Mr. Demonte nods and rubs the stub of his arm. “I’ve been eating good. My neighbors have been bringing me meals a few times a week when they cook too much.
“Thank you for giving me all those samples of that medicine last visit and that coupon you found really helped. Took the pills down from over two hundred a month to only six dollars. I can afford to take them now. My disability isn’t much and well… it’s pretty much what I rely on. Sometimes if I have to choose between food and my meds and my neighbors aren’t overcooking… well, I gotta eat.”
My heart pangs at his words. That’s a scenario we run into a lot here. We prescribe the meds these vets need, only most of them can’t afford them without special assistance. Clive goes out of his way a lot to make certain that his patients have access to the medicines and supplies they need. He takes the time. Just one more reason he’s so perfect.
I listen as he talks to Mr. Demote and answers his questions. All the while, I’m jotting pertinent information onto the chart Clive handed me.
I’ll enter it into the ancient computer later. Most of what we do is still old school. We write everything down by hand and then manually enter everything when we have time, often late into the night, after the clinic closes. The work never ends. Maybe one day, we’ll be upgraded to the twentieth century technology and not have to do everything twice.
Clive shakes Mr. Demonte’s hand as he stands and says, “Alright, Mr. Demonte, you keep taking your meds. Keep going to your therapy. Keep eating that good food those neighbors are sharing with you.
“Call me if anything else pops up or you run into any issues.” His eyes meet Mr. Demonte’s. “I mean it. You call if you need to.” Mr. Demonte nods at him. “Otherwise, I’ll see you again in three months.”
He answers a few questions and tells Mr. Demonte not to let the Saints games get him too excited on Sundays, then, he leans in to tell me to grab a few more samples of the blood pressure medicine he’s prescribed from the supply cabinet.
Just in case anything comes up and that six dollars is too much to spend on them.
I nod in recognition and understanding and he once again smiles at Mr. Demonte. He salutes before leaving to head into the next room.
I can’t stop myself from watching him exit the room. Mr. Demonte nods and smirks at me as I turn back to him. He saw that. Feeling myself blush again, I chuckle in embarrassment. “Ok, Mr. Demonte. This was a great appointment. Dr. Evans is going to send you home with another two to three months’ or so worth of samples, should you need them, and he wants to see you back here in three months. Let’s go ahead and schedule that now so you don’t have to wait out front, okay?”
He nods and we make his appointment amongst a little more general chatter. Not that I mind. I know that sometimes, we’re the only people who pay any attention to him and human contact and conversation is a must for everyone.
After writing his appointment time on the card and handing it to him, I tell him to go ahead and get dressed while I head out to the supply closest to bag up more samples of his medicine. I’ll see what we have in the closet. The Rep is due any day now, but since we get the leftovers, sometimes, we run pretty thin.
As I enter the hall and close the exam room door behind me, Clive walks out of his office. We dance around each other a bit and with a laugh, I slip under his arm and into the supply closet. He stops and leans into the room to quietly say over my shoulder, “Are we still on for dinner tonight, Rea?”
Turning my head, I meet his eyes. My breath once again catches at his pure magnificence. I swallow quickly and nod. “We are. Unless you have something better to do.”
He smirks and quickly looks over his shoulder, down the hall, before swooping in and stealing a quick kiss. It’s fast; a quick mere pressing of his lips to mine. But as his warm breath bounces off my lips, it causes my insides to squirm. I sigh and his eyes crinkle as he smiles down at me. “What’s better than spending time with you?” One of the other nurses calls his name from the hall and he winks at me. “Duty calls. Think of where you want to go. You’re picking the place tonight.” Smiling again, he backs out of the small closet and calls out that he’s coming.
Another sigh escapes me as I’m left alone in the closet with the subtle scent of his woodsy cologne and the pressure of picking the place we’re eating tonight. I lean against the shelves at my back and try to get back on task.
Damn. How the hell is he interested in me? He’s fantastic.
And why, oh why, am I not completely in love with him?!
What is wrong with me?!
