Page 45 of Keeping London (Flawed Heart)

My rapidly beating heart calms as we all hunker down and wait. The atmosphere’s calmer now that all of our brothers are accounted for. A few more mortars go off, but they’re farther away.

After a period of time goes by without any blasts, the siren rings, informing us that we can leave the bunker.

“Well, all right. Ready for some chow?” Cooper asks me as we walk past the now demolished living quarters of Kent and his unit.

“Yeah,” I respond before nodding toward the shattered pile of wood and debris. “That sucks.”

“Sure does,” Cooper agrees. “Glad everyone got out before it hit though.”

“Let’s hope they’re serving something better today than that shitty excuse for French toast,” I huff out.

The quality of food offered at the chow hall is hit or miss, depending on which contractor is providing the food that day. Yesterday, they served French toast that was coated in raw eggs, like they hadn’t even known to cook that shit.

“Or that slimy sausage.” Cooper shudders. “Greasy, I can handle. Slimy, no way.”

“Agreed.”

“Well, at least we’ll have steak and lobster tonight. Another week down,” Cooper states.

I nod.

Another week down.

Every Friday, the dining hall serves steak and lobster for dinner. It’s shitty, but crappy steak and lobster is better than none. Cooper and I count down how many weeks we’ve been here by how many steak and lobster dinners we’ve had. It’s amusing how much time we spend figuring out new ways to count down the time until we leave.

After a breakfast free of slime and raw eggs, we head to our mission prep brief, which lasts hours longer than it should. The topics of discussion veer drastically from the agenda that pertains to our upcoming mission. We go over everything from supply issues and lost weapons to Baker’s cheating whore wife and how to support him here as he deals with the news. At times, being in the military is like having a crucial role in the operation of a badass fine-tuned machine designed for greatness, and other times, it’s like having a role in a dramatic soap opera with a horrible plotline.

Yet, even as I sit here, cringing inside, wondering how Baker could have ever married a tramp who would sleep with their babysitter’s son—who is a senior in high school—only weeks after he leaves, I know the ultimate purpose of this discussion is to come together as a group to help Baker and make sure his mind is in as good of a place as possible. No one can afford to be in a fog when they’re out of the wire. Having a clear mind and the ability to make quick decisions can be the difference between life and death. I will say that the military takes care of their own.

After our meeting, Cooper and I opt to do a quick run before hitting the gym since we missed our morning one. When we’re not out on missions, there isn’t much to do on base besides work out, so we spend a lot of time in the gym.

It’s a cool day with brisk winds that make it even colder. We run at a steady pace, neither of us feeling the need to push our bodies today.

“So, have you and London had Skype sex yet?” Cooper asks out of the blue.

“What?” I turn to him, my eyes wide, before facing forward again.

“You heard me.”

“Um, no.” I shake my head as we round the corner.

A group of Navy SEALs is running ahead of us.

Bagram is big, and the branches of the military are fairly segregated in that we each have a section of the base. Most of what we do here is with the Army, particularly our own unit, but we do cross-train with the Air Force and Navy on occasion.

I recognize the group of SEALs as the same one we trained with last week. We’ve been working out the logistics of a possible future mission. They’re a great bunch of guys. If I were pushing myself today, I could pass them, and normally, I would love the competition, but I have no desire to do so today. This entire day has been emotionally and physically exhausting, and it’s not even dinnertime yet.

“What are you waiting for? Maggie and I have done it, like, four times already.”

“Really? Wow. I just…I don’t know.”

“Eh, it’s your first tour with a girl back home. I get why you’re a little slow to catch on. But I’m telling you, man, Skype sex is pretty great. You need to get on that shit, pronto.”

I can’t help the smile that crosses my face at Cooper’s complete lack of conversational boundaries. He’s never had them. From the moment he introduced himself to me and started talking back in basic training, he’s been the same way.

“Hell yeah. I’m on it,” I agree.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. This deployment and all these feelings and shit have really been messing with my head.

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