Learning To Trust Again

He didn’t know what he was facing but his specialised training assured that his mind and body were on the alert as he started down the lane scanning the area as he went. Pausing about half way, he let his eyes adjust to the darker area further in before going too far.

After a few more steps he heard the noise again, much closer now and following the direction of the sound with his eyes, he saw a dark indistinct shape on the ground move a little. The person was lying not far in front of him. He moved closer and saw that they were rolled up into a ball, head and limbs curled in towards the torso in a protective position. He could only see their back as they were lying on their side facing away from him but he was pretty sure they were male. Still being cautious, scanning the surrounding area and the lane beyond the person, before he moved any further forward, making sure if this guy was the victim of an attack, whoever did it, wasn’t still in the area. He couldn’t see anything amiss.

Jake squatted and put his hand on the man’s shoulder. He asked ‘you okay mate?’ The prone figure just let out another moan in response and curled tighter. But Jake needed to see how badly hurt they were, so with care, he turned him over, moving him towards him, so he can get a look at him and see the extent of any injuries. However as he pulled the person onto their back a silver dog tag type necklace that Jake was sure he’d seen before slid into view on the persons chest and glinted in the light coming from the street. Looking at it he knew he had watched Rebecca give that to her brother only a few hours before.

‘Todd!’ Jake said shocked as he took in the younger man’s disheveled appearance and the dark marks on his face that he knew without having to wait for stronger light to tell him, were blood. His shirt had been pushed up under his arms, the skin of his abdomen glowing in the dim light ‘what the hell happened?’

Todd moaned again and curled back into a ball as if protecting his battered body.

‘Todd’ Jake said again ‘It’s Jake, can you hear me?’