Civil Blood

Chapter 23

The crutches stood apparently alone, but their owner had to be close. Ever so carefully, Lena crept closer to them and when her back was against the wall, tried to find the owner. She rounded the corner, as silently as she could. The balcony was now above her head, and a pair of legs dangled over the edge in front of her.

Automatically, Lena stepped forward, onto a crunchy piece of gravel. In the blink of an eye, the legs swung round and dropped to the ground. Before Lena had time to react, there was a rifle pointed squarely at her head.

“Your knee!” Lena started forward instinctively. The rifle was swiftly lowered, to show a beaming face staring at her.

“Lena!” Isaac quickly covered the few feet between them and dropped the gun which was strapped across his shoulders. He clasped one of Lena’s hands in his.

“Isaac.” She found herself smiling back at his cheerful grin.

“So you did hear me. I can’t believe this. Is it really you?”

“Yes. Is your knee fine?” Standing this close to him, Lena couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was. There was an unruly blonde curl which hung in front of one sparkling blue eye, and his nose did a gorgeous little scrunch when he smiled at her. She felt a blush burn across her cheeks and hoped it wasn’t too prominent.

“Oh the crutches. People are just overprotective. I’m fine.”

“Oh good, good.”  His hand was still holding hers, and she gently pulled away, taking a few steps back and tucking her hair behind her ears.

“You’re not going are you? You only just got here.” His dismay was clear across his face, and Lena felt a twinge that she tried to ignore.

“Yes, I think I should.”

“Please don’t. You only just got here.” He repeated. The vulnerability of her position made Lena uneasy. It was definitely an unprecedented situation for her to be having a chat with a foreign soldier.  

 “What are you doing here?” She asked, trying to stall for time to think.

“Oh you know. Waiting.”

“For what?” For the first time, Isaac seemed uncomfortable, and rocked backwards on his heels. He gave a little jerky nod towards Lena and looked away. “Me?”

“I wanted to thank you, for saving me. Without you I’d be …” He drew his thumb across his neck playfully.  He seemed to notice Lena shifting worriedly, and searched around for a more sheltered place.

“Do you want to go inside? I think there’s a door around the back …”

“No, please, I don’t want to go back in.”

“Were you in there during the attack? With those terrorists?” He used the word casually, like it was a fact, like they all could be covered by that one label.

The only logical thing to do would be return to Gaza like she had planned. She moved and sat with her back against the wall. Isaac followed her over and slouched down next to her.

“I was with the fighters, yes. Though I didn’t want to be.”

“This isn’t what I want either, you know. I’m no soldier. Well, I am, but it’s only national service. I don’t have a choice either.” Lena scrutinised his face. He sounded sincere, and he didn’t seem like other soldiers. She’d never had a conversation with any others though.

“So what are you doing all by yourself out here? Surely a pretty girl like you has a boyfriend …” He said it nonchalantly, like he didn’t really care, but Lena wasn’t sure.

“No, I don’t have a boyfriend.” He visually perked up, and a smile tugged at his mouth. “But I am married.”

His jaw practically dropped – it would have been comical if it wasn’t so serious. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” She tried to smile, but it was half-hearted.

“Good guy?”

“I’d rather not talk about him.”

“Okay, sure.” Anxiety burned through Lena. What if Haider had returned early? What if he was looking for her at that very moment? “Hey, where you going?”

She had risen to her feet. “I’d better get back.” Lena started away, shooting an apologetic half smile to Isaac. He quickly followed and gently caught her forearm.

“Shit, I’m saying all the wrong things. Honestly, I’m not usually this much of a vegetable. To tell the truth I’m a bit intimidated.”

Lena laughed bemusedly. “Intimidated of me? That’s ridiculous! I’m not intimidating in the slightest.”

“Well of course you don’t see it, but look through my eyes for a second. You’re this gorgeous, badass, mysterious woman who may or may not have been the one to shoot me. You have to admit that’s a little overwhelming.”

He thought that she was gorgeous and badass. Her heart did a little flutter like a butterfly’s wings coming to rest.

“Really? So are worried I’m going to try to finish you off?”

“No, I’m worried that I won’t ever get the chance to talk to you again.” Lena stopped laughing at the earnestness written on his features.

“I do have to go.”

He sighed deeply. “Alright then. But remember that I’m here. The boys will notice if I hang out here too often. But I’ll always make sure to swing by here on patrol one day a week, say Thursday. If you ever want to finish our conversation …”

Lena didn’t think she could speak so she just nodded. On the spur of the moment, she ever so briefly reached up and kissed Isaac on the cheek, before turning away.

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A/N Jeez It's been a long, long gap in between chapters! I'm sorry about the wait, this chapter wouldn't work for forever and life's been pretty chaotic but I won't bore you with all that. 

The next chapter shouldn't take anywhere near as long, I'm aiming for sometime next week with a bit of luck. 

So what do you think about Isaac? Any impressions? 

Thanks a bazillion for reading and if you liked, please comment or vote? :D