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I shrug. “I’m a night owl, and I don’t need much sleep. When you wake up, we’ll have breakfast together and I’ll sleep in the daytime.”
Charlie frowns. “What are you going to do all night? Watch me sleep?”
I laugh. “I don’t know. Read. Watch a movie. Think profound thoughts. Write poems about your snoring. The possibilities are endless.”
She swats me. “I don’t snore.”
I grin. “All women say that.”
She hesitates, and I watch her struggle to accept help.
“Every soldier comes home with scars, Charlie, every single one. Some scars are visible. Some aren’t. There’s no shame in it.”
She looks away, and I can hear her silent disagreement. “Yeah, well, not everybody has night terrors and shoots up their house.”
“Not everybody, no, but some do. Let me help you. Please, Charlie. You’ve helped me so much. Will you trust me to keep you safe?”
She shouldn’t. I’m the reason for the hell she went through.
She meets my eyes without wavering. “I trust you, Mark. I always have.” She looks down. “I don’t know where my gun ended up, or I’d give it to you.”
“If no one's picked it up, I slid it beneath the foyer table earlier.”
She pads across the room, squatting by the table outside the bedroom door. She returns a moment later, engaging the safety and holding it muzzle down before passing it to me. I place it on the bedside table.
Charlie climbs onto the bed next to me, curling against my side, and I wrap my arms around her. “Thank you for giving me a purpose.”
She looks up at me, her brow furrowed. “Thank you for being here for me. Again,” she adds.
I kiss the top of her head. “Alright, Baby Girl, which side of the bed do you want?”
“I need to face the door,” she answers immediately.
I nod. “Then I’ll be on your right, and my right leg should be out of harm’s way if you wake up kicking or fighting.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“I’m positive,” I say firmly. I’ll do anything to help her get past this.
I’m rewarded with her tentative smile. “I’ll go get my pillow.”
Much later, Charlie is sound asleep beside me, her back pressed tightly to my side as she faces the door. Even with me standing guard, she’s determined no one will sneak up on her.
Today has been a day full of firsts.
I was outside a hospital for the first time since January.
I got on an airplane and used public transportation for the first time as an amputee.
I came home to stay with Charlie.
I faced Tucker and Lila in person with my injuries.
For the first time, I have hope my phantom pains aren’t insurmountable.
I got shot at by my best friend. That’s a first I could do without.
And I learned Charlie’s still trapped in hell.
