Page 53 of Strangers She Knows

“No, I’m not forgetting the words. Everything freezes: my chest, my throat, my vocal chords. I can’t breathe.”

Rae returned with a towel so wet it dripped all the way across the floor.

“Rae! We want to wipe off Mommy’s face, not give her a bath.” Max sounded exasperated. “Go wring it out.”

Rae sighed violently and stomped out again.

Max returned his attention to Kellen. “It’s happened before?”

“Yes, but never like that, where I black out.”

He was on his feet in an instant. “I’ve got to call the doctor.”

“No.” Kellen lunged, grabbed his leg. “You can’t. Literally, you can’t.”

“I can call from the helicopter. I can take you to the hospital. I will! You could die.”

“What I really need right now is an ice bag and that damp dish towel to wipe my face.”

“Rae!” Max yelled. “Hurry up!” Then he couldn’t wait, and headed into the kitchen himself.

Kellen heard him scolding Rae, and he was back in less than a minute with an ice bag wrapped in a dish towel and another damp dish towel.

As he knelt beside her to clean her face, she looked him in the eyes. “After all I’ve been through, I’m not going to die from this. I spoke to the doctor.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because there’s no reason to worry. She said it’s not surprising, given the stresses of relearning so much, that the most valuable asset I have, my words, should sometimes choke me.” Kellen took the ice bag and gingerly pressed it on her face. “She gave me relaxation exercises to do.”

“You should do them!”

“I am!”

“I haven’t seen you!”

Kellen took a long, calming breath. “There. You just saw me do one.”

Max stared as if he didn’t understand.

Patiently she explained, “Relaxation exercises aren’t like punching a bag. They’re mostly just breathing. Meditation. You’ve seen me meditate.”

“It’s not working!”

“It’s like the piano. I’m not good at them yet, but as long as I practice every day, I will get better—am getting better. I know that Rae and Luna don’t think so, but—”

In the kitchen, the back door slammed.

Kellen looked around. Luna wandered in looking desolate. “Where’s Rae?” she asked the dog.

Max strode to the front window and looked out. “She’s going for a bike ride.”

Kellen pushed herself to her feet. “She’s not supposed to. That’s what we were fighting about.”

“Why? Where’s she going?”

“She wanted to ride down to the Conkles’ to pick up the vegetables for tonight’s dinner.” Kellen joined him at the window and watched her little girl ride out of sight.

“Nothing wrong with that.”

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