Found in Understanding: Refuge Series Book Three by Debbie Zello (36)

Chapter Thirty-Six

I introduced Professor Miller to each of his classes. In Jaycon’s class, I walked out right after the introduction. The less time spent trying to avoid him the better for me.

The appointment with him was after the third class. What was actually our lunchtime would be spent upsetting my stomach instead of filling it.

I took a seat moving the chair to the side of the desk, so I could face Jaycon. I wanted to look at him, believing the eyes are the window to the soul. I pulled another chair next to me for Understanding. Then I waited for everyone to arrive.

Alone with my thoughts, I began to panic. I heard the door open and Understanding walked in. His confident stride calmed me. His corresponding smile comforted me. I settled. “Hey, beautiful,” his warm voice said.

“I was just about to run for the hills,” I mewled.

“East or West Rock?” he said smiling.

“Didn’t matter, just out of here.”

“What are you afraid of? One way or the other, he can’t hurt you. I’m here. One look at me and he’ll know I’m here to protect you. It’s a guy thing,” he said with a chuckle.

Miller walked in smiling. “Are we ready for the inquisition?” he asked.

“As ready as I can be,” I answered. I watched him walk around to sit behind his desk. “I’ll begin, if you don’t mind,” he said to Understanding. “I’m just an interested third party to this. It might seem less accusatory coming from me.”

“I was going to suggest that. I’m too close and therefore not impartial. Depending on what he says, I might want to kill him,” Understanding said taking my hand. We sat quietly for a few minutes. The knock at the door alerted us to his presence.

“Come in,” Miller said. Jaycon walked in with his eyes moving from face to face. He stopped on Understanding.

“Is he the man in your life now?” Jaycon said looking at me. I felt the words were accusatory.

“This is Understanding Franklyn. What he is to me is none of your business, Mr. Greenberg,” I said angrily. I could see the weight of what I said settle on him.

“Sorry, that didn’t come out the way I had intended. I’m known as Jaycon Greenberg but I’m really not him at all,” he said extending his hand to Understanding. They shook hands rather aggressively. He then turned to Miller and said, “Jeremy, how have you been?”

“You are quite familiar, Mr. Greenberg. You may address me as Professor Miller, please. Take a seat as we have many questions to ask of you,” he said pointing to the empty chair. Jaycon sat down rather awkwardly. It was clear that his leg still bothered him. “I’ve read your essay. I want to know how you came about learning the information you wrote about.”

“I believe the assignment was to write about yourself and how you came to go to Yale. I did the assignment. What I wrote is what I know of my life. I have no further explanation other than what I wrote.”

“You want us to believe that you simply popped into another body? That you were one person, who coincidently died, and you woke up as this other person?” Miller said pointing to him.

“That’s pretty much it. I can quote conversations we’ve had Jeremy, if need be. I can tell you verbatim what you told me about your mistress in England. Your two children with her and why you continue to accept teaching there.”

“Firelight, I can tell you about our baseball euphemisms. How the night I died was going to be our first night together. Where we ate, the movies we watched and what I whispered in your ear.”

“Proving to you that I’m Royce would seem easy to do. Making you believe it is far more difficult.”

“There is one thing that I told you that I have never told anyone else. After I told you, I was sorry I had said anything. I was trusted with this and I broke that trust by telling you. If you can tell me what it is alone, I’ll know that you are Royce,” I said seriously. He smiled and nodded. I could tell by looking at him that he knew what it was. I began to cry. How could this be happening? How could it be real?

Jaycon stood and held his hand out to me. I stood and placed my hand in his saying, “Please excuse us for a minute.” Understanding shot me a look that clearly meant ‘don’t go with him’ but I continued to walk.

We got out to the deserted hallway and I turned to face him. He fingered the piece of hair that had come loose from my ponytail and placed it behind my ear. Something that Royce had done a hundred times before.

He smiled and said, “Sky found the man that had killed his family before the police had. He murdered him slowly, piece by piece. When he finished, he buried him in a remote part of a mountain near where he lived. Then he sold everything and bought the ranch. He dedicated his life to helping others and taking care of the earth. He’s a great man, Firelight. If I could, I would have done the same thing.”

I began to cry uncontrollably. I had the body shaking, hiccup and snot-running kind of crying. I was wobbling on my feet putting all of my energy into crying. He held me in his arms to soothe me. “I…never…thought…I…would talk…to you again,” I stammered out.

“I didn’t either. I saw you pull my hand out from under the sheet that covered me. You were holding my hand and rubbing it. You were crying just like this and all I could do was watch.”

“I don’t know how long I was there. When you’re dead, you can’t tell time. It all kind of flows together. You see snippets of things happening, the wake and funeral and then the memorial service. I was at your apartment a few times before I just vanished into nothingness. You were a mess and I was of no help at all.”

“Then, as abruptly as it began, I woke up in a world of hurt. At first I could barely open my eyes. People were talking, asking me questions, asking me to move a finger. My first thought was holy shit did I live? Was that all some kind of nightmare? Once I could focus, I looked for you.”

“I was surrounded by strangers calling me Jaycon. I thought it was all a stupid mistake. Someone had mixed up our names until the nurse gave me a mirror to look at my head injury. I almost shit my pants when I saw this face looking back at me. Holy fuck, how does this happen?”

“How does this happen?”

“No fucking clue. I’ve done internet searches, spoken to ‘experts’ in the paranormal, people who have had out-of-body experiences, nothing can explain this.”

“My parents sent me to a shrink because I kept trying to convince everyone of who I actually am. I finally made up my mind that it was easier to join them than to change them. So I’m Jaycon. Jaycon who had to complete high school for the second time. Now has to complete a BA, MA and PhD twice.

“The worst part is, I’ve lost the girl. I could do everything else easily if I still had you,” he said sweetly. The look on his face betraying the hurt of everything he had had to go through.

“I’m sorry about that. Understanding has your bike. That’s how we met. I saw it outside the coffee shop. I couldn’t believe it was the same bike. He’s a good man,” I said defensively.

“He had better be. I may not look like much but I’m wiry. He’ll squash me for sure, but I can put up a good fight.” That made me laugh. He wiped my tears away with his thumb. “We had better go back in. Your fiancé is patient but everyone has their limits.”