No Man Left Behind: A Veteran Inspired Charity Anthology by Elizabeth Knox (black authors fiction TXT) 📕

train it?” She clears her throat. I’m holding my breath waiting for her to answer. She nods. Albert laughs. “Mia, I’m sorry but I need the words.”

“Yes. I’m willing to do the work.” I let out the breath I was holding in. I grab her hand and she squeezes it.

“Good. Let’s get everything filled out. Do you want to stay here so you can be working day and night?” She looks around and notices the stairs.

“Do you have anything on this level? The stairs and I are kind of iffy. I ended up falling down the steps earlier tonight when I tried to walk down them.”

“What? You didn’t tell me that, are you okay?” She nods. “I’m sorry for pushing you to sleep upstairs.”

“Darren, you need to slow down. I know you have been through the training but it’s different when you know the person. The dog could actually help you up and down the stairs as well.”

“Really? Okay I want to stay here. Can I come back tonight?” I smile at her enthusiasm.

“Sure. Pack enough for a week. I know you live closer than a lot of the other vets that are here. Now, Darren, you know the rules that you can’t stay with her and when she’s training you need to not help her. You’ll be assigned to someone else.” Albert is a stickler for rules.

“Yes, sir,” I grumble. Albert explains to Mia that tomorrow she’ll meet the rest of the staff, the dogs and start to see which dog she bonds with. She can’t wait to get to work. “Thanks, Albert. We’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“Thank you, Darren. This is what I needed.” Mia kisses me as soon as I get into the truck after helping her in.

“Don’t thank me yet because this is going to be a long process. You’re going to dive into those memories with the therapist, work on walking, plus training a dog all at once.” I wink at her as she groans. “I thought a service dog would be good for you because you’ll have to get up to take care of him or her. Plus, there’s a comfort knowing that you’re not alone and someone understands. I think those dogs can sense what a person has been through and knows how to comfort them.”

“Are dogs allowed in your apartment?”

“I own the building so yes.” She laughs.

“My therapist talked about an emotional support animal, but I didn’t want to draw more attention to myself.”

“I don’t think you would do that with an animal. You turn heads with your beauty.” She rolls her eyes at me. “What, it’s true.” We’re pulling into the driveway and when I put the truck in park, I turn to look at her.

“You are a sappy romantic, aren’t you?” Mia kisses my nose.

“I want to be one with you.” She kisses my lips, and we spend the next ten minutes just kissing. I could kiss her forever and it wouldn’t be long enough. We only stop kissing when there’s a knock on the window. It’s Adam. “Cockblocker,” I mutter as he helps Mia out of the truck. Mia is inside the house talking about the house and what the organization does.

“Can someone help me upstairs?” She stares at me and I stand up. I carry her up the stairs like a man carries his wife over the threshold on their wedding night. She starts hopping around looking for clothes. It’s hard to believe this is the same girl from yesterday cowering when I touched her and now, she has her hair up in a ponytail. I ask her if she needs help and she tells me no. So, I sit on her bed watching her. Once she’s finished, she comes to sit between my legs, back resting on my chest.

“Do you know how many times I have dreamt of this?” She sighs happily.

“You seem different,” I mention.

“I think it’s your influence,” she teases me. “The question you made me think about earlier, ‘is hiding out in your house honoring their memories’ made me really think this afternoon. I called my therapist for a video conference. I was afraid to tell you earlier about it.”

“Don’t ever be afraid to tell me anything. I’m never going to judge you.”

“I know that, and I thank you for it. Anyway, she told me that was a good way of putting what I’ve been doing. Darren, I’m not even at twenty five percent normal Mia. This is the new me. I still have my sass, my twelve-year-old boy sense of humor but I don’t know if I’ll ever be the cool you liked back in high school.” I hear her sniffle. I kiss the back of her head.

“Mia, you need to stop putting so much pressure on yourself. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve been waiting too long for this to happen. I’ll take you as you are, nightmares and all. I need to be with you. It’s all I ever wanted.”

“I talked to my therapist about you and the kiss. Would you be opposed to going to therapy with me? I want you to be involved in all aspects of my healing.”

“Let me know when and where and I’ll do my best to be there.” Mia sighs happily leaning back. “Can we stay like this forever and forget the outside world?”

“Could we?” We both laugh knowing that’s not going to happen. My phone starts to ring and it’s the bar. “Hello?”

“Hey, I’m sorry to call you but Gordon is having a fit. The freezer broke sometime this afternoon, and everything is spoiled.”

“Okay. Call the repairman and I’ll be there in a couple of hours. Let everyone know that the bar is closed. Have Gordon write down everything that he’s throwing away for tax purposes.”

“My parents can take me. Get to the bar. They need you more than me right now.”

“Are you sure?” She nods. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” I hang up the phone with her.

“I’ll be taking my