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The waitress placed a Cesar salad in front of Fianna. It seemed all right. But after smelling the fried food on the other side of the table, she regretted her choice.
Gwenn slid her fries in front of Fianna. “Here. Grab some. Don’t give me a bullshit reason about clogging arteries or counting calories. Live a little.”
“Tell me what you’re going to discuss with your psychologist?” Fianna sat back with her arms crossed.
Gwenn dropped a deviled chicken leg on her plate. “Okay. Since you’ve asked for it….” She grabbed some paper towels and cleaned her fingers and the corners of her mouth.
“You don’t have to stop eating. I just—”
Gwenn held up her hand. “No, that’s okay. I’ll lose my appetite after sharing this story, anyway.”
Fianna picked at some of her salad with her fork. Her stomach roiled, thinking about what was to come. It had to be something gruesome. Gwenn rarely spoke to her family about her time in Afghanistan. She wondered if today would be the day.
“My shrink’s goin’ to be happy because I could sit next to Ronan and be there for him. Even though I felt his blood oozing over my fingers, I still held on to his wound, trying to keep everything inside.”
Fianna felt dizzy at the idea of Ronan lying in that alley, fighting for his life.
“You did good, sis. If it weren’t for you…”
Gwenn waved that idea away. “Nah. But you know what? I sat with him in that ambulance and had not one flashback. Weird right? I mean… I have them almost every night. If I would close my eyes right now, I could easily picture ten different guys from my team that didn’t make it. Their screams keep me up at night. It’s gotten so bad that Kera bought us a new sofa for in our living room. She told me that the old one was bad for my neck.”
That sounded like Kera. As a medic in the military and now an EMT in the hospital, Kera knew best how to support Gwenn.
Fianna leaned over the tabletop and placed her hand on top of Gwenn’s, her thumb grazing Gwenn’s sweaty palm.
“Are you having flashbacks right now?” Fianna asked, hating that her sister had gone through so much.
“Yeah…” Gwenn said, staring at something in the distance.
“I’m s—”
“No, no. We’re not doin’ this. Everything is going to be fine. We know Ro is going to get better, and that’s all that matters. You and him are back together and—”
Fianna pulled her hand away from Gwenn’s. “Excuse me? We’re not back together.”
Gwenn picked up another piece of chicken. Apparently, egging her sister on brought on her appetite. Fianna was happy to oblige. Sort of.
“You seemed mighty cozy to me. Swopping spit and all…”
“Okay, things got intense… But it was just a moment.”
Gwenn snorted. “That’s one way of putting it.”
Fianna sighed and gave her sister an exasperated look. “What do you want to hear from me? Spit it out so we can head back to the hospital.”
“I want you to admit to yourself that you’re still in love with Ronan.”
Fianna sat back in her chair and raised her chin. “Easy. I still love Ronan.”
The trouble was that she didn’t know if love alone would be enough. She wasn’t the same girl she was six years ago.
“Then why not getting back together again? He could have died, Fi. Just like that. Poof!” Gwenn flicked her ten fingers like a bomb went off.
“Stop it.” Fianna shifted in her seat and glanced around the diner.
“It’s the truth. He could have died and you would have never had the opportunity to kiss that arrogant teddy bear of a man. And you know what? That man still loves you. He was a mess in that ambulance, but I heard him. He called out for you in his last breath before he passed out.”
“I don’t know, Gwenn…”
