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Mary felt herself blanche in horror.
She had defined the group as special operators, men who had trained to do crazy-dangerous acts of great athleticism. Yeah, they had to be athletes, or they wouldn’t have bodies like that.
Maybe they were trained stunt men?
She had put her life in what she’d convinced herself was their capable hands.
That was a lie.
Retrospective fear was an icy wash. And her whole body jolted.
When the sensation passed, Mary asked herself, did it matter?
She was alive, whole, mostly unscathed. The family was down.
Still, Mary was shaking her head at the idea of the Halo that she’d conjured.
She unwrapped the mistake, reformed her thoughts, and tried to get herself realigned.
The door opened, and Deidre came in. “Okay, you’ve been in here long enough. You should be ready to talk by now. Are you hurt?”
“Nope.” Mary reached for the soap.
“I was looking this up on social media and almost vomited when I saw what you did. That was terrifying!” Deidre said.
“Videos? Shit. I was in my underpants.”
“Full coverage ones, not string thongs.” Deidre pointed out. “So that was good. And you didn’t have your period, so no maxi pads were strapped to your crotch.”
“Small favors. Can you imagine?”
“Imagine? I’m watching the video and can’t wrap my brain around it. You risked your life. You are a hero. I know you’re in there playing this over in your head. You can’t keep today on a loop in your mind. You’ll make yourself crazy.”
“I thought it was my boys,” Mary whispered.
“What?”
“My brain,” Mary poured shampoo onto her head, “did a wackadoodle thing. When I looked up at the burning building, the two boys were side by side. I thought they were my sons.”
“You’re a mama bear.”
Mary breathed through the anxiety attack that bloomed across her chest.
“Pole dancing for the win?” Deidre asked.
“Who’d a thunk it?” The foam sliding down her body was like a black lava flow.
“Next question. Who was that guy up there with you?”
“His name is Halo. It’s got to be a last name or a call sign or something. No mother in her right mind would name her kid Halo.”
“I don’t know, I had a patient once whose name was Truest.”
“That’s not that bad,” Mary said.
“Her last name was Ho. Now, granted, the parents were new to America and translating from their own language.”
“Still.” Mary turned to rinse before moving on to the repeat.
