A Soldier's Promise

Chapter Twelve

All Ryan told Albert and Jonathan was that the girls were doing well, and their message was received. He couldn't go into detail since they went against protocol. A month had passed since Jonathan regained consciousness. After the debriefing with their commanders, they were left to rest and recuperate. Albert had physical therapy for his arm and shoulder. When Jonathan's cast was removed, his physical therapy started.

The nightmares started for both of them as soon as the doctors stopped the medication they were using to put them to sleep. Both Jonathan and Albert woke during the night drenched in sweat and screaming. After a week of this, their commanding officers decided to send them both home to finish recuperation and to start therapy. It was torture for them to be back in the States and they still were not allowed to contact Jen or Evelyn. A few weeks after they returned stateside, they were given access to their private cell devices. Before either of them had a chance to send messages to either Jen or Evelyn, they ran into Ryan.

"Damn it's good to see you guys," Ryan grinned as he gave both of his friends a quick hug.

"It's good to be back," Albert smiled. Jonathan frowned as he looked down at his phone. "What's up?"

"They could have at least given them back to us charged." He rolled his eyes and stuck the phone in his pocket. "It's good to see you, bro."

"I don't know if you're going to feel the same after I show you something." Jonathan frowned at his friend.

"What do you mean?" Ryan pulled out his phone and showed Jonathan the video he took of Evelyn getting cozy with the other man. His blue eyes turned cold and the muscles in his jaw tightened. Albert blew out a long breath and scratched his head.

"Don't let your mind go there Jonathan. You don't know who that guy is. He could just be a friend."

"Looks more than just friendly to me," Ryan shrugged his shoulders.

"Did you actually talk to her, or did you just stalk her and take a video?" Albert asked, his anger evident in his voice.

"No, I thought this was good enough to show Jonathan she was doing just fine without him."

"How the hell do you know, Ryan?" Jonathan took Ryan's phone and moved his fingers across the screen, swiftly sending himself the video and the pictures Ryan had taken. Without another word he walked away quickly, his hands balled into fists at his side. "Jonathan..." Albert called out to him. "Don't go doing something stupid. You need to talk to Evelyn and get this whole mess straight." Jonathan never turned around, he kept walking, got into his car, and peeled out of the parking lot. Albert looked over at Ryan, his irritation with him evident on his face. "Seriously, dude?"

Ryan shrugged his shoulders, "What? I didn't tell her to go cheat on him. I just happen to catch her."

"Damn, dude, you really are stupid." Albert took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm going to see Jen."

"Will you guys be at the Den later?" Albert didn't answer him. He threw up his hand and continued to walk away.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hours and many rounds of sex later, Albert and Jen lay in her bed completely spent. She lay with her head on his chest as he lazily ran his fingers up and down her spine.

"Can I ask you something, babe?" Jen nodded. "You've gotten closer to Evelyn over these last few months, right?" Jen sat up and looked up at him.

"Yeah. None of our other friends could really understand what we were going through. It was nice having someone to talk to who did understand." Albert nodded.