Their medic hit the ground running. “What do we have?”
“His ankle looks bad, but we’ve got to go back for Spence. I was afraid to move him.”
They carried Leif the rest of the way back to one of the vehicles. Nick patted his friend on the shoulder. “They’ll get you to the medics. Save a couple of the prettier nurses for Spence.”
Leif managed a small smile. “Like hell. Tell him he’s on his own.”
“Get yourself patched up. We’ll be along soon.” He stepped back and checked his rifle for ammunition. “Let’s move out.”
The medic stopped him. “You’re bleeding, too. We’ll get Spence. You go with the corporal.”
No, not happening. He’d return for Spence even if he had to crawl. “I’m all right. Besides, I promised I’d come back for him. Wouldn’t want to piss him off. The man’s got a temper.”
The medic didn’t much like it, but he nodded. “Lead the way.”
Nick’s ears were finally starting to function again, and he could hear gunfire in the distance. Son of a bitch! He picked up the pace, doing his best to watch for hostiles as he led the charge back to where he’d left Spence. When they were a block short of their destination, the deafening thunder of another explosion sent all of them diving for cover.
Before the echoes had died away, Nick was up and running, screaming Spence’s name. He was dimly aware of the rest of his squad joining him in the mad race to save their friend. Nick’s heart pounded loud enough to drown out the agonizing truth that he was too late, with too little. The building next to where he’d left Spence was nothing but a smoking pile of rubble.
He coasted to a stop at the corner. The horror of what had happened and what he’d done washed over him in waves. “Spence, where the hell are you? Come on, you dumb son of a bitch, this is no time for hide-and-seek.”
Please, God, let him have regained consciousness and crawled to safety.
But he hadn’t; Nick knew it in his gut just as he knew it was his fault. There was nothing left of their vehicle now except scrap metal. A huge hole had been ripped in the street right where Spence had been lying, and the building had caved in on itself, leaving the street strewn with rubble. While several of the men stood watch, Nick joined the rest digging in the dirt with their bare fingers, heaving aside rocks and jagged fragments of metal, looking and praying for some sign of Spence.
Finally the medic froze. He looked across at Nick and slowly lifted his hand. A set of bloody dog tags dangled from his fingers.
“Aw, damn, Spence.”
Tears streamed down Nick’s cheeks as he reached for the broken chain. He clamped his fingers around the small pieces of bloody metal and held on to the last piece of his friend with an iron grip.
The medic motioned to the rest of the men. When they had formed up, he took Nick by the arm and tugged him back down the street.
“Come on, Sarge, let’s go get your arm looked at. We’ll get you all fixed up.”
Nick let himself be led away, but only because the longer they lingered in the area, the more likely it was that someone else would get hurt or worse. But they all knew there was no fixing this. Not today. Not ever.
Spence was—
A sharp pain dragged Nick back to the grassy slope of the graveyard. Mooch whined and licked the small mark where he’d just nipped Nick’s arm. The poor dog looked worried. How long had Nick been gone this time? Long enough to be damp from the rain that had started falling since he’d knelt in the grass. The dog shoved his head under Nick’s hand, demanding a good scratching that felt as good to Nick as it did to the dog.
“Sorry, Mooch. We’ll get going here in a minute.”
He pushed himself back up to his feet and dusted off his pants, focusing hard on the moment. It was too easy to get caught up in spinning his wheels in the past. He needed to keep moving forward, if for no other reason than he had to make sure Mooch reached his final destination.
Nick had something to say first. Standing at attention felt odd when he wasn’t in uniform, but the moment called for a bit of formality. He cleared his throat and swallowed hard.
“Spence, I miss you so damn much. Wherever you are, I hope they have fast cars and faster women.”
Then he sketched a half-assed salute and walked away.
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