Page 2 of Taming Raptor

Toward the end of our rotation, I was assigned to a supply convoy. On our way back to the FOB, Forward Operating Base, something seemed off. Cautiously, I sent my inner hawk free and used my remote sight to check things out. About two clicks out from our location was a group of insurgents preparing for an ambush. Heart hammering, I tried to tell my TC, the truck commander, that I thought something was wrong. The problem was, I couldn’t tell him exactly what I saw or how I knew. Which was why he blew me off and didn’t send it up the chain.

The small arms ambush resulted in me getting shot in the arm, shattering my humerus. Venom, or Sergeant Pruitt as he was to me then, was the first one to visit me in the infirmary. I’d been lucky it was relatively minor, but it also meant that I was being sent home. In my impulsive decision to join the military, I never once considered how I’d handle an injury.

It could create questions I couldn’t answer without creating a shit storm of epic proportions. Though I hated to do it, I would need to contact my father ASAP.

“I need to ask you something,” he quietly murmured as he glanced around, eyes darting nervously. Satisfied that the soldiers in the beds surrounding mine were either sedated or occupied, he returned his attention to me.

“Um, okay?”

“When I first stopped by, you were pretty sedated.”

“I still am,” I joked as I lifted my good arm that held the IV tubing connected to it.

His sober stare sent a chill skating up my arms and down my spine.

“You were babbling shit about seeing the ambush coming but no one would listen.”

“Like you said, I was high as fuck on pain meds.” I tried to play it off because I was afraid of what I might’ve said.

“Yeah, you were. And if I hadn’t seen your eyes, I might’ve left it at that.”

“M-my eyes?” My heart rate spiked and the portable monitor I was hooked up to alarmed. Fear of what I might’ve inadvertently revealed had me in near panic.

That was when he firmly gripped my good hand. His eyes seemed to ripple, and the color shifted. I froze and my heart lurched. Except as quickly as my anxiety had exploded, it fizzled out, leaving a peaceful calm in its wake.

“You feel that?” He nodded his head to our hands.

“You holding my hand?” My voice seemed foreign to my own ears.

The answer to his question seemed to flit around in the deep recesses of my mind. Almost within reach, but never close enough to grasp.

“The change in your mood,” he clarified. His eyes kept changing colors—like a kaleidoscope.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing that will hurt you. But let’s say I think we have something in common.”

“You’re an empath,” I deduced when I finally recognized the calming effect he’d had on me.

“And you have remote sight?” he asked, answering my observation with a question.

For a moment, I simply blinked at him. In those silent moments, a bond was formed that neither of us had expected. For some strange reason, I trusted him—but not with everything.

I gave him a single nod which eased the stern look from his face.

“We’ll keep in touch, Krow,” he promised with an easy grin. “Leave it to you to land a million-dollar wound during your first trip to Afghanistan.”

“What-the-fuck-ever,” I grumbled. I had mixed feelings about being sent home. My excitement to see my wife and kids warred with my loyalty to my battle buddies. Though we only had a few months left, I hated that I was leaving them behind.

He sobered.

“Trust me when I tell you that you should be thankful. You could be going home in a body bag.”

Too many of our friends had already taken their final trip home in those and the thought put things into perspective for me. “You’re right.”

“I’m always right,” he teased, lightening the mood again. “Enjoy your kids. Kiss that new baby boy for me.”

“I sure will.” My youngest son had been born while I was gone. I hated that I missed his birth and so many of his and Samuel’s firsts.

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