Damage Me

Chapter 3

I wait to say anything until we round the corner.

"Well. That went as good as one could've expected. For the first time seeing her at least." I let out a long breath.

"But damn. That girl is stubborn as hell. I can't exactly blame her."

I look at Aaron out of the corner of my eye. "Yeah," he runs a hand over his face, "Tell me about it. She's going to be difficult to handle but not in the way we initially thought. I still can't tell whether she has a plan, or is just plain stir-crazy."

I shake my head, then respond, "I don't know. I could sense she was truly afraid, but who knows? Being forced to live in a place like this-"

I gesture around me, scrunching up my nose at the smell. "-would drive just about anyone to insanity."

He thinks this over. "I agree. It wouldn't make sense, nor does she seem like the person who'd try to create a doomsday plan. But either way, we have to take precautions. You never know what someone's capable of."

A knowing, and heavy silence falls between us. I know what he's referring to, but neither one of us want to talk about it.

Bringing up the past is useless. If you look in that direction, have that mindset, then that's the only way you're going to go. If you want to move forward, stop dwelling on what you've already left behind. There's no point.

We reach the tank, Aaron gets in the driver side, me in the passenger.

It only takes about 20 minutes to get back to base, and we're only about halfway there.

I get bored quickly, so I take out one my handguns, a 40 caliber MNP, and start loading and unloading the clip. It's a continuous movement, and I get lost in the motion.

Before I know it, we've arrived at base. The engine cuts and I make a move to get out, but

Aaron's voice stops me. "Alex. I'm. . . I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" he shakes his head, makes a frustrated sound, "-to bring anything unnecessary up-"

I cut him off mid-sentence, "The past is the past, Aaron. Why revisit it if we don't have to?"

His voice is down to a whisper, "I know." He clears his throat, begins speaking, louder this time.

"But we have to prepare for any possible outcomes. I have a few ideas. However we'll have to see how dinner turns out, before making any decisions."

And just like that I know the conversation is over. For now, there's no more need to discuss it further.

So I nod and say, "Agreed. I'll meet you at dinner." I'm about to shut the door, but add something at the last second.

"I hope this works out, Aaron." He looks me right in the eyes.

"Me too."

• • • • •

I'm standing in the middle of my closet, trying to decide what to wear. My closet is about the entirety of my room and private office combined.

T-shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops, blouses, dresses, jeans, leggings, shorts, and shoes cover this immense space.

Neatly folded and organized, ready for me to throw on in a hurry. But today I have some time before I'm expected at dinner. So I decide to take a bath.

The scent hits me as soon as I sink into the scorching hot water; Lavender and honeysuckle.

I close my eyes and try to imagine what it would be like if my mother had never gotten sick.