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

experienced it you never fully understand. We spend so much time in the noise, between trucks, constant chatter of radios, people talking not to mention constantly needing to be aware of everything around us that when we are home, and it is dead silent, the ghosts of our pasts come back to haunt us.

A knock at the door brings me around, I look up and notice the clock on the wall shows six-thirty. I must have fallen back to sleep, standing I head toward the door, when it opens wide and in walks my sister.

“Morning, Apple Jax,” she says, kissing me.

“Don’t call me that, I hated it as a kid, I hate it now,” I tell her, my tone laced with sudden annoyance. “Why are you here? I haven’t had enough coffee to deal with you yet,” I say mainly kidding. I love my sister; she has been my rock but even she can’t help shake my anxiety from my dreams.

“Uhhh, did you forget what today is?” she asks a little too excited.

“Yes,” I say, pouring steaming hot coffee into my favorite mug. “So, why don’t you tell me,” I say, dragging in my first sip of the day.

“Dogs Inc. come today to deliver your dog.” Her tone showing just how excited she is.

“Rebecca, I told you I don’t need a service dog, I only signed up for the program because the therapist said it was necessary,” I say, looking down at the paperwork.

“Yes, it is. So, Evelyn May and the dog should be here in one hour. You might want to take a shower you stink, Apple Jax,” she says with a wink and leaves the kitchen, while I storm off and shower.

A short time later there is a knock at the door, damn it why do I have to do this? I think to myself.

“Because you need to.” My sister looks at me and at first I am thrown by the fact that she knows what I am thinking.

“Stay out of my head,” I tell her, damn you for being a twin and she shrugs her shoulders and lets out a laugh.

My sister and I have always been closely linked; people say growing up we were inseparable from birth all the way up until I left for the Army.

I knew when I got back, I was different. Military changes you, life changes you. My sister has always been my rock, sometimes she’s a rock I want to throw in the Grand Canyon, but she is still my rock.

Her excitement shows as she bounces with glee when I reach for the door.

“Hi, I’m Evelyn May from Dogs Inc. and this is Grace.” She waves her hand downward.

“Are you Mr. Cole?” I look down to see a German shepherd puppy with the largest ears I have ever seen perked straight up, her head tilted in acknowledgment.

“Come in.” My sister’s voice rings from behind me.

“Ahh, yeah come on in,” I second, opening the door wider, then head toward the couch.

Pain radiating up my leg this damn thing is killing me. I make a mental note to call the VA and get it checked. Absentmindedly I rub where my prosthesis starts.

“Hi, my name is Rebecca, and this is my brother, Jackson. Thank you so much for coming.” Rebecca cheerily sticks out her hand welcoming her into my home.

“So, what do we need to do?” I ask, already wanting all these people out of my house.

“It’s simple really, I will show you simple commands and come check on you once a day for the first ten days just to make sure the adjustment period goes smoothly,” she says, sitting across from me on the love seat.

“Great. So, Jax, I need to leave and grab Chloe, will you be okay?” To everyone else she seems caring but really that is her way of telling me to behave and not be a dick to the Dogs Inc. lady.

“Yeah, Becks, everything is good,” I yell as she closes the door behind her.

“Okay, Mr. Cole, let me show you a series of commands Grace has already learned. Over the next couple days, we will be working together on specific ways Grace will be able to help you.”

“Ma’am is this really necessary, I mean she is a dog, right? She needs to be walked, fed, and she should be good right?” I just really need this lady out of my house so I can check my leg, the pain has gone from a dull roar to throbbing now.

“No, Mr. Cole.”

“Jackson or Jax, please,” I interrupt her.

“Sorry, Jackson. No, Grace will need love and support just like you do, to make sure she is doing her job,” she says and the way she talks about Grace tells me she truly loves what she does.

“Okay, well, I will be sure to tell your boss that you are very thorough, but can we do this tomorrow? We can use the rest of today to get to know each other and start that bonding you were talking about,” I lie through my teeth and hope she buys it.

“Mr. Cole, I mean Jackson, I own Dogs Inc. I only brought Grace out here to you because my other handlers were all with clients and when I read through your file, I knew she would be a perfect fit,” she says, standing. “I will let you bond with Grace for the day and I will be back here tomorrow at ten. If you could be so kind as to think about what your daily tasks are that Grace can help with that will be a big help for us to get things moving along.” She leans down patting Grace’s head. “See you in the morning, sweet girl,” she tells her, and Grace responds by licking her hand. “Jackson, I will see you about ten tomorrow.” She shakes my hand, turns, and leaves.

Finally, I look down at Grace who stands at attention when she notices me walk toward the bedroom.

“Stay, Gracie, it’s okay,” I tell