themuseswithin 8.1: What is the greatest joy you have ever felt?
What is the greatest joy you have ever felt?
She sat alone in a room at Alconbury Air Force base, bleeding, battered and bruised, and she cried.
It was impossible to determine the true scope of her injuries. The head wound was the most glaring, having required multiple stitches. There were various cuts and bruises that had been cleaned and bandaged. It was still hard to breathe from the hard blows she'd taken to the chest and stomach. But the most painful were the tears that were two years overdue, the sobbing that burned her eyes and made it impossible to see.
Katie hadn't even cried at her brother's funeral. Oh, she'd sobbed when she'd heard he was dead, and on the flight over, but once she had arrived on base to see him buried she'd shut down. She had gone into a state of denial, compounded by her struggle to understand what had happened to him. Too much anger had gotten in the way. But now, knowing she had gone face to face with one of the men that had killed him and won, that the other had been shot dead for her, it was time to let it out. To grieve for the loss of the only family she had, and for the years of pain and heartache that followed.
Her brother was avenged. Her demons had been cast aside. Her life, now, was hers to live as she chose, for herself, for something that made her happy. Someone she had found to love, and be loved in return.
Now she was free.
Lt. Col. Katie Cohen Ryan
The Unit
256 Words
She sat alone in a room at Alconbury Air Force base, bleeding, battered and bruised, and she cried.
It was impossible to determine the true scope of her injuries. The head wound was the most glaring, having required multiple stitches. There were various cuts and bruises that had been cleaned and bandaged. It was still hard to breathe from the hard blows she'd taken to the chest and stomach. But the most painful were the tears that were two years overdue, the sobbing that burned her eyes and made it impossible to see.
Katie hadn't even cried at her brother's funeral. Oh, she'd sobbed when she'd heard he was dead, and on the flight over, but once she had arrived on base to see him buried she'd shut down. She had gone into a state of denial, compounded by her struggle to understand what had happened to him. Too much anger had gotten in the way. But now, knowing she had gone face to face with one of the men that had killed him and won, that the other had been shot dead for her, it was time to let it out. To grieve for the loss of the only family she had, and for the years of pain and heartache that followed.
Her brother was avenged. Her demons had been cast aside. Her life, now, was hers to live as she chose, for herself, for something that made her happy. Someone she had found to love, and be loved in return.
Now she was free.
Lt. Col. Katie Cohen Ryan
The Unit
256 Words