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“What… happened?” he whispered – and then froze as the memories rolled over him in some sort of nightmarish jumble. He remembered seeing Collins being sucked out the back of the truck, Pendergrass holding his hand before he passed out, and the medic arguing with Morrison. “I’m alive?”
“Barely,” the doctor said bluntly and looked at him. “We need to get you up and moving, but you still have a drainage tube in your chest cavity. You are very lucky, young man. You had four broken ribs, lost one lung, and nearly punctured your heart in the process. I honestly don’t know how you made the flight here.”
“Too… stubborn,” he whispered, closing his eyes in exhaustion.
“You’ll be here for a few days, soldier. Then we’ll see about removing that tube and start discussing the next steps for you.”
* * *
A week and a half later, Jake was being tested… and failing.
His stamina was low because he’d lost a lot of blood. It took nothing for him to be winded, and if someone dropped a lunch tray in the hospital hallway, the sound alone would set him off. He started having panic attacks, breaking out in a sweat and ended up passing out because he wasn’t able to drag in enough oxygen to keep up with the mind-numbing fear that hit him like a ton of bricks.
Sitting in bed, knowing he was about to be discharged from the hospital and unsure how to handle what was going to happen next – he never expected to see Captain Logan walk into his hospital room.
“Sir!” he said, jumping to his feet and wincing as his scar from his surgery pulled painfully along his side.
“At ease, Ortega… besides, this is more of a –well– asocialcall,” Logan said easily, handing him a cup of coffee. “You can have coffee, can’t you? I mean, I didn’t ask, but I assumed…”
“Yeah.”
“Perfect. Now, I’ll need to be brief because everyone answers to someone, and I sure don’t want to get my rank pulled from me. I mean, can you imagine me running laps or having to clean latrines? No, thank you.”
“What can I do for you, Captain Logan?”
“It’s actually what I am here to discuss with you that is the pressing matter. How are you feeling? Are you at a hundred percent? Do you feel like you can run if your life depended on it? I don’t know how this will affect you and…”
“You need to know if I can do my job.”
“I need to know if you will be safe in the field during an emergency – because I really don’t want to inform your next of kin that you’ve died.”
“Good luck with that,” he muttered.
“Any signs of PTSD or problems with…”
“Sir?” Jake interrupted bluntly. “Let’s cut to the chase – please. What do you want? Am I being discharged on a medical basis, or are you shipping me off to file papers or pull staples in some grimy, backwoods office?”
“Fair enough,” Logan said quietly and got up to shut the door to the hospital room. “Let’s talk – man to man. You’re missing a lung and nearly got yourself killed. You asked for a pen pal and still have a raging attitude. I think you are a jerk, probably have a hidden case of PTSD after that bomb blast, and who knows what other little quirks you’ve acquired in the past two weeks… but despite it all? I like you – and you remind me… of me.”
“Huh?” Jake said openly and shook his head, utterly confused.
“You are a first-class jerk,” Logan laughed softly, giving him a sly yet proud smile. “Andlikerecognizeslike.”
“Thanks… I guess.”
“What if I told you that I have an opportunity for you – that isn’t a pen pal? What if instead of writing a person, you could meet them, get to know them, and win them over with all that lovely, cozy charm bottled up inside of you just itching to get out?”
“We’re talking about me – and I’m not exactly charming when I’m stitched up like Frankenstein’s adopted son.”
“You could heal, rest, take your time getting to know a new place, a new home, and have a second chance at the life you very nearly lost. You would have a roof over your head while you are waiting for your disability to be approved and…”
“Disability, huh,” Jake said, letting his shoulders drop as he sat down heavily on the edge of the hospital bed. “I knew it.”
“You nearly died,” Logan began gently. “I helped carry your body into the clinic, and you were dropping in and out. Do you know what that is like to see and hear bubbles or wheezing from someone you genuinely admire? I mean, no one else has ever accused me of having pixie dust or a magic wand shoved up my…”
“Oh man,” Jake laughed and winced. “I amreallysorry about that.”
“Don’t be. I’m trying to wave a little pixie dust in your direction right now – and helping a friend. My best friend is always shoving this saying down my throat, and I really believe it because I’ve seen it happen time and time again.”
