Page 41 of Wait For Me

But he was getting closer and that had to count for something. The ship was speeding through the pacific waters. Soon he’d be home and all the anxious rumors could be laid to rest. It didn’t matter what was going to happen, he was going to hold his wife again. Not even the sun could take that away.

“What are you doing here, HM2?” Chief Elyse’s sharp voice cut through the medical office.

“Morning Chief.” Landon nodded, hoping today was not the day she chose to unleash her fury at him. “I want to try and send an email out before I start working.”

“Don’t bother,” Chief Elyse said as she powered down the computer. There were tears in her eyes reflecting the bluish glow of the screen before it turned off.

“Comms are still down?” Landon asked, his hope for a good day quickly fading. Tessa must be worried sick by now. He really wanted to explain to her about the delay and see if she’d written anything else besides that awful last email he couldn’t stop thinking about.

“Of course they’re still down.” She put her head in her hands and breathed deeply through her nose. In the short time he’d known her, she’d been angry, vindictive, snarky, but never outwardly emotional like this.

Landon took a step back. “Are you doing alright, Chief?”

She looked up at him with her signature glare. “Did I ask for your concern, Ward? No. Now get out of here.” Every rational part of him wanted to run. He’d try to email Tessa later when he got another break.

But he hesitated. Sierra must have got under my skin. “No disrespect, Chief, but I’m serious. Are you okay?”

Chief Elyse rubbed her fingers under her eyes to clear the tears and checked the tightly wound bun at the nape of her neck to make sure no hairs were out of place. In an instant, her collected mask slipped back on as if the outburst never happened. She seemed to weigh her options, giving Landon a cold look over and the quiet room was filled with uncomfortable silence.

“Alright then.” Landon nodded as he took another step back. There was only one other short woman her size who scared him as much as the chief did, but Tessa’s love made up for her temper. Chief Elyse had no love to give.

“Wait, HM2.” Chief Elyse sighed. “I’m fine. My parents have temporary custody of my son for this deployment because I couldn’t secure a local caregiver. They were supposed to fly out today after my mom’s cataract surgery to meet me in California, but I wasn’t able to wire them money for the tickets because all the systems are down.”

“That sucks, Chief.” It was strange having a real conversation with her, like she was somehow becoming a real person despite being a chief. He felt bad for her. He really did.

“Yes HM2.” She narrowed her eyes, her fingernails clicking against the desktop. “It really does suck.”

“But hey,” Landon backtracked as he realized his poor choice of words, “they say were making great time. I’ve never made it back in less than six days from Hawaii, but rumors are we’ll be there tomorrow. We should be close to shore soon. Maybe you can get cell service.”

“Maybe.” She looked away, but Landon caught the flash of fear in her eyes. His jaw tensed and he refused to acknowledge that same fear.

“It won’t be as bad as they’re all saying. The government will have safeguards in place for a massive solar storm. It’s not like they’d just ignore that burning ball of fire in the sky and pretend it won’t ever affect us. I’m sure everything will be okay.”

“Do you really think that?” Chief Elyse whispered.

Did he?He had no other choice but to believe it was true until he could do something about it. If his family was suffering…

Landon gave a short nod. “Yes. I do.”

The wheels of the stool skid across the deck, squeaking as Chief Elyse pushed herself away from the table. “Well, then you’re dumber than you look.”

Landon waited to leave the office until he was sure Chief Elyse was gone from the medical bay and then pulled the stool over to the patient bed. “Hey, brother. How are you feeling?”

LCpl Martinez groaned as he rolled over and offered a small smile. “Better. My brain isn’t racing so much. I can’t wait to get out of here though. It’s almost too quiet if you know what I mean.”

“Don’t say that.” Landon tilted back Martinez’s head to check the bruising on his neck. There wasn’t much. He’d literally caught him just in time.

“Say what?” His pupils were dilated but that was probably from the meds.

“It’s a medical thing. Never say it’s too quiet in a hospital.”

“My bad.” LCpl Martinez chuckled. “So, are they still letting me out today?”

“Commander Jenkins will give the final say tonight but they should be.” Landon pulled over the vitals machine and wrapped the cuff around Martinez’s arm. The device whirred to life and pumped air through the tube.

“You’re looking good.” Landon pulled at the Velcro on the cuff. Blood pressure 110/79. Pulse at 62 beats per minute. “The meds making you feel relaxed?”

“Yeah.” Martinez nodded. “I feel like I could sleep for another week.”

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