Jaynee, love, I’m here for you as always, as I promised from the beginning. You don’t have to explain anything, just return to me please. I told you before, nothing else matters but you . I love you. I don’t care what happened. I only want you back in my arms, and I know you want me too. I know you still love me.” Jordan ran his fingertips over her skin, caressing her arm. There was nothing further to say.
    “Shall I sing to you? I heard a new country song the other day. It’s sad in the beginning, but it has a happy ending. It reminded me of us. It’s about a husband who is asking his wife if he still gives her everything she needs, and does he get another chance.”
    Jordan sang the words in Jaynee’s ear. He didn’t like his voice, but she always commented how much she enjoyed it and how she thought he sounded like Garth Brooks. He reflected back on all the occasions they’d sing together driving to the mountains. She loved singing, and he loved listening to her…it meant she was happy, even when she was singing sad songs.
    He tried to remember the words to other songs, mostly he only recalled the choruses. Jaynee always laughed when he filled in whatever words sounded best or his incessant singing to the pets.
    He now wondered if everything bugged her. Did all his quirks she laughed at actually annoy her? He shook the thoughts from his head. No, she wasn’t phony. Her honesty was one of the first characteristics he liked about her.
    It was something entirely different. Something from her past…it was the only logical explanation. Nothing else made sense. He knew Jaynee loved him; they were destined from the beginning.
     
    Jaynee struggled with the immense blanket smothering her, wondering why she couldn’t just throw it off.
    She hated feeling trapped. She didn’t even like her feet covered in bed. Jordan was the opposite. He had his side of the bed sheets and blankets tucked in tight ly, while she kicked them off as soon as she climbed into bed , no matter how cold it was. And they always kept it cool inside; she couldn’t breathe with electric heat.
    The pain had subsided somewhat, and she could hear murmurs again, or was it singing? Was Jordan here? Why couldn’t she see him? Didn’t he see her smothered by this awful blanket? He knew she was claustrophobic, knew she hated feeling trapped.
    She tried listening to the surrounding sounds. Yes, it was definitely Jordan singing in a hushed whisper, but also something else, an annoying buzzing and beeping.
    Then it hit her. She was in the hospital.
    This was the reason he was beside her and why he wasn’t uncovering her. Was she dying? Did they assume she wasn’t alive?
    Jaynee tried to recall the last thing that happened, but there was nothing except Jordan. All she remembered was Jordan. He was angry, but she couldn’t remember why, and then he wasn’t. He was kissing her and they made love. Their bodies entangled together afterward as they always