Page 14 of Blade and Arrow Origins

I could be with my team. Do something important instead of hiding away like a coward. Have a chance to become that independent, strong Nora again.

“Yes.” Holding Cole’s gaze, I lift my chin at him. Then I smile. “I’m in.”

CHAPTER 5

RYLAN

Please let this be the right decision.

Let this be the change I so desperately need.

It seemed so obvious when Cole asked me weeks ago.

Stay in my hometown, surrounded by memories of a life I’d left in the past? Work a job I never wanted, each day in the shop a stinging reminder of everything I lost? See the pitying expressions on people’s faces, the surreptitious glances as they tried to figure out just how badly I’d been injured?

To be seen as the wounded warrior, no longer able to protect his country.

To miss my friends so badly sometimes it hurt to breathe.

Or.

I could join my teammates on this new venture. A new company. Something that could bring me back to life again.

I wouldn’t have to give up on my dreams of helping people.

I could be more than the man whose leg and back are too damaged to serve in the Army anymore.

Or can I?

As my car idles in the driveway of the future company headquarters, I look through the window at the large office building and the nerves I’ve been battling for days come back with a vengeance.

What if I can’t do this?

What if my knee doesn’t hold up?

What if end up a liability instead of an asset?

The words of my doctor keep haunting me. Even after multiple surgeries and months of physical therapy, he couldn’t give me the answer I wanted. At my last appointment, I asked him how much longer until I could expect to be one-hundred percent again. New therapies. Exercises. Even herbal supplements—which I’ve always scoffed at—if there was a chance they’d work.

But Dr. Davis just looked at me, his apologetic gaze telling giving me the answer before he ever said a thing. And then he said the words I’ll never forget.“I’m sorry, Rylan. But you’re never going to get back to where you were before. Not completely. The damage to your knee was too great. But if you keep up what you’ve been doing, you should reach seventy, maybe even eighty percent mobility. You should be able to participate in all the activities you want.”

But that’s not true.

I can’t be a Green Beret anymore. I can’t run for miles anymore. If I land on my leg wrong, my knee threatens to crumple.

What if we’re on a job and my knee goes out? What if I get a spasm in my back and lose my focus?

What if I let down my team?

I can’t. I couldn’t bear it.

And that’s why I’m still in my car instead of going inside to greet my friends. It’s why my car is still running, so I can turn around and make a quick getaway.

Before now, I never doubted myself.

Before that awful day when everything blew up in our faces, I never would have considered backing down from a challenge.

I wouldn’t be afraid of something like this.

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