Guard My Heart [ManxMan]

.five.

M A R C O

I was sitting in a room, the only light was the bulb swinging above my head. I was alone, or so I thought. I heard screaming and looked around, there was no one.

"Hello?" 

No one answered but there was another scream, it sounded closer. I turned around and expected to see my father or my sister but I was surprised when I saw Ortiz. He looked dead, blood pouring from a hole in his head, bullet holes littering his chest.

I ran for him but the light vanished along with Ortiz and I was left in complete silence and darkness. The only thing I heard was my silent sobs.

"Marco." someone called. I knew that voice. It was Ortiz.

"Marco." I looked around again but there was nothing.

"Marco." I woke up to Ortiz shaking me, "Hey, you okay?" 

Ortiz was sitting there, staring at me with those same concerned eyes that woke me up most days. He wasn't wearing his sling anymore but he was still not fully healed.

I stared at him for a long time, longer than I should have, I think I was just trying to find the meaning of my dream in him. I found nothing.

Ortiz looked away and I got out of bed, "Breakfast is on the counter, you have thirty minutes before you have to meet up with your therapist. This is the visit that determine if you are going to be able to move on in training." With that he left.

I got up, my head starting to ache, got dressed and ate the breakfast he made. I walked out and walked to my therapists office.

It was a long session, I was asked too many questions and answered all of them truthfully, my head ache didn't go away. Then after that, we started talking about my dream while she evaluated my answers.

"So you were troubled when you saw Ortiz like that? Dead and scattered in bullet holes?"

The image came back in my head and I flinched, I hated that image. Though why had I had that dream and what did it mean?I nodded, answering her question.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions and then you will be free to go. Okay?"

"Okay." I said and she looked up and smiled at me.

"Is this the first time you've dreamed about Ortiz?"

I shook my head, there were a few others.

"How did you feel when Ortiz came home injured?"

"Concerned."

"And how do you feel about your dream?"

I shrugged.

"Do you care about Ortiz?"

I nodded, of course I did, he'd done so much for me when I had done nothing in return. No one had been so nice to me before.

"That is all. You may go back and tell Ortiz that you can advance in your training."

Without another word I got up and walked back to my apartment.

Ortiz was on the couch reading a book he had gotten on our last grocery run.

"What did she say?" He asked, bookmarking his page and setting his book to the side.

"I could advance in training."

"That's great." He smiled.

That smile had to be the only thing that actually made me happy. Or maybe it was just Ortiz himself, but that was a scary thought.