The Broken Soldier

Three

Marley

I wake up and slowly roll out of bed. It's early so it's not completely hot yet. I pull my hair into a high messy bun as I shuffle down the hall to the bathroom. I can't bring myself to open my eyes yet so when I walk in the bathroom, I am surprised to hear someone clear their throat. My eyes fly open and Zachary is standing in front of the toilet with his junk out. "Do you mind?"

I throw my head back.

"Oh God Zachary! Really!" I march out of the bathroom closing the door behind me. I shake my head and stand against the wall. When the door finally opens, Zachary walks out.

"Try knocking next time."

I roll my eyes "Try closing the door next time"

I slip by him and go into the bathroom slamming the door behind me. This little arrangement is NOT working out. I brush my teeth forcefully and when I'm done, there is a knock on the door.

"What?"

"I need to brush my teeth" Zach mumbles.

"Well, feel free to wait" I smile to myself but it's short-lived because Zach takes it into his own hands and barges in.

"Excuse me, I'm in here!"

"Unfortunately" He groans. With his hip, he bumps me over and spreads toothpaste on his toothbrush. As he brushes his teeth, I kneel down and reach under the sink for my brush. I sit it on the sink still digging under the sink and my eyes catch Zach's. They are frozen on my bare thighs. I stand up slowly and his eyes shoot to mine. I break eye contact and pick my brush up pretending as if that moment never happened. Pulling the hair tie out, my wavy hair falls past my shoulders. I brush it out as a weird tension grows.

"Marley!" My dad calls from downstairs

"Yeah!" I yell back.

"Breakfast is ready"

I turn towards Zach. "See you downstairs"

He doesn't reply as I walk out. I go in my room and slip on a pair of cut off shorts and a high school t-shirt with flip-flops. Under my clothes I have on a bikini, assuming I may go swimming at the lake with my friends. I bounce downstairs and the smell of pancakes hits my nose.

"Mmmm it smells great down here." I say as I turn the corner to the kitchen.

My dad passes me a plate of pancakes and eggs as I sit down. Zach comes marching down a few moments later. He sits down across from me without speaking. I pick up the jar of fresh honey on the table and drizzle it on my pancakes. I scoop a little up with the tip of my finger and lick it off, unaware that I'm being watched till I look up and Zach's eyes are glued to mine. Clearing my throat, he picks his fork up and digs into his food.

After breakfast, Zach retreats to the porch as I watch tv. About an hour later I hear a car pull up and I know it's Josh. I go outside and his black jacked up truck is in my driveway.

"Hey, babe" He says as he gets out. I walk out to him and he kisses me quick and hard. His eyes find the porch and he frowns.

"Who the hell is that?"

"That's Zach. He came back from Iraq with my dad and he is staying with us." I shrug and take Josh's hand leading him to the porch.

Josh eyes Zach, but Zach looks at me making me remember last night when he spotted one of the few bruises on my body. Neither of them says anything as I pull Josh into the house.

My dad isn't very fond of Josh but he tolerates him in the hopes that we break up soon. I know I should stop seeing him, but I just can't. Josh is always polite around my father, but I know deep down isn't just a mask.

"Hey, Mr. Jensen, happy to have you back." Josh says.

My dad looks at him.

"Yeah. No more late nights over here. Can't be too happy about that. "

I groan.

"Dad" He doesn't reply. He just gets up.

"I'm heading into town for some bait. I'm in the mood for fishing." He grabs his keys and leaves.

Josh's hand in mine, I lead him up to my room. "I don't like the way that guy was looking at you, Mar"

I flop on the bed. "He doesn't look at me any way. He can't stand me and I can't stand him. He is just here to recover and leave." I wave my hand in the air.

"Yeah, well I want you to stay away from him." he mumbles.

I roll my eyes. "How do I stay away from someone who lives across the hall?"

Josh doesn't say anything so I stand.

"I'm gonna go get something to drink" I head to the door, but Josh catches my arm. "Josh not now, please" I try to pull my arm, but he grips harder.

"You better stay away from him, Understand?" Anger spreads over his face.

"Okay, fine" He let's go and I rub my arm.

I go downstairs and see Zach sitting at the kitchen table. He eyes the red finger-shaped marks on my arm, but I ignore his look. I don't say anything as I pour some sweet tea into a cup.

When I go back upstairs, Josh is going through my phone.

"What are you doing?" I snatch my phone from him, but my nails scratch his hand. Suddenly, his fist balls up. His swings his arm hitting me in the side under my ribs. I gasp and fall to my knees.

"Dammit, Mar!" He hisses.

Tears stream down my face and hit the hardwood floor as Josh stands over me.

"I'm sorry" I whisper.

