Vetted: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World)

by A. M. Williams

  With that, Rich stood and walked back into the house, leaving me alone.

  I was finally alone, the way I wanted to be earlier when he came out. But my mind was going in circles now, turning over what he’d said in my head. And I now found myself not wanting to be alone.

  “Fuck,” I muttered, rubbing a hand over my face.

  I wanted to reach out to Britain and talk to her, but I just didn’t know how.

  She was so devastated when she left me that day we talked and I didn’t see any way past that.

  I still wasn’t on board with her being in the military, but I realized that just because I didn’t agree with it when Rich was in it didn’t mean I didn’t support him.

  And that was all Britain was asking of me: to support her.

  She wasn’t asking me to marry her and move somewhere to be with her the next day. She was just asking for my support.

  I’d given it unconditionally to my brother, so why couldn’t I do that with her?

  If I really dug down, I’d find that answer and it would be because I was in love with Britain.

  Yeah, I loved my brother, but loving someone and being in love with someone were two completely different things.

  But I didn’t dwell on that.

  I didn’t love the thought of Britain in the military, but she was only in the Reserves. And even if she went back to active status, did that really change anything?

  No, it didn’t.

  I sagged in my seat, knowing that Rich was right.

  I needed to pull my head out of my ass and reach out to Britain. I just… wasn’t sure how to bridge the gap I’d created between the two of us. Instead of going inside and digging out the email her mother had given me two months before to contact her, I stayed on my back porch and drank my now cold coffee, thinking about other things.

  I could contact her later once I had figured things out.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  AUGUST

  Chapter 35-A

  “ANYONE HOME?” I called out as I pushed open the door to Britain’s parent’s house.

  “Out back!” Came the muffled reply.

  I made my way to the back door and stepped onto the back porch, taking in Jon and Rita.

  They were seated at their outdoor table, eating what looked like a late lunch.

  “Sorry to bother you while you’re eating,” I said, letting the door shut behind me with a slap.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Rita waved my comment off. “Join us. Tea?”

  I pulled out a chair and nodded my head. “Thanks, I’d love some.”

  She poured me a glass and slid it across the table to me before trying to offer me a plate. I waved her off. “I’ve already eaten but thank you.”

  I turned my attention to Jon, taking in how he looked.

  He was officially in remission, and each time I’d seen him, he looked better and better. Today was the same. He had color in his cheeks and he didn’t look as frail as he had before. It looked like he’d put some weight on.

  “You two doing well?” I asked, looking between the two of them.

  They nodded. “Could be worse,” Jon said with a chuckle. “I’m feeling better and can now go for a walk around the block without feeling like I’m going to keel over because I’m so damned tired.”

  I chuckled with him. “That’s definitely good. Doc still saying you’re good to go?”

  He nodded. “Yep. Counts are good and I’m stronger every day.”

  “That’s great.”

  “It certainly is,” he muttered, his voice cracking.

  I looked away as Rita reached over to touch his hand. I felt like I was intruding on their moment. I was close to them, but I knew that Jon didn’t like to show that he was struggling or that something was bothering him. I wanted to give him the opportunity to get himself together.

  After several moments, I looked at the two of them again and smiled. “So, what have you been up to?” I asked.

  We spent the next thirty minutes chatting and catching up before I started making comments about needing to head out.

  I didn’t really need to leave but spending time with Britain’s parents when I still hadn’t reached out to her was tough.

  I helped them clear the table and take everything inside.

  As I was getting ready to leave and say my goodbyes, the front door opened and Rich stepped inside, his eyes immediately coming to rest on me before sliding past me and going to Britain’s parents.

  The look on his face was one I couldn’t say I’d seen before, and it made me pause as I stared at him.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  His eyes darted between the three of us before he hoarsely said, “Have you seen the news?”

  I shook my head and looked to Britain’s parents. They were shaking their heads as well.

  I looked back at Rich. “Why?”

  He said nothing, instead turning to walk into the living room and turning the television on. I traded glances with the other two in the kitchen before joining my brother.

  He was quickly flicking through channels until he stopped on a live news broadcast from the local news station.

  “We’ve just received word that an overseas base where a local group of reserve soldiers deployed to just months ago has come under attack. We don’t have a lot of information, but what we know is that in the early hours of this morning, a local militant group planted bombs around the perimeter of the base and detonated them in a targeted attack against the United States military and their continued involvement in matters there.”

  The newscaster kept talking, but video flipped to footage of a smoking military base, the black smoke thick and covering most of the base, making it difficult to see what was going on on the ground.

  At this point, I wasn’t even paying attention to what the anchor was saying. My hand was gripping Rich’s shoulder tightly as my mind flashed to Britain.

  I knew, without asking, that this was the base they had deployed Britain to.

  I glanced at her parents and they were both sitting on the edge of the couch, their hands wound together, faces pale, and eyes riveted on the screen.

