Strangely enough, that’s all I remember. I don’t remember the other medical staff arriving, being prepped, or anything else for that matter. I just woke up and felt like shit. Sticky mouth again, but at least I could move around because I wasn’t strapped down, well, my left arm wasn’t, but my right arm was secured to my chest. Somewhere, I could hear people softly talking, the monitor next to me was beeping and there was an oxygen mask over my mouth and nose. Like always, I was thirsty and my tongue wanted to stick to the roof of my mouth. I looked around and saw a table with wheels, so I reached out and pulled it to me, there was a water pitcher on it with a plastic cup beside it.
My fine motor skills were shot to hell. Trying to reach over the bedrail for the pitcher, all I managed to do was knock the pitcher over and then watch it roll off the table and hit the floor. From the sound, it must have fractured. I had been thirsty, but now without the promise of water within reach, I felt like I couldn’t swallow and I began to panic. The nurse call button, where was it?
Thankfully, a nurse came around the end of the curtain, saw the broken pitcher and immediately approached, “Captain Tarn, take it easy, you can’t have water yet, but ice chips are okay.” She raised her voice and said, “Millicent! Bring me those ice chips please, Captain Tarn is conscious.”
I didn’t know anyone named Millicent, but Julia came running around the end of the curtain, started sliding as she tried to stop and bounced off a wall before she straightened up, gathered her dignity, and coolly walked to the foot of the bed.
“Hi, Boss!”
I nodded and then tried to talk, but nothing came out.
Julia worriedly asked, “What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s been unconscious, his nose has been previously broken, so he only breathes through his mouth, I imagine it’s so dry he can’t speak.”
“Oh, oh, that’s what the ice chips are for,” She went to the end of the curtain and shouted, “Hey, Milli! Ice chips!” She looked back at me and said, “These kids today, they really have no idea of what a work ethic is.”
A girl, probably a year younger than Julia, walked around the end of the curtain as she rolled her eyes at Julia and then smiled at me as she stopped beside the bed, “Hello, Captain, it’s good to see you awake.” While she was talking, she took out several ice chips from the cup she held and started slipping them past my lips, “When you want more just open your mouth and I’ll pop some in, okay?”
I nodded and opened my mouth, that’s what we did until I finally asked, “Can I have some water, please?”
Nurse with no name said, “Let’s see how you handle the fluids from the ice chips first, okay?”
I nodded and opened my mouth for more as Millicent said, “Julia, could you get some more? We’re almost out.” Julia took off and when she reappeared, she swapped cups with Milli.
No-name-nurse asked, “How does your stomach feel, Captain?”
“Empty.”
“How about some gelatin?”
“My stomach is asking for something a little more substantial.”
“Really, well, my experience is telling me gelatin and my experience outranks your stomach, so gelatin it is. Millicent, grab two of the cups of gelatin, please.”
I despise gelatin, you can’t sink your teeth into it, “Pudding?”
“Too rich, you’re not going to be problem, are you?”
For some reason I decided co-operative was a good way to go, “You’re the expert.”
She smiled and said, “We’re going to get along just fine. I wonder why so many people told me you could be obstinate?”
I gave her a bewildered look and she laughed as she turned and left the bedside. Julia watched her go and then leaned over and whispered, “Be careful of that one, she can be a rolling bitch.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.” I took in a deep breath and winced as I felt a sharp tugging sensation in my shoulder, “Ow.”
“You alright?”
“Aw, just a sharp stab, how’s my shoulder look?”
She shrugged, “Beats me, it’s all covered up with bandages.”
I tried to reach it with my left hand, but ended up getting tangled in wires attached to my torso and pulling on the IV line inserted in the back of my hand. “Shit, pull that over for me, please?”
She walked around and moved the IV stand closer and I began to gingerly explore my shoulder. It felt like there were layers of bandages, but other than that, it felt normal, “Good.”
“What?”
“It’s still attached.”
“What’s still attached?”
“My arm.”
“Huh?”
I smiled, “Never mind.” I looked up at the clock on the wall and it said. 16:22. Most of the clocks in Asylum are 24-hour clocks. “Wow, I slept all day. Did you guys take care of the fuel question they had on the Denver Enclave?”
She looked puzzled, but said, “Yeah.”
I looked at her and finally asked, “And?”
“You were right, they were pumping out a lot of diesel fuel.”
“And?”
“And then the trucks left with the Moroccan troops and…”
“What?! Did you notify the Comm Center?”
“Of course, we did, and they called Holloman and those guys caught the Moroccans out in the desert and shot the heck out of them.”
“Casualties?”
“They sent a Marine unit out to make a damage assessment and they said they counted close to 600 bodies. The good thing was, when the Moroccans saw the A-10s coming, they bailed out of their trucks and tried to hide in the desert, but there was nowhere to hide. So most of the trucks can be salvaged, lots of crew served weapons mounted on the trucks are still good and the few troops that survived are basically walking back to Denver, but that’s not going to do them any good because the Denver Militia sent out forces to meet them and either kill them or take them prisoner.”
“Denver had a Militia we didn’t know about?”
“Sort of, the African Special Deployment Detachment, they really should change their name, that’s a mouthful, attacked the Libyan and Venezuelan troops in the Denver Enclave and took over a large portion of the underground facility. They have control of the airfields, and fuel supplies, and uh, well I’ll have to look over the rest of the reports from there. They are requesting help to finish taking the facility, but a lot of people from Denver are helping them.”
“I have got to get out of here, go find Williams and Danni, bring them here and…”
“I can’t, Danni’s gone and so are all of the Rangers and almost all of the Militia, they went to attack the Los Negroes people in Las Cruces. You know, the ANTIFA guys.”
“What? On their own turf! No, no way, get me to the comm center, right the hell now!”
“No, Danni said you were to stay here if you woke up.”
“If I woke up? What the hell do you mean, if I woke up?”
“Uh,” she started looking uncomfortable and finally said, “Daniel, when did Danni bring you here?”
“Well, last night of course, you know that, I talked to Walter on the way and gave him my blessing, sort of.”
“Yeah, thanks for that, by the way, but Danni brought you here on Friday, the 8th, today is Saturday, the 16th.”
“What? What happened?”
“You know that French guy, Gerard?”
“Yeah, sort of, I think.”
“He screwed with the gas he was giving you while they operated on you. Uh, he sort of killed you.”
“Julia…”
“The Surgical Nurse realized what was happening and tried to stop him, he grabbed a scalpel and stabbed her in the neck, then he went after the surgeon, Doctor Simpson. Danni was outside and heard the noise from them fighting, she ran in, saw what was happening and killed that Gerard guy with just her bare hands.”
“Is she alright? Did she get hurt?”
“She’s fine. She’s leading one of the platoons in Las Cruces. Anyway, the Simpson guy said you were dead and started taking off his surgery stuff, but Doctor Horne started giving you CPR and then Mary Cho brought in a refridu, a uh, the thing they shock dead people with…”
“A defibrillator?”
“Yeah, that’s it, and Horne shocked you and worked on you and then Simpson started helping because Danni said she was going to break his neck if he didn’t and finally your heart started beating and then you started breathing, but you didn’t wake up. Simpson said here was no reason to finish the surgery because you were probably going to be a vegetable and Danni put her gun to his head and said if you died because he didn’t finish, he was going to die too. So, yeah, he finished the surgery and we’ve been waiting for you to wake up ever since.”
“Wow, so is there anyone who can get me out of here?”
“Nope, but Wally has been praying for you every day to get better and seeing as how they said it would be a miracle if you woke up, maybe now I can get him to pray for them to let you out?”
“Sure, sounds like a plan, Danni and Debra are okay though, right?”
“As far as I know, yeah.”
“Okay, want to do me a favor?”
“Sure.”
“Go to the cafeteria and get me a Rueben sandwich? I’m starving.”
