Page 37 of That Summer
“Yes. Simple really, I don’t know why no one thought of it before. No offense.”
His eyes widened at the comment. “I don’t know why you think you’d offend me.”
“Because even you didn’t clue in.”
“Well, now I’m curious.”
She huffed. “One day after training, afteranotherblack out, we’re parked in the Safeway parking lot. Lucas asked a few questions about the accident. All totally innocent, just trying to get more information. Well, that night, he took off for a while and when he came home, he was lit up like a Christmas Tree.”
“Why?”
“Because he figured it out. He went to the accident scene and backtracked to the spot where Carmen handed me the keys to her car.” Her hands flew all over as she spoke. “He drove from the restaurant we ate at to the scene. Do you know what? That distance was five minutes and four seconds. Can you believe it?”
Dr. Navin sat in silence.
“Since we had, well Lucas had, figured out why I was blacking out at that specific time—when the crash happened–”
“Slow down, you lost me back there.”
She was so proud to share this information, she felt like sunshine emitted from her pores.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “When Lucas discovered the connection between the black out time and the accident, he worked to figure out a way to get past it.” She took another breath to stop herself from rambling. “And it worked! We finally broke through the five-minute barrier.”
A skeptical expression complete with raised brows and a puckered forehead decorated his face. “How?”
“It’s kind of silly really.”
He leaned much closer, fixated on her.
“I hold this necklace in my right hand, and Lucas holds my left hand.” She pulled out a silver anchor charm with a cross and heart on it from her pocket. Nate had given it to her as a gift. Heat filled her cheeks. “And I…”
Sheesh, it sounded so much better when it was just me and Lucas. Her mouth dried out, and her pulse sped up. In a whispered voice, she said, “I say over and overIt’s not my fault, it’s not my fault.”
Dr. Navin rubbed his chin in deep thought, and remained expressionless. Leaning back into his couch, he inhaled and exhaled. Twice.
Say something. Please. Anything.
“And that works?”
She swallowed. “Both times we tried it, yes. Even managed to make it to ten minutes.”
He thrust himself forward again. “Why’d you stop there?”
“Because the images start to close in. However, once we stop, they fade away.” She shrugged.
“Interesting.”
Seconds ticked by. Heartbeats passed. Breaths were breathed. The wait to hear more from him ate her up inside. He remained speechless, blankly staring at the wall. What he was doing, she didn’t know. He rubbed his thumb across the notepad. She picked at her nails, and tore off a hangnail, turning her fingertip a bright crimson red.
Unable to take it anymore, she flat out asked, “Dr. Navin, did we do something wrong?”
He shook his head quickly. “No, you didn’t. I’ve just never heard of something like that working. It’s not wrong, because it worked. However, I would like to confer with my colleagues on this, and get their opinion. It’s very interesting to me because I know how much you blame yourself for what happened.”
She did. At least until a couple of days ago. It had been hard, but to say it out loud was to believe it. And a month ago she would’ve never believed the accident wasn’t her fault. After all, shewasthe driver and their safety and responsibility rested on her shoulders.
He shook his head. “When’s our next appointment?”
“Friday.”