  I sucked in a shaky breath before forcing myself to relax my hold on Rich’s shoulder and sinking down onto the ottoman next to him.

  “What the fuck?” I whispered to myself, not believing what I was seeing.

  I tuned back into the broadcast.

  “We still don’t have information on casualties or injured people in the attack. All we know is that they have contained the fires that broke out and we’ll keep you updated as information becomes available.”

  They moved on to another news story and Rich muted the sound so all we saw were the anchors talking.

  “That’s where she is?” I asked after several minutes of silence.

  “We think so,” Rita whispered.

  I could hear the pain in her voice and winced. “Have you looked to see if you’ve heard from her?” I asked.

  I glanced back and caught her shaking her head. “No, let me get my phone and I’ll check.”

  She went to stand up, but I shook my head and stood. “Where is it and I’ll go get it.”

  She directed me toward her purse by the door, and I fished it out of the black bag. I input the passcode she told me and quickly navigated to her email app.

  I opened it up, holding my breath as I scrolled through her recent emails to see if there was one from Britain.

  My shoulders sagged when I saw that there wasn’t one.

  I looked up and met three worried sets of eyes and shook my head. “Nothing.”

  Her mom let out a shaky sigh, and I watched as a tear tracked down her face.

  “I checked and I have nothing,” Rich said, his voice thick with emotion.

  I set the cell phone down on the coffee table and sank back down onto the ottoman, cradling my head in my hands.

  “Do you have anything from her?” Rich asked in a low voice.

  I sh
ook my head. “I never reached out to her.”

  Rich’s silence said more than he ever could to me. I knew he was disappointed in me. I was disappointed in myself. I shouldn’t have let things continue on like they had for so long. I should have reached out to her and tried to bridge the gap.

  And now, there was a chance she’d been injured in an attack on her base and I didn’t know shit. Granted, I wouldn’t be the one told since I wasn’t family, but I knew nothing.

  For all I knew, she could be dead or severely injured. She could also be okay, but my mind was immediately going to the worst possible scenario, which was that she was severely injured or dead.

  I felt sick. I swallowed thickly around the emotion clogging my throat and looked to her parents. “Do you need anything?” I asked.

  They shook their heads.

  I looked to my brother and met his gaze.

  “Right, I’m going to clean up after lunch and hang around for a little while.”

  They both continued to sit there in a daze, neither commenting on what I said. I couldn’t sit there worrying about her. I had to do something.

  I stood, Rich mimicking me, and walked into the kitchen.

  I started putting things in the dishwasher and wiping the counters down, Rich joining me and helping with what he could.

  Neither of us said anything. What was there for us to say?

  Until we had some type of word, there was no use talking about what happened.

  The worst thing you could do was worry about the what-ifs associated with a situation like this. I knew that firsthand.

  One of the last times Rich deployed, he was injured while out on patrol. All we knew at first was that he was injured, but not how severe it was.

  He was lucky in that it was minor cuts to his legs and he could return to work like normal after only a week recuperating.

  The big difference here was that Rich was my brother, so I was knowledgeable about everything. I wasn’t anything to Britain, so I’d have to rely on her parents to tell me, which they probably would. But it left me feeling hollow inside.

  I should have reached out after Rich talked to me. I should have emailed her and tried to talk to her, even if she didn’t respond. I should have done something.

  I hadn’t because I’d been too scared of everything that Britain represented to me. I was a chickenshit, and I knew it.

  And now, I might have lost out on the chance to be anything to Britain.

  The thought that she might be gone for good, that I’d never get to talk to her again, made me feel sick to my stomach and I wasn’t sure what I’d do if that was the case.

  I had to have some hope that she was fine or injured in a minor way. Not that she was dead, and I’d never have the chance to tell her how I really felt and that I’d never have the chance to touch her or hold her again.

  “You look like you’re going to be sick,” Rich muttered from my right.

  I paused in what I was doing, realizing I’d been running a wet rag over the same spot on the counter, not even paying attention to what I was doing.

  I relaxed my hand, the cloth dropping to the counter, and glanced at my brother. “I feel like I’m going to be sick,” I muttered back.

  He nodded. “Not surprising. Is this what it felt like when you heard I was injured?”

  I nodded, and he grimaced. “Fuck,” he breathed.

  Fuck was right. It was bad when I heard that, but this was ten times worse.

  Rich and I stared at each other for several moments before we both turned toward the living room when we heard a phone ring.

  Her mother sprang into action, reaching for the phone I’d placed on the coffee table.

  I held my breath as she answered it, waiting to see if it was news about Britain and what had happened.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  BRITAIN

  I WAS ready to stage a breakout.

  I’d been cooped up in my hospital room on a base in Germany for over a week. Minus the little bit of walking I could do with supervision, they forced me to stay in my room.

  It was the pits.

  I understood why I couldn’t leave. Getting burns on one leg and shrapnel in the other meant I couldn’t just get up and walk out and go about my life.

