She's My Bodyguard

Thirteen

Mason

She sacrificed herself for me. For Akiva and Yrena.

But at what cost?

Micah found us, taking Akiva while I tried to examine her.

She had so many shards in her... Her ribs had to have been broken, splintered into her lungs.

Yrena pulled every medic she could find to us, and they took her by Helicopter to Tel Aviv.

And now... I heard that damn prayer, every morning and night....

While she sat in that bed, her left arm and leg in casts, her ribs taped, and a concussion bandage on her head.... tube in her throat.

At what cost did she give to do this?

"Any update?" Yrena came in, her eyes red rimmed from crying. Micah had Akiva in his arms, quiet, and his face was solum.

"No... She's crashed three times in four days... the doctors aren't sure she'll wake up." I looked at her, my own face contorting in pain.

"She wouldn't want you to waste away. Please." She put a container of food on the table beside me. "She's so, so strong. You have to have hope." I closed my eyes, putting my head on her leg.

"I'm not so sure I have much left..."

And that was said a week ago...

I woke up to the sound of choking. I felt her body jerking.

"Leysa?" She had tears down her cheeks. "Shit!" I unhooked the machine hooked up to the intubation tube. "Leysa, Just breathe." It took her a moment to calm down enough for me to pull it out, endorsing more coughing. "Oh, thank fuck!"

Leysa

Being thrown into darkness, with no ability to tell time...

This was torture.

I saw nothing but blackness. No light, nobody else...

Just darkness. But there was a voice.

It isn't your time. Go back.

The words repeated. And repeated. Whenever I asked who it was, I got the same words.

"Sean... If you're here..."

It isn't your time. Go back.

"Just know I love you." The voices ceased. The fog cleared.

Then I was choking...

But I saw the light of the world I had left for god knows how long...

And the first thing I saw... It was Mason.

*

Mason

It wasn't easy hearing that we couldn't leave yet. She had to be under heavy pain medication and concussion-induced pain free for 24 hours.

"What happened?" She asked me that evening, after waking up from her first round of heavy pain meds.

"Three bombs... You saved me, Yrena, and Akiva." She looked at me, tears in her eyes, something I found to be a side effect of the pain medication she was on. "Luckily, it was few fatalities. Four out of a few thousand... But it would have been seven, had you not thrown us ahead and shielded Akiva."

"How long?" Her voice was laden with exhaustion... sadness.

"You were out for about two weeks, Leysa."

"It felt like so much longer..." I squeezed her good hand.

"You're back. That's all that matters." The doctors came in to check on her stitches, replacing bandages, and Leysa freaked out at all the surgical scars that now covered her.

They knocked her out with more heavy medications to keep her from puncturing her lungs again.

The two weeks while she was out helped with healing  but she still had a long way to go.

A month in Tel Aviv... She was finally cleared to go home.

"We'll come visit. You'll add me on Facebook and we'll stay in contact." Yrena hugged her.

"Of course." Leysa gave her a tight smile, obviously still in pain.

"And you... take care of her, or so help me, I will kill you myself." I held up my free hand, pleading the fifth.

"Always." We boarded the jet, which I carried her up the stairs, and got her situated in the recliner, and got her comfortable. Yrena and Micah packed us lunch and snacks to get us through the 20 hours it was going to take to get back.

And Leysa slept through a solid 14 of it.

I didn't sleep a damn wink.

When we touched down, there were reporters EVERYWHERE, and our new bodyguard from the new company met us, with four others, making sure nobody got through.

We were piled into a Suburban, and quickly escorted off the airfield.

"ETA is about twenty minutes, Sir." The driver said.

"Thank you." In those twenty minutes, Leysa did what I expected.

She broke down.

None of the other men in the vehicle judged her. These were all veterans, probably having gone through similar shit.

After the twenty minutes, I asked them if the company could send some armed guards out to the property, just to patrol it, and they offered to stay.

I had a feeling stuff wasn't over yet.

The first few nights back were living hell. It was hard to coax her into speaking. No VA doc, no psychiatrist, no therapist could make her speak, or crack her open.

Day by day, reporters were trying to get to us. I had repeatedly told them I would not comment, nor would I update them.

Work couldn't wait, and I couldn't leave her alone. Agnes was getting antsy with her not speaking, and had to hide her weapons from her.

I changed the combination on the safe, one of which she couldn't crack because I had made it up randomly, and logged it down in my backup phone.

The "smart" safe alerted me if she was trying to get into it... and I caught her during one of my meetings.

"Pardon me for a Moment, gentlemen." I apologized, and called her. "You're not getting into the safe to shoot yourself." I told her as soon as she picked up.

"Mason, there's somebody lurking around the property..." Her voice was wavering. I had three guards out there, they would have taken care of it. My mind jumped to her PTSD, and or it could have been an effect from being on her medications for so long.

"Leysa, the guards are posted today. They're continually monitoring the property. You will be okay." I heard whining, which meant our dog was with her. "Hang onto Spitfire, okay? I'll be home shortly." I didn't leave room for arguments. I went back into the conference room, and looked over the folder.

"Do the lobby renovations first, and when it's done, we'll reconvene." I signed off on it, and a check for the amount.

Now I had to go take care of her.