Duty(66)

“Turn on the TV!”

My head comes up from my computer, curious as I see people rushing toward the battalion reception area. There's jostling, but before I can join them, my phone buzzes, and I see that I got an email. It's from Aaron, and I pull a fade, going into a supply closet and opening it.

I'm surprised to see that it's a video mail, and I open the attachment, watching with an expectant smile on my face.

“I don't know how we'll handle the work side of things, but that's not the point. I was thinking, when I get back, we need to talk about maybe—” he says, when suddenly, a crunching sound comes from outside the tent, followed by someone screaming. “INCOMING!”

Aaron disappears from the screen, and there's nothing but background noise and half-seen figures running past the screen for another ten seconds before the video cuts off. With numb fingers, I slip my phone back in my pocket and leave the closet, emerging to even more chaos.

“Initial reports are still coming in, but reports from Kabul state that a battalion of the 10th Mountain Division has come under attack from what could be nearly a thousand local fighters.”

“Yes, Melanie. Reports are still scattered, but it is believed that local warlords that are aligned with ISIS or Al Qaeda have attacked the second battalion of the twenty-first infantry regiment. There have been, according to first reports, some significant casualties. I'm still getting word, but from what we know, the attack was against a battalion headquarters and rest area, where two companies were gathered while . . .”

The 2-21st? Oh, dear God, no. Aaron's video . . . oh, God. I stumble back, hitting the edge of a desk with my hip, but I don't feel it. Everything's starting to swim before my eyes.

“Someone grab Morgan!” I hear a voice say, and suddenly, hands are on my arms, helping me out of the room and into an office. It's cool, and I am sat down in a chair, where the tears start. The people gathered around me are faceless, and I don't know what is going on. I'm just scared. It can't be, it just can't be.

“Everyone out,” another voice says, and the room clears until there's only one person in the room with me. I blink and wipe my eyes, and it's Captain Lemmon, a concerned look on his face and a tissue in his hands. “Hey, Morgan. You okay?”

I wipe my eyes, blowing my nose and shaking my head. “No.”

Captain Lemmon nods and takes a seat in one of the other chairs, leaning his elbows on his knees. “Chill, I saw the news too. But don't sweat it. Sure, the 2-21st is Aaron's battalion, but he'll be okay. There are five companies in that battalion, and so the odds aren't even good that he was involved. Lance's buddy will be fine.”

“He is,” I whisper, tears slipping down my face. “He's fighting right now.”

Captain Lemmon grows concerned, and he goes over, locking the door. “Talk to me. Obviously, you know something, so what's going on?”

I take out my phone, handing it to him. He plays it, then hands it back to me. “We met when he was a yearling at the Academy,” I explain before he can even ask, my voice soft. “I . . . I knew he was a cadet the whole time. He never lied to me at all about it. But there was something about him that made me ignore the rules. It took us a while, but we became friends. And then more. I guess the tipping point was when we raced each other out to Buckner, and we ended up . . . well, you know.”

“When did Aaron find out you were enlisted?” Captain Lemmon asks, not angry, just curious. “How did you two handle it?”

“I didn't mean to keep lying to him, but then he got hours. He said it was something about setting his room on fire. I remember that much. But he was talking to another cadet on hours, and then he confronted me about it. I didn't lie to him then.”

Captain Lemmon nods, then laughs. “Yeah, I remember when Aaron set his room on fire. He said he was distracted by something. I guess you were it.”

I snort, nodding. “Yeah, I guess so. We broke it off when I was reassigned to Lewis. I just knew it couldn't last. We’d been together for over a semester at the Academy. We were pushing our luck as it was. And . . . and I knew that it was more than just dating, more than just sex by that point. I was in love with him, and I was pretty sure he was in love with me.”

“Then when you got reassigned to Bragg, did you look him up?” Captain Lemmon asks, and I shake my head. “What happened?”

“He ran into my cart while I was shopping with Lance. He literally smacked right into me.” Telling the story is helping to calm me down, even though I know with every word, I'm getting myself and Aaron into deeper and deeper trouble. But it helps, and I need to continue. “He noticed Lance, and we started talking again.”

“Lance is Aaron's son, isn't he?” Captain Lemmon asks, and I nod. “I thought I'd seen those eyes of his around somewhere else. And what's this email he's talking about in the video?”

“I . . . I'm pregnant again,” I whisper, then look up at Captain Lemmon, squaring my shoulders. “I'm pregnant again, sir. It's Aaron's baby. I was telling him.”

Captain Lemmon sits back, and I wonder what he's going to do. He looks at me for a long, long minute, then he smiles. “Okay. Congratulations, Lindsey.”

I blink, surprised. This isn't the reaction I expected. “Excuse me, sir?”