Julia’s eyes widened and she said, “After she said gelatin only? No way am I getting on her bad side. Sorry, Boss, but no way.”
“Come on, she can’t be that bad.”
“Boss, with all the pregnant women around here?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s a midwife too, so no, I might need her someday.”
The no-name-nurse walked around the end of the curtain and said, “For a woman so young, you’re very wise, Julia.” She held up two cups of gelatin and added, “He only has one usable hand and it’s full of needles, do you want to develop some baby feeding skills?”
The next day, I got one slice of toast and a poached egg with some sort of juice for breakfast; it beat the hell out of gelatin.
For lunch, I got one slice of bread with a slice of lunch meat, a serving of apple sauce and some more nondescript fruit juice. How are people supposed to survive and heal if they are being starved!
Dinner? Some sort of tortilla around some kind of processed puree something or other, I found myself wondering if I could somehow spring Maria Estevan from her cage. Just a passing thought, but still a thought.
For breakfast, a mound of scrambled eggs, two slices of bacon, a hash brown patty and believe it or not, two slices of rye bread! No ketchup, that sucked, but coffee!
For lunch, I got evicted. Casualties were coming in from Las Cruces and they need the room for the wounded. I can’t find out what’s happening! I tried calling the Intel Office, but no one answered. What the hell! I was able to walk out of the clinic, but my legs started trembling and there's no way I can walk home as weak as I am. I kept seeing faces of people I knew, people who were wounded. I was starting to get nervous; I mean, I know Debra is safe at Holloman, but what about Danni? I kept asking people if they had seen her, or even if they knew what platoon she was leading, no one knew. The pain I was feeling in my shoulder was beginning to become problematic and seemed to be spreading. Initially, it just hurt at the base of the side of my neck, but it was rapidly spreading down into the area of my shoulder blade, actually it felt like it was behind the shoulder blade. Sometimes it became so painful, it was difficult to draw a complete breath.
It was getting on towards evening and I was still sitting outside the clinic when I saw Julia walking towards me with Felicia. I waved and they hurried along until they reached me. “Daniel,” Fel said. “Why are you sitting out here in a hospital gown?”
“There’s a big influx of casualties coming in from Las Cruces and they needed the bed space. I’ve seen an awful lot of people being processed through, way more than they can fit in the Clinic, where are you putting them?”
“The old Workers’ Barracks. Our medics and some doctors from Holloman are treating them, but we’re getting close to starting to fail.”
I grasped her hand and asked, “Dak? Have you heard anything?”
“He was okay yesterday.”
“Danni?”
She shook her head, “Communications has been really bad. We didn’t even know all these casualties were coming; we had no time to prepare and…”
I could tell she was getting close to losing it, Felicia is a kind hearted, gentle soul for the most part, seeing all these wounded was probably affecting her on deep level. I managed to get up on my shaky legs and get my arms around her, “Easy, Felicia, easy, take one piece at a time and then go to the next, okay? One piece at a time.” She nodded and straightened up as I asked, “You okay? Are you good to go?” She nodded and I sat her on the bench I had been sitting on and then basically collapsed beside her, “Julia, fill me in with anything you know.”
“You know we were after the ANTIFA guys?”
“Yes, you told me.”
“We knew they were going to try and join up with the Moroccans for the attack on Holloman. The plan, was for our Rangers and Militia to hit Los Negroes from behind and then hold them while the Air Force hammered them. The description I saw was like a hammer on an anvil; we were the anvil and the Air Force was going to be the hammer. What no one knew was, the troops at Fort Bliss? They were not on our side; most had been exposed to the blue stuff and most were not Americans. The Mexican Army crossed the border in El Paso and took over Fort Bliss and was using it to operate from, that’s why they never wanted to meet with us. When they came, they brought some of those big tanks of ours and some other armored vehicles from Bliss and that’s why we have suffered so many casualties.”
“Geez, we have nothing that can take out an M1 Abrams tank; hell, we don’t even have anything to take out an Armored Personnel Carrier.”
“No, but Colonel Packer said for our people to just try and stay out of their way, let them go through and join up with the ANTIFA people, so we didn’t have forces on both sides of us.”
“But just let them through? Why?” And then I remembered, Abrams tanks are fuel hogs, I remembered reading somewhere it took five to ten gallons just to start one and they ran off of JP8 jet fuel. “Were those tanks transported to the fight, or did they drive to the fight?”
“They were driven, so they don’t have much fuel left and they don’t have ammunition for their big guns. When our Army left, they took almost all the ammo with them.”
“Go Army!” And then I realized something she said. She didn’t say, Major Packer, she said Colonel Packer! “Packer is a Colonel now? How did that happen?”
“I don’t know, I’ve been busy with other stuff that seemed more important.”
“Has anyone seen Gilly the last few days?” I asked.
“She was coming every day to check on you, but then she stopped. One of the cadets I know says she’s organizing things Topside because the Air Force is sending people who are not wounded too badly here and sending the seriously wounded to a field hospital run by the Marines.”
“Okay,” I could feel myself running down, too much excitement, too much to worry about, too little rest the night before.
Julia started to look concerned and said, “Daniel? You don’t look too good all of a sudden.”
I nodded, “Yeah, I think I’m running out of gas. I need to figure a way to get home, so I can crash.”
Felicia stood up and said, “Wait here.” She hurried away and I said to Julia, “Look, don’t come in tomorrow, let’s take it off and then we’ll see come the day after, okay?” She agreed and we waited a few minutes longer until Felicia came back sitting in a crash cart, “Get in,” she said as she climbed out, “They’re going to give you ride home.”
“No, you need these to transport the wounded.”
“Daniel!” Fel sounded exasperated, “They have to drive back Topside for more wounded to bring here. They are going your way empty, get in and go home!”
The point taken, I climbed in and in less than a minute, I was dropped off at my front door. As the crash cart sped away, I stumbled to the front door and placed my hand on the doorknob, it was locked, of course, and I was wearing a hospital gown without my keys. I turned and sat down on the concrete bench beside the door and sighed, great, no clothes, no keys and off the track all the carts were driving. Shit. I’m such a great intelligence officer, I couldn’t even remember to grab my keys.
I sat there on the bench for a while as the concrete sucked the warmth out of my ass and finally glanced to my left, aw for shit’s sake! The Intel Office was ten doors away and I knew the keypad security code; I stood up stiffly and stumbled to the door, punched in the numbers, heard the door unlock and then walked through. In my office, I opened my safe and withdrew the laptop and set it on the desktop. Finally, I collapsed in my chair and groaned as I typed in a query. I closed my eyes to rest for a moment and then…
Something stirred me, I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw, was the open screen of the laptop. The screen was blurry, but there was a flashing red box I knew very well, a hit from the dark web, but I couldn’t read what it said. The one thing I knew, it was either about Debra, or Danni, because those were the names I entered. I rubbed my face, dug the sand from my eyes and leaned forward, the flashing red box said, 3 hits, over and over. Please God, not from a casualty list, please.
The first hit was the one I had already seen, the fake message saying Debra would be in two different towns and the times she would be there, I deleted it. I clicked on the second, it was an after-action report submitted by Ranger Lieutenant Danni Monroe, Commanding Officer, 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, Grant County Militia. I highlighted the entire report, ran a wire from the computer to the printer and clicked on the printer icon. The printer spit out five pages of densely packed information. It all looked so blurry, I didn’t try to read it, I stapled it for later reading.
The last hit was for Ranger Lieutenant Debra Tarn, again my vision was too blurry to read it, so again, I highlighted it and clicked on the print icon. The printer spit out three pages and stopped. I gathered them up and stapled those also. I shut down the computer and closed it. Opening the bottom left drawer of my desk, I reached in and withdrew a bottle of water, unscrewed the lid, and poured water over my eyes. It wasn’t until I had done it that I realized I had also soaked the bandages on my right shoulder, great, I feel like shit and now I was going to have to change the bandages with only one hand available. Come on, Dan! Use your fricking head for a change!
