Breaking Free

by Teresa J. Reasor

“Come on, Ensign Clark. I know you can do it,” Zoe said as she watched the young sailor struggle to maintain his balance between the parallel bars. She gripped the gate belt around his waist to steady him as he lifted his foot just enough to slide it over the floor, lay it down, and then shift his weight. His breath came in quick gasps. Sweat beaded his forehead dampening his blond hair in front and darkening it. He paused a moment before raising the other foot.

  “Jesus, this hurts like a son-of-a-bitch,” he said as he got the other foot going.

  She grimaced in sympathy. “After having both legs nearly crushed, you didn’t expect they’d work just like new the first time out, did you?”

  “Well, a guy can hope can’t he?”

  “We certainly don’t dissuade hope around here. Isn’t that right, Tank?” She shot a look at the man standing directly behind Ensign Clark. He stood eight inches taller than the young serviceman and looked as though he could bench press a truck.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Tank retrieved the wheelchair, ran it between the parallel bars and lined it up behind Clark. He set the brake.

  Zoe gripped the gate belt harder. “Just ease yourself down now. Tank will help you. Take it slow.”

  Once seated, Clark took several cleansing breaths. Zoe grasped one rail of the parallel bars to maintain her balance and bent to pick up the paper towels she had left lying on the exercise mat close by with a bottle of water. She offered them both to Clark and he grinned.

  Another PT called to Tank for some help. After unbuckling the gate belt and removing it, Zoe leaned back against the parallel bars to wait for Tank’s return. He’d take Ensign Clark back to his room as soon as he was finished with the other patient.

  Clark tucked the water bottle between his thighs and wiped his face. “How long have you been a physical therapist?”

  “Here in California, almost six months. I practiced two years in Kentucky.”

  He pointed the water bottle at her left calf encased in a brace. “How long since that happened?”

  Her capris pants hid the scars on her thighs and buttocks but the more sever ones on her lower half of her leg were completely visible. She’d soon found showing her own scars encouraged the men not to be so conscious of theirs. “Since I was seven. Both my legs were involved too. It took me nearly a year to learn to walk again.”

  “Shit!”

  “You’ll get there Ensign Clark.” She patted his arm.

  “Aren’t you going to give me a pep talk and tell me, if you can do it, I can, too?”

  “Do you need me to?”

  He grinned again. ”Yeah, I think I could use a little moral support. You could come eat dinner with me when you get off.”

  Zoe rested her hand on her protruding stomach and shook her head, amazed. When she had first started the job every new patient started out this way. Flirting came as natural to these guys as breathing. Now that her pregnancy was so pronounced, she couldn’t believe he was serious. “I have a boyfriend.”

  “I heard. He’s in Iraq. It would just be dinner and he’d never know.”

  Zoe studied Ensign Clark’s face. Young, handsome, and despite his current mobility problem, he’d be up and going again, as long as he did his therapy and kept a good attitude. She experienced not a single spark of interest. “I’d know, Ensign. I love my boyfriend.”

  “So it’s the real deal, huh?”

  “Yes, it is.

  There was just enough regret in the young soldier’s face for Zoe to feel flattered.

  “He’s a lucky man.”

  Thinking about the loving message Hawk had sent her that morning via e-mail brought a smile to her lips. “I’m a lucky woman, too.”

  Tank returned just then and grasped the handles of the wheelchair.

  “See you tomorrow, Ensign.” Zoe waved briefly as she moved out of the way so Tank could push the chair through. She scanned the room on the lookout for her next patient.

  Exercise mats covered several areas of the floor. Padded benches lined the walls at equal intervals. Three sets of parallel bars stationed in each corner of the room were in use, the fourth, where she stood, was the only one free. The injuries they saw each day ranged from accidental injuries like Ensign Clarks, to amputations suffered in battle.

  Knowing she was needed and appreciated by the men, helped her continue to get up each day. And it helped pass the time until Hawk returned from Iraq. The baby moved and she rubbed the spot where a tiny limb protruded. “Please let him come home before the baby’s born. I don’t want to go through this alone,” she murmured beneath her breath.

  “Zoe,” Brett’s voice came from a door to the left. She turned to face him. His intent expression had anxiety slicing through her. His long stride ate up the distance between them.

  “What is it?” she asked her tone high-pitched with fear.

  “Easy, Sis.” Brett reached for her and gave her a squeeze. “It’s nothing bad.”

  She drew a deep breath as her heart thundered against her ribs. “You never come here. I just thought--” She turned her face against his shirt as quick tears burnt her eyes.

  “Shh--” Brett gave her another squeeze. “I should have called before I came. I just wanted to surprise you.”

  Zoe rested against him until the rush of emotion subsided. She drew back to look up at him. “It is a surprise. You never willingly show up here.”

  “I need you to go somewhere with me.”

  “I have one more patient, then I’ll be free.”

  “Tank has agreed to take him for you.”

  “Tank isn’t qualified to take him for me.”

  “Lt. Cameron said she’d supervise for you. It’s important, Zo.”

  She studied him for a moment. Now that the fear had passed she grew more curious. “Where is it you want me to go?”

  “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore, now would it?”

  She grimaced in agreement. “All right. Let me get my purse from my locker.”

  Brett grinned. “Good.”

  “Have you heard from Hawk today?” Brett asked as they got into the car.

  “Yes. He emailed me early this morning. I know he tries to paint a rosy picture to keep me from worrying.” She buckled the seat belt as he backed out of the parking slot.

  “You do the same for him,” he said accusation in his tone.

  Zoe ran a hand over her stomach. “The only thing I want him thinking about is coming home. I’m not going to cause him any distractions.”

  “For someone who used to be determined never to get involved with a man in uniform, you’ve turned into the perfect military spouse.”

