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I turned my eyes over to him, the man I’d come to consider my best friend, as he walked up toward me. His face was smiling, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes; a side effect of the bullshit wringer we’d gone through not so very long ago.
“On the record? Yep,” I said.
“Off the record, while drinkin’ a beer with your buddy?” he asked.
“Get me the fuck outta here,” I said.
The two of us chuckled before we put the glass bottles to our lips, but then I felt a hand come down onto my shoulder.
“Medical Officer Canter.”
I turned around at the sound of my Captain’s voice and forced a smile.
“Captain Wells,” I said.
He offered me his hand, and I shook it.
“I wanted to come over here and wish you a fond farewell myself,” Wells said.
“Well, I appreciate it,” I said.
“You’re a fine medical officer who’s going to make waves in the medical field out there in the civilian world. That’s one thing I’ve always enjoyed about the Navy. We make sure to prepare our soldiers for life inside and outside of the military.”
“It will do me well, sir,” I said. “That’s for sure.”
“Do you have any plans to become a doctor?” he asked. “You really should. You’ve been a fine one for us.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Captain.”
“Can we drop the bullshit for a second?” he asked.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” I said.
I watched his face grow dark, and I wanted to backtrack away from the conversation. I wasn’t ready to address this with the likes of him. I wasn’t ready to talk to him about what happened overseas. I was ready to get this fucking party over with, get out of here, pack my shit, and leave.
Leave and head to the quiet mountains of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
“I want to thank you, son, for keeping as many of our men alive in that situation as you could.”
I stood there, my face stoic, while Captain Wells continued to ramble on.
“What you did under the terrible circumstances, was something that would make even the strongest of men cave. Whatever place you dug down into—wherever you pulled your strength from—thank you. From myself, from this platoon, and from the United States Navy. You made us all very, very proud.”
Proud?
I made them fucking proud?
This man didn’t have the first idea what I endured. What Paxton endured. The things I had to do and the things I had to witness. This man had no fucking clue.
He had no idea how many times I woke up wishing for death to take us all.
But like a good soldier, I nodded and smiled. “Thank you for that, Captain,” I said.
“And Canter. If you get out into the civilian world, and you need anything, you know where to reach me.”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
Honestly, I wouldn’t even know how to fucking contact this man. In my entire career, I’d encountered him only a handful of times. His words lacked meaning, his face lacked any sort of emotional support, and I knew all he was doing was trying to save face. He treated every single opportunity like fucking cameras were following him around, and it made me sick.