I kept trying to read the printing and slowly I was starting to make out bits and pieces of it, in frustration, I went to the last page and started trying to figure out what had been printed and finally, I realized it said, “Transported to Asylum, New Mexico, via Medivac Helicopter.”
I got sick to my stomach and I thought I was going to vomit as tears flooded my eyes. No, no, no! Hold it, Julia said the Air force was sending the most serious cases to a field hospital and the less serious here! Okay, maybe she wasn’t hurt too bad, but what about Danni Lynn?! Figure one thing out and then find another worry.
I went back to the after-action report and began to study the last lines the way I had Debra’s, Oh, god, Danni was returning on a medivac helicopter also! I had to get to the clinic! They would know where they were at, how bad the wounds were. I struggled up and leaned on the desk as I steadied myself. I wasn’t going to be able to make it, no way could I make it. I almost collapsed. But caught myself as I heard my heart beating a ragged rhythm in my ears, wait a minute, if that’s my heart beating, it sure as hell didn’t sound right. I raised up my head and looking through the window of my office and then to the window next to the door, I could make out three fuzzy figures, two of whom were beating on the outer double panes.
It had to be my crew, my analysts, why didn’t they just come in? In my addled and confused mind, the only reason I could think of was they forgot the code, they could help me find my girls if I let them in. I opened my desk drawer and retrieved a black marker, then a sheet of paper from the printer. I used my left hand to scrawl, 1-4-1-5 on it and then held it up where they could see it. In seconds they were in and running towards my office.
Doctor Horne was pissed, “Somebody better tell me right the hell now! Who was the moron, that escorted Captain Tarn to the GOD DAMN DOOR, AND PUSHED HIM OUT OF IT!”
Crickets.
I shifted uncomfortably and decided I wanted to be anywhere, but where I was, “Doctor Horne,” I said. “There was a lot of confusion, wounded patients were being brought in faster than they could be triaged and processed, Hell, I don’t even remember who helped me to the door. It could have been anyone and most likely someone unfamiliar with my condition.”
He turned around and gave me an evil glare, “You, shut the hell up!” He stormed out of the curtain enclosure while waving for his staff to follow.
“Okay.”
Nurse with no name, now had a name, Priscilla Pringle, winked at me and then followed Doctor Horne. Priscilla preferred to be called Pris by her friends and insisted I should also. Pris Pringle, get it? Never mind. I guess she thought I knew who had walked me out and I was covering for them, I wasn’t because I honestly didn’t know, but the food was better than before and I think she has something to do with it, so yeah, I can’t remember.
Debra leaned down and softly said, “Honey, if you even suspect you know who it was, you tell me, okay?”
“Sorry, Babe, but really, I have no clue.”
Danni mumbled something about ‘scorched earth’ and Debra said ‘fucking A.’ Yeah, my memory is going to keep right on failing me. Danni Lynn started fussing and Debra said, “The eating machine summons.” She pulled the curtain farther around and then sat down as she started unbuttoning her OCP jacket. Danni brought Danni Lynn around the bed and handed her off to Debra who set her to nursing.
I watched Danni, watching Danni Lynn nurse with a degree of hope in her expression. Our kids were probably going to grow up not really sure which of their two moms actually gave birth to them.
Danni walked back around to my right and leaned over to nuzzle me as she said, “I love you, Babe.”
“And I love you.” Debra said as she smiled, but she was in the zone she falls into when Danni Lynn is nursing.
“Are you doing okay? Pain?”
“Some, but manageable, I’m just so happy you three are safe.” I closed my eyes and started thinking about their tale of homecoming.
Danni leaned over so she could see past the Air Force Para Rescue crew member as the Black Hawk banked over Asylum and then swept in to set down, “Hang on, Lieutenant, let us set down completely!” She nodded in response and once again sat back on the bench she had been sitting on since leaving the Las Cruces area. She barely felt the wheels hit the pavement before she was out the door and jogging towards the Bunker. She was wearing her complete set of ‘Away Gear’ and though most of her ammo and food were depleted, its weight was still substantial. She passed through the double doors of the Bunker and then turned left into the Ready Room.
It was crowded with medical personnel and wounded, but she worked her way through to the Colonel’s office in hopes of finding Gilly. She wasn’t there, so she hurried outside and then down the main thoroughfare into Asylum. She jogged past the turnoff to the apartment and thought about going there and stripping off some of the excess weight, but pressed on instead. After she passed through the doors leading into Phase 3, she picked up her pace and by the time she reached the doors of the clinic, she had to slide to a stop. The doors to the clinic were propped open, so she passed through and down the hall she knew led to Daniel’s bed. When she reached the curtain of the alcove, she hesitated and then swept the curtain aside and stepped in.
The hospital bed in the center of the room was occupied, but it wasn’t Daniel, shit, shit, where was he! There were an additional two cots that were occupied, but again, neither were Daniel.
“Lieutenant Monroe? Are you looking for someone?” One of the two men on the cots had risen and was resting on an elbow.
“Yes, Captain Tarn, have you seen him? He was in this bed when I left.”
“No, Ma’am, he wasn’t here when they brought me in.”
“Okay, are you wounded bad?”
“No Ma’am, just a through and through, in my lower leg. I guess it will be a while before they get to me.”
“I’m glad to hear that it’s not bad, take care, okay?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
She hurried out and took several breaths before walking down the hall and looking into every curtained cubicle, but still, no Daniel. He had been on death’s doorstep when she left and the only reason he could be gone, she didn’t want to think about. Then she saw Mary Cho and ran to her.
“Mary, Mary!” Cho turned around and saw her before breaking out in a smile.
“Danni! Daniel woke up! He was conscious!”
Danni leaned forward and rested her hands on her bent knees, “Oh, thank god, I saw he was gone and thought…”
“No, no, he was aware of his surroundings, he was eating, and he was starting to use the restroom with a little help. He was looking good the last time I saw him.”
“When?”
“Yesterday, just before noon because this shit started and…Danni, doesn’t anyone know where he is?”
“You’re the first person I’ve talked to that might know.”
“Come on, we’ll check the release forms, that will tell us where he was sent.” Danni followed Mary to the front desk and watched as she started rifling through papers. Eventually, she looked up and said, “Nothing, he wasn’t officially released or, transferred. According to our paperwork, he’s still in the cubicle you last saw him in.”
“Damn it, where could they have taken him?” She was starting to get angry rather than scared.
“The Bunker is the Staging Area for the incoming wounded, so he’s not there. We’re doing triage here and you’ve already searched us, so that only leaves the old Workers’ Barracks.”
“Maybe they released him and sent him home?”
“He was doing really good, Danni, but no, no way. He was in far too much pain and they were administering Morphine in his IV to control it.”
“God, he was actually taking Morphine, willingly?” Mary nodded. “He must have really been hurting. Okay, I’m headed for the barracks, thanks, Mary!”
She jogged out the door and promptly ran into Debra, who was running towards the door, “Danni! How is he? Is he still unconscious?”
She threw her arms around Debra and gripped her tightly as she said, “Debbie, he’s not here, but Mary said he woke up and was doing pretty good, but now he’s gone and they think he got lost in the shuffle. The only place left is the old Worker’s Barracks.”
From the door of the clinic, Mary Cho said, “Hey, Debra! You’re back!”
“Yes, Danni says Daniel might be in the Barracks?”
“That’s the only place I can think of and here,” she held out a large plastic bag. “This is Daniel’s personal effects that he had when he was admitted.”
Debra took the clear plastic bag as she said, “Thank you, Mary, if you hear anything, let us know, okay?”
“Of course,” she started to turn away, but instead asked, “Do you have any idea when the transfer of wounded will slow down? We’re already past our limit.”
