Two Plus Two

. 42 .

I was laying out the hoses to clean them when the guy came up to me
" Hello Mrs. Buckley "
" yeah "
I said out of breath a little
" oh well I'm Timothy I work at the banquet hall the awards were healed in "
" oh ok "
I started to walk away to unroll another hose and he kept talking
" well we were cleaning up and well I think you left this "
" oh no you have the wrong person I wasn't there that night "
" well it has your name "
I stood up and looked at him
" what has my name on it "
" oh this "
He handed me a plaque and it was for valor
" I thought I'd drop it off wouldn't want something like that getting lost now would we "
I just looked at him and I could tell it made him uncomfortable
" well I'll just be on my way then "

Bucks pov
It was funny watching her not paying attention to the man till he handed her something and she gave him a look I've never seen before
" god she could kill him with that stare "
Bobby said as he stood next to me. The man left and she looked down at it then I said
" what was that "
" she won an award for bravery "
" what "
I looked at him remembering how she acted when she saw her Purple Heart in Texas I had to pack it otherwise she would have left it. I looked back down at her and she threw it on a table as she passed it to go to the bathroom and I didn't think and said
" Why doesn't she like awards I mean she has a Purple Heart and when she saw it she acted like she saw a ghost "
" well with that it could be guilt "
" but why "
" why don't you ask her "
I looked back down and some guys were just looking at me.

I knocked in the locker room door and I opened it a little
" Anyone in here besides Ruby "
" no "
She said and I walked in with the award under my arm. I sat down next to her on the small bench in the middle
" so why did you scare that guy "
She smiled then it disappeared and she said
" Why did I get that why do I get these things, Buck, what did I do "
" you did so so much why don't you ever think you deserve these things "
She got up and took a few steps then looked back at me and said
" my brothers said I got everything handed to me and stuff like that so there's that and I got a Purple Heart for what surviving somehow "
I got up and said
" that may be true but this is for what you do you've saved so many people you've been so brave I mean you ran into a house to get Aero out because he was stupid and fell you've saved so many kids and old people and everywhere in between Ruby you saved me "
She looked down and started to pick at her nails
" now take this you have a habit of leaving them behind "
She took it from me and looked at it then at me and I said
" you don't have to feel guilty for these you know "
She nodded and I could see that she was about to cry so I quickly pulled her into a hug. When we walked upstairs I gave her a kiss on the top of her head and we just waited for the next call.