Here's twelve. Short but uncomfortable, chapter thirteen will follow shortly.
***
Kellye didn't bother keeping track of how long it took to get to the West Coast, then onto another flight and another, until she had even lost track of how many planes they'd been on.
Hawkeye was silent most of the time, and she could see his mind working behind those blue eyes. She didn't ask what he was thinking, because she was thinking her own version. Please let him be alive when we get there. I want to hold him again.
* * *
It was amazing, the way people got out of Hawkeye's way when he acted like that. The cab driver didn't want to take them all the way to Meg's, until in a very calm, very dangerous tone Hawkeye told him that was speaking to a captain in the US Army, and it he didn't cooperate, the next thing he drove would be hauling cinderblocks and it wouldn't have benefit of an engine.
The little Korean man looked up, way up at Hawkeye's 6'2" towering over his 5'1", and didn't bother to ask why he wasn't wearing a uniform.
Kellye hadn't slept since the phone woke them, but finally, so close to the destination, she leaned against Hawkeye's shoulder and closed her eyes.
She dreamt she was standing on the orphanage, and on a table in front of her were five tiny babies, smaller than a full-term infant, and one that looked eight or nine months old. They had Asian-American skin tones, they were wrapped in pink and blue blankets, and though they looked like they were sleeping, she knew they were all dead.
She woke up with a sob, looking around wildly. The orphanage was just coming into view, and Hawkeye looked around at her. "What's the matter?"
"I had a bad dream," she murmured, not wanting to relive it in the telling.
His eyes searched her face for a moment before he laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. "We're nearly there."
"I know."
The car pulled up to the building and the cabbie hauled the luggage from the trunk and looked almost afraid to ask Hawkeye for the fare. Hawkeye handed him double the amount and told him to have a nice day, and the man scrambled into his car and sped down the drive.
The two of them looked at one another, Hawkeye picked up their suitcases and they let themselves in.
"Meg?"
A twelve year old girl sat just inside the entrance. "Hawkeye and Kellye?"
"Yes."
"Come with me. Sung Jung is this way."
