Page 31 of Twins for the Secret Prince
“No, he’s alive. Well, his body is alive, not his brain.” Eva took a few deep breaths and then added, “I’m not telling you all of this for sympathy. It’s because I knew — even back then when I was only fifteen — that for some of us, people who didn’t have the greatest start in life, the military is the answer. It gives you purpose, people around you who care so much about you they’d risk their life for yours.”
They ran in silence for a moment, Private Sully’s breaths rattling in his chest.
“That’s why I’m here,” he said quietly. “I want that.”
Eva nodded. “I figured as much. I can usually see it in recruits. And I have to be honest with you, private, when I first met you, I was fed up with your attitude problem almost right away.”
“I get that a lot.”
“That’s why I was so hard on you, trying to make you see that you get one chance at this.”
“I know.”
“I know you do. And I know now that it’s not that you’re lazy or can’t be bothered. You need someone to coach you, one to one, so that you can start to do the things you’re struggling with.”
The young private turned to look at Eva and what she saw on his face — hope and vulnerability — cut to her core. “Who were you thinking about?” he asked.
“I was thinking I’ll be the one to coach you.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Of course I will. But there’s one condition — you can’t let me down. Bright and early every morning, we’ll train together. And then you are going to pass basic training.”
“I won’t let you down,” Private Sully said, with a look so earnest it made Eva’s heart ache.
At the crack of dawn the next morning, Eva walked into the training yard and was delighted to see Private Sully there, waiting for her.
“Have you ever done yoga?” she asked him. He shook his head. “That’s what we’re going to do today. It will help with your breathing.”
“What’s wrong with my breathing?”
“It’s very shallow, like you can’t get enough air into your lungs. Did you have bronchitis as a child, or asthma?”
He nodded. “Bronchitis.”
“Breathing problems often develop as a reaction to a chronic condition. I’m going to show you how to really use your lungs.”
As Eva led Private Sully through some simple yoga poses, she noticed how uncoordinated he was. Even holding his balance in some of the more basic poses proved difficult. At one point, he fell onto the ground when she was guiding him through breathing exercises in the tree pose. Although he wasn’t injured, the fall rattled his confidence and he put his head in his hands, frustrated.
“Why can’t I do things that everyone else can?” he said angrily.
“This isn’t easy,” Eva said. “A lot of people struggle with it. But if you can master the breathing, it’s going to make every other challenge you face in basic training so much easier.”
“Really?” he asked, his face hopeful.
“Really. Take the hell wall, for example. You’ve got the upper arm strength for it. That isn’t the problem, it’s your breath. You run out of puff before you get to the top.”
“Okay. I’ll keep trying.”
And he did. Every morning that week, Private Sully was up early, ready for yoga. By the end of the week, he showed definiteprogress both in terms of his balance and his breathing. Eva was proud of him. More to the point, Private Sully couldn’t hide the fact that he felt proud of himself.
“You’re doing great,” Eva told him. “Let’s go for our run, and then we’ll tackle the hell wall.”
He groaned. “Great, more broken bones. Just in time for the weekend.”
“Private Sully, you arenotgoing to break any bones. Today’s the day you conquer the hell wall.”
“It’s raining just as much as it was the day I had my accident,” he said. “I’m getting flashbacks.”
