The Marine

Tumbling

"He's made it through and is resting."

The doctors words were just what we needed to hear. I hugged Mrs. Mahaka and Terry's friend. They wanted to see him and the doctor gave the 'ok'. I stayed in the lobby though. Needing my own private space with him, I paced instead. Luca had left and he indicated I was with Lex. But he couldn't have been more wrong.

He was who I wanted. He was who I loved. Not Lex. There really was no other way around it. I would just have to adjust my way of thinking when it came to him moving and possibly taking in Leer's daughter. If Leer relinquished care voluntarily, then she didn't need to be a threat to me. Luca didn't want her, if he did he would have already gone for her. She was throwing out signals left and right and I knew he saw them.

But we desperately needed to talk.

"He's ready for you Mila."

Mrs. Mahaka hugged me and she left with Terry's friend. I got up and took a deep breath. This wasn't like my parents, he was fine. He was going to be fine. I kept repeating that as I got to his room.

"Mila!"

Terry weakly called to me as I came through the doorway. He was propped up on pillows, a Styrofoam cup in hand.

"You look so much better. . .do you feel ok?"

He chuckled softly, "of course! Nothing can keep me down. I know I'll die when I hit 90. I'm not there yet!"

"No one knows when we are going to die." I said. "But I am sure glad you didn't. It was terrifying, seeing you on the grass like that."

"Don't remind me! I was scared too! You know your grandpa and dad were behind you right?"

Once he said it I got a chill. They were behind me? While I was trying to comfort him in the grass?

"What do you mean??"

He indicated for me to sit in the side chair next to his bed. Then he sipped the water in his cup and set it on the side table.

"Hawaii is full of lore and old stories, as you probably know from your family upbringing."

I nodded my head. My grandpa especially loved to tell stories of all sorts of things, ancestral things that he believed.

"We go back to the land when we die. We are from the islands. Dying is just transporting your soul back to it's birth place. God wanted us to tend to the land." He said. "So it was natural that your dad and grandpa would be here still. Plus you are here. They want to be near you too."

I thought back to the way my dads words had been playing in my mind lately, as if he was speaking to me clear as day. I chalked it up to grief and my inability to process it completely. But maybe it was something more.

"Don't be afraid Mila. Don't be afraid to love a marine."

💋💋

Love a marine.