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Reaching for her pocket, she tugged her keychain out, and fumbled

until she found the tiny flashlight. Flipping it on, she surveyed their

surroundings.

“Wow. When was the last time you guys swept this thing out?”

she asked. Cobwebs filled every corner, and dead leaves and

branches littered the floor. The structure was about six feet by eight

feet wide, with a small wood stove taking up much of the floor space,

and two shelves on one wall that held a few dust caked supplies.

Folded down wooden shutters covered three large window openings

that were used during deer season for scoping out deer, but right now,

she figured they’d give them a bit of ventilation. Pushing herself to

her feet she reached for the first one. “If we prop these open a bit it

won’t be so stuffy in here. Can you hand me that branch by your left

foot?”

She flashed the light on Vin when he didn’t respond to her

request, and she was surprised to see him pale and trembling. Shock

rippled through her, and she dropped down beside him again. With

the tiny beam of light as her only guide she reached for him, “Vinnie,

what’s wrong? Are you hurt? Was it the hail?”

His head turned slowly, and she noticed that his pupils were

dilated even under the bright light of the tiny keyring. There was a

harsh set to his jaw and a wrinkle on his brow, and she knew

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something was seriously wrong. It took all of two seconds for her to

figure out he was having a PTSD flashback when he hissed, “Shut

up! You’re going to get us all killed!”

Unsure what to do, she turned the light on her own face and

fought to stay calm herself. “Vinnie, it’s me, Lauren. We’re in the

deer shack, remember? We’re out looking for Munchkin.”

“Snipers out there. Don’t know what they think they’re doing

coming up against US Marines. We’ll teach them a lesson they can

take with them to heaven, or hell, or wherever the fuck they go.” His

voice was gruff, and sharp. In this moment, he was not the man she

knew and loved. He was a Marine. A trained killing machine with a

mission on his agenda. Fear chilled her already cold, wet body even

further, and she began shivering violently.

“Vinnie, stop it. You’re scaring me. Please, snap out of it. We’re

at home, on Crawley Creek.”

He wasn’t looking at her now, instead he was moving stealthily

across the floor to the one wooden shutter that wasn’t completely

latched. Peering out the crack, he waved at her with his hand giving

her some sort of hand signal, and then plastered his back to the wall.

“Stay down. We’ll go in three, on my order.”

“Vinnie—”

“One.”

“I don’t know how to help you Vin. Please, tell me what I can

do!” She was starting to panic now. She knew Vin had been through

a lot during his time in the military, but she’d had no idea he dealt

with such severe PTSD flashbacks.

“Two.”

Bracing herself for the unknown, she held the light steady on

him, hoping she’d at least be able to keep him in its spotlight when

he did…well, whatever it was he was going to do.

Just as he said the word “Three,” a loud snap of lighting and

rumble of thunder sent him hurtling in her direction. They came

together in a tangle of limbs, and Lauren felt the air rush from her

lungs as she was slammed onto her back.

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The body under him smelled familiar, but it wasn’t the fragrance

of military-issue rations or sand and sweat, and Vin fumbled to

remember what he was doing. Under him, he felt curves and softness,

but whoever it was wasn’t moving. Easing up, he looked down,

surprised to find Lauren underneath him.

“Lauren?” he whispered. When she didn’t respond, he repeated

it, and again as panic took over. Somehow she’d been hurt, and he

couldn’t remember how they’d gotten here much less what had

happened. “Lauren, baby. Are you okay?”

She inhaled sharply, and then again more deeply. Her eyes

focused on his and she blinked. “You know who I am?”

“Of course I do. What the—” The reality of the situation hit him

like a ton of bricks as he realized he’d been out of his mind again for

a few minutes. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know…I mean, I thought I

was…”

Lauren nodded and reached up to stroke his cheek. “I know. It’s

okay. You just knocked the wind out of me.”

Easing off of her, he rolled to his knees and held out his hand to

help her sit up. “The thunder and the hail, I just got lost there for a

second.”

“Is it always that bad?”

Memories of various episodes flashed through his mind. The

time he’d thrown a hand grenade at enemy troops only to realize an

hour later that he’d actually chucked a potato at Marilyn and Hawke.

The first Fourth of July stateside when he sat in his closet with his

rifle on his shoulder just to ease the panic in his chest. He couldn’t

tell her all of that, because she’d never understand. Civilians never

understood.

Lori King

“It comes and goes,” he answered with a shrug. “I haven’t had an

episode in months.”

“What do you normally do when it happens? I tried talking to

you, but you acted like I wasn’t even here.”

“That’s because I wasn’t here. Mentally I was somewhere else,

doing something else. When I have a…flashback…it’s like the real

world disappears, and everything around me is the enemy, trying to

get to me.”

“Isn’t there anything they can do to help you?” She looked so

heartsick for him, and he reached out and laced his fingers through

hers to comfort her.

“There are medications I could take, but they make me foggy all

the time. Like I’m numb to everything emotionally.”

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”

“Don’t cry for me, sweetheart. I’m one of the lucky ones.” He

said the last part with a wry grin, but it only seemed to make her

sadder.

“You could have died over there.”

“About did a few times.” She grimaced at his words, and he

hurried to cover the fumble. “War sucks, but I came home alive.”

Lauren stared at him for a few quiet moments before she nodded.

