The darkness weighed him down. It felt like he was swimming through water, pitch-black water. He was several feet down and fought to get clear of it. As he swam closer to the surface, he could hear a mix of sounds and felt warmth on his eyelids. When his eyes opened, light seared them, and he shut them again with a moan.

“Oh, my. Kevin, did you see that?” Kristin secured the fresh bandage in place and grabbed for her husband’s hand. “His eyes opened.”

Kevin placed a hand on her shoulder and studied their patient. “Are you sure? I thought he just made a sound, like he was in pain.”

“Well, of course, he’s in pain.” She brushed her hand over the man’s blond curls, fussing like a mother hen. “Come on, now. You can wake up. It’s all right. We’ll take care of you.”

Brian heard their voices and wondered who they were. Where was he? His head hurt, but it was nothing compared to the scorching pain that raged in his back. Reluctantly, he forced his eyes to open. Blinking in the sunlight, he tried to focus on the face in his view. Blue eyes framed by soft blonde hair. There was concern in her expression, and a certainty in him that he’d never seen her before.

“Where am I?”

Kevin stepped forward to stand next to his wife. “You’re safe. Do you know what happened to you last?”

Brian took several breaths, fighting the pain, and studied his doctors. “N-no. I’m hurt. I was hurt. How?”

“You were bleeding from several bullet wounds. You haven’t been awake for two days.” Kevin’s green eyes narrowed. “What’s your name?”

“How did bullets get into me?” Brian’s eyes blurred as he tried to recall what he could remember. A sick dread slowly crept through him. “I don’t remember.”

“Anything?” Kristin settled on the edge of the bed, one hand on her belly. “What about your name?”

He shook his head. “Brian, it’s Brian. I can’t, ah, I can’t remember the rest. I don’t know where I’m from.” His eyes widened with terror and uncertainty. “Oh, god, I can’t remember who I am.”

Kevin, too, was frowning. This wasn’t at all what he’d expected. How were they to send the man on his way if he didn’t remember who he was? They couldn’t just send him back to the Rebel army as it had just suffered a sound defeat. The war had moved out of Gettysburg after raging for three days, and the wind carried the scent of dead bodies as far as the Richardson farm. He sighed. Well, they’d just muddle through this one, wouldn’t they?

“It’ll come back to you. You must have hit your head.” Kevin pursed his lips as he thought. Then, making up his mind, he spoke. “Do you know of the War Between the States?”

Brian’s brow furrowed as he searched through his thoughts. “Yes.” His voice was hesitant at first. “Because of the slaves. The southern states don’t want to give up their slaves. I do remember that.” He looked down at the bandages on his arm. “Was I fighting?”

“Yes, you were. It’s where you were injured, and you dropped, bleeding, onto our land.” Kristin smiled. “We took care of you, and you’re safe here as long as it takes for you to heal and remember what you need to remember.”

Kevin didn’t bother muttering about his wife’s over-generosity. “Until we can figure out where it is you’re from, you’ll stay with us.” He held out a hand. “My name is Kevin, Kevin Richardson, and this is my wife, Kristin.”

Brian took hold of the hand rough with calluses. “You’re farmers.” He’d seen the ripening fields through the window. “In the North.”

“Yes.” Kristin rose. “You’re in pain.” She’d seen the flicker of it in his eyes. “Your back is where the worst of the wounds are. We just changed your bandages, but you haven’t been drinking medicine while you’ve been unconscious. I’ll get some for you, and you’ll rest awhile.”

“Thank you. Thank you both.” Brian took a slow, deep breath and tried to calm the panic that raged in him. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

“There’s no need.” Kristin gave him a warm smile and bustled out of the room.

Brian watched her go before he looked up at Kevin, who wasn’t smiling. “You have a lovely wife. Your child is due soon?”

“Yes. Our first.” Sighing, Kevin sat in the chair by the bed. “Brian, I don’t like hiding things, so you should know that you nearly died. You had lost so much blood and had such a terrible fever. We thought we’d be burying you instead of speaking with you. We couldn’t find any identification in your uniform. No letters from home, no indication of your address. I’m sorry.”

Without thinking, he reached out and touched Kevin’s hand, though his back protested the movement. “Please, don’t apologize. You saved my life, and there’s nothing more that you owe me. I, however, owe you much. It’s very gracious of you to let me stay on until I know where I’ve come from.” He rubbed his hands over his face, feeling the growth of stubble and realizing he didn’t even know what his face looked like. “I can promise you that, once I’m able to, I’ll help you with your farm. It appears to be mid-season, and I can do whatever you need.”

