Chapter 14: Cynthia

When I returned from Fort Sill, the house was in order, the dishes were all put away and I found Alyssa and Ashley both at their desks working. What a surprise to find them doing what they should be doing. When I went in to kiss them both, they seemed genuinely happy to see me. I suppose it represented both the relief to know that someone was here and that they honestly missed me. Alyssa hugged me longer than usual and smiled a lot. That felt good inside. We quickly decided that the first order of business was the market to replenish the food supply. We spent twenty minutes just making our list. Maybe I felt slightly guilty for being gone and let them buy a few things that I wouldn't ordinarily. Even I bought some comforts to ease the pain.

Alyssa said, "Mom called and said that she would be home tomorrow. She wants to talk to you but didn't want to call you on your cell."

I talked to Laura for a while and found nothing amiss. Her mother was better and could get along without her. I brought her up to date on the shopping trip. On the surface, everything seemed normal. No one brought up the problem of the big gorilla.

After Ashley went to see a neighbor friend, I winked and asked Alyssa, "How was it?"

She giggled. "Well, we had a nice time, but we didn't fuck. We both gave each other good orgasms. I wasn't quite ready with my surprise for him, and he seemed happy enough to be with me and watch the TV after we played with each other."

"I'm glad that you felt comfortable enough to keep things where they are. You don't have to fuck until you're ready."

"I'm ready to fuck, I just haven't set the stage right. I have this notion from some of my stories that I can make it better than I might have before reading."

I didn't want to pry. If she wanted me to know, she would tell me. "Good for you. I admire a woman in charge."

Traveling required such a hectic daily schedule that I didn't have much time to be miserable. That changed immediately when I went up to my room and looked at the bed where he should have been waiting for me. Raw dreadful emotion hit me literally causing me to sob on the bed. Apparently Alyssa heard me and came running.

"What's wrong, Cyn? What happened?"

I grabbed her in a hug and just held on to her for a while. When I could, I said, "I miss him so much. When I came in here and looked at the bed and imagined him being there to hold me, and I don't know where he is..." I lost it again.

Alyssa stroked my back and hair as she remembered my doing it for her. She kissed my cheek and said, "I love you, Cyn, and I'm sorry that you hurt so much."

When I could talk again, I said, "Thanks. It feels better to be held when you're in pain."

"You do that for me and it always makes me feel better."

I sniffled and snuffled around for a few minutes and decided that the only cure would be to go running. I'd been drawing running companions when I ran around the Army posts. In earlier days, I would have welcomed the company and attention. Now, I wanted to go through the park and trail to see if I could run through the deep sadness permeating my total existence. I said, "I have to go run."

She said instantly, "I'm going with you. You can't be out there alone."

That started my tears again. I was finally able to get dressed with my hair back as I glared at my puffy face. Shit. I felt better when Alyssa came out in her new outfit ready to go. She looked fresh and pretty with her hair back. When she hugged me, I felt more comfortable. She said, "Let's go. We can't finish until we start."

I actually laughed. "Where did you get that wisdom?"

"Our coach comes up with one or two of those every practice. Most of them are funny at the time."

When we returned from what was almost a race, I felt tired but the awful feeling of depression had departed. Now, to make dinner. I felt thankful for the routine.

Bradford Awakens

I woke up in what had to be a military hospital in a ward with many other people. My head was spinning, but if I focused on the lights above me I could slow it down. After a good while, I could focus my eyes and get a good look at what was going on. I tried to sit up, but that brought the dizzy spell back. After the third or fourth try I sat up to find paraphernalia attached that restricted my movements. I found the call button hooked to the headboard and pressed it.

Shortly a woman came up to me and looked me in the eyes. "Well, Bradford, you seem to be awake. Do you know where you are?"

"Seems like a hospital. Where else would I get room service?"

"Okay, smartass. Remember that you're not out of here yet and I'm still in charge. I can get even."

"Sorry. I've been in the boonies. Didn't realize you were so sensitive."

I suddenly felt this strong pain in my leg. She said, "Who's sensitive, now?"

"You got me. I'm sorry. I'm real sorry."

"Let me get a doc. You sound like you're almost alive."

She returned shortly with a woman in a white coat carrying the obligatory stethoscope. The nurse said, "This is Dr. Angela Martin. She's in charge of you."

"Okay. I surrender."

Dr Martin flashed a light in my eyes as she muttered, "Looks like you've already brought this one to heel, Sarah. Nice work." After a minute, she went on, "We worried about you. You've been out for a while. We don't know what happened to you, but you have a leg wound and a bad concussion. Tell me what you remember."

