Sherwood Rogue

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I woke up on a hospital gurney, staring at the walls racing by, hearing running feet. Though my head reeled savagely, one thought broke clear of the chaos in my mind. I was back in the world I thought I'd left behind.

Tears welled in my eyes, spilling down my face to leave a pool of wetness on the pillow.

"She's awake!" one of the paramedics said, noticing my tears.

God, I didn't want to be wherever I was. I wanted to be home in Sherwood, to die with my family, my friends—the people I had loved for the thirteen years I had spent there.

I didn't feel my wounds. I wanted to go home. I couldn't remember this world. I didn't want to remember that my family was dead . . . .

The cart rolled into a curtained-off space in a large room and a man's face appeared before me. "Miss, I don't know if you know where you are or what's happened to you . . . ." I nodded, but he ignored me. "You've been in an accident up in the mountains. You were attacked by a wild animal and you've been unconscious—" He paused, wondering at my silent laughter.

He went on, but I paid no attention to him. He was an idiot. An animal, indeed. A stab of pain reminded me of my wounds.

"We'll have you under a stronger pain killer in a moment," the man concluded.

Pain-killer? Like a catalyst, the word triggered the flood of memories. I tried to shut them away again, as if denying them would make them null. I didn't want them, but the tide caught me.

Overcome, I remembered my buried past.

Noises and sight faded, then I was aware as someone put a mask over my mouth and told me to breathe deeply. My head lolled uncontrollably, but I was still conscious of things going on around me.

The rustle of bedclothes reached my ears. "Jesus!" the doctor gasped. "I thought you said this was an animal attack."

"Shhh . . . . She can hear you," the voice cautioned.

"What a mess!" the doctor continued, his voice braying in my ears. "No animal did this. That's from a knife of some kind, or . . . or a sword. And that . . . . Lord, have mercy. That's part of an arrow sticking out of that mess there. Where in the hell has she been?"

The world went dark and the doctor's voice faded away.

It wasn't hell, I tried to tell them as I slid into oblivion. I want to go back.

***

MORNING SUNLIGHT STREAMED into the dark room as the nurse pulled back the heavy curtains. I hadn't been aware I was awake until I heard her enter.

"Oh, you're back with us!" she said cheerfully, then walked out into the hall. She returned with a tray she set up on my bed table.

There was oatmeal, orange juice, and a cup full of pills. "It's breakfast time! I'm going to feed you. You're not to move your shoulder."

"I'm not hungry." I turned away.

"Come now. How can you get well and go home to Paul and Will if you don't eat?"

I stared at her, eyes wide. "What did you say?"

"I said, how can you get well and go home to Paul and Will if—"

"They're dead!" I snapped before I could stop myself. I fought back the tears, the pain at saying those awful words. "I saw Paul go down. I'm afraid Will's dead, too. I ran away. He needed me, and I ran away." I closed my eyes and momentarily gave in to the grief that failure brought. "How did you know about them?" I opened my eyes to look at the startled nurse.