It was a perfect cloudless morning. She had been walking for hours, what started out as a morning job to get some exercise, ended up being a long leisurely walk along the beach for miles. She was heading back to her starting point, but still had a few miles to go. Annie was allowing the ocean to wash over her feet every few minutes as she enjoyed the sun shining on her face. Occasionally she would stop, pick up an ocean treasure, examine it and decide whether to keep it or throw it back in the ocean. The keepers she would stow in her small tote bag that was over her shoulder. The bag had started out on a small keychain, but when unfolded revealed a nice sized bag perfect for collecting items on the beach. She could not be happier or more relaxed than she was right now.
About half a mile from her starting point, she saw Simon running towards her. They had been in St. Martin for three days. It seemed too good to be true that they could have a vacation together without one of their agencies finding them. Now it seemed to Annie that their time was up. She started quickening her pace towards him dreading whatever bad news he would obviously have.
Upon reaching him, he quickly and wordlessly picked her up bridal style and began jogging with her in his arms back to the house that Simon had outright bought for their vacation. Sometimes, his illegal activities had their advantages, such as having seemingly unlimited cash on hand at all times.
She tried to question his motives as her carried her towards their vacation home, but he said nothing, only smiled and continue steadily jogging the short distance to the house, carrying her effortlessly. Upon reaching their home, he deposited her on the porch before grabbing the blindfold from the nearby chair. At first she was hesitant to allow him to blindfold her, but she was excited curious about what was happening. Despite all her instincts telling her to resist, she complied and allowed him to blindfold her. Then he grabbed her hands and walked her into the home they had been sharing. She knew the layout well, so she knew that she was being lead into the entrance way, through the living room and into the dining room. They had not used this room since arriving, so she was intrigued what they might be doing there.
Upon allowing her other senses to heighten, she smelled various fruits, chocolate, and perhaps cheese. She also smelled flowers. She couldn't identify them by smell alone, but she could tell there were multiple types. She heard soft classical music playing somewhere to her left. She heard water trickling somewhere nearby, perhaps a fountain. She was guided to a soft plush chair she knew was placed around the dining room table that they had never used. She sat down and allowed Simon to push her chair under for her. The anticipation was killing her. When she had observed him running towards her and the beach, she had just known that he was coming to tell her they had to leave immediately. Now it seemed he had something romantic planned for her.
He gently caressed her neck and kissed her gently from behind causing her to slightly shiver in response at the unexpected affection. Finally, he seductively whispered in her ear from behind her "Sweetheart, you can remove the blindfold now."
She did as she was told, slowly removing the blindfold, keeping her eyes closed until she placed the cloth on the table in front of her. As she opened her eyes she was speechless at what she saw. Before her was a spread of various fruits, cheeses, and three different melted chocolate pots over flames to keep them melted. There were candles everywhere, as well as blue and gold vases of flowers everywhere. In the foreground of the dining room was a huge, gorgeous fountain trickling water peacefully. Around the room there were flower petals all over the floor, every shape, size, color, and variety imaginable represented among the petals. The serving dishes, plates, and silverware were all top quality. Solid white, except for two thin lines around the rim of the plate, one gold and the other dark blue. They were gorgeous. Everything was perfect, including the man sitting to her left.
Suddenly, she realized there was a third plate at the table in addition to the two in front of her and Simon. She began to feel uneasy with the realization that they would be sharing their romantic meal with another person, but who could be joining them? They had met no neighbors, neither of them had been here before (a stipulation to their particular location being chosen), and they had both vowed to turn off their cell phones for the duration of the trip. They were off the map and had no ties to anyone at the moment, or so she thought.
As she was about to ask about the mystery guest joining them, there was a knock at the door. She turned to get up and answer it. But Simon stopped her.
"I've got it sweetheart. Please close your eyes and wait for our guest to be seated. I want you to be surprised. If you need to, put your blindfold back on."
Annie honestly didn't think she could will herself to voluntarily keep her eyes closed while the mystery person came in, so she placed the blindfold over her eyes and Simon went in behind her and tied it securely. After checking that she indeed could not see, Simon made his way to the front door. Annie tired to listen carefully for any hint as to who the stranger might be. She heard the door open, but no one spoke, at least not that she could hear.
The footfalls of the stranger seemed vaguely familiar, but she could not quite place them. She heard the two sets of footsteps enter the entrance, then went through the living room, finally, they were in the room with her. She could smell this new person and knew it was someone she had been around before. Her gut told her that it had to be—but it couldn't be. He would never come here. How would he know where she was? How would he get here? She would have known for sure if it was him. He couldn't exactly sneak up on a person. She knew her instincts were wrong as the chair slide from under the table on her right and the mystery person, who she was now certain, was a man, sat down.
Anxiety was overwhelming Annie as she desperately wanted to know who had joined them, what they wanted, and why they were interrupting her very romantic brunch. She took a deep breath and slowly let the air out, trying to wait patiently for a signal that she could remove the blindfold.
Finally, Simon broke the deafening silence between them. Barely whispering "Sweetheart, you can remove the blindfold and greet our guest."
Before he had barely completed his sentence, the blindfold was untied and in her lap. She could not believe her eyes, she blinked a couple times to make sure what he saw was real. Sitting beside her, in the flesh, was none other than fellow operative, her former handler, and best friend—Auggie Anderson.
She screamed and pushed the chair from under the table and swung her arms around her best friend. She couldn't believe he was there. He looked tired, but had a broad smile across his face. She was so excited to see him. He held her close for a minute. She could feel herself blush as she realized Simon was watching them. Her heart began to race and suddenly she couldn't breath. She closed her eyes hoping the feeling would pass after a moment. All of a sudden she felt herself falling to the floor.
She opened her eyes and saw strangers all around her.
"We've got her back." A white coated nameless man stated sounding exhausted.
The nameless doctor spoke again, this time to her "Ms. Walker, you're in the hospital. You've been shot. You just gave us quite a scare. Don't try to talk, we have a breathing tube in. Just rest."
Annie was aware of many machines around her. She was laying flat on her back, her chest was tight and every inch of her was sore. She didn't dare try to move, she wasn't sure the extend of her injuries. She closed her eyes again and let the darkness of sleep take her away again. As the darkness enveloped her, she felt a familiar hand take hers. She knew immediately that it was Auggie. Auggie was there with her. She was going to be okay if Auggie was there. He always made sure she got home safely.
Author's Note: So what do we think? This chapter and the last are sorta supposed to be going on at the same time. So Auggie is waiting while Annie dreams. Then they both end with Annie's heart stopping and being restarted. Is that clear?