Because I Love You

Chapter 3: Healing

Jamie watched as the sun set slowly and majestically behind the trees. A quiet breeze stirred ripples on the lake and she shivered, wishing she had thought to bring a warmer coat with her. Or any coat at all. All she had was her long-sleeved shirt and already goosebumps were beginning to break out all over her skin.

And yet, for the first time since her attack, she was at peace. The chirruping of the birds didn't send her into a panic; the buzz of mosquitoes didn't speed up her heart rate at all. She breathed deeply, smelling the cold in the evening air. Perhaps the reason she was drawn here was all the memories. This had always been their place. She and Michael had always come here when they were in high school, and when she had moved; this was always their rendezvous point when she visited.

It was Michael who had shown her the cave where she was now, coaching her to walk along the narrow ledge to the small cave tucked in the rock. She felt safe here, knowing that the cave was hard to see from the path, and that no one was in the park at this time of day so she was completely alone. She leaned against the cool rock wall. She didn't want to go back yet. Not after over hearing Michael talking to Emma. She looked down at the pad on her lap. Maybe...here she would be able to write out her story. Gripping her pen firmly, she began to write, hesitantly recalling the night onto the page.

' My roommate Annie had gone to a party at her sorority house and wouldn't be back until morning. I was practicing a dance for my class the next day when someone knocked on the door. He said he was a friend of "my roommate" and he had come to borrow a book for a class they had together. I opened the door and what seemed like a crowd of them pushed in. I realized someone thing was wrong when I saw they all had some sort of mask on to hide their faces. Three boys were carrying six-pack cans of beer, though they were already drunk. I tried to run out and get to the R.A. on our floor, but they grabbed me and forced me down on the bed, tying my wrists to the bedpost-.'

Jamie stopped writing as she heard someone on the trail nearby. Her hands were shaking, remembering what had happened, and she froze, hoping that she wouldn't be heard and that whoever it was would go away. The light was fading fast and she belatedly realized she hadn't brought a flashlight. Her heart skipped a beat as she heard someone moving on the ledge toward the cave. Frantically, she scrabbled around for a rock to use as a weapon, then relaxed slightly as she recognized the dark-haired figure climbing into the cave.

She flipped to a fresh sheet of paper and wrote what are you doing here?

"Thought I should find you before it got too dark," said Michael lightly, but he looked annoyed.

I told you I was going for a walk. I was going to come back.

"Which is a little confusing seeing that you jump out of your skin all day at the slightest sound but then...oh, you decide you're well enough to walk out the moment I turn my back?"

I figured you could use some time NOT looking after me.

Michael flushed slightly, embarrassed.

"You heard me talking to Emma."

No duh.

Here on the lake she wasn't scared anymore, and she just glared accusingly at him from where she was leaning against the wall. He glanced at her curiously.

"Is this why you wanted to stay with me? Because of this place?"

I was always reminded of you here, and that made me happy. She thought. But instead she wrote, Memories. How did you know I was here? He squinted in the failing light to read the pad, then shrugged.