“I came in on what I was told was the last medivac chopper, so what’s coming is here; there won’t be anymore.”
“Great, well, back to it. Let me know if you find him and I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
The two women turned away and started quickly walking towards Phase 2 where the Barracks were located. Danni asked, “Danni Lynn, where is she?”
“At the apartment, Gilly said she would take her care of her while I came to check on Daniel.”
“Debra, I’m so sorry, you left him in my care, you trusted me and I dropped the ball!”
“How could you know his wound would get infected, as long as you were caring for him, changing the bandages…”
“That’s the whole point, Debra, I wasn’t!”
Debra stopped and looked at Danni, “What do you mean, you weren’t?”
“Debbie, he was so angry when you said to he had no say in any way about Danni Lynn, every time I tried to approach him and defend your actions, we would argue and he would end up walking away. Most of the time you were gone, I was staying in the women’s bay at the Bunker. It wasn’t until two days before I was sent to Las Cruces that he finally read your letter. I didn’t wait for him to read his like you wanted, I read mine days before he did and I almost had to prostrate myself and beg him to read his. Danni, he packed all his belongings and was planning on leaving! I…I screwed things up so bad trying to defend you…I should have done…something…different. It wasn’t until just minutes before he read the letter that I was sort of able to start getting through to him. What you said, Debra, you hurt him so bad and then I made it worse!” She started to openly cry.
Debra wiped her own eyes and said, “I was the one that started the whole thing by agreeing to go to Holloman with Packer. It happened so fast, I didn’t have time to kind of work up to it like I normally do and then I got pissed and then even more pissed when he brought up Taylor. I fucked up and then I guess you fucked up and now we have a cluster fuck on our hands. I was hoping I would come home and find that you and him had agreed and were playing house the way I wanted, but, shit, I guess not. He probably thinks I don’t love him or something and…”
“No, he knows, but he had this idea that you would feel the same as he did, that it’s supposed to be one man and one woman, and…remember you said I might want to talk to the other guy?”
“Did you?”
“Yeah, and I almost blew it again.”
“Really? I thought that part of him would be more, I don’t know, receptive of what I was suggesting. He’s more open minded than Daniel.”
“He’s also more dominant than Daniel when it comes to a relationship and it started making me nervous and…I don’t mean he got aggressive because he didn’t, but I still got nervous and started backing away. You know my past history, the beating, the miscarriage.”
“Danni, he will never hurt you, it’s not in him, or the other guy.”
“I know now, but I still have those automatic responses ingrained and…”
“Okay, we can work through that, I’m sure we can, but first, before we talk about anything else, Danni. Are you open to what I suggested? You, me, and Daniel becoming a family? Raising our kids together?”
Danni nodded and said, “Yes.”
“Okay, then,” she grabbed Danni’s hand and started walking towards the Barracks. “All we need to do is get past Daniel’s prudishness, because I know he loves you, once you get him into bed he’ll start to come around and…”
“Debbie, we already got past that part.”
Debra pulled her to a stop and said, “What?”
“We already got past that part, we would have the night he read your letter, but…”
“But what?”
“I did what you suggested and told him about you, me, and the Jacuzzi.”
“Oh, and he reacted badly?”
“No, once he knew we hadn’t cheated on him, that it was before him and you, and it was only once, he seemed okay with it, in fact, I think the idea appealed to him, well, the other him.” Danni started walking again.
“The other him?” Debra asked as they started walking faster.
“Yeah, right after I told him about the Jacuzzi, Daniel said, ‘shut up!’ and I thought he didn’t want to hear anymore, so I started apologizing and said I’d never mention it again and he said he wasn’t telling me to shut up; he was talking to the other guy, and I started laughing and he said it wasn’t funny and that made me laugh harder and I crawled up in his lap and we agreed to have sex and then…”
“What? What did he do to you, was it good?”
“I drank too much, passed out and woke up the next morning in bed, alone.”
Debra audibly sighed and said, “Unfuckingbelieveable, you had the chance to cement the whole thing and you drank yourself into oblivion.”
“No, Debbie, it wasn’t like that, I swear!”
They walked up to the double doors leading into the Worker’s Barrack as Debra said, “We’ll finish this conversation and figure out what we do next when we’re done here and we know Daniel is safe.”
Inside, there was a desk that appeared to have been hastily placed with a Militia Cadet sitting behind it. She stood up and said, “Lieutenant Monroe, Lieutenant Tarn, can I help you?”
Danni smiled and said, “Cadet Kerry, Lieutenant Tarn and I are trying to locate her husband, Captain Tarn; do you have a roster of who has been admitted?”
Kerry frowned and said, “I haven’t seen him brought in, but I was brought in to free up some of the medical personnel after this whole thing started.”
Danni said, “He would have been brought here early in the process, he was a patient in the clinic and they moved him out to provide room for the wounded being brought in.”
“Oh, okay, I have a list here of everyone they have brought in; let me look.” She started looking down the list and after a few moments, she said, “He’s not on the list, maybe he was brought in before they started writing people’s names down?”
“That’s possible, things have been pretty chaotic from what I’m seeing.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Alright,” Danni said. “We’re going to walk through and see if he’s here. If he is brought in, would you let us know please?”
“Yes, Ma’am, but…” She was hesitant.
Debra said, “But what?”
“Well, the head nurse won’t mind if you go in,” she said to Debra. “You look pretty clean, but she’s not going to be happy with Lieutenant Monroe wandering around.”
Danni looked down at herself and agreed, “I’m really filthy, go ahead and go Debra, I’ll wait here.”
Debra quickly walked away and entered the temporary ward. Cadet Kerry asked Danni, “Did you just come in from Las Cruces?”
“Yes, I did. The only water I’ve seen in the last seven days has been for drinking only.”
“You look really tired; do you want to take off some of your gear? I can even bring it to where you live after I get done here?”
“Thanks for the offer, Cadet Kerry, but my weapon and gear? My responsibility.”
Kerry smiled and said excitedly, “I told Tom Acre you would live what you teach and you do!”
Danni smiled and said, “I surely do, Cadet, I always know where everything is, I keep it clean, organized and replenished as needed.”
“I try to do that, Lieutenant, but wherever I put it, it always seems to be in the way of something else. Like in my closet, it gets covered with shoes, or dirty laundry, or…”
“Make yourself a gear stand, it will organize everything and keep it out of the way.”
Kerry looked puzzled and asked, “What’s a gear stand?”
Danni thought for a moment and then said, “Huh, well Cadet, you just brought out a deficiency in my training procedures. I should have taught you how to build a gear stand or as some people call it, a gear rack.” She pulled a notebook from her pocket and wrote a notation to herself. “I’m going to have to address this; sometimes we forget things that are ordinary and mundane, but really aren’t in the grand scheme of things.”
Debra hurried back to the desk and Danni knew before she said anything the news was bad, “Debra?”
“He’s not here, Danni! Where is he? Where can he be?”
Danni put her arms around Debra, but said nothing at first as she simply held her. Her mind was numb from not sleeping in the last 36 hours and she was having trouble concentrating. “Debbie, let’s go home and get cleaned up, maybe we can see something else, something we’re too tired right now to see.”
Debra nodded in agreement and said, “Yeah, we better, my boobs are feeling tight, so Danni Lynn must be getting hungry and giving Gilly fits.”
They left and headed home in silence as both tried to think of where he might be. When they opened the door of the apartment, they were met with the strident cries of a hungry baby. Debra rushed forward as she open her shirt, pulled it down and then grabbed the shoulder strap of her bra and pulled it down to expose her breast. Taking Danni Lynn, she positioned her as she latched on fiercely and began to feed. “I’m sorry, Baby, Momma’s sorry, there you go.” She looked up at Gilly and said, “Gilly, I’m so sorry!”
“It’s okay, I knew what was happening, but you need a rocking chair ASAP.” She turned to Danni and said, “Daniel?”
