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.She’d call or text me with lots of exclamation marks when she saw something big and important that happened.She knew that Arrow and I no longer talked, but I never told her the entire story, just that we drifted apart.It was through one of those phone calls from Darcy that I learned two major life changes happening with Arrow.“Oh.My.God.Briar!” Darcy yelled into the phone as soon as I picked up.I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm.“What happened now? Please tell me you didn’t actually take that professor up on his offer.I thought we talked about this?”She scoffed.“Of course I didn’t! This is much much crazier, way bigger news!”“Okay, I’ll bite.What happened?” Killian was shaking his head next to me.He thought Darcy was a bit on the outrageous side; he couldn’t quite put together how she and I were such good friends.Secretly, I think he enjoyed her wackiness.“Guess who’s getting married?”“You didn’t? You didn’t somehow pull a Katy Perry and end up in Las Vegas with a ring on your finger next to a guy you had one passionate night with, did you?” I laughed, but honestly, I was a little nervous that she would go off and get married or have a kid with some random shmuck who showered her with attention.“No, no! Arrow.”“Arrow, what?” I said confused and switching hands, putting the phone against my left ear.“Arrow’s getting married!” she screamed loud enough that Killian heard her words.I could hear the blood pumping in my ears; I could feel the blood pulsing through my veins.I squeezed the phone in my hand.“Hello? Briar, Arrow is getting married!”“To whom?” I whispered the words.Killian’s stare was burning into the side of my face.I kept my gaze in my lap and refused to look up.I had to get a hold of my overwhelming feelings.I couldn’t complete any exact thought; my brain was scattered.“Lacey Ratcliff.”Moving my empty hand up to my throat, wrapping the fingers around my neck, I felt the beating of my heart against my skin.I was going to pass out.Taking deep breaths in and out, I calmed down eventually as I listened to her babble on and on about how expensive the ring looked.blah blah blah.It all went through one ear and out the other until she said, “They are getting married tomorrow! Can you believe it? Just going off to the local courthouse and tying the knot without any of their family.” The phone went silent.“Maybe she’s pregnant…”“Pregnant?” The words fumbled from my lips.My eyes widened as my stomach went sour.“Well why else would they get married so soon after getting engaged? I guess it could be because Arrow’s being deployed,” she said the last sentence like it wasn’t important, like it was the least of her worries when there was a possible pregnancy and a wedding happening tomorrow.But not me.That second part made my blood run cold.“Deployed?” I covered my mouth with the back of my hand.“Where?”“Afghanistan, I think.”“You think or you know? Where is he going, Darcy?” My voice took on a deathly, serious tone.“Sheesh, calm down.Let me pull it up on my phone, and I’ll tell you.”I could hear the pressing of buttons as she loaded up the Internet.“Yeah, it’s Afghanistan,” she answered.Tears welled up in my eyes and spilled over onto my cheeks, sliding down my hot skin and landing on my bare legs folded on the couch.Killian scooted over, wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and then pulled me into his chest.He rubbed my arm up and down in a soothing manner.“When does he leave?” I wiped the water from my cheeks.“His status update says he leaves in a week.”We hung up after she went on about her theories on the upcoming nuptials, but I didn’t take part in the conversation except for a couple of “uh huhs” and “yeahs.” When I hit “end” on my cell, I stood up on shaking legs, smiled painfully at Killian, and walked into the bathroom.I turned on the shower, blocking out the sound of my phone call.I scrolled through my contacts, finding Arrow’s name quickly since he was one out of three “A” names listed.Struggling with actually calling him, I kept putting the phone down on the sink and glaring at it.But, I had to do it… If Arrow was going off to war, I had to hear his voice.Even if he told me get lost and never call his number again, it’d be worth it.I sat down on the closed lid of the toilet and picked up my phone from where it rested next to me.I pressed his name, and put the phone to my ear.My limbs were trembling in anticipation and uneasiness.“Sorry, the number that you have dialed is unavailable,” A robotic voice said.I didn’t cry or scream.I didn’t feel anything.The fact was, Arrow had gotten rid of his old number without telling me.There was no way of contacting him, which it seemed was exactly what he wanted.I stripped off my clothes, stepped into the steaming shower, and slid down until I was sitting underneath the spray of the showerhead.The water from the shower acted as the tears I wouldn’t allow myself to cry.I put the stopper into the shower drain and turned the water as hot as it could go.I soaked in the painfully hot pricks of water that hit me over and over again in the back, stabbing me, letting the pain I felt inside show on my skin.My first tour in Afghanistan was supposed to be twelve months, but it turned into fourteen.It was rough being in a country so different from my own.It took weeks to receive mail from the states, and we were constantly busy.Unimaginable things occurred right before my eyes - things that I wanted to stop, but I was ordered to stand down.It wasn’t in my nature to view actions that were morally wrong and not do anything to keep it from happening.Yet it had been ingrained into my very being, as a Marine, to obey my orders.It wasn’t always an easy feat, but my exploits could’ve potentially brought harm to my brothers surrounding me.That was out of the question.Still, those fourteen months went by and soon I was leaving the sizzling, sandy landscape.I came home to my wife, Lacey.We were stationed in California, where the sun was always shining, where any given city has a dozen different ethnicities.People were unique and bold in personality and willing to let their talents shine in unconventional ways.When I got home, it took time to adjust to the life of a civilian.Sure, I was still a Marine, but I was on my soil.My soil never looked so damn good as when I first stepped off that plane [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]