Romantic love story

Chapter Forty-two: Fly

"You don't know any of this will happen."

"You don't know it won't." Terry folded his arms. "You know enough of what it's like to wake me, so you know I can't handle it on my own. You know what I am. You can say it-- I can face the truth."

"And what do you think is the truth?"

"That I'm a coward, that I run from pain."

"You're no coward. You gave your apartment to a recovering drug addict. Two of them, if I remember right."

Terry shook his head. "Don't try to prove me wrong."

"Keep it up, Buddy, and that's exactly what I'll do. And I won't just try." John nodded to Tim as the O'Briens walked over. "Izumi's on the shore with Madison."

"Oh... okay." Tim looked to Terry, then back at John before moving his family toward the women.

"I should be able to handle this on my own," Terry reasoned.

"This is why your breakdown happened." John pushed his hands into his pockets. "You aren't afraid of the pain. If you were, you would've given up on trying to help people, long time ago."

Terry was working on a comeback, when John kept going.

"You aren't afraid of the pain, but I think in your fight to protect me, and Izumi, and the girls, whenever you tried to help someone, you kept it all to yourself. When they wept, you wept with them, and you wouldn't tell me what you were going through, because you were trying to protect your family. I appreciate that, but I think it was your downfall." John was on a roll-- Terry could feel it. "You shouldered a great deal of responsibility with Victor, and Donald, and you never came to me, or any of the rest of us for help. And so you had a breakdown. You gave until you had nothing else to give. You didn't just fall apart, and start having night terrors after having gone so long without them. There was a reason. It's important you remember that."

Terry groaned. "If that's true, then all I need to do is find a way to love my neighbor as myself, without breaking myself in the process, and everything will be dandy."

"It'd be a start." John looked thoughtful. "I'd be open to starting some sort of ministry with you where we support each other, while helping others. Two are much stronger than one." He shook his head. "But that's not what I was trying to say. Accept help when it's offered, and come ask for it when you need it. Don't just gut it out."

"I haven't been making things easy for you and Izzy, have I?"

John shrugged. "I'm a father of triplets-- easy went out the window a long time ago. Just remember, you aren't a coward, trying to run from anything. Caring came with a price, and you weren't afraid of that price."

"Anything else?" Terry asked. He was listening, especially after that offer from John.

"Though you're trying to stay aware of your flashbacks, don't let them rule your life. I don't believe that time during your breakdown is a good average of what to expect in the future. It doesn't represent what you're normally like. Just look at yourself, you've already been getting better. Not exactly one-hundred-percent back to your old self, but you're married now, so of course you're different. In fact, I haven't had to come running lately, so it's safe to say your sleep has at least improved."

"It has," Terry nodded. He looked up to heaven and added, "Thank You, God."

"And thank you, Madison?" John waited, and Terry had to grin. "I've got eyes," John smiled, "I can see she makes you happy."

"I hope you won't regret your offer about starting a ministry, because I just might take you up on that. What I've been doing hasn't been working."