Lieutenant (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 3) (25 page)
Read Lieutenant (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 3) Online
Authors: Jonathan P. Brazee
Chapter 27
Ryck slowly fought his way through the cotton clouds. He was used to this now. He knew he was coming out of regen. If the doctor had been as good as he said, it should have been a short one or two week coma, and he faced a six month regen. If they had to amputate the leg, it would be more than a year.
That depressed him. He hated the regen process. He hated being a gen hen. Then there was the rehabilitation, or authorized torture at the hands of the physical therapy terrorists. Well, he’d be a captain by the time he was done, and if Bert had passed on his demands, he’d have a PICS company to command.
He kept his eyes closed. If he didn’t open them, he could delay, if only for a few minutes, the official start of his rehabilitation. He deserved a few more moments to himself.
Finally, he opened his eyes to the darkened room. It didn’t take him long to adjust, for things to make sense again. He looked over to see if he had a roommate in the next rack. It was empty, but someone was sitting in the chair in the corner, in the shadows.
“Bert,” he croaked, his voice out of practice. “Did you get a hold of Hannah?”
The figure said nothing, but stood up and walked forward into a shaft of light coming in through the semi-closed blinds.
“Not until I got here,” Hannah said as the shaft lit her features.
Ryck weakly raised his arm to her. “Hannah!”
She stood only a moment longer before running to him. “I’m so sorry,” she started sobbing, putting her head on his chest. “I’m so sorry.”
Ryck didn’t know what to say, so he reached to stroke her hair as hot tears soaked through his hospital gown and onto his chest.
She sobbed heavily for 30 seconds before she began to gain control of herself. She wiped her forearm across her eyes and nose, and sat back up, with one hand holding Rycks’.
“I . . . I don’t know where to start,” she said.
“Ssh,” he tried to calm her, reaching up to brush a remaining tear off her cheek.
“No, I need to say this. I knew I was wrong when I left. I knew it wasn’t your fault. I was just so, so angry, and you were there for me to blame. When I got back, I tried to convince myself that I was right, that you were wrong. No, let me finish,” she said when Ryck tried to stop her. “I just couldn’t come to grips with what had happened, and I blamed you, even when I knew in my heart it wasn’t your fault. And then Tand came to see me.
Tand? Tand Ariana? What did he tell her? Did he turn her against me?
“Tand came with his wife Cindi and his twin babies, Joshua and Greta. Yes, little Joshua. He told me what happened. He told me you refused to tell Joshua to stay and protect the rest. He told me Joshua insisted. It was Joshua’s choice, Ryck, and I know it.
“Tand and his family stayed with us for a week. I insisted. I played with the babies, little ones who would not have ever been born if you hadn’t changed your mind and let Joshua fulfill his destiny.”
She was quiet for a moment, then slowly lowered her head to Ryck’s chest.
“Hope doesn’t blame you, you know. My mom doesn’t. I spent time with Lysa and the kids. I spoke with the Deacon more times than I can count.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Why didn’t you come?”
“You were at your new school, and I didn’t want to get in the way.
“No, that’s a lie. Deacon Inner Joy told me to be honest with myself. I felt guilty. If you were not at fault, then I was the one who was wrong. If I could cling to the chance that you really were to blame, then I would have been justified in walking out. But I knew that wasn’t true. I’ve been unfair to you, the man I loved.
Loved? Past tense?
“The man I love,” she corrected herself.
And when I got the message that you’d been hurt again, I panicked. A person doesn’t do that about someone she doesn’t love. I missed you, and I knew I loved you, but that was the dam breaking. Love broke through the wall I’d erected. Love. I love you. And if you’ll have me back, I want to start again as husband and wife. I want you with me, until death do us part.
“So, and I can accept whatever your decision is, but I am asking you, will you take me back?”
Ryck reached over and lifted Hannah’s chin until he could look into her eyes.
“Until death do us part.”
Thank you for reading
Lieutenant
. If you liked it, please feel free to leave a review of the book on Amazon.
Other Books by Jonathan Brazee
Fiction
The Return of the Marines Trilogy
The United Federation Marine Corps
Lieutenant
Rebel (Coming Soon)
(This book follows Michiko MacCailín)
The Al Anbar Chronicles: First Marine Expeditionary Force--Iraq
Werewolf of Marines: Semper Lycanus
(Book 2: Coming January, 2015
Darwin’s Quest: The Search for the Ultimate Survivor
Non-Fiction
ENDNOTES
[1]
Skins and bones: slang for the Marine combat uniform. “Skins” are the utility blouse and trousers. “Bones” are the armor inserts that give ballistic and a degree of energy weapon protection.
[2]
LZ: Landing zone.
[3]
P2P: person-to-person direct communications
[4]
ECR: Effective Casualty Radius
[5]
RCET: Realistic Combat Environment Trainer. This is a huge simulator used to train Marines and sailors how to fight.
[6]
Snipe: a member of a ship’s engineering division.
[7]
BOQ: Bachelor Officer’s Quarters.
[8]
PA-06: Practical Application Zero Six. All practical application training events are numbered in the order in which they are taken.
[9]
NOTC: Naval Officer Training Course.
[10]
Firstie: a first class midshipman, a senior at the Academy.
[11]
Prac Ap: Practical Application Test
[12]
MTI: Midshipmen Training Instructor
[13]
Office Hours: Non-judicial punishment used for minor offenses.
[14]
O.R.: Old Reckoning. The method of numbering years until the Federation was formed. After the Federation, years started again from the Year One, and are designated by N.R., or New Reckoning.
[15]
Class B: a class of issued gear. Class A is clothing and boots. Class B is equipment not to include weapons and ammunition. Class C is weapons. Class D is ordinance.
[16]
T/O: Table of Organization. This is a list of what Marines and in what ranks were allotted to each unit.
[17]
Qua Patet Orbis: “
As far as the world extends
”
[18]
Jimmylegs: a somewhat derogatory term for hired security teams
[19]
CO: Commanding Officer
[20]
Janes
: the short name for a civilian data base of all things military. They often have more quality information on unit weapons and equipment than government intelligence agencies.
[21]
CG: Commanding General
[22]
Commo: Communications Officer
[23]
AO: Area of Operations
[24]
NEO: Noncombatant Evacuation Operations
[25]
L/T: A common form of nickname for a lieutenant, pronounced “el -tee.”
[26]
PAX: passengers
[27]
FSCC: Fire Support Coordination Center
[28]
EIR: Essential Information Request. These are high-priority requests for tactical intel.
[29]
S3: Operations Officer
[30]
M72 HGL: A man-packed 18mm grenade launcher: Heavy Grenade Launcher.
[31]
Adlerbruten
: a Torritite word meaning the eldest son in a family. This has an important cultural significance in Torritite society.
[32]
WWB: an acronym now used for an old term first used in the 21
st
Century, the “Wounded Warrior Battalion.”
[33]
BC2: Battlefield Citation, Second Class
[34]
BA: Breathing Apparatus. A small diaphragm device that mixes oxygen from a small tank with oxygen from the water, rendering breathing possible.
[35]
RT: Reconnaissance Trainers. The training cadre at Reconnaissance Training Course at Camp Prettyjohn.
[36]
Gig line: A line from the front edge of a shirt, running through the belt and down the zipper of the trousers. All three should be in line.
[37]
SOP: Standard Operating Procedure
[38]
BFG: Big Fucking Gun
[39]
Eliminate the impossible, and what remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth: a paraphrase of a several quotes by Arthur Conan Doyle in his Sherlock Holmes books.
[40]
PAO Public Affairs Officer
[41]
Blue Line: an imaginary line indicating the furthest reach of human space.
