Page 64 of Casualties of War
Téra sat up again. “Did I forget something?” she asked, her worry rising. Minnie was being Calli and Téra was trying to be Minnie. Neither of them was sure of themselves.
Minnie shook her head and lowered herself to the floor. She crossed her legs, for there was room for awoman of Minnie’s size to do that, while Rubén had to turn sideways to fit. Minnie rested her back and her head against the wall and blew out another deep breath. “Ah…to be still, even for a moment.”
Then she cracked one eye open and looked at Téra. “Rubén woke, thirty minutes ago. First thing he did was phone me and tell me to get my ass upstairs and keep you company until you fell asleep.”
Téra could feel her cheeks warming at the same time her heart gave a little flip and her chest tightened. “He’s okay?”
“He’s off the critical list and giving the nurses a hard time. One of them tried to take the phone off him while he was talking to me.” Minnie smiled. “She won’t try again.”
Téra closed her eyes.
“Why don’t you lie down and relax?” Minnie said. “You won’t sleep sitting up likethat.”
Téra grumbled as she settled back on the mattress. “This is so stupid. I feel as if my brain has reverted to childhood. Ghosts and things that go bump in the night.”
“It’s not stupid at all,” Minnie told her. “Needing company to fall asleep is a mild reaction to everything you’ve gone through. Some people become full on basket cases. They never trust another soul and go through life alone.”
“You didn’t fall apart, even a little,” Téra pointed out. “And you went through hell.”
“I did it for the man I loved,” Minnie told her, with a soft smile. “Mine ended up being one of the good guys. You were betrayed by yours. Totally different, honey.” She closed her eyes again. “Rubén is one of the good guys, you know.”
Téra drew in a breath and let it out. “I know.”
“I’m just saying, becauseyou might doubt your own judgment, after Lucas.”
“I don’t doubt. Not anymore,” Téra said, smiling. Hearing the man’s name didn’t make her twitch internally the way it used it, either.
She was still smiling when she fell asleep.