  “I’m not a spouse, just a girlfriend.”

  “Hawk will want to get married as soon as he finds out about the baby. Hell, if there’d been time he’d have married you before he left.”

  If she’d known she was pregnant then, she might have been in a little more of a rush. Zoe brushed at the soft curls that feathered around her face. “We’ll deal with everything when he comes home.” When he comes home. He had to come home.

  “Where are we going?” Zoe asked as a guard waved them through the gates at the base.

  “We’ll be there in a minute.”

  “How is the class going?” she asked.

  “Fine. I only draw a blank now and then.”

  Zoe’s throat grew tight. She knew he was making light of things so she wouldn’t worry. “Brett, please don’t sugar coat things. I want to share things with you. I need to know you can talk to me so I won’t feel I can’t talk to you.”

  Brett glanced in her direction then reached for her hand. He gave it a squeeze. “I really am doing okay, sis.”

  “Good, I’m glad.” She paused. “And how did your visit with Derrick go?”

  “He finally admitted he knocked me out and left me to die.”

  His tone sounded so subdued, so weary, Zoe laid a hand on his arm in comfort. “I’m sorry.”

  He nodded. “He still won’
t explain what all that stuff was about the kid.” Pain flickered across his features. “I thought we were buds as well as team mates.”

  “Is he getting counseling while he’s in prison?”

  “Yeah.”

  Zoe shifted the conversation. “Wonder who it was that slapped you in the hospital?

  “Since it wasn’t Derrick, it had to be Flash. I don’t suppose we’ll ever know why since he’s probably dead.”

  He turned into the fenced in area of the North Island Air Base and parked the car. He glanced at his watch. “We’re here.”

  Suspicious she asked, “What are we doing here at the air field?”

  “Hawk’s plane will be touching down here in a few minutes.”

  “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Why didn’t you tell me?” She looked down at the rounded curve of her stomach. The instant joy, followed by panic, set her heart to flight. “He doesn’t know. I’ve been waiting to tell him.”

  “Well, it’s too late to do anything about it now.”

  “But I was holding off because I was hoping he’d propose before he knew about the baby.”

  Brett rolled his eyes. “You know he loves you, Zo. He damn well better propose now that he’s knocked you up.”

  Zoe narrowed her eyes. “You have no romance in your soul Brett.”

  “There’s Trish,” He pointed at the woman as she got out of her car and walked toward them.

  Zoe got out of the car and moved to meet her halfway. Trish gave her a hug and looped her arm through hers.

  “Hawk wanted to surprise you. He asked Langley to tell me to hold off telling you.”

  Zoe blinked as she fought back tears and ran a trembling hand over her abdomen. “It’s going to be a surprise for the both of us.”

  Trish gave her arm a squeeze. “A good one, huh?”

  “Oh, God. I’ve been working all morning. I didn’t have time to brush my hair or freshen my make-up.”

  “Too late for that now. Come on.” Trish tugged her toward the gate. Brett fell into step with them.

  The guard at the gate waved them through after looking at their IDs. The other girlfriends and wives clustered together before the terminal. Several called out greetings to Trish and to her.

  Zoe’s emotions seesawed back and forth between joy and anxiety. By the time the plane came into sight, she reached out and gripped Trish’s arm hard. Brett rested soothing hands on her shoulders.

  The huge transport touched down with a scuff of its tires and taxied to the terminal. A truck towed out the stairs as the door opened. Men loaded down with duffle bags filed down the stairs. Cries of pleasure broke out as women recognized their loved ones and raced forward to meet them. Langley appeared and Trish pulled away and ran to him. He caught her to him and kissed her.

  Zoe looked back at the plane. Hawk’s tall form came into view. His hair was long and shaggy and hung around his lean face glossy and dark. His Indian heritage had never seemed more apparent. For a brief moment he looked like a stranger.

  His eyes scanned the crowd as he came down the steps. He spied Brett then wove his way toward him his gaze still searching. He finally saw her and her stomach plunged and her heart raced as the familiar punch of love and longing coursed through her. Tears welled up and she limped forward. Hawk dumped the duffle onto the ground and his long strides covered the distance.

  He was there before she could catch her breath. His attention homed in on the rounded bulge beneath her loose top. His eyes widened in surprise. He faltered a moment, and then a smile split his lips wide.

  Relief had tears blurring her vision.

  “I didn’t want to worry you,” she said as she went into his arms.

  “I love you, Zoe.”

  Hawk curved her closer and she rose on tiptoe to press tight against him. He kissed her with all the pent up emotion of a six-month separation. When he drew back, he didn’t release her, but palmed the rounded curve of her belly. “God, Zo. What a homecoming gift.”

  She laughed in relief. “I love you so much.”

  “Are you, both of you, all right?” he asked, a touch of anxiety shadowing his face.

  “Yes.” She covered his hand with her own. “We’re wonderful now that your home.”

  “I’m a little late from the look of things, but I have something for you.” He reached into his jacket pocket. He popped open a wide jewelry box. Inside nestled a set of three rings fashioned from white gold with turquoise stones imbedded. Arabic words etched into the face of the wedding bands, foreign and beautiful.

  “They say forever in Arabic, Zoe. I took a chance and bought wedding bands to match hoping you’d make an honest man of me? Will you marry me?”

  His pale gray gaze was so intent, his expression so eager, she started to tear up again but laughed instead.

  No matter how far away he was, her love would follow him, as his would rest inside her--deeper than the child she carried. She had no doubts. She was right where she was supposed to be. “Yes. Oh, yes.”

  Hawk kissed her again, his lips clinging to hers, his tongue tangling with hers so thoroughly they were both breathless when he raised his head. He removed the engagement ring from the box and slipped it on her finger. “What do you think?”

  Zoe said the only thing she had breath left to murmur. “Hooyah.”