A Long Road Back: Final Dawn: Book 8 Read Online Free PDF Page A

could possibly trigger the memories that are floating around in the deep recesses of her mind…”
         Hannah knew what was coming.
         “But…”
         “But… It’s a two hour trip there. If they hold her there to await your arrival, and if your presence doesn’t do anything to help her, then we’ve wasted two hours. In that same period of time they can bring her here. And once she’s here we have a variety of treatment options. We can walk her around the compound to see if that triggers anything. We can let her lie in her own bed. Look at her face in her own mirror. Let her put on her own clothes. And instead of just seeing just your face, she’ll see all of us.
         “In the same amount of time… those same two hours, we can increase our chances of successfully treating her many times over.”
         Hannah looked at Sami, who looked at Frank. Frank nodded in agreement. Then Karen. Then Sami. Hannah was the last to hold out, but only briefly.
         “But… what if…”
         That was all she had left in her. The end of her argument. Debbie made sense, and as much as Hannah wanted to run to help her best friend, she couldn’t think of a single reasonable argument to counter Debbie’s.
         “Okay. I give up.”
         Karen got back on the radio and said, “Bryan, you still there?”
         “Yes, ma’am.”
         “I’ve discussed it with our resident experts, and we think it’s a bad idea for you to wait for one of the girls. You’ve got control of the situation right now, and you can get her here quickly. Once she’s here we can treat her with kid gloves and love her back to health. We want you to bring her home.”
         “Yes, ma’am. We’ll be leaving here within half an hour or so.”
         Frank got on.
         “Bryan, what are you going to do with the guy who took her?”
         “I don’t know what else to do. If we set him free he’ll do the same thing to some other woman. We’ll bring him with us too and decide what to do with him as a group.”
         “Be careful. Let us know when you’re getting close.”
         “Ten four.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    -5-
     
         They’d brought both vehicles back. Bryan Too drove the Hummer, David sat in the passenger seat and Bryan sat in the back with his wife.
         Perhaps the only concession Sarah gave to Bryan was laying her head on his shoulder.
         Bryan had tears in his eyes. Sarah’s were bone dry and stared off into nothingness.
         Brad drove the pickup, Martel still hog-tied and gagged and rolling about in the back. It was an excruciating journey for the man, but no one really cared.
         Once home, every person in the compound lined the walkway between the gate and the big house to welcome their friend back.
         She noticed not a one of them.
         Sarah walked in the same manner a zombie would through the gate of the compound. As she was led to her apartment, Bryan at her side and holding her arm, she didn’t look around. Didn’t utter a sound. Didn’t seem to recognize anything.
         As they walked past Debbie and Hannah, Hannah smiled and said, “Hiya, Cookie. Welcome home.”
         She got no response, which caused Hannah to burst into tears as soon as her friend was out of sight.
         “What could cause this?”
         Debbie said, “She’s almost certainly in shock. Shock can be caused by stress, and aggravated by an injury. She’s had both recently. Head trauma and a very stressful situation.”
         “So what’s your prognosis, Doc?”
         “I think she’ll probably recover fully, but it’s really too soon to say. I’ll examine her in a couple of hours. Right now the best thing we can do is to let her have some quiet time with Bryan. See if love does its magic. Sometimes it does.”
         Time