Page 79 of SEAL of Valor

And I know I didn’t do it alone.

Thank You, Lord.

I’m sorry I doubted You.

And I’m listening.

Dreams assault me.

They shift like liquid metal, changing shape and form right as I manage to get a grasp on what it is I’m seeing.

Reese is standing in front of me, but she’s younger now. Her smile is vibrant, her hair braided and full of beautiful, colorful flowers. She spins in a slow circle, dancing in the middle of a field.

“Come on, Weston!” she calls out.

I follow, sprinting toward her, but the closer I get, the farther away she is.

The dream shifts, changing again.

Now she’s a bit older and standing in the middle of a graveyard, dressed in black. A black veil covers her red hair, and tears stream down her cheek. She looks down at me, and it’s then that I realize that it’s me she’s seeing in the darkness.

“I’m okay!” I try to call out to her, but nothing comes out.

No words.

I can’t even move.

She drops a red rose down on top of me, and the soft petals brush my face.

This isn’t right. I survived. I reached her.

“You weren’t supposed to leave me,” she whispers. “But you did. Again. And this time, I can’t get back to you.”

“Reese!” I try to scream, but nothing comes out.

“Weston?” Her voice is closer now. “Wake up. Please, wake up.” Someone shakes me.

I try to surface from the nightmare, try to wake up, but even my eyelids are heavy as lead. My body immobile.

“He’s burning up,” Reese says, her tone full of panic.

“We need to get him back to shore,” a familiar voice says. Sawyer.

She’s safe. We’re safe.

“We can’t take him to a hospital. That’s the first place they’ll check,” Reese insists.

Wind pulls at me as a motor rumbles louder now.

I begin to slip away again, and their voices fade to little more than a whisper.

Light assaults me out of nowhere, but I don’t fight it. I stay right where I am because God was listening. He saved Reese, and if He’s decided my time is up, I’m not going to struggle. I won’t fight Him. Not anymore.

Chapter 23

Reese

Weston has yet to regain consciousness, but his numbers all look good. At least, according to the doctor. We’re currently tucked away at the hospital one town over from Stormwatch Landing, in a back room being guarded by, to my surprise, the guy who owns the very bar we got abducted from.