12 Seconds (#1 in Military series)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 

“Why will no one tell me who the bloody hell Marc is?” Julia snapped in frustration.

“I’ll have none of that language!” Katherine whipped her head up from where she was stood beside Julia’s father and narrowed her eyes at her daughter.

Julia rolled her eyes at her mother’s outdated beliefs, “Who is Marc?” Julia asked again.

“He’s an old friend,” her father finally muttered despite the fact that Julia could literally taste the hostility that was coming off her mother.

“Now give that nonsense to me,” Her father slipped the card out of her hand and dumped it on the side, “and get yourself a drink. Now, shall we open the presents!?” Her father clapped his hands and tried to divert their attention away.

But Julia didn’t move. She just watched the way her closest family members and friends were watching her.

Why was everyone so interested in her all of a sudden? Was it because she was in the car accident?

Did they think because she lost a few years of her memory that she was a vegetable!?

“Come on, Julia,” her father whispered down to her so the others couldn’t hear, “Just leave it until after the party?”

Julia turned her gave from her aunts who were muttering about themselves to her father, “Leave what?” She raised an eyebrow before slipping away into the living room.

But hours later, Julia still couldn’t keep her eyes off Marc’s card . . . which had conveniently found its way into the garbage by way of her mother.

Why was it such a bad thing for Julia to know who Marc was? If he was just an old friend, then why didn’t they just say that!?

What was with all the whispering and secret keeping?

Julia didn’t understand it; everyone but her seemed to be in on the secret and, damn her, she felt left out.

But she didn’t want to ruin the rest of her mother’s party, so she sat back and downed as many drinks as she was able to get through the night.

Having her entire family under one roof was enough to drive anyone mad.

However, Julia was quite surprised they didn’t bring up the usual comments of why she hadn’t landed herself a man yet, the same comments they had brought up as early as her eighteenth birthday party.

Maybe it was the fact that she was only ‘half-there’, as her cousin commented, and they were taking pity on her.

Julia didn’t like being thought as less than anyone else but if it meant she avoided her families prying noses then she wasn’t about to argue.

* * *

Thomas found her that evening- Or, morning.

It was almost half three in the morning and after another nightmare of explosions and a pair of free flying birds, Julia was back down in the kitchen staring at the crumpled birthday card, a cup of cold tea resting beside her.

She didn’t know why but her entire focus was consumed by the man’s name, maybe because no one wanted to tell her who he was.

Signed at the bottom in plain capital letters, the name seemed indented into the card by the amount of pressure the man had exerted on the pen.

He was troubled, Julia deduced in her time staring at the man’s name. Marc.

Marc. Marc. MARC!

Julia was screaming his name inside her head trying to figure out if she knew him; if it had just been a friend of his mother’s then why all the secrecy?

No, it must be something else . . . if only she could remember!

Holding her head in her palms, her eyes bulging out of her head, she tried to remember something.

Anything.

The car accident. The hospital.

Anything!

But nothing was coming back to her and it was killing her; not knowing who she was or what she had done in those few years before her accident made her feel . . . empty.

Like there was something missing; a piece of the puzzle she couldn’t find.

“You’ll give yourself a hernia if you keep doing that,” Thomas sounded behind her and Julia lifted her head to see her eldest brother, stood solemnly in the doorway, regarding her carefully.

“I’m just-” Julia started to break down as tears rimmed her eyes, “Why can’t I remember?” she slammed her hands against the table, spilling her tea over the side and the cup shattering against the tiles.

“I know,” Thomas sighed as he walked over, turned on the light and carefully picked up the shards of teacup.

Julia moved to help him but Thomas just brushed her off and she tried to get herself under control.

“Thomas,” Julia pleaded, “What’s happening to me? These dreams,” Julia squeezed her eyes shut as flashes of scenes from a war film entered her mind, “This card . . . what does it all mean? Just tell me,”

“Julia,” Thomas sighed and she could hear the reservation in his voice, as he took a seat across from her.

“Thomas, just-” Julia shook her head as he reached out and covered her cold hand with his, “Just tell me,” Julia looked up at him in annoyance, “What is so bad you can’t just tell me!?”

Thomas nodded his head and Julia watched him with eagerness as he opened his lips, “Wait here,” He murmured as he got up and walked upstairs, leaving Julia in the kitchen.

For a moment she believed he was just going to go back to bed and leave her there but then she heard him walking about in her parent’s bedroom before slipping back down the stairs once more.

It seemed no time had passed at all before he was back in the kitchen, carrying a plain metal tin along with him.

Julia saw the military markings stamped on the side, “Dad’s military keepsakes?” Julia whispered, “I don’t understand.”

Thomas shook his head as he laid the box on the table between them and sat down across from her, “Not dads . . . yours.”