A Love Worth Fighting For

Ch. 12 *Clay's POV*

Claire still wasn't acting normal after her accident. She said she was fine but I knew something else was wrong. She promised that there were appointments lined up. I wanted her to have a CT scan or some kind of more in depth work done. Of course she refused stating that she would find out what was wrong once she went to see her doctor.

I still feel uneasy about her driving around by herself but I had to get back to work. It was closing in on the end of school and it was time to start visiting the senior class to see if anyone wanted to join the military. A lot of the local kids knew my story and were anxious to be able to ask questions. Some turned away really fast when I told them the ordeal I went through. I was there to recruit, not sugarcoat anything.

I didn't want them to be turned away if a career in the military is something that they really wanted to pursue but they needed to know that there's always the off chance that something bad can happen. I just turned out to be a statistic. I had several who still didn't waver when they were told. A lot were the second, third and sometimes fourth generation to go into the military.

When I got home that evening, Claire was at the stove looking at some kind of packaging.

"What are we cooking tonight?" I asked, walking up behind her and wrapping my arms around her.

"I was going to make this mushroom chicken pasta but once I started cooking the mushrooms, I started feeling queasy."

"Mushrooms have never bothered you before. Maybe you got a bad batch of them," I told her.

"Maybe," she answered. "I just decided to throw a meatloaf together. Baked potatoes and green beans?"

"Sounds good. What are the kids doing?" I asked, walking to the fridge.

"Mikey is hanging out with Bianca for at least another hour and Hannah went to the mall with some of her friends. Said she'll be back in time for dinner. Did you see either one of them while you were at the school today?"

"Not really. I had three sign up," I told her.

She must have noticed the mood change or I made a face and didn't realize it because she walked closer to me and wrapped her arms around me.

"You're doing your job, babe. You still work for the Army. I know it's hard but you know that your situation isn't always a given."

"I know but it doesn't get easier. These kids are so brave even after knowing what happened to me. They're still showing up and doing it."

"You sounds like a proud dad," she said.

"A mix between proud and sad, I think," I said.

"I can understand that," she said, going back to the stove.

"So, what did the doctor tell you today?" I asked her.

"Oh, um... she's sending me for some more testing. Something about something showing up inconclusive. I don't understand," she said.

Something didn't sound right and it worried me but I didn't let her know that it did. I told her I wanted more tests done but she fought me on it. I guess she just wanted the confirmation from a doctor. I wanted to be a smart aleck and say It told you so' but I kept my comment to myself.

After dinner, the kids volunteered to straighten the kitchen up and load the dishwasher. Claire and I went to the living room and turned on the TV. After Hannah and Mikey were finished, they joined us in the living room.

"The meatloaf was really good," Hannah commented.

"Clay said something about a mushroom pasta. That sounded like it would have been good," Mikey said.

"Yeah, I think I got ahold of some bad mushrooms," Claire said.

"Does anyone want anything to drink?" Hannah asked suddenly. "I'm going to go get me a glass of lemonade or something," she finished, jumping up before anyone could answer.

We all cracked up at her sudden departure. The women in my house were going crazy. I hope they find something out sooner rather than before they ended up driving me crazy.

When Claire told me the doctor wanted more testing done, I figured it would be done the next day. She told me that night while we were settling down to sleep that it would be another two to three weeks. I really was beginning to get upset with these doctors.

Since the last episode of dreams, I haven't had but two and typically I would just go downstairs and play a game or something to occupy my mind. I didn't want to take off after what happened the last time. If Claire was going to stay upset with me over something like that, something worse could happen the next time.

The day of the appointment for further testing, I told Claire that I wished I could go with her but it was another day that I had scheduled at the school. The three students who signed up were scheduled to take a practice ASVAB test.

After I was finished at the school, Brent had sent me a text asking me to meet him by the basketball court we use to hang out at when we were younger. I hadn't really talked to Brent much the past several weeks so I didn't hesitate to catch up with him.

When I got there he was already running around dribbling the ball. I had already stopped by the house to change out of my fatigues. When he saw me, Brent threw the ball out me.

"What's up, man?" he asked.

"Not much. Doing the recruiting thing," I said l, easily catching the ball and started dribbling it.

"How's everything with Claire?"

"Something's up, B. She's been to two different doctors who claims she needs more testing. I don't know what's going on. She's never this secretive."

    "Maybe she's just struggling some with the car wreck," he said.

    "She always tells me what's going on."

    "Clay, I mean this as nicely as I can but buddy, you've not exactly been transparent with what's going on with you."

    "Brent, you're the one person who understands," I said.

    "I understand what happened to me. It took longer to pull you out. I went and did the canceling. It was my ordeal. What you went through was so much more," he said.

I knew he was telling the truth but I let it go because I felt like he would start trying to push me into seeing a shrink. Claire has finally stopped talking about it and I just didn't want to hear it from my best friend.

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Guys..... I struggled with this chapter. SO BAD. I hope it's up to standard and you enjoy it.