Inside The Mind of War - Part 2 (My Original Short Stories)

Megan awoke to the unfamiliar feeling of another person lying next to her. She reached out without opening her eyes and pressed a hand over the covers beside her. The slow rise and fall of his chest as he slept was another memory she clung on to through all those long, lonely nights on her own. As the weariness from waking up left her, she craned her neck to the bedside table and squinted at the alarm clock. Just gone 6.00AM and the first shards of light began to make their presence known through the thin gaps in the blinds.

She looked around to see Daniel completely unawares, mouth open and one arm slung over a cushion just above his head. Through the diminishing gloom, she could make out the constant flutter of his eyelids combined with an occasional facial twitch. It seemed his deep sleep was accompanied by a full-on dream sequence. Whether it was a good or bad thing was impossible to tell. Regardless, Megan hoped this was his way of fighting off any remaining inner demons still latched onto him as he had journeyed back home.

Megan stared up at the ceiling to reflect upon the events of last evening before starting her day. Dinner had been a somewhat muted affair. Karly sat at the far end of the table, hugging onto "Tibbles the bear". Every minute or so, she darted a quick glance at her father. His return home from service was just as much an upheaval in her little life as it was for any of them. Time would again prove the ultimate healer and settle things to an eventual normality. It would not be long until Daniel adjusted back to an everyday, suburban lifestyle and forge an everlasting and integral bond with young Karly. It's only been but a few hours, she told herself.

Conversation between the two of them was kept to a minimum although Daniel seemed in high enough spirits. He recounted how upon their return, Brad's elderly grandmother at first refused to open the front door, assuming it was just another salesman calling to pressure them into buying another unnecessary insurance plan. His younger brother who was out back, heard the minor commotion and ran inside to investigate. The rest of the story proved a teary-eyed, sentimental homecoming. Even though living upstate and a good hour away at least, Brad insisted on driving Daniel home in his beautiful Corvette. According to him, it was the least Brad could do as Megan had assisted his family many a time with grocery shopping and house chores. It never failed to surprise Megan how wives and families rallied together for each other when their loved ones were away. Possibly it helped to cope with their own emotional strains instead of just bottle themselves up in isolation and dread, she thought.

Reminiscing as she did stirred up the feelings of joy at yesterday's reunion once more. Daylight now began to trickle through the obscured window and filter onto the walls. She smiled in contentment and snuggled up to him, placing her head upon the edge of his pillow in a way so as not to disturb his sleep. A sharp, dark object pushed itself up against her forehead. In a panic, she recoiled her neck only to see the small hollow point of a military firearm. Her eyes opened wide as she screamed out in terror, shattering the stillness of the room.

Within a split second, Megan felt a massive blow to the side of her face. She was flung across to the other side of the bed and struck the corner of the side table. Sound and vision escaped her senses for what appeared to be several minutes. Only a muffled, flat ringing filled the void of silence and a heavy, throbbing pain gradually manifested. She became aware of a figure crouching over herself and a hand curled up under her head. She could now smell the unmistakable musk of their bedroom carpet against her nostrils.

"Baby!" He yelled. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" His voice seemed to amplify in volume as if the sound was closing in from some faraway place. The pain worsened with every passing second. "Please say something! Are you OK? Just one word, baby! God damn, I'm so sorry."

She regained her bearings and attempted to prop herself up against the side of the bed. Helped up by two burly arms around her waist. She opened her eyes a few seconds later, only to see Daniel cupping her face with one hand whilst tending to her forehead with the other. "Oh, thank god." he muttered under nervous breaths. "I'm so sorry, Meg. I didn't mean it. I think I was having a dream or something and must have struck out without knowing." The genuine sorrow in his words was clear to see. His bloodshot eyes scanned the rest of her head, possibly to inspect for any other unforeseen injuries.

