Romantic Love

n's

at the sound of

I realize it's the girl from the woods, conscious, alert, and roaming my house in the middle of the night. I quickly sit up, grab the ski mask, and pull it over my face.

casting on her face. Remembering the look on her face when she asked if I changed her clothing still makes me feel sick inside. I tried to be as respectful as possible and I wish I could put the memory out of

essed in my arms. I don't even know how old she is. She could be a t

ression, like she was conscious but not really all there. I'm glad I wore the itchy mask, but in her fevered state, I don't think she was truly aware of anything she saw. What little she did say during her delirium was disturbing. Though most of her words were mumbled, garbled, and at least partially Spanish, I made

fridge, which has now

d at me since the day I set foot in this cabin, only a few months after the battle that left me crippled and scarred. In my current state, I attra

all step forward and I realize she'd been pressed a

urs of the night, I may need to start wearing the mask 24/7. That thought is a rather unpleasant one. The scarred flesh the mask hides h

me with much more scrutiny than I'd like. It makes me feel more aware of my limp an

s, I lost much of the dexterity in my right hand in the explosion. I can perform simple tasks that only require the use of a stiff index finger and thumb, but not much else. The knowledge that she's watching me struggle with a task that a five-year-old could complete m

ead back to the couch. To my disappointment, she sits at

n toward her slowly, eyeing her. There's no way

determine if any spark of recognition

few moments before continuing. "I'm

week when I was out there chopping wood. Or rather, trying to chop wood. I was right-handed before the explosion. Relearning how to do everything with my left hand has been a slow and frustrating process. Chopping wood left-handed has

g away at a tree for several minutes when I felt someone watching me. I'd thought it was impossible and that I must finally be losing my mind, given the extreme statistical unlikelihood of running into another person

her back and her skin was pale, her lips nearly blue. Dried blood was visible at her temple. Even though I wasn't wearing the mask and everything inside of me was screaming that I should hide my face from her,

mask?" Her unexpected word

t?"

Why are you