Too scared to see the expression of disappointment on her face, he kept his eyes on the ground as he continued. “I wasn’t expecting it, and I just snapped. I blacked out like I did tonight, and when I came to a cop was pulling me from this guy. A random stranger.” Luke said the words with disgust as tears began to well in his eyes again. “That was about a month into therapy. After that my doc decided that just therapy wasn’t going to cut it anymore. I was too far gone. So she prescribed me some pills. Apparently lots of military members take them and say that they help. They might help with the blackouts and flashbacks, but the side effects are what get you.”
He cleared his throat, trying to swallow down the tears that threatened to expose themselves, before he continued. “They made me shaky, irritable, and exhausted. That’s why I didn’t take them today. I didn’t want you to have to cut our date short because I was tired. I wanted to be the person you remembered from high school, not some poor idiot who needed meds just to make it through a normal day. When he pushed me, something in me snapped. I blacked out, and the next thing I remembered, I was kneeling over him on the floor.”
Serena looked at him with his head hung in shame and couldn’t help but cry. She knew she was looking at a broken man, a man who truly didn’t think he deserved better. “So that’s what happened tonight? You didn’t take your medicine?”
“Yeah, but it’s not always like that. I don’t just snap for no reason when I don’t take my meds. There has to be some type of trigger, and tonight, Nathan was that trigger.” He finally raised his eyes to meet hers, and his heart sank when he saw the tears on her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Serena.”
“What happened that night? The night of the attack?”
Luke fought the memories that began to flood back with all his might, but he knew that she deserved answers. She deserved to understand what had happened, why he was the way he was. “We were driving through Iraq, through the southern region. Me and a couple guys were walkin’ beside the tank and a few guys were inside. It was just like any other day. We were out scoping grounds when out of nowhere a mine went off. One of the poor ol’ boys on the other side of the tank took a wrong step and set it off.”
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he continued. “There was blood everywhere. Me and the guys on my side of the tank had minor injuries, mainly from impact of being pushed to the ground at high speeds. But the guys on the other side…well, they weren’t so lucky. We lost some good men that day.” Taking a sharp breath, he tried to decide if he should continue or not, but he knew that she needed to know everything to be able to understand it. “My best friend, Ryan, he was one of ’em that didn’t make it.
“Lyin’ there, I felt so helpless,” he continued. “My ears were ringing so loud that I just knew I would never hear again. Looking all around me, all I could see were my friends’ bodies on the ground. When I was able to regain my balance and stand, I looked around for Ryan, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. Finally I found him lying facedown on the other side of the tank. I rolled him over to see if he was okay, but I could tell he wasn’t with me anymore. There was just too much blood.”
“Luke…” Serena was unable to find the words to say to comfort him. She had no idea what to say in a situation like this. There was nothing she could say that would help him.
“I think the worst part was telling his mom. I volunteered to be the one to deliver the news. I figured it would be easier for her if it was a familiar face. So I flew to Nebraska and knocked on her door. He was their only son. It just wasn’t fair, ya know?” All the tears he had been trying to hold back flooded his face as he buried his head in his hands.
Serena quickly got to her feet, closing the gap between them, and kneeled before him. She pulled his hands into hers and kissed his forehead gently. “Luke, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” They both cried silently for a few moments more before she finally spoke again. “You are the bravest person I have ever known.”
“Me?” he scoffed. “I ain’t never been brave a day in my life. You wanna know how I made it through? Why I went back so many times?” With a confused expression, Serena nodded. “I kept your picture right here.” He put his hand on the left side of his chest and tapped it lightly. “Right in the pocket over my heart.”
Pulling his wallet from his pocket, he slid out a folded-up picture. Very carefully he unfolded it and handed it to her. She ran her manicured fingertips over the extremely worn image and smiled. It was an image of her from their senior year in high school. She had her head tilted back in a fit of laughter with her feet propped up on the end of the couch. She remembered that day perfectly. It was another one of the days that they had spent doing nothing together, but this particular day she hadn’t been in a great mood. He had been trying all day to get her to smile, with no such luck.
After trying everything he could think of, he slipped off to her room and slid on a pair of her short shorts. When he walked into the front room, she busted out into laughter and couldn’t get herself to stop. In that moment, he snapped a picture of her. He told her that he wanted her to keep it to remind her that no matter what, they would always be able to make a bad day better. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought back to the feelings she’d had that night. Although she had never told him, it was the first night she knew that he was the one for her, that they were made to be together.
“After all this time?” She looked up at him with bloodshot eyes.
“You were my strength, Serena. Always have been. Every time I had a bad day, every time I missed home, every time I was terrified for my life, I took out that picture. I looked down at your smiling face and remembered exactly what I was fightin’ for. I was fightin’ for you, Serena. It’s always been for you.” Serena enveloped him in a tight hug and held on for dear life. “There wasn’t a day that I went without thinking about you.”
