Heartbeats

Chapter 8: Worried little hearts

She was tossing and turning in her sleep. Her brother, Daniel, was beside her at the brink of his tears with his continuous efforts of waking her up.

The two were not alone in the room. Since they went and used a bed in the barracks for Sasha to lie on, they were surrounded by the members of the third recon squad. It was evident from their faces that each and every single one of them was worried for their Captain.

Suddenly, her eyes shot awake and quickly sat up. Daniel smiled, but was instantly alarmed when he noticed the rage in her eyes. Daniel saw how Sasha's hand searched for her handgun around the bed. Her fingers instantly located it. She grabbed it and pointed at Daniel without hesitation.

Daniel heard some gasps around him and more guns clicking. From his peripheral vision, he could see that some of the men had already pulled out their guns and pointed at Sasha. Daniel lifted his palm. Without even breaking eye contact with his sister, he signalled for them to hold their fire.

"Who... are you..." Sasha's voice shook as Daniel stared down at the barrel of her gun.

She was breathing fast and hard, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Her lips quivered, while her eyes scanned Daniel's face.

Daniel could clearly see that she was still locked in her nightmare. It was agonizing to see his sister like this, but he chose not to be afraid. This was Sasha. Even through the madness of a horrible nightmare, she would never hurt him.

"I am Daniel Andrews Guttormson." He answered, stating his whole name calmly as he looked at Sasha's wild and confused eyes.

There were some who whispered and raised a brow. Commoners do not have the right to keep their names, much less utter them out loud, but Daniel could not be bothered with such absurdities.

"I am your younger brother." Daniel pressed forward letting the end of the gun touch the flesh of his neck.

Sasha's breaths came in slower. Her eyes started to clear. She finally saw him, looking back at her with defiant eyes. Sasha lowered her weapon, her eyes still on his. She blinked rapidly, cleaning her eyes, until she it dawned on her who it was in front of her.

"Daniel." There was pure relief in her voice.

Gradually, the soldiers around them realized that Sasha was coming back to normal. They looked at each other and confirmed that they were now safe. At last, they lowered their weapons.

She then pulled herself in and kneaded her forehead. She calmed and tried to recall what happened.

"Gino found you sleeping in one of the benches at the locker room." Daniel explained, knowing what Sasha was thinking about.

Sasha looked up and saw the boy in their midst. She lifted an eyebrow to acknowledge the boy and he smiled back with a salute.

"We took you here, but you were sweating and thrashing in your sleep." Daniel added.

The nightmare came back to her, rushing inside her mind in vivid scenes. It all felt so real. The office. The handsome stranger claiming to be Gavril. The pain. Sasha bit back the memory of it all. She would rather not think about it.

"Sasha!" Sasha raised her head and saw August at the door, holding a tray with a large bowl. "Oh my god, you're awake!"

August pushed the tray of soup he was holding to the nearest guy around him, Klein. He then rushed towards Sasha and embraced her. August was not even thinking of where they were and who could see. At that moment, there was nothing but joy inside his heart when he saw that she was awake.