Page 92 of The Hero
“Yes,” Marlowe breathed.
“I’ve made my own share of other mistakes. In fact, we’re so much alike it’s not even funny. I didn’t trust my best friends to understand why I needed to work with Willis. I lied to them, and didn’t even give them a chance to have my back. You, my love, acted in much the same way. Wanting to do all the work yourself to bring West down, despite having me and my friends here to help. I’m thinking we both learned that trusting others isn’t a bad thing.”
Marlowe shook her head against him. “It’s not. And you’re right.”
Kendric turned his head and kissed her temple. “Sleep, Punky. Tomorrow’s a new day.”
“Yeah.” She lifted her head and met his gaze. “I don’t want you to have any nightmares tonight,” she said firmly.
He chuckled. “I don’t either. But I’m not sure saying it makes it so.”
“I know,” she sighed, putting her head back on his chest. “But I feel guilty knowing that they might come back because of me.”
“If they do, they do,” he said nonchalantly. “You’ll be here to talk me down if I have one.”
“Damn straight,” Marlowe muttered.
“I used to dread going to sleep,” Kendric admitted. “Because I knew I’d dream and relive the worst moments of my captivity. But now? I’m not scared. You’ll be here when I wake up, and somehow the power of those dreams has lessened, knowing what I have now.”
That was ... sweet.
“And learning that Chappy, Cal, and JJ have also struggled with nightmares makes me feel not as weak. I never really asked them if they were having trouble reacclimating to civilian life after we got out of the Army. I just figured it was only me, because they all seemed to be coping so well. Even Cal, who definitely had it worse than the rest of us. But they were hiding their pain, and the fact they were having issues adjusting too. Not that I like that they were suffering, but it makes everything seem not quite so ... lonely.”
“I’m glad you have them,” Marlowe said. “This goes without saying, but I’m going to anyway. Anytime you need to talk, I’m here. I wasn’t with you on that mission, so I get that there are things you can only talk about with the others, but if you ever need an ear, I’m all yours.”
“I know you are, Marlowe, and I appreciate it more than I can say. And the same goes for you. You haven’t talked much about your experiences in that prison in Thailand, but I can imagine they weren’t great. I probably have a larger capacity than others to understand some of what you felt being locked away.”
“Thanks,” she whispered. He was right. She’d pushed her time in prison to the back of her mind because she’d had other things to worry about, like getting out of the country without being recaptured. Nowthat she was safe and happy, she knew memories might overwhelm her at times, and it would be nice to have someone to talk to about them.
“Sleep, Punky. If you wake up in the middle of the night in pain, I put some pills and water on your side of the bed.”
“I’ll be okay,” she said. All of a sudden, the events of the day caught up to her, and she couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. “Love you,” she murmured.
“Love you too.”
Bob didn’t know what time it was. It was pitch dark outside, and he wasn’t sure what had woken him.
Then Marlowe jerked against him and muttered, “No!”
He was immediately awake. He hadn’t had a nightmare tonight, but it looked like his brave, stoic, and seemingly unflappable wife was.
“Kendric!” she suddenly screamed, scaring the shit out of Bob.
“Shhhhh,” he murmured, tightening his arms around her.
That seemed to make whatever she was seeing in her mind worse.
Bob rolled onto his back, taking her with him so she was on top. The last thing he wanted to do was remind her in any way of being helpless underneath someone bigger and stronger, as she’d experienced with West.
“No! Let go!Keeeeeendriiiiic!”
“I’m here,” he told her sternly. “I’m here, Punky. Open your eyes. Look at me.”
One second she was thrashing in his arms, and the next, her eyes popped open and she stared down at him.
Bob was more grateful than he could put into words that she seemed to recognize him immediately. Her pajama top was askew, and he could see the horrible marks on her neck against her pale skin, even though there weren’t any lights on in the room. The light from the moon shining through the window was enough for him to be able to see the awful results of the previous day.
“You’re okay,” he said gently. “I’ve got you. I’m here.”
