Page 26 of Shielding Aubree

"Well, there are times when I think that I'm losing my mind, when I'm awake and think about that time in the car and I can hear the growling. And feel the warmth of his hand holding mine."

Ruben felt a muscle tick in his jaw.

It wasn't right for him to be jealous.

Not now.

But no matter how much he tried to ignore that feeling, it was still there.

"Who was there with you, Aubree?" He let out a pent-up breath. "Please, I'd like to know who to thank for helping you through that time."

He felt like he could see her bite into the inside of her cheek before she formed the answer to his question.

"It was my bother, Diego. I saw him. Or rather," she tipped her gaze down to look at the ground, "I saw him in the eyes of the mountain lion who laid down beside me in that wreck."

"Your brother?"

She nodded. "Yes. Diego is my oldest brother. I mean, he was. He waited there with me until rescue arrived. I wasn't alone. And that was the only reason why I made it through that night and the morning after.

"If I'd been alone, I think I would have slipped away and followed him into the darkness."

Aubree looked at him and he could see the unspoken question in her eyes.

When he spoke, Ruben spoke from the heart again. It seemed like it was all he could do with Aubree,

"All I know is that I'm glad you lived. Glad that you came here for help. I hope that you'll never have to face something like that ever again. But if you do, I hope we can give you what you need to pull yourself through to the other side, because I'm glad you're here, Aubree. The world needs you."

6

It took a few days for them to return to the subject of her time in the car after the accident. She was exhausted from all of the activities she'd signed up for.

Ruben was wondering if she was pushing herself or punishing herself.

Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference.

He'd struggled with the same issues himself.

Probably not for the same reason, but struggles were different for each person.

Aubree didn't just walk through the water, she pushed through it, moving faster and faster until she was almost running, bringing her knees up higher as she went.

Ruben had stopped walking with her and stood back to watch.

There was little chance of her falling or slipping below the surface of the water, but it wasn't impossible.

So he stood there and watched her pushing through the water.

It was after at least a dozen crossings back and forth that Aubree seemed to realize that he wasn't walking with her.

She came to a stop a few feet short of where he was standing.

She dragged breath after breath in and out of her body while she looked at him.

"What's going on?"

He didn't react to the shortness of her tone or the hard look in her eyes.

She wasn't really upset with him.

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