Page 38 of I Promise You
The last encounter with Paul flashes through my head like a movie. It’s blurry but the emotions are still crystal clear…like it was yesterday.
He was leaving our house for his deployment. His fifth one, and he was excited to be with all his teammates after a weekend of partying with friends outside of the house.
Even though we lived separate lives, our love for each other never bottomed. Our bond is imperishable.
I never was worried about him leaving for deployments.Never.
Because he always came back home. He always kept his promise to us. I was too naïve back then to think he would return in a casket.
I clear my throat, stopping the giant rock from growing. The short memory of him waving at my mother and me through the driver’s seat in his Bronco. His aviator sunglasses on, one hand on the steering wheel as he blasted Mana into his car. Him driving to base…vanishes when Mr. Cameron clears his throat, snapping me out of my reverie of the fall morning a year ago.
“But I do know that our big brothers wouldn’t want us to keep going like this. I’m sure your big brother would want you to try to walk for him.” I smile at her, and she finally looks back at me, her dark brown eyes watery with grief, and I offer her my hand.
She looks at my hand and then back at me.
She wipes her tears as Mr. Cameron meets me at my hip, his hands intertwined, ready to help.
“Fine, just five minutes.”
12
ARI
There’s only one more hour left on my shift and I can say I survived my first day back.
All I have to do is deliver their results and discharge them with medication. So far, their tests have come back negative. I look at the following patients on my care list, and one of the names seems familiar.
Rooker, A.
I don’t know many Rookers, but if it isn’t Enzo Rooker, Danny’s close friend, who could it be?
I walk into the room and I see a woman with her child. They are asleep on the bed, cuddled against each other.
As I approach her, her cell phone on her side lights up brightly. I freeze in my tracks when I realize what her wallpaper is. It looks like a family of four, a happy, wide-eyed Enzo Rooker with his wife and two daughters.
This is Rooker’s wife.
Holy shit.
I shouldn’t be surprised. All service members and their families get treated on base for the most part.
She flutters her eyes open slowly when her phone buzzes with text messages. She lets out a deep breath, stretching her arms upward, and I give her a comforting smile.
“Sorry, I fell asleep. It’s been a while since anybody has seen me,” she rasps, yawning. She stretches her arms over her head.
“I’m so sorry about that. I’m Ari. I have your daughter’s test results. How is she feeling?”
“Ari? Like Ari Alvarez? Paul’s sister? Danny’s girlfriend?”
Her questions jump at me one after another in shock, ignoring that I told her I had her daughter’s results.
“Yes, yes, and yes.” I smile.
“Wow, the woman that tied down Danny Rider. I feared that man would always live the bachelor life and never settle down,” she jokes, crossing her arms.
I laugh as I grab a stool and sit next to her.
“I’m just as shocked as you are.”
