Shot Throught the Heart

Part 3

Even though we took a more direct route, the drive to Mykolaiv still took almost 8 hours. We made a stop for lunch that also included a bathroom break and gas before we hit the road again. The drive was kind of quiet, Cosima had the radio on the whole time to try and make this trip a bit better then our last one which was done mostly in silence. But finally, we got Cosima's farm. This time, we took the street directly from the highway and then turned right up the long driveway.

            The house was just the same as I remembered. It didn't help that we pulled up at night again though. Cosima stopped the car and we got out. As we were pulling our bags from the trunk the front door opened and I turned and watch as Petro walked out onto the porch. It took a few moments for his stony face to break a bit and a smile stretched onto his lips. As we walked up the steps of the porch, Morgan gave Petro a hug and I followed in her path. Petro's hug was warm and it felt a lot better then the last one I gave them when we left the farm all those years ago. As Kuzma came up behind me, he stopped and looked at Petro.

            "I don't know if you remember the week you spent here, you were a lot smaller then." Petro said and smiled at Kuzma.

            Kuzma didn't say anything but just closed the gap between them and hugged Petro. It didn't last too long but when he pulled away, Kuzma smiled.

            "Of course I remember you Petro. You were the first person to play soccer with me after  the sky started to fall." Kuzma said quietly before making his way into the house.

            None of us said anything as we made our way inside. The house was quiet, but everything was like I remembered. It did look like the place was renovated a bit in the years that have past. Cosima led us all upstairs and showed us to the rooms we are going to be staying in. Kuzma went and put his things down in his room while we did the same before meeting everyone downstairs. Cosima's mother, Anya, was waiting for us in the kitchen and started to bring us a plate of food for dinner. It was then that we learned that Cosima's brothers couldn't make the trip because of work commitments.

            Dinner went over well and when Morgan and I tried to help cleaning up, Cosima tugged us out of the kitchen. We decided then that it would be good if we retired for the night so we all said goodnight before heading upstairs for bed. Kuzma went right into his room and closed the door behind himself for the night. Morgan and I got dressed for bed and freshened up in the bathroom. As Morgan started to get into bed I turned my attention to the window and looked outside. From here, you couldn't see the town, I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad one.

            "It's a different room, I think Cosima did that on purpose." Morgan said from the bed. I didn't say anything, just closed the curtain and went to the other side of the bed and got in. The gun the guys gave me was tucked under the mattress for easy access if needed, giving me a little peace of mind. I laid on my back for a few moments before Morgan wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around my wife and held her tight. It didn't take long for her breathing to even out and I knew she was asleep. It took me a little longer but finally my mind relaxed enough for me to sleep.

            The next morning I jolted awake in a cold sweat. The night the bombs fell replayed in my brain and shocked me into consciousness. The move knocked Morgan off of me as I sat upright and took a few deep breaths to try and calm down. It took a few minutes to get it together but when I did, I looked around the room and saw Morgan laying next to me alert and awake, just watching me with her hand stretched out towards me. I slipped my hand into hers and focused on her thumb rubbing over my knuckles. This was one of our grounding techniques. We knew enough by know not to touch each other when we get like this. So we would leave our hand out for the other to take when we were ready.