  But I was over being in the room by myself. Minus speaking with my parents the week before when I first arrived in Germany and before I was put into my room, I hadn’t talked to anyone else.

  I didn’t know if they were being kept updated, if they were trying to come, or what was happening with them.

  My gear hadn’t yet arrived at the hospital, and I worried that it wouldn’t get there before they discharged me. I already knew I was heading home early; they had briefed me on it the day before.

  It was just a matter of working out the specific details about when I was actually leaving.

  Considering my left leg had looked like it had been put through the meat grinder because of the shrapnel I took, I had a feeling I might be there for longer than I wanted.

  I sighed and clicked the television in my room on, quickly flipping through the channels to find something to watch and keep me busy.

  I would give anything to have my phone so I could talk to someone or my e-reader so I could read something. But they were both with my things.

  A light knock sounded on the door and Cherry, one of the nurses, poked her head in.

  “How are you this morning?” She asked as she slipped through the door.

  I shrugged. “Not too bad.”

  She nodded as she walked around my bed, checking my readouts, my IV pole, and eventually a few other things. I’d gotten used to being poked and prodded throughout the day and night and didn’t even pay attention to what she did anymore, not even when she pulled my blanket down and moved my gown up so she could check my legs.

  When she removed the dressing on each side, I glanced down and grimaced, taking in my marked flesh.

  My right leg had second-degree burns. I was in bed when the first bombs went off and the blast threw me and my tent mates out of bed. I landed on a metal support strut that was thrown our way in the blast. It was already hot from the blast, though I didn’t realize that at the time, and it’s what burned me.

  If I hadn’t rolled myself off, I would likely have worse burns on that leg.

  As it was, the burns were fairly painful, but considering I was still alive, I wouldn’t complain too much. Besides some itching and pulling on the skin itself, I could ignore it most of the time.

  The only time I couldn’t was when they were cleaning them out. The first few times, I’d passed out. But I was mostly used to it now. I was just ready to finish healing up.

  My left leg was pelted with shrapnel from the blast. Most of it was concentrated to the outside of my leg, and I knew I was lucky that it wasn’t worse. No major veins were hit, and I hadn't broken anything.

  Some people in my tent hadn’t been as lucky from my understanding.

  I thought of all this while staring at my legs. They were looking better today, but still gnarly, and I braced myself to have them cleaned.

  I turned back to the television as another nurse came in to help, and I tried my hardest to not pay attention to what they were doing.

  A little while later, they were done and fresh gauze was on top of my wounds. I finally allowed myself to relax again, thankful that was done for the time being.

  Cherry puttered around, cleaning everything up. She paused at the foot of my bed and I moved my gaze to her, confused.

  Normally, she finished cleaning up and then left me alone before coming back in a few hours to take a turn around the floor with me.

  Her sticking around wasn’t normal.

  She cleared her throat and said, “We hadn’t said anything before now because we weren’t certain it was going to happen, but your mother arrived last night and she’s here to see you if you’d like to see her.”

  I sucked in a breath at her words.

  “My
mom? Here?” I asked, a waver in my voice, tears already gathering in my eyes.

  Cherry nodded and smiled. “I’ll go get her.”

  I watched her hurry out of the room and started blinking rapidly, trying to stave off the tears that were threatening to fall already. I didn’t want my mom to see me laying in a hospital bed crying.

  Before I could get myself fully under control, the door opened and my mother was there, tears already streaming down her face.

  Neither of us said anything as she stepped toward me and wrapped me in her arms.

  I squeezed her tightly, relishing the feel of her arms around my body and I let myself let go. It was cathartic hugging her and crying, and it helped me in ways I didn’t think it would.

  Eventually, we both pulled back and my mom grabbed the tissue box, holding it out for me to take some before pulling a few out for herself.

  We mopped at our faces before she pulled one chair by my bed closer and sinking into it.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked after a few moments of silence in which we stared at each other, taking everything in. My eyes traced her face, noting the lines there, wondering when she’d started to look so worn down.

  “When we got word you’d been injured, your father immediately wanted to come. But he had to talk to his doctor, who said it wasn’t a good idea with him recently going into remission. Said his immune system might not be up for it. So, we agreed I’d come. Once we agreed on that, it took us a few days to get everything booked and get in contact with who we needed to get into contact with so I could get onto base and get a room.”

  “Where are you staying?”

  I hoped it was close to the hospital.

  “There’s a house right outside the hospital, the Fischer House, that they put people in for extended stays. There was room for me, so I’m in there. I can walk over whenever I want.”

  I felt my chin tremble at her words. “You’re really here?”

  She nodded. “I’m not staying long. I don’t think your father can handle me being gone for an extended stay, but I’m here for a week.”

  I gulped at her words. A week wasn’t all that long, but it was longer than I thought I’d get because I didn’t think anyone would be coming. No one had said anything to me about the possibility of my parents coming.