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“The first Humvee went over an IED and Tobinas, he was driving, he slammed on the brakes. We were already taking fire when Maxwell climbed out and I was right behind him when…” He trails off and I feel the first tear start to fall.
I can’t imagine how scared he must have been. Not just for himself but for all of his friends as well.
“Reyes, he climbed out after me and that’s when Maxwell got shot. I tried to… I tried to stop the bleeding,” he says, his voice breaking and my heart breaks alongside it.
“He was gone. I couldn’t save him. I didn’t see Tobinas get shot, but by the time that I made it around to his side of the Humvee, he was already dead.”
His voice goes flat and I see him stare off into the distance.
“I tried to run to the other Humvee, but they started shooting mortars at us. They hit the Humvee and it exploded. They weren’t…” he starts and he has to stop to clear his throat. “They didn’t make it. None of them.”
“Reyes got hit by some of the blast from the mortar. He was bleeding really bad and his leg, well, half of it was already gone. I just reacted. We had called in for air support and the drones were overhead. I tied my belt around Reyes’s leg, or what was left of it, and laid him in the back seat.”
I draw in a shaky breath. It must have been pure chaos, and I’m not sure how I would have reacted in that situation. I would like to think that I would have stayed and fought, that I would have helped my friends, but no one really knows. Not until they’re in that situation.
“I went back for Tobinas and Maxwell’s body and that’s when I got shot,” he says, rubbing his shoulder.
“But you made it back to base.”
“Sort of,” he says and I wait for him to go on.
It takes him a minute and I watch as he wrings his hands and clears his throat a few times.
“We started driving but we were still taking fire. Air support was still a few minutes out and so I got out and started shooting. I got shot again,” he says, motioning to his side.
I’ve seen the scars, so I had already guessed that but it still hurts to hear.
“Air support got there just as I was starting to lose consciousness. They flew us back to the base and I remember being loaded into another plane but I passed out before we reached Germany. I woke up in the hospital there the next day.”
“Did you ever ask what happened while you were there?” I whisper and he shakes his head.
“No. I didn’t want to know. Everyone kept calling me a hero and treating me like I was special. I hated it.”
“You are a hero. You saved your friend. You tried to save the others.”
“But I didn’t!” he says, letting go of my hand so that he can drag his hands through his hair.
“I didn’t save them. I couldn’t.”
“Exactly, Jonah. You couldn’t. There was nothing that anyone else could have done. You were so brave, so strong. You deserve to be treated like a hero because you are one.”
“An accidental one, maybe,” he says bitterly and I shake my head.
“What happened next?”
“I was medically discharged and sent back to the States. I came to Fallen Peak because Ledger was here and well, you’ve been here for the rest.”
“You could have died, but you did what you could and saved yourself and your friend. You brought back the other’s bodies. That’s huge, Jonah. You might not see yourself as a hero, but I do.”
Jonah is silent for a minute. He leans forward, his elbows on his knees, and I watch as he closes his eyes, taking a few deep breaths. I give him time to get his emotions under control and then he turns to me.
There’s something in his eyes and I hold my breath when he smiles at me.
“I love you, Mabel.”
Well, I was not expecting that.
“What?” I choke out.