"Oh, Daniel." She said, wincing with pain. "It's alright. Really. You were asleep, it was just an accident." As she brought a hand up to probe at the source of the now simmering discomfort, her fingers came away with fresh specks of bright red blood on their tips. "Wow." she said, somewhat shocked at her own serenity given the situation. "That was some force you hit me with." Daniel was busy scrabbling through the side table drawers and pulled out a packet of tissues. He removed one and applied it with a heavy pressure to the side of her head. A flashing surge of throbbing agony resurfaced at an instant. She sucked in a deep breath and grabbed at his wrist. "I'm sorry, love. This won't take long. Just a few minutes longer and the bleeding will stop." He had now reverted back to being calm and collected. Even through the pangs of hurt, she could see this was not the first time he had tended to a wound. He was focused and steady. She was in capable and experienced hands.

A faint sound came from the other side of the room. "Just a minute, pumpkin! Daddy'll be there soon!" he called out before turning his attentions back at Megan. "Baby, I need a favour from you." He scooped up her hand and placed it upon the tissue paper. "I need you to hold down on this for me." He said in a soothing, soft tone. "I'll also go see to Karly and be back in a bit. Where do you keep the first aid kit?"

"The cupboard, next to the sink in the kitchen. Everything'll we need will be in that one box. Just bring the whole thing upstairs." The intense throb was subsiding down to a low, dull ache.

Before he got to his feet, he lifted her other hand and kissed it. "I know I've probably said it a thousand times already right now, but I'm so sorry. I lashed out but didn't mean to. I wasn't even conscious at the time. Please forgive me. I swore to myself before I got back that I'd never let anything happen to the both of you. I would carry that out with every atom of my being. I swear it upon my very soul, baby." Like a swirling mist had parted ways to reveal some hidden truth, she remembered. The gun nestled under the pillow. A new fear took hold of her and not one caused from the battering she had just received.

She shook her head, till clamping down onto the reddened sliver of tissue. "Don't worry. Just stop talking and go take care of business."

"Sure." he whispered and made his way to the door. As it opened, she heard Karly. "Hey, what happened to your hand, daddy?"

"Nothing, my pumpkin. It was a small accident. Let's go and get cleaned up, shall we?" The door closed shut with a gentle click.

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Karly stared at the rather large band-aid plastered from the top of Megan's eyebrow all the way down to her left cheekbone. An inflated swelling was very noticeable underneath. *"Does it hurt, mummy?"* she asked in her usual inquisitive manner, though with not a trace of worry on her face. Megan almost laughed out loud at the blind innocence of children in general. *"It's OK, baby. I just had a little fall out of bed this morning. Actually, I feel fine so no need to dwell on it."*

"What is "dwell"?" she asked in exactly the same way as before.

"It means you don’t have to think about something for longer than you have to." He interjected whilst preparing beans on toast over a hot stove. "Mummy is fine so you can go play and not have to worry your cute little self anymore. Alright?."

*"Yay!" She cried out, then picked up "Tibbles" and skipped out the door into the garden. Daniel turned to Megan and stared at her over his shoulder. "You sure you feel OK now?" He inquired again.

She held a finger up and touched the painful centre of the bandage, biting her lip as she did so. "I'm fine, Danny. And you don't have to worry either. It was an accident. These things happen, right? I'll live." She offered up a sympathetic smile as Daniel nodded at her. "Thank you for understanding, Meg. I remember the boys telling me the same thing about my crazy sleeping habits. How I'd all of a sudden yell something out at the top of my lungs, scaring half the others to death in the process. But I can promise you one thing. That will never, ever happen again. In fact, I can guarantee it."

There was a certain air of surety to his words that confused her somewhat. Like some disguised knowledge that he had tucked away at the back of his mind. However, one thing was for sure, she thought. At some point today, she would have no choice but to confront him about his new "kill toy". He carried it not only wherever he went in the house, but into his bed at night. Our bed, she thought.

Over the course of the numerous months Daniel had spent away, she lost herself in various war documentaries and delved deep into the many possible psychological scarring effects during military service. Daniel operated as a front-line solider in the army, which according to the documentary meant he was a high risk candidate from this terrifying phenomena. But things had already gone too far within their family environment. Daniel's military life was a thing of the past now and it was time for her husband to reprise his previous role as man of the house.

A chat this afternoon would do, she decided.

(To Be Continued...)

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Hope you enjoyed this short story, please look out for more on the way... (author: @ezzy)