A NEW CINDERELLA STORY

Confession

         "You again?" Aaron, Doctor Hope says. He looks me and Stella up and down, "I didn't notice your arm before, bullet shot?" I nod and he signals us to follow him as he walks through the door he came through. We follow him into a room with a doctor's bed in it.

              "Well, Alma and Braiden, could you please have a seat. And Miss," he looks to Stella, then back at me, "Isabelle, please have a seat on the doctor's bed." I do as he says, careful not to move my arm. He sits down on a chair in front of me, and asks me to hold up my arm, and takes off the bandage. I didn't notice how much blood I had lost until then, since I removed the bullet, there was nothing to stop the rush of blood, except for the cloth, making it much bloodier. I can hear Braiden, Alma, and Stella gasp at the sight. I believe Aaron gasped, too Aaron looks strangely at me. "Did you pull out the bullet yourself?" I nod. Then he drops my arm. "Are you feeling dizzy at all?" He asks with a confused look on his face. I shake my head.

              "If there is one thing that I learned to fight in the A-" I stop mid-sentence, I don't want people to know I was actually in the Air Force, not very many kinds actually make it to fighting in the war, "-munition camp, it was the dizziness and hallucinations from a gunshot, and one thing I learned to do was how to take care of myself in that position." I finish. Aaron and Brandon look at me with an "Are you serious!" look. They both look at Stella and Alma; they're faces don't say anything about realizing what I almost said. Arron walks over to the desk and makes a call.

            "Is Dr. Meliona busy right now?...Can you forward the call to her, please... Yes, Mary, can you take one of my patients... Yes?... Thank you, yes... Thank you again." He hangs up the phone and turns toward Stella. "Alma, Miss," he pauses realizing he hasn't gotten her name.

"My names Stella," Stella offers as a tall Mexican-looking woman walks in, she has a beautiful tan, blue eyes, and black hair. She is wearing a doctor's lab coat.

"Stella, would you please go with Dr. Meliona for an examination." He finishes motioning toward the woman, who I assume is Dr. Meliona. Alma and Stella nod and follow the doctor out of the room. The minute the door closes he turns toward me. "You were on the Air Force?" he asks, obviously surprised.

"You never said anything about being in the military, let alone the Air Force!" Braiden exclaims, "The Air Force is the most respected and useful apartment in the military. Were you ever out in the field?"

"Yeah, one their soldiers. I was part of the Air Force department that would basically do it all, pilot, jump out, man the guns, drop the bombs, all of that good stuff. Um, I've actually been on the front lines," I answer, hesitantly. They look stunned, "And I don't usually tell people that shoot me those types of things," I add on the last part quietly, "And I didn't dare mention it to Stella."

"Wait, Isabelle Marella, as in Commander Marella. Isn't it?" Arron asks, his face straightening in realization. I nod, and Braiden's surprised expression grows even more. I am actually kind of a big deal when it comes to the Air Force. As New York Times put it, I am "the bravest, youngest, and best Commander, Captain, Sergeant and Soldier to ever exist." They definitely over exaggerate that. "Well I wish I had known that before I accused you of not being careful enough. But why are you here, shouldn't you be at home?" I shake my head. And decide to reveal the real reason why I am out here.

"Well, let's just say that if you ever need a fairytale, I'm the new Cinderella in town, with a twist," I smile at them and laugh, because I am definitely no "Cinderella", that's for sure, but I guess I just made an unbelievable confession.