Except#1
It was sunny and mild the July morning Roxanne and I
headed up the state highway into the Verdugo Hills. But the
Santa Anas were blowing in from the desert, and those aptly
called devil winds rocked our car with gusts of heat and
dust that caused tiny sparks of electricity to snap against
my fingertips every time I touched my hair.
I looked forward to the Santa Anas each summer because
they cleared every trace of smog from the vast L.A. basin
and left the air sparkling. But that day they were weeks
early and their intensity increased a sense of foreboding
I'd awakened with.
I squeezed my hands together and glanced at the woman
sitting next to me, for she was the true reason for my
uneasiness.
My best friend and I should have been relaxed and chatty,
but we hadn't been either lately. Roxanne had recently
broken up with the guy she'd been seeing for years, and her
mood alarmed me. She had barely said a word at the front
door when she picked me up, and nothing at all since we'd
been in the car.
Slowly I turned my head from side to side, trying to ease
the knot of anxiety in my neck. I reached up to massage my
shoulder but the seatbelt held me snugly, so I undid it.
The lock made a sharp click as it released.
"What's wrong?" Roxanne asked.
"Nothing." I spoke quietly. "Just a kink. I must have
slept weird."
She frowned and shifted gears and the road rose higher in
front of us...
Excerpt #2
When I ‘woke up,' strange words to use after being
unconscious for what was surely days, not hours, I felt
remarkably lucid. Which is to say, I opened my eyes and saw
and understood that I was in a hospital bed, there were
nurses working in the area outside my glassed–in room,
and I was hooked to an I.V. and some other kind of machine.
I didn't know the story of how I got here, but assumed it
was bad. I remembered hearing, somewhere, that I had been in
a terrible car accident, but I was blank to any other
details.
For instance, I didn't know my name.
I examined the contents of my brain and started a list of
unknown things. Where was I? No clue. What day was it? I
looked outside and saw blue sky. Zero. I was blank to the
most basic of information.
My chest tightened and a roar began in my head. Don't
panic. I gulped air, blinked; fought to stay awake.
"Roxanne. Roxanne Ruiz. Do you know where you are?"
I didn't recognize that name. In my brain I saw a face. A
kind face, smiling. A great looking guy with strong arms and
blue eyes.
But I had no idea who he was either ...
Excerpt #3
"May I sit down, Nick?"
I nodded. Roxanne sat at the table in the kitchen.
Despite her appearance, she seemed in control. I felt her
eyes on me as I poured myself a glass of water.
The kitchen was a mess. For a second I was embarrassed by
the dirty dishes, the soured milk on the counter. Then I got
a grip. This wasn't a social call and Roxanne wasn't someone
I was trying to impress. Every time she walked into the
room, she did so with an agenda.
I turned around. "Do you want something to drink?"
She shook her head.
I sat across from her. She was pinching the back of her
hand, like Cathy used to do.
"What's going on? What do you want from me?" I sounded
angrier than I thought I was.
"What do you mean?"
"You're fooling around with your hands exactly like Cathy
always did. You never had that habit. Why are you doing
stuff like that?"
"What else am I doing?"
"You're wearing your hair pulled back in a ribbon, and
clothes like my wife wore." I pointed at her blouse. "And
you're acting weird with the cat, like she's your cat, among
other things. It's freaking my sister out."
Roxanne fidgeted. "That's ridiculous," she said, but her
face revealed I'd hit a nerve...