Asteroid Destruction by Bobby Akart

Author:Bobby Akart [Akart, Bobby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-03T16:00:00+00:00

PART THREE

Sunday, April 29

Chapter 24

Eight Years Prior

Fox Residence

DeFuniak Springs, Florida

Heather Fox helped her husband ease into the claw-foot tub in their master bathroom. She fought back the tears as she examined his body, which was covered in bruises, cuts, and skin ripped open to reveal pink flesh underneath. He slowly lowered himself into the warm bath supplemented by Epsom salts. She’d warned him that the bath salts would cause his wounds to sting, but he insisted, saying that it was the pain from the unseen wounds underneath his skin that bothered him the most. Heather wasn’t sure if he was referring to a physical pain or mental anguish.

Once he closed his eyes and began to relax, she knelt down behind him and gently washed his body with Gerber’s baby washcloths she used to wash her face at night. They were much softer than the more common cotton kind. Gunner’s skin was raw enough without a coarse washcloth to aggravate it.

Heather chose to stay quiet, stifling her desire to quiz him on the details of what had been done to him. His arrival at their home was completely unexpected, as he’d told her that he’d likely be gone for weeks. She’d suspected something was wrong the night before when she saw several dark-colored vehicles bearing blue and white government tags drive slowly past their house.

Gunner had always cautioned her against rushing to judgment or worrying unnecessarily. If something had truly gone awry on one of his missions, she’d hear from Cam or his superior officer first.

He exhaled and pushed himself a little higher in the tub. The bleeding on his chest had stopped, and he was able to flex his arms and legs to work out the soreness in his muscles. It had been a long trek home, one that tested his mettle as much as the torture he’d been put through.

Gunner broke the silence. He reached his arm out of the water and squeezed Heather’s hand, who continuously nurtured his body by gently washing it.

“Honey, let’s talk about this one time, and then never again, okay?”

Heather reluctantly nodded and stood up. She wandered to the bathroom window overlooking Lake DeFuniak, which was across Circle Drive from their century-old home. According to local folklore, the perfectly round lake had been created by a meteorite. This made for a good story to tell tourists, although most likely it was a sinkhole that remained filled by an underground stream flowing from twin lakes to the west of the town.

She sighed and allowed the tears to flow. She kept her back to him so that he couldn’t see them, but Gunner knew his wife too well.

“Honey, I’m sorry,” he apologized unnecessarily.

Heather looked upward and tucked her hands inside the long sleeves of her sweater. Her sniffles gave away her tears, so she wiped her face and turned to look at him. “There’s nothing to apologize for. I just wish I could wrap my head around why this was necessary.”

Gunner squeezed out the wet cloth and turned on the faucet, allowing cool water to soak it.

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