Love at First Letter ✔️

Love at First Letter - 24

Two updates in two days, aren't y'all so proud of me?

This chapter switches POV's, so watch out for that!

Love at First Letter

Chapter 24

Nothing scares me more than thinking of all the different ways I can die. I can drown, I can burn, I can be murdered. I always hoped that my death would be in my sleep when I was about ninety years old and it would be a peaceful death. I always hoped that my husband would pass before me so he wouldn't find me dead in my sleep. I would go out painlessly and unaware.

I never in my life even dreamed of dying in war. I never imagined myself joining the army or the navy or any branch of the military and following in my parent's footsteps, especially after they died. But there was a brief moment before that happened where I wanted to be just like my mother. I wanted to be in the military and fight for my country and be a hero to my kids, who would grow up and want to be just like me.

And then I remember the dream I had last night.

I had something heavy strapped to my back and I was trudging through my mud. I was trying to run as fast as I could but my legs wouldn't move any faster. There were bullets flying all around me and someone was calling out my name but I couldn't distinguish the voice. There were people all around me but there faces were blurry, I didn't know what was happening, it was like they didn't see me at all. They paid no attention to me and just kept running. They were shooting at a target that I couldn't see and it was only then that I felt the large gun in my hands.

I wanted nothing more than to throw it onto the ground and stomp and stomp on it and break it pieces. I didn't want it anywhere near me. It was a killer, a machine that had a hand in killing my parents and I wanted nothing to do with it.

I looked to the skies and prayed that this would be over that I would wake up and it would all be a dream. I would still be wrapped in Brett's arms and I would forget all about it. But I didn't wake up.

My boots were becoming heavier and heavier with the added mud and I was sucking in air as fast as my body would let me but it never seemed to be enough. I could taste the saltiness of my tears as they ran down my face but I never moved my hands to wipe them away. I just kept running. Every time I would go to slow down, something would nudge me in the back and force me to keep running. A voice kept calling out my name, but I couldn't move my neck and I still couldn't tell who it was.

Then it happened in slow motion, everything around me became blurry when a final shot rang out and a searing pain erupted in my stomach. My hands dropped the killing machine down at the ground and my feet finally stopped running. I fell to my knees, my hands gripping the bottom right of my stomach, and I cried out. Hands were on me, shaking me to stay awake, but it never happened.

I faintly remember seeing Brett's face before everything went black.

And everything was still black and my theory of dying in my sleep at the old age of ninety had been swiped away. I was sure I was dead. I kept trying to pry my eyes open but nothing worked. I was kept in a cage of darkness and nothing I did helped me escape. I finally let my body relax and fall deeper into the darkness, but not without hearing that unknown voice call my name one last time.

Brett's POV

It happened all so quickly. One minute I was sleeping the next, Hazel was whimpering in her sleep and thrashing around. She was holding her stomach and crying out for help.  I called for my mom who came running into the room. She took one look at Hazel's face and immediately called for an ambulance.