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She cupped his cheek and smiled. “I hope that will be the case. His appendix burst and he’s in surgery.” Tears slipped down her cheeks and she brushed them away.
“This is one of the best hospitals. He’s in good hands.”
Those words seemed to help and after finding out she hadn’t eaten, he suggested she should go get some food. He’d wait.Her boyfriend. Ha, he would have to wrap his head around that. Jake Tudor worked as a pharmacist for the Navy in Virginia Beach and was currently in surgery. His mom had gone downstairs to the cafeteria, outwardly concerned about her new man. His mom had been alone for a long time, and she was getting to retirement age. He just wasn’t sure what she would do about the bakery. It had been in his family for decades.
Hours later, he shifted in his seat, getting fidgety. He wasn’t one to sit around for long periods of time. His boss, Rose, and his unruly teammates had just left. They were getting too rowdy for the waiting room, even though they’d kept Preacher entertained. GQ and Hazard, the Goldilocks twins, were distracting the nurses, Boomer and Skull were loudly debating vampires vs. werewolves, Kodiak was peppering the doctors with questions, and Boomer had procured a wheelchair and was running Breakneck all over the place.
He’d laughed as the lead RN kicked them all out with strident reprimands about freaking SEALs and their “childish” behavior. It hadn’t fazed any of his teammates for even one second. Preacher chuckled.
“Lisa Carmichael?”
Preacher looked up to find a man with tired deep blue eyes and short, buzzed blond hair standing in front of him in light blue scrubs, the face mask loose and around his neck. He recognized him immediately, Ocean “Blue” Beckett. He had been on the teams and had changed his career path to become a doctor. Looked like he got a rotation in Virginia Beach.
Blue nodded to Preacher with a welcome smile. His mom looked up immediately. “Yes. How is he?”
He nodded and crouched down in front of Preacher and his mom. “He did great through the whole thing. Appendix is out and he’s now in recovery. Six weeks of rest and he’ll be as good as new.”
“I’m so happy. Can I see him?”
“Yes.” He told her the room and she rushed off down the hall.
“Your mom, right?”
“Yeah. And a new man I knew nothing about.”
“But you're a Tier One operator. You can roll with the punches,” Blue said, rising and settling across from Preacher.
Preacher let out a soft breath. “If only I could get my shit straight,” he muttered.
He hadn’t realized he’d said it out loud until Blue said, “You do have that troubled look about you.”
“It’s that obvious?”
“From someone who’s been there, yeah. I don’t mean to be intrusive or nosy, but have you talked to anyone about what you’re going through? Teammates, therapy, chaplain?”
Preacher chuckled. “I can’t talk about something I can’t seem to nail down. I’m at a loss, but things just seem to be getting worse. Numbness, dissatisfaction, restlessness. I feel…disassociated.”
Blue nodded. “Yeah, I get that.”
“Did you go the teammates, therapy, chaplain routes?”
Blue nodded. “I tried many things, but nothing seemed to work for me. Luckily, I had a girlfriend who helped, but that was something…unconventional as was the ‘therapy’ that really made me understand what my issues were. We’re married now with kids.”
“Congratulations,” Preacher said, a glimmer of hope breaking through. He’d heard about Blue and his capture and torture. If this man could come out at the other end whole…maybe. “Okay. Unconventional means like?”
Blue chuckled. “Bondage, knot tying, and suspension. But my problems were sexual in nature. POW shit that I won’t get into. She helped with that, but what really helped me was this old surfer dude my dad knew.”
“Seriously? Surfer dude?”
“Yeah, I know it sounds…ah…out there, but it worked. Check out the seven tenets in Hawaiian philosophy. I have a guy here in VA Beach.” He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. He wrote down the information and passed it to him. “I hope you find your way, man. It takes a lot of courage and opening your mind to new things. But don’t go unless you're serious. My guy will know.” He rose and smiled. “In the meantime, you can see your um…future stepdad…in a few minutes. Just FYI, he’s a great guy, good soul. You’ll like him.” He turned to go. “Talk to your teammates, too. They will fucking surprise the hell out of you.”
He walked away, and Preacher sat there wondering if he did have the courage to really delve deep for what was troubling him. He looked down at the piece of paper. Scrawled in Blue’s doctor script, it read: Noa Kekoa and an address.
Preacher held on to the paper for several days, until he finally drove there. He parked his car and there was an old guy sitting outside of a surf shop.
He took a breath, closed his eyes briefly, telling himself he was as serious as he could be. He approached the old man, and he eyed Preacher, then frowned, shaking his head. “What makes you think being celibate is going to do anything for you, warrior?”
Preacher looked at the old man for a few minutes wondering how the hell he could tell Preacher had been devoid of sex for so long. He set his hands on his hips. “I thought it would help with meditation and reflection without all the body noise.”