Danni wiped at her eyes and said, “No one knows where he is; we’ve been everywhere they have patients, Gilly, he’s gone as if he vanished of the face of the earth. He was in so much pain, he was voluntarily taking morphine, but it’s been hours since he last had any. They said he was doing good, but he was very weak, he couldn’t have walked far.”
“Easy, he has to be somewhere, we just have to figure out where. Go get cleaned up, take a shower, clean clothes, you’ll feel better and maybe think more clearly.” She helped Danni remove her gear and then held up the plastic bag, “What’s this?”
“His personal effects from the clinic, I guess they didn’t give it to him when he left.”
“Okay, go take that shower and then we’ll put our heads together.”
After Danni emerged from her shower, they sat down around the table as Debra rocked Danni Lynn. They sat quietly until Gilly cleared her throat and quietly said, “There is one possibility, I don’t want to consider it, but…”
Debra didn’t hesitate to say, “That maybe he’s dead, and laying somewhere with the rest of the dead from the battles?”
Danni gasped and said, “Oh, god, no, I didn’t even think of…”
Debra cut her off, “He’s not, I checked when we were at the Barracks. There’s only been two deaths reported here and neither was him; I visually made sure. Like they said, the seriously wounded went to the Marine Field Hospital.”
The wall phone rang and Gilly answered it, “Tarn and Monroe residence…oh, hi, Julia…no, he’s not here, we’ve been everywhere trying to find him…He was! Are you sure? Julia, are you certain, because he was not here when I arrived…yes, of course…no you would just be staring at the wall the same as us…okay, you do that, alright, goodbye.” She hung up and said, “That was Julia, she and Felicia talked to Daniel in front of the Clinic yesterday evening and Felicia got a crash cart to drop Daniel off here.”
Danni stood up, “Here! He was brought here! Then why isn’t he, HERE!”
“Easy, Danni,” Gilly frowned and then she added. “I asked Julia if she was sure he was brought here and she said, yes, she talked to the driver and he said he dropped Dan off at the front door and drove away.”
Danni burst out crying and said, “It’s my fault! I was supposed to take care of him! I was supposed to…”
Debra raised her voice and almost shouted, “DANNI! Stop it, I just got Danni Lynn to sleep, come on, it is not your fault!”
Danni started to whine, “Yes, it is and I know you think so too, the first time Daniel was my responsibility and I…” She stopped mid-sentence and looked at Daniel’s personal effects, then she snatched them from across the table and ripped the bag open.
“Danni, what are you doing?”
Danni starting pulling items out and casting them aside, finally, she pulled out Dan’s jeans and started going through the pockets until she jerked her hand out and held up a small ring of keys. “His keys were in his pocket! He was locked out and couldn’t get in! He needed a phone to call Facilities to have them come open the door! So, he has to be somewhere close and there’s only one place he could go to use a phone that’s close enough!”
Debra levitated from her chair and handed Danni Lynn to Gilly as Danni ran out the front door, “His office, Gilly! He has to be there!” And then she ran after Danni.
She ran up beside Danni as she cupped her hands around her eyes and tried to see inside the office, Danni grabbed her arm and shouted, “There he is! He’s sitting at his desk, see him?”
Debra strained her eyes and then, “Yes! It’s him!” She slammed her fist on the glass and shouted, “Daniel! Daniel, open the door! Daniel!”
Gilly walked quickly up beside them and tried to also look in as Danni started pounding on the double-pane glass as well, “Is he asleep?”
“No,” Danni said, “He just tried to stand up, but he’s too weak, doesn’t anyone know the keycode? Fuck it! I’m going to get my rifle and shoot the damn glass out!” She started to run back to the apartment and Debra shouted.
“Wait! I think he sees us! What…what’s he doing? He’s writing I think…1-4-1-5! It has to be the code! 1-4-1-5!”
Debra punched in the numbers and the lock clicked in response. She jerked the door open, but Danni rushed through first. They both ran through the front office and into Daniel’s as he slumped back into his chair.
“Daniel! Oh, my god, what the hell are you… Daniel? Daniel! Look at me!”
I jerked in response and my shoulder began throbbing worse than before. I looked at her and struggled to focus my vision and my mind, “I’m losing it, hallucination.”
“What?” She turned to Debra and said, “Debbie?”
Her scent enveloped me, Roses, but something else I hadn’t smelled before, what was different? Why did she smell different? “Debra?”
“Yes, yes, it’s me, Honey, come on, open your eyes, we’re both here for you, come on. Danni! See if you can get through to the Clinic on his phone!”
“I’m already on it! Gilly! Can you…”
“You smell different, why? Are you wearing perfume?”
“What? No, Honey there’s no perfume, it’s always just me. Do I smell different? Is it a wrong or a bad smell?”
“No, it’s nice, the same, but more.”
Gilly said, “I’ll make the calls; you tend to Daniel.”
Danni stroked my cheek as she said, “We’ve been looking everywhere for you! Why did you leave the Clinic, what were you thinking?”
“Oh, that’s nice, it’s you.”
“What do you mean, Daniel, of course, it’s me and Debra.”
“Not enough room, too many wounded, someone said they needed the space.”
“Oh, for god’s sake, as if you didn’t? Did they give you pain meds before you left?”
I shook my head, “Why aren’t you in the clinic?” I asked, “You and Debra?” I reached for the stapled papers and Danni grabbed one set and Debra the other.
They scanned them quickly and Debra said, “Oh, no, it says we were transported by medivac, he thinks we’re wounded!” She leaned back down and said, “No, Honey, were fine, really we are. We just rode in on the helicopters because they had room for us. We wanted to get home to you. I found out about the surgery and then Gerard’s attempt to kill you from the Colonel, Danni obviously knew before she had to leave to join the fight.” She looked at Danni and said, “I can understand how unbelievably hard that must have been to do; to leave and not know if…” Her voice broke, but then she steadied herself and said to me, “All I could think of was the last words we shared before I left. From this day forward, no matter how angry I may be, the last words I say to you will be, I love you.”
“Me too,” Danni said. “When I had to leave and you were still unconscious, I didn’t know if you would be alive when I got back. I cried and cried and the only thing that helped was leading my platoon into the fight. It took you from the forefront, but I never forgot about you, or the desire to have a family with you and Debra.” She looked at Debra and said, “You and me, we should have had the time to talk before all of this, before we had to find our man and keep him safe. There’s promises to make that each of us will need to hear, am I right?”
“Yes, there are.”
Debra suddenly looked concerned and said to Gilly, “Gillian, there’s something we will need to tell you and the Colonel, but not right now, our first concern is Daniel.”
Gilly was in the process of hanging up the phone and said, “First, I got hold of Morgan at Facilities, and told him of our problem; he’s sending several of their carts to assist the movement of injured people and he’s sending one here for Daniel.”
“Oh, good, Gilly,” Debra said. “Thank you so much!”
“Second, I’ve noticed the change in the relationship between the three of you and wondered where it was going to lead us. I think what I am seeing, if it is what I’m seeing, is the best possible outcome and I support it.”
Danni said, “Really? You support the three of us forming a, uh, blended family?”
“Yes, I do, did you think I wouldn’t because 1700 years ago a group of men got together and decided what, ‘divinely inspired’, books would be included in the Bible?”
“I guess I never really thought about it, religion, I mean. I’m just a little nervous that others might denounce us because of the life style we choose.”
“Yes, I agree, there will be some who will openly oppose it, there will be some who will openly support your decision; we actually have a shortage of men anyway. There will also be those who oppose, or support same sex marriage. How would you feel if you knew Matt and Timothy have approached me in regards to a small marriage ceremony for them?”
“I would think, about time,” Debra said.
“What would Daniel say? I know he gets flustered when either of you openly discuss sex in front of him.”
