Guts Over Fear

Chapter 6

Ariving at the trailer park was like finding an oasis in the desert - momentarily a relief and then upon reaching out to take a drink, you realize that it is a mirage. Dalia was beyond thrilled that they had somewhere off the radar that they could rest and eat, but she also knew that his scouts would be searching for her, looking for sightings on traffic cameras, checking bank statements. They underestimated her. He always had. 

Dalia knew that they would have to be gone again by tomorrow and braced herself to keep watch over the trailer throughout the night. Actually, she looked forward to it more than anything else. She missed her combatant days and only hoped that once everything was cleared up that she might be granted access back to the front line. The Honourable Discharge letter still burned her skin when she touched it. She had been gravely wounded, many times. The last time had just simply flipped a switch. She was paranoid, which made her a threat to herself and those in her regiment. The dreams kept her up at night and the images that she saw when she closed her eyes was enough to keep her eyes open for long periods of time - until they stung and watered, but the Military was her life. She trained hard for the position that she received when she enlisted. She had worked even harder to get promoted thereafter. The adrenaline was addictive and she wanted nothing more than to go back.

"Go back?" Damon snapped her out of her trance while she had been pulling up beside the trailer.

"Hm? Oh yeah, back to the Military."

"What? Why? When?"

"When this current mess is sorted out."

"Mess? Dalia, someone tried to kill you."

"Many people have tried to kill me."

"Oh my God! You enjoy all of this, don't you?"

Dalia spotted Aunt Marie climbing down the steps of the trailer and hushed him.

"We are talking about this later." He demanded.

"Yeah, course we are. Let's go greet your Aunt."

Dalia had always loved Aunt Marie. While Damon's mother had revelled in the fortunes of her son's success and managed to adjust her attitude toward life accordingly, Marie stayed the humble, graceful woman that she had always been. Never once had she asked anything of him and she had never treated Dalia with anything other than warmth and respect.

As they got out of the car, Marie ran towards her, murmuring disbelief to herself.

"Oh honey, I didn't think I would ever see you again. Oh, look at you. All grown up and beautiful!" Marie was hugging her as tight as she possibly could and Dalia was suffering silently. She didn't care about the pain. She hadn't been held like this since she was a child and she hurt herself so Albert consoled her. Held her for an hour and explained to her that the soldiers inside her body were already working to make her knees better. She held on for a few moments more, until Damon gently urged his Aunt to let her go.

"She's hurt, Marie. Really hurt."

It wasn't until that moment that the pain really started to make itself known. Dalia was wheezing and holding the pain in so as not to make Marie upset. She had let go in an instant and Dalia almost fell flat to the floor, if not for Damon who caught her.

"Why didn't you pull away? Silly woman!" Damon scolded her.

"Worth it." Dalia shrugged and winked at Marie.

"Honey, I am so sorry. Are you okay? What happened? Come, come inside and tell me everything."

So they did just that. Kind of. Dalia told her the bare bones of the story. She had joined the Marines, did a tour in Baghdad and was injured. She was awarded an Honourabl Discharge and sent home but now she is in a bit of trouble but can't go into the details.