He’s seriously perfect for me. A doctor. Someone who shares my passion for our patients. He’s interested in me and shows me all the time that I matter to him. He goes out of his way to make me feel special… yet, something holds me back.
Stop it, Rea. Don’t go there. It’s utterly pointless and Clive IS your boyfriend. Hell, he’s the perfect boyfriend. I’m so lucky to have him.
I guess I need to figure out what I want to eat. I never pick the place.
A chuckle invades my musings as I reach for the blood pressure medicines I’m supposed to be getting for Mr. Demonte. My head turns sharply and I smile at Leila with chagrin, as if she can read my thoughts. She’s leaning against the door jamb and grinning at me. “Ah, God, I hate you sometimes. I saw Doctor Dreamboat mosey on out of here a second ago. How scandalous.” She covers her mouth with her hand in mock shock.
Doctor Dreamboat. She’s always called him that.
A very fitting name.
Laughing, I roll my eyes. “Oh, yes. So scandalous. Because you know he just ravished me against the shelving, with the door open, and patients waiting on us.”
She uncovers her mouth and wiggles her fingers together in front of her. “Oh, that would be something, wouldn’t it!?”
Shaking my head at her, I laugh again. “You’re ridiculous. You look like an evil mastermind.” I bump her with my hip and she moves. “What are you doing back here anyway? Want to help me with my patients?” She shakes her head and follows me as I walk back to the room to give Mr. Demonte his medicine so he can head on home.
“No. I’m fine handling the books. You know I can’t handle all of the grisly details…” She shudders. “I came to find you actually. Doctor Dreamboat just distracted me from my mission... Ahhhh.
“Anyway, back on track. Laeten is here, well in town, and he wants to take us to lunch. Can you get away for an hour?”
Laeten is in town. He didn’t tell me that. Lunch would be awesome. We can catch up. I rarely see him since he moved to New Orleans to work on his art and that gallery is displaying his stuff.
Nodding, reply, “That sounds great. I’ve missed him. I can probably scoot out a little before noon. That good?” I knock on the door to make certain Mr. Demonte is dressed before I walk in.
Leila nods as he calls out to come on in. Hovering over my shoulder, she pops her head into the room. “Hey, Mr. Demonte. Stop by my office on your way out, ok. I just so happen to have some cranberry and lemon scones from Java and Sweeties. Lexi just made them this morning. I know how much you love them and I’m thinking you just might be able to talk me into sharing them with you.
“You know, since you’re my favorite patient and all.”
His eyes light up and he shuffles to his feet. Laughing, I hand him his bag and paperwork and wave him off. “Go on. Steal him away from me then.”
He laughs. “Ah, two beauties fighting over me. Reminds me of old times.” We’re all chuckling as he slowly shuffles past me.
I look at Leila, “Save me one of those scones! Please.”
Leila grins at me. “Now you, I don’t want to share with. I mean, you have Mr. Demonte’s affection… and my dream man. I’m just the sloppy seconds.” I laugh at her banter as I blush and catch Mr. Demonte’s wink. I’m shaking my head as she mutters, “Ok, but only half of one and only because we’re best friends. About quarter to noon, ok?! I’ll drive.”
Offering hi
m her arm, she leads him down the hall as I nod at her with a smile. After watching them for a second, I grab the chart on the next door before knocking and heading in when the patient calls out.
Chapter Two
Luka
Present day
“Two teams of six men. Going in dark at o-four-hundred. Today’s recon shows them to be in the back barrack on the left. Eye in the sky is currently picking up six heat sources. Two in the front of the compound. Two in the artillery room, right here. One at the door and what we’re told is the target is in the left back barrack…”
I’m listening intently to the recon specialist as he preps us for the mission. He’s pointing at the areas on the massive projection screen as he goes over the specs.
This is supposed to be an extraction and capture, but there have been some questions about the information we’re receiving. More heat sources keep appearing in the structure and no one is moving in or out through the doors. We have eyes everywhere so there’s something we’re missing.
Scooting forward in my cold metal seat, I stare at the screen, looking for what it is that we’re missing.
