Page 78 of No Fear

Donnie sipped his coffee.

“Alright. Behave yourself. I’ll be back soon.” Mackie called out, then the door opened and closed. He was alone. The quietness was deafening.

His stomach grumbled. Maybe he would make some cereal. He found his way to the cupboards, pleased with himself as he successfully got a bowl, a spoon, and poured some cereal. Opening the fridge, it took a moment to find milk, but he got that, too. Feeling for the bowl, he poured. The milk splashed cold against his arm and then it was on his feet.

Shit! He went to put down the carton, missed the counter, and the carton exploded onto the floor. With a roar of rage, Donnie grabbed the bowl and threw it. The sound of it smashing against a wall echoed in the room. Body trembling, he slumped, collapsing on the wet tile floor, and buried his head in his hands. He would willingly walk toward an armed enemy, jump out of an airplane, tackle a man twice his size. But this? Fear crawled its way through his body and sweat broke out on his skin as panic engulfed him.

***

MACKIE JOGGED UP THE stairs to his second-floor unit in the building adjacent to Donnie’s. Man, he felt for his friend. Couldn’t even begin to imagine what Donnie must be feeling. He’d lost friends in combat, but had never seen a teammate in the position Donnie was facing.

He and the rest of Onyx were hanging on to the thread that Donnie’s blindness was temporary. All things considered, Donnie had been holding it together fairly well. Yeah, he’d been a bit of a moody bastard, but at least he was getting up and getting dressed. He hadn’t completely given up hope.

As he reached his floor, Mackie walked past the elevator. The door opened and a little girl ran out, straight into him. She looked up at him and froze.

“Ella! What have I told you about running.” A voice came from the elevator and Mackie glanced over to see a young woman balancing two bags of groceries in her arms. Mom, he presumed. Damn, it was kind of early for a shopping trip.

The little girl was still staring at him, her eyes wide and fearful. Fear did not belong on a child’s face. He’d seen way too much of it in his career.

“It’s OK. No harm done.” He smiled down at the child who backed away, hiding behind Mom. She played with one of her brown pigtails, still watching him warily.

“I’m so sorry. She’s not used to elevators and thinks they’re an amusement ride.” The woman gave him a tentative smile. An air of sadness about her. Mackie didn't recognize her from the building, he would have remembered seeing her before. Her brown eyes were so dark, they were almost black, matching her black hair. This woman was striking with her small pixie face and high cheekbones. Yep, definitely not seen her before.

“Ahh, we like amusements, do we?” He smiled, turning his attention to the young girl. She nodded tentatively. He looked back at mom. “I have a unit on this floor. Let me help you with one of those,” he said.

“Oh, no. That’s OK. I got it.” She stepped forward and one of the bags slipped. Mackie grabbed it before the groceries spilled on the floor.

The woman sighed. “Thank you.” Her voice so quiet he only just heard it.

“No problem at all. Let me help you. You don’t want that lovely fresh fruit hitting the floor.”

She looked at him with the same wariness in her eyes that her daughter had. He kept hold of the bag and waited.

“Alright, thank you.”

He smiled and fell in behind her as she walked down the hall trying not to stare at her ass enclosed in skinny jeans. She held the hand of her daughter, who kept glancing back at him, still looking nervous. He winked at her and kept smiling, trying to put her at ease.

“So, are you visiting someone? Not seen you around here before,” he asked.

“We just moved in, last week.” She stopped outside the unit opposite his. Fuck, he didn’t even know the guy had moved out. Mackie had only met him a few times, he’d been some kind of day trader and didn't leave the apartment much.

She opened the door and stepped in. He waited outside until she came back to the doorway and took the bag from him.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’m John Mackenzie, but my friends call me Mackie. I live in the apartment opposite.” He held out his hand as he nodded across the hall.

“Oh. Right. Nice to meet you.” She adjusted the bag until it was in just one hand and shook his politely. “I’m Lisa, and this is my daughter Ella.” Ella was clinging to her mom’s leg.

Mackie crouched down so he was at eye level with Ella. “It’s nice to meet you, Ella.” He held out his hand, but Ella just stared at him.

“Sorry. She’s nervous with strangers.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not a bad thing.” He lowered his hand. “How old are you, Ella?”

Instead of answering him, she held up her hand, showing all five fingers.

“Five, huh? So, you must be just starting school?”