Serena whispered into his neck, “I never stopped loving you. Every day I prayed to God that he would bring you home to me. I prayed that he would bring you home safe.” Pulling away slightly, she looked deep in his eyes. “I know it was selfish of me, but I never wanted you to leave that summer. I was so angry at God for letting you go. The country didn’t need you; I did.”
Luke’s heart felt so heavy in his chest that he was unsure if it would ever beat the same again. “Well, you got me, and I ain’t ever leaving again. I’m right where I need to be.” Serena planted an eager kiss on his lips and pulled him in tight against her.
“Promise you won’t ever leave me again?”
“I promise.”
*
Ten Years Later
“Order’s up!” Wanda hollered from the kitchen. Serena rushed over to the counter between the kitchen and the dining area and grabbed the tray of plates. She made her way quickly over to the Richardsons at the back booth, careful not to bump anyone as she went by.
After passing out the plates, she looked up at everyone with a bright smile. “Everything look all right?”
“Yes, ma’am. It all looks great,” Mr. Richardson replied.
“Perfect! Well, let Wanda or me know if you need anything else.”
“Thank you, Serena!” As she made her way back up to the register to ring out another family, the front door to the restaurant opened and in came a little shaggy-haired boy.
“Mommy!” he yelled as he opened his arms up wide for a hug.
“Hi, sweetie!” Serena exclaimed as she bent down to wrap him up in a tight hug. When she stood back up, she saw Luke walking in with their beautiful baby girl on his hip.
“How are things going?”
She untied her apron and tossed it at him, and she took baby Quin from him. “It’s your turn.” Letting out a heartfelt laugh, he planted a kiss on her lips and pulled her against him, wrapping her and Quin in a hug.
“You got a minute?”
“Are you kidding me?” She laughed. “I’m off the clock. It’s one of the perks of sleeping with the owner.”
Letting
out a laugh, he grabbed her hand and began pulling her behind him toward the door. “I got a surprise for you. Close your eyes now. I’ll guide you. No peaking!” He led her out the front door and pulled her until she was right in front of the building. With his hands on either side of her shoulders he said, “All right, open ’em.”
She opened her eyes to see a new sign being hung over the front door of the restaurant where the “Stumpies” sign used to hang. In bright red letters it read “Crawford’s Café.” She squealed with excitement. “You did not?!”
“What do you think, Mrs. Crawford?” She loved the way those words sounded in his voice. She got butterflies every time he said it.
“I think it’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” Luke looked at her longingly and couldn’t believe how lucky he was. In ten years he had married his high school sweetheart, had two beautiful children, and bought their own business.
If you would have told him back then where he would be now, he would have never believed you. He couldn’t imagine where he would have been had it not been for Serena showing up at his mom’s house that night. Had she not come over, he probably would have spent the rest of his life assuming that she hated him. That night seemed so long ago that he faintly even remembered what had happened between him and Nathan, but he sure remembered the sparks that had flown between him and Serena.
His mother was right about that night. Within a month someone else in their town had done something even more stupid, and it was suddenly a thing of the past. He mended relationships with everyone there that night and even went to Nathan’s house the next night to apologize.
He had never been a better man than when he was with her. She brought out a side of him that he had long ago buried. Luke had thought that after the attack that night in Iraq, nothing would ever bring him happiness again. No light could ever cut through that darkness, but she did. She shone so brightly that the stars seemed dim in comparison.
Luke looked over at her to see her smiling at him. “After all this time?”
“After all this time,” she said back to him. “And all the time after that.”
THE END
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Chapter One
"Okay, boys. Tell me what we've got."
Erin Rivers stood with the doctor just inside the ER doors where the ambulance made its deliveries, the shifting red and blue illumination of the emergency lights rolling over them both. The EMTs wheeled the stretcher up from the vehicle and into the ER. Erin, who wasn’t exactly tall, moved quickly to keep up.
"John Doe. Found by a couple of cyclists out for a night ride on the edge of town. Pretty beat up. Some bad lacerations. Bruises. Cracked or broken ribs. Broken fingers.”
Erin spun on her heel to follow them as they started down the hall, headed for one of the treatment rooms.
The man on the stretcher was big—tall and broad-shouldered with brown hair and a tan that said he spent a lot of time outdoors. His shirt had been cut off him, and she could see the gauze that had been taped over his chest, already spotted with blood, the pressure bandage wrapped around his rib cage. The guy was out of it, totally unconscious.
"Was he awake when you picked him up?"
The nearest EMT shook his head.
"Nope. He's been out since we arrived. Guys who found him said he was down for the count when they got there. Don't know how long he's been unconscious."
That could be bad. Erin nodded.
"Get him on the bed and we'll take a look at him."
