Page 36 of Dark Medicine

“Oh my gosh!” laughed Aislinn. “Please tell me you didn’t pick a fight with him?” She pointed at Flip and shook her head at Kane. Although Kane was a solid six-foot-three and two hundred plus pounds of muscle, Flip would swallow him whole.

“Welllll, he was the biggest guy in the gym, and I was trying to prove myself at the time,” said Kane. “I was young and stupid. What can I say?” Kane shook his head at the memory of trying to prove he was the biggest badass on-base. That lasted about two minutes when he got a look at the rack of weights Flip was lifting over his head.

“You were an idiot. That’s what you can say,” roared Adam. “Flip has always been slow to anger, but when you outright pick a fight with him, it’s on like Donkey Kong.”

“You guys are too much,” said Fiona, wiping the tears from her eyes. Tears of laughter and joy were far more welcome than of fear and uncertainty. She loved her newfound friends and loved being a part of this small band of misfits.

“The bottom line is, Kane was smart enough to not throw the punch. I do have to say the kiss was the best I’d had in years,” he laughed.

“It was a peck!” yelled Kane. “A simple peck on the cheek. I was trying to diffuse the situation since it was obvious my mouth was overloading my ass.”

“Sure, you were,” said Adam. “That’s why you asked him to the Army ball.”

“Fuck you, asshole,” said Kane, smiling.

“I’d say it all worked out the way it was supposed to,” said Aislinn. “You two became friends and learned to trust one another early on.”

“That’s the honest truth,” said Flip. “It took a little while, but I knew he was different the minute he refused to follow that chieftain into the mountains. There was something off about him, and the asshole of a captain was trying to prove himself. Fucking idiot nearly got us all killed.” Kane nodded at his friend, remembering the moment as clearly as if it happened yesterday.

“I made the mistake of touching the man’s arm and nearly vomited on the spot. Turns out he was selling secrets to the Taliban and dealing in Afghan children. He was the most miserable human being I’d ever been around, well, almost.”

“So, the captain didn’t make you go into the mountains?” asked Fiona.

“Oh no, he did!” said Flip. “We went into that damned mountain range just like he planned. He was the first killed, the idiot. We started taking fire and knew it was a trap. That fucking chieftain disappeared. I looked at Kane, and he just shook his head and started firing. All hell broke loose at that point.”

“It was definitely hell. I emptied my weapon in the first ten minutes and had nothing left. Then suddenly, there were three rifles laying at my feet, fully loaded.” He smiled at Flip, who grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

“You did that?” asked Fiona.

“You gotta save your brother,” he said, smiling. “The weapons weren’t doing anyone any good lying next to dead men. Kane was a great shot, so I knew we’d have a chance if he had the weapons.” Kane nodded again, grinning at his friend.

“That’s when I knew there was something special about Flip. Well, that and the fact that two vehicles mysteriously overturned onto the enemy.”

“We didn’t see each other much after that little adventure. Seems like we were always on different squads,” reflected Flip.

“Yea, but I kept up with you and so did Adam.”

“I saw Adam several times when I brought wounded in. I watched him work on a few and just walked away, scratching my head. He diagnosed them within seconds and started working immediately. His hands moved so fast the nurses couldn’t keep up with him. You could tell he just knew what was wrong and dove right in,” said Flip.

“Yea, the problem was people started questioning my methods. The chief surgeon suggested I was reckless and was ‘lucky’ up to that point. He had no clue, and I couldn’t tell him anything. To cover for myself, I had to slow down, and that meant risking people’s lives.”

“Is that why you left the Army?” asked Fiona.

“Partly. I was ready to move on. I think we all were.” Adam looked across the table to see Spook stiffen against the back of his chair. He stared down at this phone and then looked at the blank wall, his eyes moving so rapidly Adam was concerned for his health.

“He’s here,” he said calmly.

“Who’s here?” asked Kane.

“The man who tried to take Fiona on the cliffs. His signal, the same signal. He’s here.”

The door slammed at the front of the inn, and standing in the doorway of the restaurant was a dark-haired man of medium height and build. The same man who tried to take Fiona. He stood in the doorway, his hands folded in front of him, ensuring they were visible to the table. He didn’t move, didn’t speak, just waited.

“You’ve got a helluva lot of nerve, buddy,” said Flip, standing. His towering height and intimidating size made the man swallow hard.

“I mean no harm,” said Uri, holding his hands up, palms facing the group. “I’m actually here to help.”

“Help? How would you help us? And more importantly, why?” said Adam.

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