Debra smiled and Danni laughed, “Yeah,” Debra said. “But he’s much more open-minded than people think; he just doesn’t talk about it.”
“If the three of you decide to, will there be another marriage between the three of you? Or would Daniel just be marrying you, Danni? Or…something else?”
Danni looked puzzled and shrugged, “I don’t know, we haven’t gotten that far with it yet.”
“Well, make a decision, and let me know, okay? Oh, here’s the cart, let’s see if we can get Daniel out there.”
Debra leaned down in front of me and said, “Daniel? Honey? Can you hear me?”
I nodded, but then grimaced as the movement set my shoulder to once again throbbing.
“The cart is here to take you back to the clinic, okay?”
I didn’t even try to nod my head, I just whispered, “Yes, but wait, the scent.”
“We’ll figure it out later, Daniel, right now we need…”
“No, now, give me your hand.” She placed her hand in mine, I brought it to my nose and sniffed her wrist, “Yeah, roses.” I pressed her hand to my chest and said, “Danni, your hand?” She did the same as Debra had and again, I sniffed, “That’s why the scent is different, but still soothing, I can smell you, Danni, I can smell both of you.”
I ended up on a stretcher.
I spent another week in the clinic and the girls were in and out constantly, all day long. Our friends came to visit and there was talk about another wedding, mainly about how it might look. I stopped the morphine early on because I started noticing I was looking at the clock and getting itchy as the time for my dose neared. I was not going there and to tell the truth, I wasn’t really noticing any difference in my pain levels after I took it. Horne warned me I might have some problems, but really it wasn’t that bad. I noticed I started getting anxious if one of the girls were late showing up to come see me, Horne was monitoring my blood pressure because I was elevated, sometimes I would sweat buckets, but the worst was insomnia.
I begged for my computer for something to do when I couldn’t sleep and Packer finally consented to allowing me to have it. Late nights I would be pouring through the dark net and running queries on all sorts of topics that got my interest. Sometimes I would just pick a single word and run a query through our data base to see what would show up. Usually nothing would, but sometimes it would lead me along a path I had never seen before and I would start a new category.
Oh, I never addressed what happened to Stevens, Parker, and Spencer. We had a trial, they were found guilty, of course, and sentenced. Spencer received 20 years for Treason, accessory to murder, and Terrorism. He was taken by a team of Holloman Air Security and shipped off to who knows where. I had my suspicions and I fully intended to find out. He was way to helpful, so I think he worked a deal for himself with someone. Stevens and Parker were found guilty and both were hung on the gallows we had built in front of their cages at the loading dock. Parker seemed stunned at first and started talking about how useful she could be as an informant, but finally just started wailing until the floor dropped out from under her. It was the first hanging we ever performed and hardly anyone stayed around for Stevens’ turn. When you hang someone, it’s supposed to break their neck and kill them instantly. Something went wrong and Parker’s neck didn’t break, she strangled as she swung around kicking. Debra and Danni were standing nearby to Stevens and said she pissed herself as she watched. Her dreams of a noble martyr’s death went out the window and she started pleading for her life; she had to be carried up the steps and her end was a little more merciful than Parker’s. It only took a minute or so for her to stop kicking. I’m glad I didn’t see it. Both of my girls say they wished they hadn’t. Both said if there is a next time, it was going to be a quick bullet to the head. It’s one thing to shout out ‘hang ‘em high’, it’s another to actually see it happen.
Why did Holloman think it was so important for Debra and Danni Lynn to go there? The leadership, namely General Marcus Stone, had been trying to form alliances with the ranchers and farmers outside Holloman in order to guarantee food supplies to the base, but a lot of the people they needed to work with were suspicious of dealing with the military. He recognized how important Debra had been to the earlier negotiations had decided who better to allay the distrust of civilians and put a human face on the military command, than a mother with a newborn baby telling them they were the good guys. I guess Holloman was satisfied with the results, and offered Debra a commission if she would stay and rejoin the Air Force. She declined the offer, but agreed she might be able to assist in the future. I don’t know that I like the sound of that, but if she needs to go again, I’m going with her, no more separations. I think. The fact is, I believe I may have been played; Debra says I have the added responsibility of a second wife and future children to consider and she doesn’t want that put into jeopardy with me following her around if she does need to go.
The bad thing is, our Cadet program has proven so successful, Holloman wants Danni to come and help get another similar program going there. Everyone thinks they need my wives and no one seems to think I do. I told Danni, no, absolutely not, and she smiled and nodded in agreement until we got to bed and then her and Debra spent a good portion of the night talking me into it. They did grant me two concessions, they can’t both be gone at the same time and if one them is pregnant, she stays home until she gives birth. I have no problem with keeping both of them pregnant forever.
We did send a reinforced company of Rangers to Denver to help quell a steady uprising among the ZPGers. Much like what happened here, the ZPGers kept expecting the people to rise up and throw off the evil oppressors. Banner, Thomas, and Stacey Menendez went with the intent to train Scout/Sniper/Trackers, and Debra took over the SST school here at Asylum. Hopefully that will keep her closer to home.
The small detachment of AS Double D that was here, has returned to Denver. That means SAS Lieutenant Taylor is now gone also. An added benefit? Stella Morrison went with him and what a sad parting it was. I had just been released from the clinic and was once again taking up my duties when we heard they were about to leave, so Debra, Danni, and I went out to wave goodbye to them.
As they were driving past where we were standing on the loading dock, we started waving, and smiling, Stella saw us and with a surprised expression, smiled and waved in return. I remember turning and listening to Debra as she smiled broadly and waving energetically, said, “Goodbye and good riddance you insufferable cunt. Eat shit and die you bitch. I hope you give birth and your hemorrhoids slap the back of your knees when you walk you, you…quick Danni!”
“Ass sucking slut?”
“I guess that will work.”
I looked back and forth between the two of them and said, “You guys are incorrigible.”
They both smiled up at me and Danni said, “Yeah, but you love us soooo much.”
“Yes, I do, now let’s get back to work, fun time is over.”
We turned around and found the Colonel and Gilly standing directly behind us. Debra brazenly said, “Well, hi, Gilly, did you come, like us, to see some friends off? Check out this cute little ribbon I put in Danni Lynn’s hair!”
“Debra, Danni, you are going to have to moderate your language; do you want Danni Lynn showing up for Kindergarten and calling the teacher a dirty name or something?”
Debra didn’t answer, she was just looking at Gilly and I could smell the gears getting overheated.
“Debra?” I prompted.
“Oh! Of course not! And you’re right, it would be inappropriate if Danni Lynn called the kindergarten teacher an insufferable cunt.” Then slapped her hand over her mouth and said. “Oh my, did I say that out loud?”
Gilly actually giggled and said, “Debra, your only saving grace is that Little Bit you’re carrying, now hand her over.” Debra did as Gilly asked, “You two girls have a little spare time? We need to have a discussion.”
“Of course,” Danni said, and Gilly led them away as she oooed and awed over Danni Lynn.
“Sir?” I said as I nodded after them.
“Girl talk, important girl talk, and I need to speak with you in my office.”
“Yes, Sir.” I joined him and we walked to his office together.
When we arrived, he motioned for me to sit and then he sat down behind his desk and said, “I’ve been in touch with Doctor Horne on a regular basis concerning your recovery and he informs me you are progressing very well. I understand you are currently receiving physical therapy?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“How is that coming?”
“Patty Lorne says it’s going to be a long round of therapy, Sir, and unfortunately I’m afraid I have to agree. There are physical movements I am incapable of performing at the moment because of the loss of muscle tissue, but I am progressing. Patty is working me to develop the surrounding muscles to compensate, but…” I shrugged.
“Any pain?”
“Occasionally, but it seems to happen less often as the therapy progresses.”
“Horne and Simpson needed to remove quite a bit during the surgery.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“If you don’t mind, would you be willing to remove your upper clothing so I can see the extent of the injury?”