"You're damn right you're sorry. You make me do things like this to you. You need to stay in your place"

I sniff hard and look up, trying to calm myself. Through my blurred vision, I see Zach at my door. His fists arm balled tight around the handle of his crutches.

"What the hell is going on?" His voice sounds like he is ready to pounce

I get up, hand on my side.

"Nothing, Zach. Please just go" I close the door slowly in his face.

After his anger does down, Josh apologizes and heads home. I go to the bathroom and stand in front of the mirror to assess the damage. I lift my shirt up slowly but stop when in the mirror I see Zach coming up the stairs. He sees me and comes down the hall where I am.

"Go ahead" his deep voice mumbles. I look at him in the mirror for a moment before my hands move again. I finish raising the shirt and my breath hitches when I see a circular dark purple bruise on the side of my stomach. I run my fingers over it lightly then look at Zach. His face catches me by surprise. It's dark and scary like yesterday when he tackled me to the floor.

"Zach, you can't tell my dad." I mumble.

He frowns at my words for a moment. "It's none of my business, but you shouldn't let him beat on you like you're a fuckin punching bag."

I look at the bruise again "He isn't like that all the time. I made him angry"

Zach snorts "Yeah right." He turns around and heads into his room leaving me alone.

Zachary POV

I lay on the bed and stare at the ceiling thinking of all the possible ways to kill someone. A particular someone name Josh. Just because I don't like Marley doesn't mean I'm just going to stand around and let that asshole beat on her. I owe a lot to Jensen and it would be wrong for me not to say something about this. I mean it's his daughter. Seeing her on that floor crying did something to me. I knew something was wrong when I heard a thud from over my head when I was sitting downstairs. I could have kicked him in his f*****g face right when I stepped on the door frame.

My instincts told me that he was trouble the moment he pulled into the yard. If it were my daughter, she definitely wouldn't be dating him.

It frustrates me to the core that Marley would ask me to keep a secret of this magnitude. The fact that she wants me to keep it a secret in the first place boils my blood for some reason. All she has to do is say the word and her father will handle him in a heartbeat.

When Jensen comes back from fishing, Marley acts as if nothing happened. She is back to her normal happy self but while eating dinner, her eyes find mine a few times. I can see the small glimpses of sadness in them. Why is she subjecting herself to abuse? I just want to shake her and ask her that but it's not my place. If she wants to be beaten, it's all on her.

After dinner, Marley and her dad retreat to the couch and I go on the porch. I don't know why I like it out here but it's quiet and peaceful. I think back to last night when I woke up standing in the middle of the yard and it bothers me. I don't want to feel like I need to be strapped to a bed in fear that I'll run off or something, but I'm grateful Marley found me.

I go see a therapist next week and I'm not looking forward to laying on some couch talking to a stranger. No one knows me better than myself so what the hell can they tell me. I know how I feel, I just need to know how to handle it. I also have to go see the doctor to see when I can start physical therapy and get back to Iraq. That's what I'm more anxious about.

Breaking my thought, Marley comes outside with two fishing poles "Come on"

I hesitate for a moment and consider saying no thanks, but I don't have s**t else to do. I get up and leave my crutches. Marley walks slowly as I follow behind limping slightly.

"Where are we going?"

"Down to the creek to fish. Have you ever been fishin'?" She turns and looks at me as I shake my head. No one was concerned about fishing in my neighborhood. She leads me through a small brush of wooded area and I hear the flow of water. We get to the creek and there is a big rock on the edge. Marley sits down and I follow. She hands me a pole and I hold it awkwardly. Marley laughs and tells me how to cast the line. After I get the hang of it we sit in silence. I peek over at Marley and she has this pained look on her face.

"Still hurts?"

She blinks "Uh." she tries to think of a lie but fails. "Yeah. It does"

"Can I see?" I ask just wanted to make sure it wasn't that bad.

Marley stares at me for a moment before lifting the side of her shirt. My eyes widen when I see the dark purple fist-sized bruise on her side.

"Is it worse?" she mumbles

"Yeah, it is" No need to lie "How long as he been doing this to you?"

She stares down at the water. "Almost a year. The first time I broke up with him, but he told me he would stop. so yeah"

At that moment, I wanted to beat his face in. I had to watch men beat on my mother when I was little and could never do anything about it but it's not like she was trying to do anything about it either. She was too busy using them to buy alcohol to care about her bruised face and neglected kid. I remember once a man knocked her out and I sat on the floor with her till she woke up. No matter how horrible of a mother she was, I still loved her but that's how all children are. Always loving their parents unconditionally no matter how shitty they are. It only made joining the military an easy choice. I had to get out of that hell hole. I knew I was going to end up in trouble or die eventually so if I was going to die, why not do it for my country.