Between the two of them, the ambulance techs laid the guy out on his side, and the doctor stepped forward to look him over while Erin set up the IV. She watched as the doctor removed the gauze that had been hiding the wounds on the men’s chest.
He had four lacerations that cut from sternum to navel, all running parallel to each other, ragged along their edges like they’d been opened with something sharp only at its tip. Deep, but they didn’t look life-threatening. They hadn’t cut through to any vital organs.
The bruising was pretty bad. There were huge purple black marks along his ribcage. Looked like boot marks, and she wouldn't be surprised to find they were. The injuries had the air of something done deliberately.
"Any identification on him?" Erin asked the EMT, who was standing to the side filling out the paperwork on the new arrival.
"Nope. And no name from the callers, of course."
A John Doe, then. They'd find out who he was when he woke up.
When the doctor took the gauze off his back, they found similar wounds to the ones on his chest. A double set of long cuts, raked down the length of his back.
"What happened here?" she asked the EMT. "Any ideas?"
He stepped around to stand with her, looking at the wounds.
"Our best guess?" he said, looking at her sideways. "They look like something with claws took a pretty strong disliking to him. Except that those are definitely boot prints. So, we really have no idea.”
“Wolverine?” the intern who’d just walked in to observe suggested.
"Claws," the doctor said flatly, ignoring the attempt at humor.
The EMT nodded.
That was, Erin decided, what they looked like. Four parallel marks, opened by something with a pointed tip. But there were the bruises, which were definitely boot imprints.
The lacerations needed to be cleaned and sutured, and bloodwork sent to the lab. When that was done, the doctor and the intern left, and Erin was alone with the patient. She checked the IV levels, made sure he was resting peacefully, and stood for a moment, silently studying him.
He was a good looking guy, even bandaged up and laying in a hospital bed—strong cheekbones, a straight Grecian nose, a thick head of curling brown hair. Erin turned away. She had other patients to see to, after all.
Chapter Two
Back in high school, Erin had a friend who'd confessed a secret to her.
She remembered the day all too clearly. They'd been sitting outside on the swings behind her house, swaying gently back and forth in the slanted golden light of late afternoon. The day was warm, but not hot, one of the last good spring days before summer would set in and fry everything to a crisp. It had rained in the morning, and everything felt fresh and new and clean. The flowers were blooming in the flower beds, and the trees were in blossom.
"I have to tell you something," Jenna said very quietly.
Erin turned to look at her past the chains of the swings, her hands curled around the plastic-covered part of them. They were really getting too big for these things, and the seat wasn't exactly comfortable. The edges cut into her hips.
"Tell me. You know you can."
Jenna was looking down at her lap, where her fingers were twisting together, her dark hair, a contrast to Erin’s blonde, pulled forward over one shoulder. She tugged at her lower lip with her teeth.
"Yeah. I know I can, or I wouldn't have said it."
She took a breath and let it out again slowly. In the little copse of trees to their left, birds called back and forth. Erin waited for her to speak.
"You know how I'm always missing school for a
few days every month?"
Erin knew. She'd asked about it before, and Jenna always had an excuse, but she'd never given her a straight answer. Erin felt her heart beat pick up a little, and at the time she hadn't been sure why.
"Well, there's a reason."
"What?"
Jenna was silent again for a long moment, swaying restlessly.
"I…" She seemed to have trouble getting the words out, stopping and clearing her throat. Cleared it again. "I'm not sure I know how to say this," she confessed after a moment.
"Just tell me, Jen. I won't tell anyone. I promise."
Erin lifted her hand and drew an X over her heart. They hadn't done that since they were ten, but she hoped it would let Jenna know that she was telling the truth. Jenna could tell her anything. They'd been friends since kindergarten, and she didn't like the distance that had been growing between them over the last couple years, since Jenna had been in that accident while she was camping.
"It's hard," Jenna said, hardly more than a whisper. "I mean, I've never told anyone this, Er. And telling you could get me in a lot of trouble."
"Only if someone knows you told," Erin argued gently. "And I'm not going to tell them. Really. I promise."
What could be so big that Jenna couldn't tell her?
"This is going to sound stupid."
"I don't care how it sounds."
Jenna nodded, the motion of her head abrupt and jerky. Nervous. Erin was growing nervous too, watching Jenna's hands twist in her lap, listening to the too-quick sound of her breathing.
"So. Um. The days I'm gone. They're always the full moon."
Erin blinked. She looked at Jenna.
"The full moon?" she echoed, to be sure she was hearing it right.
Jenna nodded.
"Is that… What exactly are you trying to say?"
Jenna opened her mouth to answer, but the honk of a car horn stopped her. She looked up at Erin, apology drawing her eyebrows down and twisting her mouth.
MILITARY ROMANCE: The War Within Himself (Alpha Bad Boy Marine Army Seal) (Contemporary Military Suspense & Thriller Romance) Page 3