Page 99 of I Promise You
Another bullet is ricocheting off the floor by my foot but barely misses me, leaving my toes intact.
I make it to the only shield we have.
I sit behind the rock and kneel over Paul’s body as my best friend’s life gets drained away. I remove his mask so he can breathe better, and I do the same.
He’s pale, his eyes watering, blood coming out of his neck, nose, chest, and mouth.
It’s everywhere with no end in sight.
Bullets continue to spray all around me, but I focus on my brother. Then I hear the sounds of an Apache and a Black Hawkapproaching in the distance. The blades whip the air, vibrating in a continuous loop.
“You better fucking hold on,” I growl at him. “We have to do another fishing trip in Florida. You owe me a fishing pole, remember?” I joke with a smile, forcing it out through my jaw that threatens to lock up. I’m going into shock, disbelief possessing my body. Paul’s team and mine fire back, gun shots from both sides vibrating our bones while I spew empty promises to my brother.
And I know…there’s nothing I can do.
I’m in hell.
I do my best to stop the bleeding, but it’s like trying to put tape on a leaking dam.
Nothing is going to stop this.
He trembles, and his bloody lips curve into a small smile because he knows his fate has been sealed, but I refuse to accept it.
“T-tell m-my s-sister—” he gurgles, his life draining to nothing, and there’s nothing I can do but watch. “Tell m-my m-mom—” He swallows the blood again and again, continuing to try to croak out the words through it all, clawing at his wounds over my hands.
I shake my head.
“You’ll tell them yourself, brother. Don’t worry, just hang on. Air support is here already,” I lie, repeatedly.
I lie, forcing him to believe he will return to his girls alive.
I need his last thoughts to be hopeful. He needs to know he’s not alone and that I’m right fucking here.
“It’s been one hell of a ride, brother.” He trembles out.
Then he spits more blood to the side, the blood splattering across the dirt one last time before his eyes go flat, dull, and unsaturated.
His chest stops moving, and he goes motionless. He looks frozen in time, and I feel like my whole body is decimated. A sinking harsh sensation through my bones, and even through the night, I can see a black shadow swallowing us. The light from the moon goes away, and it’s dark.
My eyes widen when I realize that my best friend has been KIA.
Paul Alvarez, Operator Slayer, gone.
No, no, no, no.
What the fuck.
Motherfuckers will pay.
But I don’t cry, I don’t move, I don’t wail.
I’m composed while I continue to watch his body drain empty. My body grows numb. Paul is fucking gone, and it’s my fault. For the first time in my career, I made the wrong decision that got my best friend killed.
I set his stone-cold body down on the mountain terrain as blood continues to leak out from his wounds, even after his last breath. Even though I know there’s no other way Paul would have wanted to go out, it still feels like a curse.
I clutch my rifle again, forcing myself to overcome the shock that threatens to possess me. My fingers grip my weapon tight, and I’m about to spiral deeper into my thoughts.
“Grim!” Kane shouts at me as his fingers touch the trigger repeatedly and his shoulder ricochets from the kickback each time.
