The Fire Within

Chapter 27

June 8, 1864

“It seems he’s in a coma. We have done all we can for him here, it may be time to move him,” the male voice says.

“We can’t move him. He’s still struggling. You don’t understand, I can’t lose him,” says the voice of an angel.

“Nurse Wheaton, Grace, he needs better care. We can’t give him what he needs here. We need to move on, we need to be closer to the units. Others are going to need us Grace,” the male voice says. Pausing a moment, “You can go with him. But the rest of us, we need to be where the soldiers need us. He is stable, he can be moved safely.”

“We can’t take him to a southern hospital. If someone finds out who he is…” her voice trails off with a quiver.

Zachariah lies and listens. He doesn’t understand what he’s hearing. They say he’s in a coma, but he doesn’t feel like he is. He actually feels fine, aside from the fact that he can’t move or talk.

The voices continue and the more they talk, the more he can hear her voice wavering and her harsh intakes of air. He wants nothing more than to wrap her in his embrace and let her know that everything will be okay. She’s usually so strong, his rock in this time of turmoil and mayhem. But now when he hears her speak, he only hears the despair and fear in her beautiful melodic voice. He knows she desperately needs him. She needs to hear his voice, to see his eyes, and for him to let her know that he is there and he can hear her. But no matter how hard he tries, he is still unable to force his eyes open. He has no idea how many days it’s been or even what state he’s in, but he does know that his bride hasn’t left his side.

With a shaky voice, Grace agrees that it is time to move Zachariah. She knows they can’t stay here forever, and no one knows if or when he is ever going to wake up. She leans in and presses her lips to his. They are still and lifeless, but the warmth is there, letting her know that for now, he’s still there with her.

“Zachariah, we’re gonna be moving you to a safer place. I’ll be going with you. It’s going to be a long journey, but I promise, I’ll keep you safe no matter what,” she whispers into his ear. “I love you, Zachariah. Please come back to me. I miss you so much.”

A tear slides down her cheek and lands on his. He knows he felt her tear on his skin, he’s sure of it. With everything in him, he knows that if he is ever going to let her know that he hears her, now would be the time. Her despair and longing are only going to make her eventually give up. She needs to know that he’s there and for her to keep fighting.

With everything in him, Zachariah focuses on his fingers. If he could just get one, just one, to move. With the warmth of Grace’s fingers wrapped around his, he knows that she will feel it. What he really wants to do is rub in fingers across her hand and sooth the ache that has settled in her, but he knows that isn’t possible. He continues to concentrate and focus on his hand, his fingers, and the muscles, tendons, and bones. Each part of his finger that he will need to make it move. He’s concentrating so hard that he almost doesn’t realize it when his thumb twitches against her hand.

When Grace feels the slight tremor in his hand and the twitch in his thumb, she’s sure she imagined it or that it was just a twitch. But a part of her desperately needs it to have been him.

“Zachariah?” she whispers, hope dripping from voice. “Zachariah, was that really you?”

With everything in him. All his love, every fear and desire, he twitches his fingers again, this time both his thumb and index finger. Please hear me Grace. Please, know it’s me…

She looks at him, astonished. He moved, she’s sure of it. “Zachariah? I feel you. You hear me, don’t you? I knew you wouldn’t leave me.” She leans in and presses her lips to his once again. “I love you. I felt you. Keep fighting, please.”