"How's my girl?"

"Grandpa!" she cried, jumping off the bed, and flying into his arms.

"Hello, Sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head. "Not doing so good, are you?"

"I hate this place. They keep putting me under a microscope. I feel like a bug they’re studying."

"That's not good. Your mother and father should be horsewhipped."

“My mother and father,” she humphed. “How could they do this to me? Why, the things I’m remembering, Grandpa…” her voice trailed off.

“Sit down, Sweetheart,” he sat down on the bed and patted a space beside him.

She sat down and he put his arm around her. It felt good.

“I miss you and Grandma so much,” she whispered.

“And we miss you, too. Why Grandma doesn’t have anyone to scold about slamming doors without you there.”

McKenna gave a short laugh. “Grandpa, I need to talk about something or I’m going to explode.”

“What is it, Sweetheart. You can tell me.”

She hesitated, took a breath and said, “My father left me to drown.”

“McKenna,” he said, then hesitated. He opened his mouth several times to speak, but then closed it again, as if he couldn’t find the right words. Finally, he rubbed his chin, opened his mouth and said, “I know.”

“You know?”

He nodded. “Grandma and I both know. Of course, you understand this happened long after Grandma and I passed on. We couldn’t help you, though we wished we could.”

“But why would he do that? How could he?”

“I don’t like saying this, but your father was a drunk, Sweetheart. He took you out in that boat against your mother’s wishes when he was intoxicated. When you fell in, he didn’t jump in after you because he knew he would drown, too.”

“But why would he lie to me all this time?”

Her grandfather reached out and took her hand. “Because he’s also a coward.”

“I always thought my father was a knight in shining armor,” she whispered.

“Most little girls do.” He wrapped her in his arms again.

“But this is different. My father was my knight in shining armor. He was always there for me. He -he -he -,” she couldn’t finish. Tears welled up in her eyes and she sobbed against his chest. “He left me to drown.”

“I’m sorry, Sweetheart,” Her grandfather whispered against her hair. “I truly am.”

“When I get out of here, I never want to see them again.”

“Well, let’s be logical. Where do you think you’ll go other than home? You’re still only seventeen.”

“I don’t care. I’ll go to Dane. He loves me, Grandpa.”

“I’m sure he loves you, McKenna. But can he take care of you?”

“And why couldn’t he? He says he will always be there for me. I don’t need my mother or father. I’m not going home. When I get out of here, I’m going to the cabin to be with Dane. And no one is going to stop me.”

Her grandfather slowly shook his head as he stared at the floor. “Grandma, what have we done,” he whispered.

“What did you say, Grandpa?”

“Nothing.” He lifted his head and gave her half a smile. “I’m just an old man talking to myself.”

“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” she said, changing the subject.

“And what’s that?”

“I don’t know how I ended up on the beach. And there was someone there, Grandpa. Someone that saved my life. I don’t know who it was, but they had blue eyes. That’s all I can remember. Blue eyes.”

“I’m surprised you remember that much.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” he said again.

“Well, the longer I’m here, the more I’m going to remember. The doctor injects me with this stuff, and it helps me to remember.”

He sighed. “Well, then I guess you’ll be remembering everything soon.”

McKenna smiled for the first time in days. “Yes!” she said. “I’m going to remember everything and then I’m going to find a way out of here.”

***

This time she got to lay on the couch. The blood pressure cuff was slipped onto her arm, the oxygen mask over her face, and the prick of the needle into her vein.

Once again, the warm water turned cold and she was drowning. She saw the bottom of the boat. She saw her father leaning over the side. She heard voices. Angry voices.  Where were the voices coming from? Were they inside her head, or inside the boat?

She only caught bits and pieces. It as if she was listening with a walkie talking with bad reception.

“Why ………… do that?”

“Keep it up, …… bitch, and ……….. next! How many ………. I told you I ……….kid? We …. happy ………….. two………. I was ………glad ……….. sterile. But you ………………….. alone, could you?”

McKenna sank deeper into the water. The voices disappeared. Then she felt the hands pull her up and out of the lake. She felt the warm sand beneath her. She felt the breath flow into her lungs, she coughed and threw up the water.

She opened her eyes, the bright sun assaulting her vision. The blue eyes gazed back at her. This time, though, she could see flaxen hair and cupid’s bow lips.

She started to cry. “Momma! Daddy!”

"I think you'll be alright now.” The voice was gentle. He rose, and she watched him walked toward the cemetery.

McKenna opened her eyes. She was still on Dr. Olsen’s couch. She brought a hand up to her face. It came away wet. She had been crying.

She turned to look at Dr. Olsen. He had been watching her closely.

“How are you feeling, McKenna?”

“I don’t know. I’m confused.”

“And why do feel confused?”

“It’s just that -I think my father tried to kill me.”

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