Toto and the Boys III: Dannie

Chapter 24

A piece of the past...

"I saw Jesus in my sleep last night," Tessa told her.

She didn't know what to say other than, "Really?"

Her sister nodded with a faint smile on her lips. "He said he's going to take me to a great place."

Dannie felt the tears coming. She wanted to tell Tessa the truth but she couldn't bring herself to do it. "Everything's going to be great from today onwards," she promised her sister.

The very next day, Dannie and her mother packed Tessa's belongings and left the hospital for good.

The ache she felt in her heart couldn't be compared to anything she had been through. What she lost during her hotel visits couldn't be compared to that day.

The question of whether she could have done more would forever be a shadow in her life.

PRESENT DAY

The smile on her face was enlightening. It was like I was on my dying moment and I was seeing an illusion of something peaceful—something promising.

I couldn't help it, but that was what I felt while Dannie baby took the final steps toward me. Her gentle hands planted themselves on my hood and I was suddenly energized, ready to know more—to find out more—about the reasons of this sudden change in her aura.

My headlights went over to where Troy was standing and I almost snorted. It couldn't be entirely because of him, right? That would be horrendous! Huh! No way! That guy may have played a part, but not that much, right?

"Don't look so happy seeing that old thing," Troy said as he walked toward us.

OLD?! Who's OLD?!

"I'm just glad he's still intact," Dannie uttered with a chuckle, giving me a pat before she turned to face Troy. "Shall we go home now?"

Troy took a deep breath and sighed. "Danica, I'm beat. Seriously beat. Can't we just spend at least a day here before we head back home?"

To my uttermost surprise, to Troy's, Dannie baby just shrugged and said, "Okay. That's fine with me. What are we having for lunch?"

She walked away from us and to the house, her steps light and...happy?

Troy scratched his head with an amused look on his face. And then he turned to me and said, "We should carnap you more often, buddy."

SHUT UP, BRADY!

He followed her to the house and I wondered about what would happen next. I was not against staying overnight any more than I was yesterday because at that very moment, I wanted to see something unfurl.

*****

Dannie ordered Troy to call the bride and to tell her Toto was safe and would be delivered the following day. After learning that she and Troy would be spending the night at the farm, her friends demanded to talk to her.

"Yes, it's true," Dannie said, looking over at Troy who was trying to find something inside the fridge. "No, he did not force me." At that, Troy jumped to his feet and rushed to her side.

"Tell them you readily said yes," he urged.

She brushed him aside and listened to what Jackie was saying. "Yeah, we'll go back home tomorrow. Yes, I won't let him take me anywhere."

"Why do you guys always have to do this?" Jackie demanded.

"What does Brady feed you, huh? You're suddenly always with him," George added.