The drone is hovering over the structure, so we have a birds-eye view.
Where the hell are you coming in at?
My eyes focus on a section of the ground near some outlying buildings that appears to be disturbed. “The far right of the frame, near the mercantile… Look at the ground. Does that earth look different than it did in the scan from yesterday? Can we pull that up?”
Everyone leans forward as the video from yesterday is played on a split screen. I point again. “Yes, look. Right there. That ground was undisturbed yesterday. Possible tunnel?”
Chatter escalates as everyone compares the videos. Finally, it’s determined that the ground is most assuredly different. As if some of it has caved in… from a tunnel being dug underneath it.
Specs for the mission are reassigned with slight changes and we go over it until we all know our positions and actions like clockwork.
Another hour of preparation ensues and then we’re dismissed to prepare for the mission.
My blood is pumping. My head is clear. And my focus is strong. This is what I do. This is what I’m here for. I made it. I’m a Raider. This is the mission and the mission is the life.
My team is in the hull of the plane and we’re all lost in our own heads as we fly high above the clouds enroute to the rendezvous point. Everyone is going through the various motions of mentally preparing for the impending mission.
Culkin, my buddy and the guy who’s saved my ass more times than I can count, is being his usual asinine self and cracking jokes as he checks his scope and chamber. We all know that for as much shit as he talks, he’s the best of the best. He’s the best damn shot around and he’s always got my back. And I have his. Together, we’re a well-oiled machine.
Finally, it’s go time. We head to the rally point and break into our smaller teams. Everyone assumes their positions as we listen to our orders through our earpieces. Our team has cover across from the compound. The other team is on the opposite side of the compound, closer to the mercantile, in the shadows of the buildings, with orders to take out those who may be utilizing the tunnel either to aid or escape before using them to assist us in acquiring the target.
We’re in the deserts of Afghanistan, but the nights are cool. It doesn’t stop the perspiration from forming from the adrenaline. The smell of goat shit and sweet hay permeates the air, mingling with our sweat.
Radio silence ensues from both teams as mission command gives the green light. We’re to rely on hand signals and eye contact to communicate. Brief, clandestine light signals are to only be used in dire circumstances.
Culkin and I are tasked with taking the right side of the compound to clear the route to the target. Nodding in understanding, we ready our weapons, tap our ears to secure the earpieces we wear to hear commands from mission command and communicate with each other, and pull our face shields down. We need to be ready for anything.
Mission command signals it’s time. Muttering under my breath, “The strength of the wolf is in the pack,” so quietly no one but me can hear it, I nod at Culkin. Together we flank the building, hugging the walls. We wait at our entrance point for the signal. Through my earpiece, I hear sounds of the rest of the team as they bust through the front doors and also enter through the kitchen on the right. That’s our cue.
Culkin and I look at each other briefly and nod in readiness. We charge the door. I try the handle. It’s locked. With extreme force, I kick in the heavy wooden door as Culkin readies his weapon for whatever may be on the other side. It flies open and drags against the dirt floors of the room. Culkin flanks me and checks the room as I cover him. It’s empty.
Moving swiftly, but carefully, we stop in the doorway to the corridor and check it. It’s also empty. The guards must have raced to the front to engage in the fire fight. My eyes quickly but thoroughly scan the walls and floor, toward the target’s last known location.
The lack of resistance has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end and my head is buzzing, screaming that something is off.
Culkin’s head turns toward mine. I can’t see his eyes through the shield of his mask, but I’m certain his eyes would be as apprehensive as mine must be. Waving with two fingers, he signals me to check the door to our left. It should lead to a new corridor that we can access the barracks from. The sounds of gunfire out front are echoing around in my head, amplified by the earpiece.