I stifled an automatic response of, no, and instead asked, “Is there a particular reason for this, Sir?”
“Yes, there is, I have a responsibility to those under my command to not send them into a potentially dangerous situation if they are not physically fit. I need you for a job, Captain, but I must know you are physically ready to accept the assignment and not for your own safety alone, I need to know you can be there for your fellow team members as well.”
I scooted forward and unbuttoned my shirt before pulling it down and exposing what remained. I knew exactly what he was seeing, I looked at it every day. When I could, I avoided situations where Debra and Danni could see it. I always turned off the lights before undressing for bed, I discouraged them from touching it when we made love, I rose early and put on a bathrobe before they woke. Yeah, I knew what it looked like; it was disgusting. Most of the muscle tissue was gone. Where once it had been well-developed from working out, there was basically a crater of ribbed scar tissue that I had to work lotion into at least twice a day and sometimes more often to try and keep the skin supple.
I watched his eyes as he looked it over and was surprised, he showed no discomfort looking at it. Of course, he had probably seen worse in combat. “Not very pleasant, is it?”
“I’ve seen worse. Have you attempted to fire your weapon since the surgery?”
“Yes, Sir, as you know, both Danni and Debra are consummate weapons handlers and have had me to the range on numerous occasions, plus the design of my weapon aids in handling it. They’ve been working me at firing off-handed also and that’s going better than I thought it would.”
“The bullpup, yeah, I can see that. Is it painful when firing from the right shoulder?”
“It was at first, and quite a bit, but not so much anymore.”
“Sidearm?”
“Yes, Sir, I had trouble with speed, but it’s almost back to where it was.”
“Accuracy?”
“They worked me on accuracy first, now I’m working on the speed again.” I glanced over my shoulder as I heard Gilly, Debra, and Danni laughing from somewhere and quickly pulled the shirt back up and over my shoulder.
As I buttoned the shirt, he said, “You try to keep them from seeing it.” Not a question, a statement.
“Do you blame me?”
“Aw, you’re afraid they’ll realize you no longer have the body of Adonis.” Another statement, and I didn’t respond. “Are you concerned they’re going to get a good look at it and hit the road for something more, aesthetically pleasing?” I finished buttoning the shirt and settled back into the chair. “That is it, you’re afraid they’ll bail on you; that’s disappointing.”
“Sir…”
“No, it’s time to get over yourself. They need you, to be you, and not a victim. How a man like you ended up with two of the most attractive, intelligent, and capable women, I have ever known is beyond me.”
“Perhaps you have someone more to your liking in mind?”
“There is no one more to my liking than you! So, stuff that shit back up your ass, right the fuck now!” I knew I had crossed the line as soon as it left my mouth and looked away in shame. “There he is, that’s the Daniel I know. Okay, listen up, I need you to go to Denver, but I can’t send you off if it’s going to damage your relationship, or relationships, Gilly will have me sleeping the next month on the couch. Let me give you some background first, Major Higgins was duly impressed with your system of gathering intelligence and he wants to set up a similar effort in Denver. He has asked for your help doing it, but I don’t want to screw Asylum by letting you go. You have told me in the past, that when Cadet Ortiz reaches her majority, instead of standard Militia service, you want to retain her at Intel, do you still want that?”
“Absolutely, yes, Sir.”
“I’ve talked with her Militia trainers, specifically Danni, and she informs me she fully expects her to rise through the ranks even though she struggles with the physical requirements, she’s not very strong.”
“You’ve seen her, Sir, she’s very small.”
“I know, but Danni says she’s a damn good marksman and understands what she’s doing in the field. She also excels when given command responsibilities during training. Here’s my question, could Cadet Ortiz, fill in for you, if you were sent to Denver for a while?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“You don’t need to think about it?”
“No, Sir. There may be some minor friction because she’s half the age of the next youngest person in the office, but she has the knowledge and expertise to function as commander temporarily.”
“I can’t have a Provisional Sargent of the Cadets leading a separate unit of the Rangers, or Militia, would she accept a commission of Lieutenant in the Militia?”
“It would probably scare the hell out if her, but yes, Sir, I believe she would if she can stay at Intel.”
“Good,” he opened a drawer and, pulled out two small boxes, one he handed to me and the other he placed on the desk in front of him. I opened the box and saw an embroidered Lieutenant’s patch. “Give that to her and inform her it’s written in stone though unofficial until tomorrow’s Morning Cadet Formation.” He tapped the other small box in front of him and asked, “If I send you to Denver, will you help with the creation of their Intelligence Office?”
I cringed inside and wanted to say, no, my little family was still cementing itself and we needed time for it to solidify. “Sir, I…” I hesitated and thought of what my two ladies would say if I declined. Both of them were fiercely loyal to me, but also to their jobs as they saw them. I could see the disappointment in their eyes if I said no. “When will you need me to leave?”
“Three days from now. “I’ll also be sending two platoons to replace two of the four platoons we have in Denver; I’ve decided to start rotating platoons thru there in order to minimize family separations.”
“Yes, Sir, I’m sure our Rangers will appreciate that.”
“How often do you receive physical therapy?”
“My therapist works on me on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but I need the therapy every day.”
He frowned and asked, “So, who performs it on the off days?”
“Either Danni, or Debra, one of them always attends, so they can learn the process.”
“Okay, but you don’t allow them to see your injury if possible, how do you…”
“When they are present, I always wear a tee-shirt, or sweat shirt, Sir.”
“You need to get past that, Dan, I can bet you, that both of them, do not appreciate being excluded. It looks like you don’t trust them.”
“Sir. I’ll probably regress in my recovery while I’m gone, but I’ll attempt to get caught back up to speed when I return.”
“That won’t be necessary, I’ll make sure the proper arrangements are provided. By-the-way, nice attempt at deflection.” He stared at me, but I didn’t respond, so he continued. “While on the trip to Holloman, I noticed Higgins has a tendency to steamroll anyone of a lower rank and I can’t have that. So, you will be going as a Major, do you have a problem with that? He’ll still try to roll over you and impress you with his Sandhurst education, but don’t let him.”
I looked at him and squirmed a bit before I said, “Same as before I assume? Banner will retain overall command of the Rangers in Denver?”
“Yes, and no, I’m priming you, Daniel, and I strongly believe you could very well assume my position someday, but you need a command position under your belt before I completely commit to it.”
“I’m not looking for your job, Sir.”
“I know that, Daniel, and I am a bit disappointed that you’re not. Then again, maybe that would be for the best, you are extremely valuable to us doing the job you’re doing. I guess you can see the problem I have. I’ve got a man that has the capability to become excellent everywhere I need him, so where do I put him?”
“You have a very capable group of leaders, Sir.”
“Yes, and someday they may rise to the occasion if needed, in fact, over the next few days, there are going to be quite a few promotions, but I’m still trying to figure out who will be what. Just a heads up, Danni and Debra are both getting promotions to Captain.”
“They are? We were just considering the possibility last night and they were both assuming it was coming. Danni is thinking you might utilize her as a Company XO in addition to running the Cadet Program, and Debra is thinking you might place her in an expanded role as a combined Instructor and Scout/Sniper/Tracker School Administrator.”
“Close, but not quite. Debra will be running the SST, but, and I know this might push your buttons, she’s also going to be doing community liaison when needed. She will also be part of a fast reaction team made up of instructors that can be mobilized in a short period of time in order to negate incursions.”
“Community liaison? The same thing you had her doing out at Holloman?”
“Daniel, she was just too damned valuable, why do you think the Air Force offered her the rank of Major if she would re-enlist?”
“Major?”
Packer stared at me and finally said, “Yeah, Major, she didn’t tell you that, did she?”
“No, Sir.”
