Shot Throught the Heart

five

The next morning I woke up to a splitting headache and an empty bed. Recalling all the nights Morgan and I fell into bed together; she was usually always gone before the sun rose. Just once I wish she would stay. I dug my face into the pillow a little bit more and then sighed. Hiding here will do nothing. It didn't stop me from staying in bed for another five minutes before I rolled out from under the covers. The cool air of the morning made me shiver as I pulled my bedroom door open.

            The house was quiet as I checked Robs room to find it also empty. I made my way down the stairs and found Dominic sitting at the table with sunglasses on sipping from a hot mug. As I sat down across from him a pair of pills appeared in front of me and a mug of coffee. Peyton sat down next to me a second later as I took the pills and washed them down with some coffee. Nobody said anything as I downed the coffee. Peyton left her seat and kissed the crown of my head before disappearing down the hallway towards mom art studio.

            Dominic and I sat in silence and drank our coffees. As I got to the end of my mug, I started to feel my headache slowly start to fade and I got up to make myself something for breakfast. Before I got far, I found a basket of bagels and rolls sitting on the counter. I picked up a bagel and found some cream cheese in the fridge. It didn't take long to slater the bagel in cream cheese and I returned to the table with a cup of orange juice now that the coffee ran out.

            About half way through my bagel the front door opened and Morgan and Rob walked in slightly sweaty. Looks like both of the opted for a run this morning. Rob gave me a wave before taking the stairs two at a time to take a shower. Morgan joined Dominic and I at the table and took a seat. She looked longingly at my bagel so I got up and made her one. Her smile was bright when I put the plate down in front of her as I went back to my own breakfast. Rob joined us a little while later and made his own breakfast and joined us. Dominic I think had enough of all the noise and grunted out he will see us later.

            After Morgan was done with her breakfast she went upstairs to shower and I took some time to look over some emails when I saw a few from command. They contained some new information regarding what's happening in Russia. Things are slowly starting to fall apart and I don't know how much longer it will be before we all are called to go overseas. As I finished one of the briefs, I heard some footsteps come from down the hall and found Mom walking toward us with Peytons hands on her shoulders. I put the brief away and took in mom's tired eyes and paint covering her hands and arms.

            "This one has been up since 4am painting. I think it's finally time for her to finally take a much deserved break to have some food." Peyton said and sat mom down in the chair Dominic vacated.

            "Definitely, looks like you could also use a nap mom." I said and sighed.

            "I couldn't sleep, so I went to paint and I just kept going." Mom said slummed in her chair.

            "Okay well now, you need some food, a shower then a nap. We still have some time before we need to leave for the wake." I said and patted her hand. Mom only nodded as Peyton came over and gave her a roll with butter on it.

            Just as I was going to pick up my phone again to finish the brief, Rob spun the paper around and pointed at an article. His eyes connected with mine and I saw the look in them. His 'this is going to be bad' look and I read the article title. More Images of Increased Russian Troops Near the Ukraine Boarder. I didn't read the article and looked at Rob with an I know face. Before either of us could close the paper mom spoke.

            "You're going to get deployed, aren't you?"

            The sentence was a knife in my heart and I had a hard time looking in moms eyes without the truth bleeding through. The words took a few moments to come as I carefully crafted a statement that wouldn't completely make this weekend any harder.