Counting down, three… two… one… I hold my weapon at the ready and fling the door open with my other hand… Culkin passes me and assesses the situation, ready to disarm or take out anyone in the way should bullets start flying. Only, the corridor is empty…
Culkin looks at me sharply. I signal with two fingers to head to the room down where our target should be. Together, we race down the empty corridor. The sounds of our own breathing and our stealthy steps seem to echo. Culkin arrives with me hot on his heels. He signals that he’s going in. The door is ajar. I know what he’s going to do. I’d do the same thing. Raising his booted foot, he kicks it and pauses for a brief second to scan the room. As I flank his back to also scan the room, his frustrated voice fills my ear. “Son of a bitch… Where the fuck is he? Where is everyone? He got the drop on us! Where’d he go?!” I can hear the astonishment in his voice. He snaps. “There is no way he got past us! And the other team is in the tunnels so he couldn’t have gone that way, either.” He frantically looks around the room at the floor and walls, trying to see if there is something, anything we missed. “There’s no tunnel here, so, where the fuck is the bastard?!”
A faint sound behind us has me whirling. We’re trapped in the room. If we’re ambushed from the corridor, we’re fucked. There’s nowhere for us to go. We’ve backed ourselves into a corner. We know better than this. We were trained better than this…
My finger is on the trigger of my firearm, as I see the silhouette of a man in the corridor. But, I’m too late. He tosses something into the room and I see him take off, back down the corridor and away from whatever he just tossed into the room with us.
I know what it is before I see it.
Oh, shit! Fuck, this is not good!
A grenade rolls across the packed dirt floor in front of me. Diving to the side, seeking some cover, any cover, I scream out, “Culkin! Grenade! Take cover!” But, it’s too late.
It’s hastily made and very sensitive. There’s no time for anything. Not even to pray.
The blast flings me backward. I don’t even know where Culkin is as the sound reverberates in my brain. He could be next to me or behind me. Pain explodes throughout my body. I feel like I’m on fire. My leg… something is wrong with my leg… The wall catches my backwards trajection.
I try desperately to stay conscious as unimaginable pain envelopes me.
Culkin, where’s Culkin?
I fucked up… I missed something…
Dear,
God, I’m being ripped apart.
No one can endure this amount of pain…
Oh, God…
Blackness consumes me.
Chapter Three
Rea
I’m laughing at Leila and Laeten as they bicker as only beloved siblings can.
“No, that was your fault! How was I supposed to know that your crazy ex was afraid of butterflies? I mean, they’re dainty, pretty, and colorful little things that flutter around and look beautiful. All I did was suggest we go to the Audubon Insectarium. That bitch almost passed out from hyperventilating at the thought. I mean, bitch almost went down… who does that?” Leila is pointing at him with her fork while her voice rises with ire. “That was an Oscar worthy performance.”
Laeten chuckles as he wipes his mouth with his napkin and holds his hands up in surrender. “Yeah, ok. That was my fault. I’ll own up to that one. I should have told you she was scared of winged insects. But you laughing at her until you almost fell over and then being unable to catch your breath and holding onto me as she sputtered…
“You calling her a ‘fucking moron’ and asking if she was ‘serious or if a camera was rolling because that was too weird even for some blonde ass bitch’, was mean, Leila.” He chortles and tries to look stern. “Momma raised you better than that.”
Leila rolls her eyes and snorts. “Whatever. I would think that you would be aware by now that I have no control over my mouth. I think it and it just comes out. My filter was broken at birth by you and that idiot brother of ours, Luka…”
My heart rate speeds up at the mention of his name.
Luka.
Leila continues with her tirade and I struggle to pay attention and not let my mind drift off to thoughts of Luka. “Besides…a winged insect is like a wasp, a fly, a cockroach… even a freaking dinosaur sized ant… not a damn butterfly.” She huffs. “You should be thanking me, brother. I did you a favor. She stomped off like a fool in those ridiculous ten pound wedges… Her tripping on the cable car tracks and shrieking as she wobbled, and tried not to fall, with her fake tanned legs going every which way, was hilarious. She looked like a gangly octopus.” She snickers and pins him with her green eyes. “Even you laughed. Don’t even try to act like that wasn’t gut bustlingly hilarious!”
Help Our Heroes: A Military Charity Anthology Page 44