The Soldier Next Door

In front of me stands the woman that I have been searching for; to say that I am not beyond relief would be a lie. Never have I been more happy to see her face than now. Just when I was starting to think that all of this is futile, out she rises from the dark.

Not caring much for the chaos around us, I pull her tight into my embrace. The moment my arms are locked around her, she breaks down and sobs. The feeling of her body trembling against my chest sends tears to my own eyes. I slowly pull away to find her beautiful eyes; there is a fear hiding behind them.

“Hey, look at me, boo. I will not let anything happening to you.”

Through the tears, she tries to speak, but there is nothing but a mumble that escapes from those soft lips. I gently cup her face in my hands and wipe the tears away from her eyes. Her eyes pierce into mine as she is looking past me, the façade, the man that is trying to pretend that he is strong.

I move my trembling lips to hers; I gasp and slowly press through the seems of her lips and delve inside. There is a force bigger than both of us, bigger than anything imaginable that keeps on drawing us closer. With now warning in an instant, it is as if the world has disappeared, nothing else existed, it was just you and me.

No words are spoken because no words could describe how we feel. Soon our breathing starts to slow. And as before, our hearts beat together again. As if we are one heart and one love again. In the silence of the moment, we know we are meant to be together forever.

And as we stand for a moment longer in the dark, I wish that I can extend this moment just a little longer, to stay safe in her embrace. With her arms wrapped around me, she calms the storm that is raging in my heart. In her embrace, I believe that there is nothing out there to fear.

But we are not yet out of danger; we are surrounded by militants that shall not think twice in ending our lives. The minute they discover that she is gone, they shall come for her. At this very moment, not one of us our safe. The question begs, will they come as far as our camp?

So it is with absolute haste that we make our way back to where Ray and the other guys are waiting. We tread softly and unseen through the thick brush. We are feeling very confident that we are almost close to safety again. And as we come up to Ray, I firmly believe that we are.

Without having to speak, by the looks on the faces of all around, I can safely say that they too are just as happy to see her face creeping from behind me.

So Ray signals for us to fall back; we will just have to live with the reality that they will come back and look for Ana, and they might even find our camp. But I firmly believe that the boys at the top will give us the instruction to come total their camp. The only thing I care about now is getting her safely home.

…Ana POV…

I have never been so happy to see this bunch. I think I knew all the time that neither Ethan of the rest of the platoon would just let me wander the forest alone. And if I thought that Ethan was only doing this because it is his job, that kiss just proved me wrong. I know that he still loves me and his lips just spoke those unsaid words.

Now do I believe that we are back together? The way he had those strong arms wrapped around my waist, tell me that we are. Ethan is a man of passion, and passion is what he just showed for our love.

But we need to get back to camp first, and I know that it is my doing that we are still in danger. So Gibbs and Williams will remain here for a while longer to make sure that nobody is following us, then they will divert anyone that might follow them in a complete different direction. Needless to say that they shall only return to camp late tomorrow, which is going to keep me on edge until they do.

I think that I should come to the reality that this is all my fault, but I can no longer beat myself over it. I need to be strong; I need to be strong for Ethan. I saw fear there in his eyes; I don’t know if it is from nearly losing me or that the realization that the enemy out here is real. We have long left the safety of our home, we are now right in the middle of a war. The last thing we need is for me and him to be at war with each other.

…Ethan POV…

It takes us an hour to navigate our way through the forest, going unseen; as we get close to camp, we circle around just to make sure that nobody has followed us. Being confident that we are clear, we step into camp where, much to my surprise, a very eagerly waiting platoon is there to greet us. The minute they see Ana, they burst out in cheer. They rush up to us, giving her hugs and patting me and my men with a well deserved well done on the back.

They cheer for me soon dies, for out from the nurse’s tent, I see Emily appear. Now, this is going to be a very hard discussion that Ana and I will need to have. Well, I can honestly say that I am not looking forward to it. But wait, Emily, being far beyond necessary, walks up to me and gives me a kiss square on my lips. I am completely knocked away that I am not able to explain a single word to Ana, who has now walked off with Lewis to go find her tent.

As soon as everyone has gone their separate ways, I turn to Emily.

“Was that really necessary?”

“What? Can I not kiss you?”

“No. There is no reason why you should.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“Well, you gave me the impression that things were back together with us again. So, yes, I think I am allowed to.”

“Oh my god, how did I do that? I sat and spoke to you. I did not say, ‘Let us get back together again,’ now did I?”

Much to my annoyance, I see her step one step closer to me again. And just as she goes to grab for my hand, I see Ana walking with Lewis to the nurse’s tent. I just hope that he did not tell her about Emily because I wanted to tell her as soon as we came back here.

“Emily, what is wrong with you? Can you not see I am with someone else?”

“MacKey said that you guys have broken up.”

“Really? You believe MacKey. The man would do anything to get into your pants. Now please leave me alone. Let us try to make this civilized.”

But yes, this woman is as thick as a doornail. I swear, but as she sees Ana again, she launches her arms around my neck and pulls her damn face closer to my lips.

“Stop! God, I don’t know why I am even still standing here. Please stay away from me. I think you and MacKey deserve each other.”

With that, I spin on my heels to go look for Ana, but before I do, I turn to Emily for one last time.

“I don’t think I need to remind you to stay away from Ana. I will have you sent back to Pendleton faster than you can breathe.”

…Ana POV…

I have just witnessed another woman kissing Ethan in front of the entire platoon. Not even an hour ago, I thought that we were back together again. Did I misread the signs so badly, or is it my own fantasy that I have created in my head. But why would he have kissed me like that.

But let us forget about that, who is this girl? We have not even been here for two days, and he is already kissing another woman. I am assuming that she is part of the nursing staff, but really Ethan? What is up with you and nurses?

So very curious, I turn to Lewis; I want to know more about this girl.

“Lewis, who is that girl?”

“Oh, that is Emily.”

“Like in Emily, Ethan’s ex-fiancé?”

“Yes, that very one and only.”

“Are they back together again?”

“That you will have to ask him. I saw them disappear into the mess hall before they went out looking for you.”

With that, Lewis takes me to my tent; right now, I cannot deal with Ethan and his shit. If he wants to play Casanova, he can go play it on someone else’s field.

So I decide to lay down for a few minutes and close my eyes, but I have not even drifted off when I find someone standing at my tent. As I look outside, I am prepared to be annoyed by Ethan’s face, but I am shocked to see someone I least of all expected.

“What…what do you want?”