Broken

"You left us and you broke my heart." A tear-filled whisper came from Kehlani. She was fighting to stand straight, not cry, and look him in the eye. Kehlani failed. She was crying, her lip quivered, her eyes were glued to her fingers.

"I.." Damian stammered. His hand reached out to touch hers. Kehlani jerked away.

"Do you have any idea," She hiccuped a sob as tears streaked down her flushed cheeks. "how it is, to have to put a little child to bed each night," another hiccup interrupted her, "and be asked when her daddy will return?" Her dark eyes looked up at his green ones. "Do you?"

He opened his mouth and uttered a single letter, "N-"

Kehlani interrupted him, and forced her voice to stay steady. "No, you don't." She swallowed and swiped at a tear running down her face."I need you. Your daughter needs you! How can I tuck her in every night, fighting back hurt and tears, telling her her father won't return?" She rushed on, "How can I tell her, her daddy is gone forever? How will she learn how a man should treat her?" The words came faster. "How am I supposed to raise her, being a single mother? How can I live without you by my side, Damian? Why did you leave us?"

Damian swallowed, "Kehlani, please." His eyes filled with tears. "I love you. I always will." He looked at her deeply, "Listen to me, you will get through this. I know it hurts. I know you're hurting." He stroked her cheek with his thumb; she could barely feel his touch. "Just know, I'm always here, listening."

Kehlani looked at him, her heart racing. She hugged him tightly. "Please, tell me you will never leave. You broke my heart; you broke her heart."

He broke from her grasp,"I'm sorry. It was my job to protect my country. My duty to fight for our freedom." His own tears fell to the ground as he took a step away from Kehlani. "Perhaps several hearts were broken that day, including my own." With that, he disappeared into a shadow.

"Damian!!" Kehlani cried, her voice echoed. "Please don't leave me..." She hiccuped as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Kehlani sat upright in her bed. Her heart was pounding and her pillow was soaked with tears. She looked at her alarm clock, the digital numbers wavered in the dark. It was only 3 in the morning. She pushed off her covers, and padded through to her kitchen. Stopping by her daughter's door she paused, easy breathing came through. Good, she was asleep.

Kehlani grabbed a glass of water from the sink and took a long sip of the cool liquid. Her eyes were achy, red, and puffy. Night after night, she had woken up. Her pillow always soaked in tears, her heart always pounded. Her memories always troubling. If she didn't dream of her pain and heartbreak of his death, she dreamed of how his plane had crashed and exploded. How terrorists had bombed it down, leaving no survivors on the aircraft.

She padded back to her room and cried softly. "Why did you leave?" She whispered into the night. "Why?"

Dreams haunted her every night, making it hard to fall asleep again. Kehlani cried softly into her blanket, until she had no more tears. Her eyes grew heavy and she sighed deeply. After a few moments, Kehlani fell into a fitful sleep once again.