Forever RiverCreek

Chapter 5 - Fear vs. Affection

The crickets chirp, and the lightning bugs flash their light when Tara is ready to head inside. She grabs Cory by the arm and escorts him upstairs to her old bedroom. Cory has remained semi-catatonic; he knows where he is if Tara talks to him, but his thoughts haven't returned from the hell of the past. The thousand-year stare comes and goes, but Tara is determined to get somewhere with him before they call it a night.

"Cory, Earth to Cory Dubois, are you here with me?"

"Here. Yes, I am here, but which here am I?"

Tara's left partially confused, but she snaps her fingers to get Cory to break the emotionless stare, "Come home to me, baby. Cory Dubois, bring your mind back home. It's me; it's Tara."

"Tara. Yeah, wait – What." Cory manages to say as his expression changes.

Shaking his head, Cory's attention returns to the bedroom, where he focuses on Tara's face, "I'm sorry I dazed out. How long was I gone?" He asks.

"A little while, but I never left your side. Now tell me, where did you go? What happened? How scared were you the day you got hurt? Do those places still hurt? Do you still love me? Were you in love with anyone over there? Am I still what you truly want?"

With his attention hooked on Tara and annoyed at the questions, Cory pulls back and scoots to the corner of the bed. Unwilling to let all of the questions go, Tara scoots closer and reaches out for Cory. Not comfortable being touched, Cory takes her hand and places it on the bed.

"I want some answers. You don't have to tell me everything, but give me something. Not knowing anything scares me, so please, Cory, tell me anything."

"Certain sounds and smells still send me back to my unit at the Combat Hospital. I was scared to death, but for you and everyone here, not for myself, and how the hell can you ask me if I still love you. Of course, I love you! You were my girl for the longest time. You're going to have to learn to handle that. I am going to be edgy at times, especially right now. I have therapy that will help through the VA, but I swear I would never harm you or anyone else. How we trust each other is going to have to evolve, or else this isn't going to work." Cory explains in a low tone.

One of the questions Tara wants goes unanswered. She's always to know if Cory moved on while serving in the Army. Jealousy is still one of her worst characteristics. The way she felt when Cory left for Miami of Ohio begins to return, "Did you hook up with anyone else?"

"No! I placed everything into my work and got my degree. You knew I wanted to get into medical school; well, I can't get in there if I'm flaunting my dick at every girl in my line of sight. So I don't even need to go to med school now, I graduated with a degree in Nursing, and I can work anywhere I want. I played the Army to gain an advantage, but I don't even know if I could handle going back into a hospital to work. I loved being a surgical technician, but I don't know if I could scrub up and walk back into an O-R. If I didn't want to be here with you, I wouldn't be here. I could get a lawyer to set up to pay child support and visitation times with CJ, but my heart belongs to you."

Partially satisfied with the long-winded explanation, Tara again reaches out for Cory, but he still refuses to be touched. Cory gets to his feet to put a little distance between himself and Tara.

"I'll take that as a 'no' for an answer then. But, look, you know I'm still as stubborn as a mule. I will not be lied to or played for a fool. I want you to sit your ass down on this bed and let me touch you. We don't have to sleep together because of our past and what happened in this room. At times I wonder if you ever came home because the way you look at me isn't the same. Even on the day of your father's funeral, I knew things would be difficult between us, but that was you that day. I look at you now, and you're a shell of who you were. The Cory that left this place is still inside. I know it. Now, get your sorry ass down here and talk to me."