Warrior

Chapter 24: The War

Jade and I walked along the city, the darkness of the night brought some peace to my constantly running mind. Jade linked her arm into me as we walked, admiring the bright lights and walking past fight fans who were excitingly running around, it was a tourist attraction.

We walked to the pier, right by the water, there was no one there and we sat on the dock, looking out into the darkness of the night. I couldn't believe she put up with that for years and didn't say anything to Brendan or me when I got back. Had I known this prior I wouldn't have stopped myself from killing him that night, he was lucky.

"Jade, you know I love you like you're blood right?" She chuckled softly and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"We're family" she said without hesitation. I took a deep breath, it was time she knew what happened out there.

"When I was put into basic training, I met a lot of people and my unit, mine and Joel's unit, became our family" I started, she looked at me, confused at first but she didn't say anything, she knew I was ready to explain. "Tommy... I never told you in the letters but he... Well he was our sergeant" she turned to look at me now, a little angry, but willing to listen. "He was different, he didn't wanna talk about you or Brendan and when I tried he just shoved me off that's why I didn't tell you, Jade he wanted nothing to do with you and Brendan, and I you guys didn't deserve that." I took a deep breath.

"What happened?" She asked calmly. I was surprised she wasn't yelling. "Tell me stories"

I smiled thinking about the good times. "Once when we were in a forest, Joel almost shot Tommy because we were all drunk" I laughed. "And Tom hates Bruce Springsteen because of private Williams" I laughed harder "he would always play sad Bruce Springsteen songs when we were all trying to sleep, Tommy threw his iPod into he forest" Jade laughed at that one.

"That's Tommy" she chuckled, a little sad. I nodded, thinking about how much happier he was with Manny.

"He was really close to this guy named Manny Fernandez, treated him like a brother, you couldn't get the two of them apart Jade" her eyes kind of softened, I guess deep down all she really wanted was his happiness. "All of us, we were so close, we all lived and breathed for Each other, we lost a few brothers along the way" I paused, a moment of silence for them. "But we kept going"

"What happened to Joel?" She asked quietly now, leaning her head on me again.

"We..." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Me and him, we were keeping watch one day, dead of night just me and him, chilly night, talking about you and Brendan and the old times, how excited we were to go home and see you guys" I felt tears well up in my eyes, and Jade held my hand supportively. "and Joel went to check on the rest of the unit further down in the forest... I should've been more alert but we were attacked, and... They started shooting. The others work and started shooting back, and Joel was running to me... I guess he saw the grenade before I did, because I didn't even know they threw one" I closed my eyes, the moment replaying in my mind like a film. "He... Pushed me out of the way, threw me as far as he could... I fell down a hill and when I got up I saw the explosion, but Joel wasn't anywhere to be seen. I've never ran so fast in my life... And there... There he was, laying on the floor, bloody, foot was blown off..." I could feel the sobs coming now and I continued to tell the story. "I slung him around my shoulder and I carried him back to the units camp, but he was hurting... Hurting real bad so I had to lay him down. He held my face and he just looked into my eyes for what felt like forever and he said 'keep moving' I tried to bandage him up but he was going, the damage was a lot worse than I thought, he was burned badly, he wasn't going to make it, I was crying and he just kept telling me 'straighten up little soldier... I love you' and... The light left his eyes" Jade was looking at me, her face shocked. "Tommy and Manny had to tear me from his dead body, the enemy forces were approaching and we had to get out, I was screaming I just wanted to stay and die with him, but Tommy said we'd have to go back for him" Jade wrapped her arms around me and held me to her, I could hear her crying. "That's why I stopped writing, I was so distraught."

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked, Naomi" I shook my head.

"You loved him too" I sighed, kissing his dog tags and letting out a deep sigh. "After that, Tommy would rarely let me go on missions with them anymore, kept saying I was too unstable, and he didn't want anything to happen to me" I let out a shaken breath. "So I sat and watched as my unit left without me, on a mission none of them would come back from" Jades face dropped and her hand covered her mouth. "I don't know much, but from what I heard they... We're dropping bombs, American planes, trying to lessen the threat of enemies. Tommy and manny they were waving their flags, American flags, trying to tell them that they were American, for them to stop... But they didn't" I took a shakey breath and paused for a bit. "Everyone died... Except Tommy. Manny's death changed him Jade, he didn't talk he didn't do anything. Soon after he disappeared, we thought he offed himself."

Tears were running down Jades face and her knuckles were turning white as she held my hand tightly. I wondered if this was too much for her.

"Then, one night, I decided I felt OK, and I went on a mission with my new unit, young recruits... We were in an Amtrak crossing a bridge, but it gave out and the Amtrak fell in the river, there was water everywhere, and the water pressure... We couldn't.... We couldn't get out. That is where I was supposed to die, all of us, our whole unit. The water was flooding in and we were drowning, looking at each other for what we thought was the last time." Jade was shaking and so was I, was it the chilly air or the blood curdling stories of war? "I remember thinking about you, how you'd react when you'd find out I was dead, and Joel.. I thought I'd finally be with him and grandma and my parents, I had a death wish Jade"

"Naomi..." She breathed, not having anything else to say.

"Right when I was about to take my last breath, right when I was about to black out the door was ripped off, and a pair of hands dragged me out of it, placed me on the shore, I caught a glimpse of him but it was dark... I couldn't tell... My whole unit lived... All thanks to him"

"Did you find out who it was?" I looked at her with a small smile.

"Tommy." I breathed and her face straightened. "On his way out of the country, he told me about it when you left me in Pittsburgh, he couldn't have known the story any other way. After that incident they sent me home, saying I was too unstable, needed to go home" Jade stood there in shock, looking out onto the dark water and we sat in silence.

"Naomi I'm so sorry" I shook my head, "I love you, you know that" I smiled and leaned my head onto hers as we breathed in the cold air.

"I love you too, Jade"