Worlds Apart (Sequel to Different Worlds)

Promises

Your POV:

After one more week at the hospital in Germany, I was cleared to travel and released. We flew to London where I was checked out again, then finally flew back to the states.

First stop North Carolina.

"Lance Corporal L/N."

"General." I shook his hand.

"Let me start by saying welcome home."

"Thank you, sir." I nodded.

"I understand you were with two other Marines."

"Yes, sir." I took a deep breath. "They, unfortunately, did not make it home, sir."

"I heard. Your officers told me about what you tried to do. Getting medical for them. Trying to keep them safe. Air Force Captain Alonso told me about the torture you endured."

I nodded.

"You showed great leadership during your deployment and during your training. You're exactly what we look for here. Rest up, recover, we'll see you back here soon, Corporal."

I shook his hand. "Corporal?"

"I assume when you return to base you'll be limited. We'd like you to lead a small unit through some drills. Maybe a few missions here and there."

"Yes, sir." 

Mal's POV:

We landed in Utah.

It wasn't to see Kelley, Acosta and his wife live here.

With their 5-year-old son.

Y/N walked up to the front door and knocked on it. "I'll be in the car." She nodded. I sat and watched as a woman answered the door. 

Your POV:

"Mrs. Acosta, I am Y/N L/N. I was deployed with your husband."

"Are you here with more apologies? I don't want anymore."

"No. I'm here with something for you." I reached into my pocket. "We were in the same unit. Whenever we talked he told me all about you and your son." I smiled. "When everything happened he made me promise that I would find you. That I would tell you how hard he tried to come home to you." She started to cry. "And I promised myself that I would find you and tell you how hard I tried to ensure that he came back to you and your son. How sorry I am that I couldn't do more." I pulled the dog tag out. "I made sure to grab this before I went to look for help. Figured you would want it." I gave it to her.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Mommy!" A little boy ran over. "Who's that!"

"This is a friend of daddy's. From work."

"Hey little man." I kneeled down. "What's your name?" 

"I'm Jacob! I'm 5!"

"5?" He nodded. "That's crazy."

"You know my daddy?"

"I do. Wanna know what he told me?" He nodded again. "He said that you are the best kid ever. In the whole world."

"Really?"

"Yeah! And I was like well I don't know there are a lot of cool kids in the world, so he showed me a picture of you and I was like WOW! That is the best kid in the history of kids!" 

He laughed. 

"Would you like to come in." His mom asked. I looked towards the car.

"My girlfriend is waiting."

"She can come too." She smiled. "Coffee?"

"Of course. I'll go get her."

"Can I come!" Jacob asked.

"Sure kiddo." His mom smiled.

Mal's POV:

I watched her talk with the boy and smiled the whole time. They walked towards the car. I got out. 

"Mal this is Jacob. He's 5."

"Hi, Jacob. It's nice to meet you."

"Thank you!" He smiled. 

"He's the best kid in the world."

"Really?" Jacob nodded. "I have a young niece so you have competition."

"That's ok! There's room for more of us."

"I want him." Y/N mouthed.

"You can't have him." I mouthed back. 

"Let's go inside." He skipped to the door. 

We sat in the living room. Jacob went to play. 

Your POV:

"What happened to him?" She asked. 

"I don't think you should-"

"Tell me. Please."

I sighed. "We were patrolling the town. We noticed some men hiding in the treeline but they weren't doing anything to cause anyone harm, so we just continued to watch. Next thing we know there's a whole firefight. Two units were assigned to get all the civilians to safety. We weren't in those groups. We stayed and fought." 

"Was it bad?"

"At first it was gunfire. Then the explosions started. He was hit. I tried to get him medical attention but a lot of us needed it. Besides with the gunfire there was no way we could move without getting hit. Marshal, Dylan and I were near this building. It was in pieces already. Something blew up near us and when I woke up, I was buried under rubble. I looked for him and saw him, he was completely buried, except for his hand. If I just tried hard to get him out of there sooner he'd be here." I put my head in my hands.

"It's not your fault." Sarah said softly. "He knew what to expect going. This was the 2nd time he was deployed. First time Jacob was 1. Turned 2 before he came back home. He stayed on base for a while after that, I moved back here to be near family. Then he got deployed again. I told him to be careful he said I always am."

"I am so sorry, Sarah. He was the greatest man I met. He looked after all of us."

We stayed and talked for a while. I played with Jacob.

As it started to get late, I knew we had to leave. "Here is my phone number." I gave her a piece of paper. "If you need anything at all, please call me. I have a friend out here too so if I can't come I'll let her know. Anything at all."

"I will." 

"And you." I kneeled down to Jacob. "You be good ok? Look out for your mom."

"I will." He said. "Daddy told me I'm the man when he's gone. But I'm only this many." He showed me 5 fingers. "Mommy has this though."

"She does. And I'll try to help out a little if that's ok."

"Ok! Maybe we can play cars next time!"

"Cars? Sign me up right now!" I high fived him. 

We finished saying bye and walked to the car. "Mal." Sarah called her. "Can I talk to you for a second." 

"I'll wait in the car." I said.

"Ok."