“Brian, there is no need to worry about the future at this time. You need to rest.” Kristin returned, carrying a bowl. “If, when you are able to stand, you would like to help Kevin in the fields, you may. Right now, you need to drink this.” She handed him the bowl.

Sniffing at it, Brian wrinkled his nose. “It smells awful.”

Kevin grinned as Kristin shook her head. “Nonsense. Smell doesn’t matter. It’ll help with the pain, so you should bear up and drink it.”

Trying hard not to gag, Brian swallowed the concoction as quickly as he could and grimaced. “That was terrible.”

“It’s my wife’s special remedy.” Kevin continued to grin, and, finding his smile appealing, Brian smiled back. “She swears by it, and, surprisingly, so do I. It works.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Brian murmured, even as the pain in his back began to slowly subside. His eyelids felt heavy, and he lost the struggle to keep them open. “I suppose I’ll just…go…uhh…”

When he fell asleep, Kristin sighed a bit. “Oh, Kevin. He’s just so sweet. Worrying about how to repay us and help us with the farm and all. The poor thing doesn’t even remember who he is. How terrible must that be?”

“Pretty bad,” Kevin agreed. As much as he wished he didn’t, he’d trusted the honesty in Brian’s clear blue eyes, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to kick the man out of his home. “We’ll take care of him until he remembers who he is and where he’s come from.”

Kevin just hoped he wouldn’t come to regret it.

***

The next time he woke, he could see the stars glistening in the sky, and the room was lit by candles and a kerosene lamp. He struggled to sit up, the pain in his back not as severe as it had been before.

“So, you’re awake.”

Brian’s head turned in the direction of the voice, and he found himself facing a young woman with the same coloring as Kevin. Her dark hair was slipping out of its pins, and her green eyes were full of suspicion.

“Who are you?” His voice was scratchy, and he tried to clear his throat.

She rose and, pouring a glass of water from the pitcher on the side table, handed it to him. “I believe the better question is, who are you? My brother seems to believe that you don’t remember.”

“I don’t. And I don’t know why you’re so sure that I’m lying.” He sipped from the water and sighed as it soothed his throat. “You’re Kevin’s sister.”

“Chelsea.” She folded her arms over her chest. “Who are you?”

Brian held the glass in both hands as he studied her. “Exactly who I told your brother I was. My name is Brian, and that’s all I remember. Kevin told me I’d been fighting in a battle near here. I know we’re in the north, but where?”

“Gettysburg in Pennsylvania,” she replied, still not sure he was telling the truth. “Do you know where you’re from?”

“For goodness’ sake, I’ve just told you that I don’t remember,” Brian snapped then stopped, appalled. “I beg your pardon.”

She grinned at the first hint of temper. Kristin had claimed Brian was sweet, kind, caring, and so on, which had made Chelsea suspicious. No Rebel soldier could be so. And here he’d proved her right. “That’s quite all right. I often snap myself. Anger is another sign of healing.”

“Ah, Miss Richardson.” Brian bit his lip. He didn’t think it proper that she sit here with him, alone, but he wasn’t in the mood to have his head bitten off with suspicion any further. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.”

He pressed at the ache in his arm as he spoke. “Do you know what it feels like to wake up and not know where you are, why you’re in an unfamiliar place, and not have a single idea who you are? Do you know what it feels like to be unable to recall your family, your home, those you love and who love you? I have a family somewhere, I know it. And I know that they must be worried because they don’t know if I’m alive or not. Can you understand what any of that feels like?”

Chelsea had to suppress the sigh she’d felt at hearing the words and seeing how he meant them, the way it was reflected in those lovely blue eyes of his. “No,” she said finally. “I can’t say that I’ve ever been so unfortunate.”

“Then, perhaps, before you look to judge me, you’d think first of how I feel. You don’t want a stranger in your house, but I’m dealing with how much of a stranger I am to myself.” He drank down the rest of the glass before handing it back to her. “Thank you for the water. I believe I’ll try to sleep a little more.”

Knowing she’d been effectively put in her place and dismissed, she rose. “Good night, Brian. I do hope you feel better in the morning.”

“Thank you.” With that, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep again.

Chelsea slipped out of the room and shook her head. What an odd, odd man. The worst part of the whole thing was, she no longer thought he was as threatening as she’d thought when he’d been asleep. In fact, she decided it would be a change of pace to have him around on the farm. Things in mid-summer could get dreadfully boring.

With their unexpected guest, though, she doubted this summer would be quite like the others.