Page 181 of Reeves

I lean back slightly, letting that settle.

She watches me, then continues.

“You’re not out of it. You’re just not taking the same kind of hits.”

My fingers rest against the arm of the chair, tapping once before going still.

“And after that?” I ask.

“If you want something longer term,” she says, “you could look at commissioning. OCS. That would take you out of the enlisted track.”

She slides one of the scans back into the folder, her movements precise. “You’d step into an officer role. More planning, more oversight. Less wear on your body.”

I hold her gaze for a second, then glance back down at the file.

“You’ve already done the hard part,” she adds, quieter now. “This is where a lot of guys land when their bodies start pushing back.”

Guys like me.

A version of this life where I keep everything that matters. The work. The structure. The people. The pace. Just without the part that breaks your body down piece by piece.

I could step into that and not miss a beat.

Virginia Beach comes to mind without effort. The apartment I keep there. Bare walls. A couch I barely use. Cabinets that hold exactly what I need and nothing that goes bad. I’m there just long enough to reset before the next thing pulls me out again.

I know that life. It fits.

I could stay in it. Just not in the same way.

Ellis is still watching me, waiting. She doesn’t rush it.

“I’d have some time before making a decision?” I ask.

“You do,” she says. “But we’ll need direction before your current tour wraps. So you have about two months to figure out what you want to do.”

I nod once more, but I’m not looking at the scans anymore.

Benjy is standing on a chair at the counter, one handbraced against the edge while he tries to crack an egg the way I showed him. His tongue is caught between his teeth, his whole face tight with concentration. He looks up at me when he finally gets it open, like he needs to know he did it right.

That look stays with me.

I rest my forearms on my thighs, leaning forward slightly, my hands hanging loose between my knees. The room feels smaller than it did when I walked in.

I’ve missed five years of that.

Five years I don’t get back.

And the path sitting in front of me, the good one, and the honorable one, still has me leaving. Still has me somewhere else most of the time, fitting a life in between everything that pulls me away from it.

I sit with that for a second longer than I need to.

Then I look up.

“I’ll finish out my current obligation,” I say. “After that, I’m done.”

Ellis doesn’t react right away. She studies me for a second, like she’s making sure I mean it.

“You have two months, Stone. I just said I don't need an answer now.”