Page 21 of Confessions of an Apache Pilot

Ty continued, “Gets better. We start running out that way with the dude on a gurney, and shit for brains gets scared again and suddenly takes off.”

“He called out over the radio that they were taking fire,” I cut in. “They weren’t. I was flying overhead. Tracer rounds were ricocheting off of shit and were randomly flying everywhere. It looked like a laser light show. He saw that and freaked.”

“Did he come back?” Disgust and horror were written all over her face. A woman like her wouldn’t be able to comprehend leaving behind an injured soldier.

“I didn’t give him the chance. As soon as that happened I landed, Artie got out and we stuffed the other guy into the front seat. I took off and brought him back.”

“And I got to play Green Beret! Fucking best field trip ever,” Artie blurted out, excitement shining on his face.

“Wait, you guys only have two seats in your helicopter. You’re not supposed to put any passengers in there. And what about air support? If you left with a casualty, then the Beards didn’t have any cover from you?”

“Artie stayed with the Beards. Laura and Brady stayed behind, by themselves. And I flew by myself with a bleeding Green Beret back to MES.”

“But that’s…very against regulations,” she said meekly. “It’s insane.” She shook her head in disbelief.

“Yup. After that Captain Peralta made it clear that if Ross ever came on another mission that he would shoot him on sight.” Ty said with absolute malice in his voice.

“And Nick?” she asked me, looking like she didn’t really want to know.

“Nick was his copilot. Maybe we’ve been unfairly hard on him. He wasn’t the pilot in command, but he was there and didn’t fight hard enough to stay. The old medic and crew chief asked the Colonel to reassign them immediately after landing. The Colonel decided to keep Ross around, but to serve as permanent Battle Captain. Leaves the rest of the officers free to be real pilots.”

Jen took it all in before responding, “I see. And then the very next mission some new hot-head flies into a landing zone that is dangerous and nearly gets her and her crew blown up.” She gave me a sheepish smile.

“See, you’re getting it now. No matter which way we go, MEDEVAC pilots are a pain in my ass,” I teased. “For the record,” I added, “I’d much rather have you and your flying skills out there when we need them.”

The smile she gave me was so wide and uninhibited, I swear my body went numb when she flashed it at me. I relaxed back into my seat, enjoying the way she was loosening up and chatting with the others.

CHAPTER 13

Mark

The stories continued around the fire and everyone was looking pretty relaxed an hour or so later when Jen’s medic, Sarah, came up and sat by us. She was slouching a bit more than usual. I hadn’t realized up until right now that she had barely been outside with us. She pulled a chair in between me and Jen. She was perched on the edge of the chair and kept rubbing her neck and arms. She was uncomfortable. Given the way she usually blushed when she saw Santos I would have figured she’d find her way nearer to him. This was a dead giveaway that something was up.

Jen had noticed, too. I turned in my chair to face her fully. “Sarah, Sweetie, are you ok?”

I almost never used the word ‘sweetie’ when talking to a woman. Especially when talking to a soldier. I didn’t want anyone to think I was talking down to them or being fifty years out of place with my language. Right now was a little different. Sarah was almost young enough to be my daughter. And although I didn’t have kids of my own, her unease was igniting a paternal instinct that I didn’t know I had. She looked so confused and unsure of herself.

Sarah turned and looked at me. “I’m… I just-” She kept rubbing her neck with one hand, with the other she reached across her chest and held her elbow. It was a self-soothing gesture and something I’d seen before. Too many times before. I had a feeling I knew what was going on. Hope that I was wrong bounced around inside my chest.

“What happened, Sweetie?”

She shifted uneasily, but finally met my eyes. “I was alone in the Tactical Operations Center; Brady came in…” There was confusion and unease in those blue depths.

Jen started to stand up, her expression filling with rage. I looked her in the eye and held up a hand, motioning for her to wait, and to sit back down. The look on her face said I had about three seconds to explain why she shouldn’t castrate Brady.

I moved around and kneeled in front of Sarah. It was a weird feeling; Sarah was so tall that, from a kneeling position I had to crane my neck to make eye contact. Not a normal thing for me. I reached forward and grabbed her hand gently. I placed one of mine over and one under and held it, looking her in the eye. Her other hand was still rubbing her neck. “Honey, did he come in carrying an accordion?”

She nodded in misery. Jen’s head snapped up and she looked around in confusion at the others around the campfire. When no one looked alarmed she turned her attention back to Sarah, imminent rage replaced with utter bafflement. Artie, Santos, and Ty knew where this was going. I heard Artie whisper-shout to Santos. “Dude, you didn’t warn her?”

“I-I didn’t think...”

“Dude, it’s Brady. Everything concerning Brady needs to come with a warning.”

I tried to ignore them and continued, “Did he play it for you?” She nodded. “Did he look you in the eye while he played it?” She bobbed her head again. “Did he look at you like he was disgusted, like it was your fault this was happening?” Tears and confusion welled in her eyes as she nodded for the last time

I let go of her hand and leaned back on my heels. She drew her knees into her chest and shuddered. I looked at Jen, who was now looking between me and Sarah, mouth hanging open.

It took all my control to keep from laughing at the look on Jen’s face. I took in a deep breath and let out an exaggerated sigh. Brady was an odd man, but a good one. Goodish. He was a close friend of mine and we liked to give him tons of shit for his idiosyncrasies. I’d found myself, more than once, having to explain to other normal people why Brady did the things he did. Luckily, he was pretty happy-go-lucky. He was intense as hell, but typically cheerful about it. He did have one peculiar quirk that stood out amongst the others.

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