I am pulled from my trance by a pull on the fishing pole "Whoa"

"Hey, you caught something. Reel it in" I reel the line in and a small fish appears. Marley starts laughing. "Awe look at the little guy."

"Little is an understatement." I hold the string in front of my face and unhook the small fish, gently tossing it back into the water.

I must admit fishing is very calming. The water rushes by and I look over at Marley. I take in her looks and analyze them. Her naturally wavy hair makes me want to run my fingers through it. Her skin is flawless and if you look closely you can spot a few freckles over her nose. She is beautiful and I can't understand why anyone would want to hurt someone like her.

As the first week passes, I get into the hang of living with Jensen and Marley. The only downfall is when that Josh character comes over acting like he doesn't beat her. He tries to overly affectionate with her, but I can tell she knows it's an act so she just plays along. Her father is clueless and whenever we are alone together I want to tell him. Yesterday when she came home from being with Josh I noticed a developing bruise on her upper thigh when her dress slid up after sitting at the kitchen table. She caught me staring and quickly pulled the dress over it.

Josh never hits her in the face for obvious reasons. Where ever he hits her can be covered and concealed. Marley doesn't talk to me about any of it and I don't bring it up. It's not my place and on the outside, I could care less.

Marley begins to feel like a sort of sister I never had. She plays cards with me even when I don't want to be bothered. She knows I like my space yet she invades it constantly. I know it's by the orders of her dad to spend time with me so I don't complain....much. Jensen insists that I try to preoccupy my mind with normal activities. However, just when I begin to feel okay a noise takes me back. I feel bad when Marley or Jensen take the brunt of my episodes, but they seem to understand. It still bothers me when I think back to tackling Marley that first night. She gets hurt enough she shouldn't have to worry about me hurting her too.

Maybe I can get a few answers about all this when I go to the therapist in a few days. I am more eager to talk to someone about all of this than I was before now that I realize it's a problem I have no control over.

The night before I go to the therapist, I can't sleep. It's around 2am and I'm laying in bed staring at the ceiling. Out the corner of my eye, I see a light in the driveway. I assume is Marley coming home from being with that asshole so I pay it no mind. I listen as the front door closes and footsteps come upstairs. However, when Marley gets to the tops of the stairs, I hear her crying. I groan to myself knowing that son of a b***h has hit her again. When her cries get worse I know something is wrong. I get up and open the door. Marley's bedroom door is open and I see her laying on her bed. Her cries sound like she is in agony. I walk up to the bed.

"Marley"

Her voice shakes. "Please, Zach go away"

I frown "No. I'm not going away this time. Where did he hit you?"

Her fingers slowly reach to the side of her stomach. The same side he hit her last time. "I have to look at it, Marley. Is that okay?"

She doesn't say anything so I take that as consent. I reach over and flick the light on.

"Hold your arm up." She does what I ask and I slowly lift her shirt up. She flinches and I know it's bad. When I lift it all the way, a fire ignites in my whole body. I feel sick and furious at the same time. Her whole right side is black and blue. My fists ball up and all I see is red. I have to calm myself just to talk to her. I kneel down by her and brush her hair back.

"Marley, I have to tell him. I can't do this anymore. I can't ignore this. You're seriously hurt". She doesn't say anything, she just closes her eyes as her body starts shaking from the pain. I don't want to tell her but I'm sure Josh broke a rib.

"I'm going to go downstairs and get your dad okay?"

Tears stream down her face as she nods softly. I get up and go downstairs to Jensen's room and knock on the door. When he answers I almost don't know what to say.

"What is it, Phillips?"

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair.

"It's Marley" His face hardens "What? What's wrong?"

"Josh beat her and I think he broke her rib. She's upstairs shaking in pain."

Jensen's face turns red and I have only seen him this angry on the front line. He grabs his phone and runs upstairs. I follow and when I get upstairs he is just standing at the door. Marley's back is still facing the door and her shirt is up so he can see what that piece of s**t has done.

"Oh God" he mumbles and Marley hears him.

"Dad." she whispers

He rushes over to her and brushes her hair back. "Sweetie, why didn't you tell me?"

I hear her sniff.

"I'm sorry. I made him mad. I didn't mean to." Her voice and words make me want to kill Josh.

I don't quite understand why I'm so angry about this but I am. I've been around and I'm getting to know her. She doesn't deserve any of this. She deserves better than him.

When Marley is calm, we decided to take her to the hospital. Before we move her, I get a zip lock bag of ice and place it gently on her side to numb the area. After about 20 minutes she says she is ready. I was under the assumption that Jensen was going to carry her so it threw me off when he asked me. He told me his back wasn't up to par.

I go over to the bed and Marley looks up at me.

"I'm going to try to be gentle" She nods and I lean over scooping my arms under her lifting her up. Marley hisses in pain as I lift her.

