Text

22 Nathan

I hated the quiet. It was too loud.

Meaning it made it way to convenient for the memories, for the ghosts, to come out and play.

It was going to be quiet when I got home tonight.

I decided not to go home right away. I called Patton while I was still at the hospital and he came to pick me up. I knew he would ask me questions, but I needed a ride and help with my Wrangler. I was waiting outside when he pulled up in his black Dodge Ram. On the back window was a giant Marine Corps decal sporting the eagle, globe, and anchor that made up the emblem of the Corps.

I glanced at the sky as I climbed into the truck. It was gloomy and gray, the clouds were heavy with rain, and I hoped that it held off for a while. The wind was brisk and chilly. It got cold here, and it got cold fast. I wasn’t used to this type of chill so early in the fall. I was a true southern boy, and where I came from, we didn’t even turn off our air-conditioning until it was almost November.

My fleece was still with Honor and my thermal had gone right in the trash. Blood didn’t wash out very well. And even if it had, I would never wear that shirt again. I could never wear something that Honor had bled all over; just being reminded of it would make me angry.

“Thanks for the ride,” I told Patton as I shut the door against the autumn wind.

“Sure thing, man. What’s going on?”

“You got anything going on in the next couple hours?” I asked, not yet answering his question.

“Nope.”

“No lady waiting for you at your place?”

He grinned. “You know me.” He flashed a smile as he pulled into traffic. “No strings attached.”

Patton liked women. But he hated commitment.

I understood that. Hell, I was that way too. Being in the Corps was hard on a relationship. The saying I heard many times was “if the Marines wanted you to have a wife, they would have issued you one in boot camp.” In other words, the job came first. A lot of families suffered for that. A lot of failed marriages. A lot of infidelity. It was hard to hold a family together when you were never home.

Marines worked long hours. Hard hours. We trained. We deployed. The job followed us home… There was no “off” time for a Marine. Our jobs didn’t end at five o’clock, and the wives—the other half of the relationship—were oftentimes left handling everything on their own.

Was it fair? Nope.

Did we get paid enough? Excuse me while I laugh.

It seemed easier just to stay single. Some days it was hard enough worrying about myself without adding someone else to the list.

But all that was before Honor.

Now I understood why some men married, why some men got out early, and why some men actually wanted to go home and not work late.

“My Jeep’s sitting up on the mountain with two busted tires. I need to swing by the house, get an extra spare, and then go out there and change them so I can drive it home.”

Patton nodded. “No problem.”

That was the good thing about being a Marine. Even miles and miles away from home, I still had family that would be there when I needed something.

“So,” Patton began, sliding me a glance. “You gonna tell me why your Jeep’s jacked up, why you look like hell, and why you called me about Lex last night?”

“It all started with a girl,” I said.

Patton grinned. “Hell yeah, all the best trouble starts with a girl.”

I laughed. “Actually, it started with a text…”

It took the entire drive to my house and to the Wrangler for me to tell him everything. Then while we changed the tires, he asked me about a million questions. I answered them all, rattling off the information almost on autopilot as my thoughts drifted to Honor. By now she would be home. Alone.

Unless of course her mother—that woman was a piece of work—managed to strong-arm her to come home with her. I doubted that though… Honor didn’t seem like the type to be strong armed into doing anything.

“Reed,” Patton said from above.

I glanced up. He was standing there looking at me with a weird expression on his face. “What?”

“Dude, you got it bad.”

“Got what?” I said as I finished tightening the last of the lug nuts.

“She must be hot,” he said with a smirk.

I didn’t really like him talking about her. At all. “She’s not one of your one-night stands,” I said, giving the nuts one last tightening.

He chuckled. “She gonna be one of yours?”

I dropped the lug wrench on the ground and stood. “Since some sicko that we played poker with tried to jam his cock down her throat, I would say trying to get in her pants would be a little shitty. Even for me,” I spat.

Patton swore. “He in jail?”

“Stupid cops can’t find him.”

“We need to do a little recon on our own?”

“It’s definitely an option.”

“I’m up for it. Hell, half the guys in the unit would be all over this. We’d get him in less than twenty-four hours.”

“I’ll think about it,” I said.

We gathered up the tools and threw the ruined tires in the bed of Patton’s truck as thunder began to rumble overhead. It reminded me of just last night, how I was running through this very wood, trying to get Honor the hell out of there.

It also reminded me of gunfire.

“Hey,” Patton said as I dug my keys out of pocket.

“Yeah?”

“You know I didn’t mean nothing earlier. I was just kidding. I might have a lot of one-night stands, but I respect women. I would never—”

“Yeah, man. I know.” I clapped him on the back. “I’m just pissed off.”

“You got a right to be.”

“Thanks for giving me a hand. Beer’s on me next time.”

Patton nodded. “You know you saved her life, right?”

After that we parted ways.

As I drove home, I wondered if saving her life made up for the one I wasn’t able to save.