“It was a good deal, Daniel, she would have been traveling and negotiating with an entire squad of Air security for protection. She told them no, she wanted to return home to her husband.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Danni? Well, I have to give it to you, Daniel, you know how to pick them. Based on the after-Action reports from the men she led in Las Cruces? She is being considered not as an XO, but a CO. Did she tell you she was running an entire company in Las Cruces?”
“No, Sir. She said she was sent with a platoon under her command.”
“That’s true, and it was supposed to be a reserve platoon at that, but all of the officers were wounded the first day and she ended up in command of the company. Everyone, and I mean everyone, praised her actions. Then, there’s the role she plays with the Cadets; did you know she reformulated Stella Morrison’s academic program and made it more efficient?”
“No, Sir, she never told me.”
“Danni’s going to Denver with you so she can assist them in putting together their Cadet Program and integrate it with Stella’s academic program. Those are some outstanding ladies, Daniel, don’t push them away unintentionally.”
“No, Sir.”
“Okay, what’s it going to be? Captain, or Major Tarn?”
“I serve at your discretion, Sir, I guess it will be as a Major.” Colonel Packer awarded me the rank patch and I walked out to the Ready Room to wait for the girls.
When they came out from behind Packer’s office, they seemed excited.
Debra took my left arm, so she could continue carrying Danni Lynn in the crook of her left, and Danni took my right, “Babe?” Danni asked.
“Yes?” Funny how things had sort of switched around. I had always called Debra, Babe, and she had always called me Hon, or Honey, which we still did. But now Danni called me Babe, and I called her Hon, or Honey. When the two girls didn’t call each other by name, they referred to each other as Sweetie.
“I guess there’s some road trips planned.”
“I know, the Colonel told me.”
“We are going to Denver and Debra is going to Holloman again.”
I nodded.
Debra asked, “Are you angry?”
“No, Packer explained the situation in a way I can understand and I won’t deny you the chance to once again prove yourself.” I shrugged and added, “I’m not real excited about it, because I feel like the three of us need some alone time together as a family to sort of cement things together, you know?”
Danni said, “Well, personally, although I agree with wanting the three of us together for a while, we’re already cemented except for one thing.”
I frowned and said, “What is it?”
“Gilly says she’s already heard some talk about the three of us living in sin.”
“Ask me if I care, if we start getting a bunch of flak, we'll leave and let's see how well they get along without us."
“Hon? You say that, but we know you won’t, so Gilly came up with a good idea, one that Danni and I have already talked about.”
“And?”
“Gilly says she can arrange a wedding for the three of us before we have to leave in different directions.”
I stopped walking and brought them both to a halt, “Danni and I are leaving in three days.”
“We know,” Danni said, “So we only have tomorrow to get ready and then get married the next day.”
I stood there and then asked, “Is that enough time to pull it together?”
They both answered yes, at the same time.
I resumed walking and said, “Okay, I’ll feel better once I have both of you chained to me with vows.”
Debra gave me her sultry chuckle and said, “Honey, you’ve already chained me. Both figuratively, and literally.”
After Danni and Debra showered at home, I did as well and then stood in front of the mirror and looked at myself. I felt like I might be going out on a limb, but I was determined to let the girls know I trusted them the way Packer had suggested. I wrapped a towel around my waist, picked up the tube of lotion for my shoulder and then walked out into the Living room where the girls were waiting for me.
“Hey, is there a chance I can get one of you to apply the lotion and give my shoulder a massage while you do it?”
Danni said, “Of course, Debra is almost done feeding Danni Lynn then she’ll put her down for the evening, is it alright if I do it?”
“Yes, if you want to, I know it’s not a particularly pleasant job.”
She scooted to the edge of the couch, parted her legs and dropped a throw pillow between her feet, “Sit here in front of me on the floor.”
After I sat with my back to her, I held up the tube of lotion and she squeezed a small amount into the scar tissue and started to spread it before beginning to knead my shoulder. “Let me know if I do it too hard, or not hard enough.”
“Just do it the way Lorne does, she has it down pretty well.”
“Babe, I don’t know how Patty does it, you’ve never allowed Debbie, or I, to be present when she does this.”
I looked across the room to where Debra was rocking Danni Lynn back and forth and studied her face. She was staring at the crater with wide open eyes and I saw her trying to hide the disgust I knew she must have been feeling. “Never mind,” I said as I leaned forward to stand up. “I’ll do it in the bathroom.”
“NO!” Danni grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back against the couch as Debra stood up and placed the baby on the couch and situated a rolled-up blanket that would keep Danni Lynn from somehow rolling off. Then she stepped in front of me and lowered herself down and sat on my legs.
Taking my face in her hands, she said, “Daniel, let us do this for you.”
I shook my head and placed my left hand over my shoulder as I said, “Really, it’s okay, there’s no reason why the two of you should be subjected to this.”
Danni leaned forward over my shoulder and softly said, “Subjected to what? Taking care of the man we love?”
“I saw the look in Debra’s eyes and I understand. I look in the mirror every day, I know how, disgusting, it looks.”
“Daniel, Honey, that wasn’t disgust you saw on my face, that was feeling the pain of what you suffered through. Seeing that scar tissue reminds us of how brave and selfless you are. You rarely complain, you seldom ask for help, and when you do, when you finally allow us to be there for you, it means the world to us. It means you trust us.”
“Debra,” I said a little harshly. “You don’t understand, I…”
Her hands slid from my face and she grabbed my ears tightly as I flinched, “Dan, don’t you dare tell me, I don’t understand! We all have scars, mine are on the inside and I hid them from you for a long time and finally, because I was afraid someday you would find out and leave me, I ripped the covers off and showed them to you! What did you do, Daniel, when I showed you my scars, what did you do!”
“I loved you, because you shared your pain with me. You trusted me to love who you are despite your scars, no, because of your scars.” I suddenly started feeling ashamed, not of the scars from my wounds, but the self-inflicted scars on the inside.
“Is your love for me and Danni, somehow purer than what we feel for you?”
“No.”
Danni slid her hand under mine and rested it on the scar, “Babe, the scar on Debra’s eyebrow, do you think it detracts from her beauty?”
“Of course not.”
“Why would you expect less from us?”
“Okay,” I said. “Right about now, I’m feeling a little self-centered and shallow. I’m thinking the two of you deserve better.”
Debra laughed and said, “No, Hon, there is no one better, not for us.” She stood up and started walking towards the frig as Danni resumed massaging my shoulder, “Who wants a glass of Bock?”
I held up my hand and Danni said, “Me.”
A minute later she came back and set two glasses on the coffee table as Danni asked, “You’re not having any?”
“Nope, I’ve noticed her Highness doesn’t much care for my milk after I’ve had any alcohol, so, it looks like I’m done for the duration.”
Danni laughed and said, “Sucks to be you.”
Debra smiled and said, “Careful what you find funny, Sweetie, your day is coming.”
Together they laughed and settled around me with Danni still working the lotion into my shoulder. “Is the way I’m doing it okay, Babe?”
“Yeah, I like your touch a lot better than Lorne’s.”
“Good, we aim to please.”
“Honey?” Debra’s voice was a little hesitant.
“Yes?”
“You and Danni will be gone two weeks and I leave a week after the two of you for two weeks.”
“I know, we’ll be separated three weeks.”
“Are you going to be okay with that?” I could tell she was trying to avoid a blowup.
“No, and it’s not just missing you, you’ll have Danni Lynn, so there’s that also.”
“I know, are you okay with it though?”
“Of course not, I still think we need more time for the three of us to begin to become comfortable with our new arrangement, but I also know that I can’t lock either of you away.”
Danni said, “I don’t know about that, we seem to be meshing fairly well. Debra and I really do love each other and we don’t feel the need to compete for your attention. Yeah, it gets a little sticky when it comes to quality time because you’re uncomfortable with the one you’re not loving, being in the room, but we can work that out.”
“Yeah, I wish we had two bedrooms.” I said.