“I was terrified you wouldn’t. I emailed with Sera almost every day

during that first tour you had. I just had to make sure you were still

alive.”

“I thought you hated me. I mean, after what I did.”

“Oh, I hated you all right, but not as much as I loved you.”

A weight lifted off his chest, and he felt hope surge through him.

Was it possible Lauren still felt those same deep emotions for him?

She’d certainly responded in his arms, but that didn’t mean there was

more to it than lust.

“What was it like?” she asked.

“Terrible. Wonderful. I miss the camaraderie of my guys some

days, and then I remember that not all of the guys made it home.”

“You lost someone?”

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“More than one, but only one haunts me.” His stomach twisted

in a knot, and for a moment he thought she would press him for more

details. The last thing he wanted to do was tell her about the blood

and gore of war.

“How’d you end up in Little Rock?” he asked, changing the

subject.

“I took a job as a 911 dispatcher in Lafayette while I went to

school at LSU. From there I was able to make some contacts with

people in the Baton Rouge emergency management field. I took on a

paid internship my last year of college, and they hired me on

permanently when I graduated. I’ve moved up the ladder since then,

and each step up took me to a new state working with new people.”

“I never imagined you’d be the kind to have itchy feet. You

always seemed like a homebody.”

She laughed. “I’m a homebody, but I’ve found that home can

mean a lot of different things. In my case, my one real home was

always Crawley Creek. It was the only place I ever found peace as a

kid. I couldn’t come back here because, well, you know, so I did the

next best thing. I threw myself into my career and didn’t stop moving

forward.”

“You’ve always been welcome here,” he said softly,

uncomfortable with the idea that she’d stayed away just to avoid

being around him.

“So tell me, besides the nightmares and PTSD, what exactly did

you get out of the Marines? You were never the type to follow

directions well.”

“It’s different in the military. It’s not so much about following

orders as it is about protecting each other. If there’s not a good

leader, we’re all dead. I found that I liked being that leader.”

“So you enjoyed it?” She looked perplexed when he nodded.

“Then how did you end up getting yourself sent to prison?”

“That’s a long story.”

Lauren glanced at the slightly open window shutter where the

rain was still pouring down in buckets. “I was going to hang my

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laundry on the line, but I suppose it can wait for a bit longer. Please,

share.”

Laughing at her wit, he sighed heavily and leaned back against

the wooden wall. “It was stupid. My commander was a prick to the

nth degree, but he wasn’t the type of guy you said no to. We were

home on leave, and all of us went to a bar together to drink beers and

just let off steam. Drannon was just getting over his divorce, so I

invited him along. He met a girl and danced with her a few times.

Bought her a few beers, nothing exciting. Just as we were getting

ready to leave, we heard a ruckus in the parking lot a few cars over.

Turns out my commander was making a play for the girl D had been

flirting with, but she wasn’t interested.”

“Oh, no.”

Vin nodded gravely, “He had her on the ground when we found

them. I lost my temper and broke his nose and his jaw. I’d have killed

him if Drannon hadn’t pulled me off of him before the cops showed

up.”

“So I don’t understand; you were protecting that woman. Why

were you arrested?”

That was the shittiest part of the whole situation. He’d reacted

badly, but if he was presented with the same situation again, he’d

repeat his actions. He never once regretted knocking that smarmy

asshole’s teeth down his throat. Even when they put the cuffs on him

and read him his rights.

“It was still assault. The girl refused to press charges against my

commander for some reason, so it was my word against his, and he’s

got all kinds of shiny brass on his chest. That meant I got the boot out

of the military as well as a luxury eighteen-month stay at

Leavenworth.”

“So you went to prison to protect her, and she wouldn’t even

testify for you?” Lauren looked so affronted that Vin nearly laughed.

“Guess she didn’t want my help.”

“What a bitch.”

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“Nah, I don’t hold a grudge. She had her reasons. Maybe she had

a family she didn’t want to put through it, or maybe she was

embarrassed. Doesn’t matter. I’d do it again, just the way I did.”

Lightning punctuated his statement by hitting a nearby tree. The

crackle of the bark breaking, the deafening thunder, and then the

resounding crash of a limb hitting the ground reverberated through

their tiny shelter.

“It doesn’t sound like the storm is letting up,” Lauren murmured,

drawing her knees up to her chest. She was shivering so hard her

teeth were clattering together, and his heart twisted.

“Come over here and sit by me so that you don’t freeze to

death.”

Her eyes widened, and she turned her face out of the soft light so

that he couldn’t surmise her emotions when she responded. “I’ll be

all right. I wish I’d brought the saddle bags up though. I’m sure there

are some supplies in there we could use.”

“Well, darlin’, it’s your lucky day.” Using his booted foot, he

pushed the leather bag from where he’d dropped it by the entrance

over towards her knees.

Her squeal of delight was followed by the beam of light from her

flashlight dancing all over the place as she rushed to find out what

supplies they actually had. “Hmm…okay, well, we’ve got an

emergency flare, a blanket that looks more like a hand towel based

on the size, and four beef jerky sticks in this side.” She fiddled for

another minute and then huffed with frustration. “A firestarter, first

aid kit, a larger flashlight, and a whistle. No water.”

“It’s not like we’re going to be here for days,” Vin said with a