Kyle paced the floor of his apartment. Unable to sleep for the past few days, he’d called in sick. How much longer could he go on like this?
He’d searched online and found a book on self-hypnosis. If Dr. Wyler expected him to go another week like this, he’d just take matters into his own hands. After studying the book, he decided to try a few exercises. Maybe he could put himself under and learn what it was that had set off the dreams and visions.
Kyle lay on his bed and breathed deeply. Following the book’s instructions, he put himself into a deep state of meditation. He concentrated on Josie and tried to bring himself back to the Civil War camp.
Everything came into focus. Josie gazed down at him, her cheeks wet with tears. The warmth of her hands clasping his made his breath quicken. Pain radiated from his thigh.
Grasping it, he grimaced. “What happened?”
Josie gazed at him and bit her lip. “I’ll stay with you, Kyle. I won’t allow you to go through this alone.” She clasped his hand.
“Go through what?” Kyle’s pulse raced. Something was terribly wrong here.
“I’ll help you through it and afterward…I’ll never leave you. I promise.”
“What? Tell me what’s going on?” Kyle demanded.
Two men carried a plank. They laid it across two cots. One took his arms, the other his legs.
Kyle screamed as searing pain ripped through him. Josie’s horrified face was the only thing he glimpsed through a haze of raw agony. He had to reach her.
“Josie, please—”
His plea was cut off as the men lifted him toward the back of the tent behind a curtain.
Kyle’s heartbeat raced as he tried to make sense of what was happening. A man with a dark beard approached.
“It will be all right, Corporal. We’ve got chloroform.”
“No! This is a mistake!” Kyle tried to peer through the drawn curtain. “Josie! Where is she?”
“Calm down, Corporal. It will be so much easier on you if you just relax.”
“No, no, you can’t…” A cloth descended over his face. Kyle tried to push off the noxious fumes, but darkness descended.
Kyle gasped and sat up. That had been too real! Those men were about to amputate his leg. Was that what Dr. Wyler had been talking about?
But so many soldiers lost arms and legs during the Civil War. It had to be something more.
Kyle sank back against his pillow, certain he didn’t want to visit that horrifying scene again.
Dreaming Josie available for 99 cents at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-Josie-ebook/dp/B008FZSPLS/ref=sr_1_7?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1341001818&sr=1-7
Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dreaming-josie-susan-macatee/1112136131?ean=2940044700420
And Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/177360
Susan Macatee Romance Writer 