She lays her head on my shoulder and it does something to me. Making our way outside, I slide into the backseat of Jensen's truck with Marley still in my arms. Jensen hands me the bag of ice and I hold it against her side as he gets into the driver seat. The ride seems like forever but it's only because I keep thinking too hard about hurting that Josh kid. I really hope Marley lets him go. I feel like if she doesn't it's going to be worse next time and the time after.

We get to the hospital and I sit Marley in a wheelchair. They take her to get x-rays while Jensen fills out some papers. He doesn't say anything aside from talking to the nurse at the desk. I can tell he is angry. While we are sitting there waiting he turns to me and finally speaks.

"Did you know he was doing this to her?"

Shit. I don't know what I say. I don't want to lie but I don't want him to kick me out onto the streets for not telling him.

"Uh yeah. I've been seeing a few bruises on her. She asked me not to tell, but I had to tonight." I sit there and wait for him to speak.

"Phillips, I have all the intention of punching you in the f*****g face for not telling me that some boy is beating on my daughter, but I'm not. You handled her well tonight and appreciate it a lot." He pats my back very roughly almost intending on inflicting a little pain to get his point across.

An hour later, the doctor comes out and tells Jensen that no ribs are broken. Thank God. Jensen goes to see her while I wait in the waiting room. Another hour passes and I begin to feel sleepy. I look up at the clock and it's almost 5 in the morning and I am in need of some coffee. When I go over to the machine a sticky note on the pot makes me groan. It is out of order. When I turn around Jensen is coming down the hall. "Marley wants to see you"

"Umm okay" I feel a little weird being summoned by her, but who am I to say no. Jensen tells me the room and I go. I get to her room door but I am hesitant to go in. I don't know why but my heart beat races a little. I finally tap on the door and go in.

"Hi Zach" Marley mumbles from the hospital bed. Her soft tone and dreamy expression tell me that she is on some good pain meds. I sit down in the chair next to the bed and she just looks at me.

"You wanted to see me?"

She nods, trying to keep her eyes open "Yeah. I just wanted to say thank you for carrying me and all. I know your arm probably hurts. Not that I'm heavy, but you got shot" She tells me as if I don't know. Damn, what did they give her for pain?

"It's fine. Nothing I can't handle" I shrug nonchalantly. She shifts a little in the bed wincing in pain and it pulls at my cold heart more than it did earlier. I didn't plan on bonding with anyone while in the states especially not some 19 year old that let her boyfriend beat her. Those were the kind of situations I avoided, never getting involved with other people's problems.

We sit there in silence for a moment before Marley speaks.

"I'm not going to see him anymore. I wasn't really afraid of him before, but this time he went so far over the line he usually stays behind. He has been yelling at me more because..."

I look at her "Because?"

"Because he thinks I spend too much time with you. He doesn't like me being around you. He thinks you like me, but I told him you don't."

I frown a little "It's not like I'm forcing you to spend time with me. I actually prefer you don't but you never listen. Not saying that you brought this on yourself, but it's not because of me. And it's not because of you. He is an insecure b***h who can't keep his hands to himself"

"Thanks" She whispers

"For what?"

"Not blaming me." Her fingers just barely touch mine and it's like an electric current traveling through my hand.

I pull back slightly separating out fingertips. I don't have time for some kid to have feelings for me. Though she isn't a kid, some of her relationship choices are a bit childish. She needs a real man not that Josh character.

The doctor comes in a few minutes later and tells Marley that they will keep her for a few more hours just to monitor her. Jensen tells me to stay with her while he goes home to pick some things up. I feel off being in a room alone with Marley since I'm not a relative or anything but I guess it's for a good cause. I lay my head on the edge of the bed and eventually fall asleep.

As I sleep, images of Iraq flow through my mind. The gunshots in my dream are as clear as day. Everything seems so vivid as if I'm standing in the desert. I can even smell and taste the sand. In my dream, I'm just walking down an empty street. No one else. I'm carrying my gun when I see a small child standing in front of me with a Teddy bear. I walk to the little girl and she smiles. Then she opens her jacket and reveals a bomb strapped to her. The bomb goes off and I wake up.

I am huffing and puffing trying to catch my breath. I feel sweat trickling down my face as if it is 100 degrees. I look around realizing I'm in the hospital room. I look down at Marley and she is still sleeping. I'm slightly happy I didn't wake her. She has been up all night. I see the sun peeking in the window but that doesn't hold my attention because when I look down again I see that Marley's fingers are locked in mine.

My breath and heart rate slow down as my eyes stay on our hands. I want to peel my hand from hers but a part of me is comforted by the physical contact.

In her sleep, she looks peaceful. No pain bothering her or anything. I reach up and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear lightly brushing my finger over her skin.

What the hell am I getting myself into?