What a question. How did I get here? What could I remember? "I remember being at Salerno waiting for a mission. I remember going on a mission with the Army."

"Anything happen on the mission?"

"No. routine. The Sarge's people confiscated some bad guy weapons. Then, we went back to the post and did our routine reports and went to chow."

"Anything else?"

"There was another SEAL there named Miller. We ate together and shot a lot of bull. Went to the Green Bean for coffee and shot more bull. Oh, we arranged for a box of ballpoint pens to be sent from his father's club."

"Any more names?"

"Hmmm. Miller. Sergeant Allen. Oh, Sergeant Jefferson. My boss was Master Chief O'Hara."

"I'm trying to find out how you ended up here. Who shot you?"

"Nope. I didn't know I was shot until Sarah told me and demonstrated her sadistic strength of grip."

I felt Sarah's finger stab into my leg. "I'm sorry, Sarah. I'm real sorry."

Dr. Martin said, "I don't think he's quite housebroken yet, Sarah." Back to me. "You don't remember being shot or a ride in a helicopter?"

"I figure I had to get here some way, but I couldn't testify to it."

"You've helped us a little. I'll check to see if I can find any of those people you mentioned. They might help." She turned to Sarah as they walked away. "Looks like Ribot's Law all over again. Maybe it's just as well that they can't remember some of the bad events."

I looked at the clock and realized that I'd been awake for the better part of an hour. As I took deep breaths to summon strength, I suddenly thought about Cynthia and Laura and then Alyssa and Ashley. Better that I could remember them than how I got here. I had to talk to them soon.

It must have been two hours later when the two of them returned. Sarah said, "Here's what I found out. You were on a patrol out of Salerno and took fire from enemy combatants hiding in a village. Then, according to your squad, a grenade hit close and a post fell on your head. They had to drag you out unconscious and load you on the chopper. So, that's how you ended up here."

"Have you talked to Lyndon Miller? He was on my team."

"No, but I'll try to reach him. By the way, have you had any other concussions recently?"

"I had a bad bike wreck a few weeks before I came on active duty. I was out for about three hours and they made me take it slow for several days. By the way, what day is it?"

"It's 20 June. You've been out quite a while. That probably explains it. Prior concussions make subsequent ones worse." She turned to leave and then came back and asked, "Did you mention the concussion to the people who gave you your active duty physical?"

The answer was easy. Admitting it wasn't. I paused. She then said to Sarah. "Not only does he have a concussion here, but his brain must have been addled by the bike wreck. Why else would he lie to the medics about recent accidents?"

Sarah replied, "If he was confused that bad before he took the hit, it must be worse now. I'll have an orderly stay with him 24/7. He might try to escape. I'll get some restraints."

"Okay. Okay. You win. I wanted to go on the mission because the captive saved my life. I figured I owed him one. So, I forgot to mention the concussion during the physical."

Dr. Martin said, "Hmmm. I'm sure that's a violation of some article in the UCMJ. Maybe if he works hard, we won't have to report him."

I badly wanted to change the subject. No way I could come out ahead if they kept it up. "Is my leg okay?"

"It will be. As soon as you're ready for surgery, the orthopod will repair some muscles and that should fix it. We're slow right now and he's anxious to try out some new muscle procedures. From what I can tell, it should fix up fine."

"Can I stand up?"

"I don't know. Can you?" She unhooked tubes and oxygen.

I sat up and started to move my legs over the side of the bed. The left leg hurt in the thigh. Dr. Martin said, "Keep trying. It'll be better for surgery if you can walk around. The wound has healed, but the muscles won't be strong."

I struggled and put both feet on the floor. I couldn't believe those things belonged to me. Both of the women supported me and then they decided to get someone stronger to assist me. After a few minutes, I shuffled around the ward with a male therapist until the fatigue made me quit. They then had me doing that six times a day.

Sarah was tending to me one morning. I asked, "Do you have any friends at Salerno?"

"Yeah, probably quite a few. Why?"

I told her all I could remember of the situation and the raid. Lyndon Miller's name popped into my head again. Then, I told her why I was even in Afghanistan. She seemed surprised.

"You're a reservist and already did your tour. You're not planning on being career Navy. I guess you really need your head examined. Maybe I should call the shrink."

I told her about Pete's heroics in saving my life. She responded, "Do I understand that you were going out with the Army patrols for recreation?" She rolled her eyes. "I knew Salerno was bad, but you may be off the deep end."

I wrote down Pete's name and also Lyndon Miller and Sergeant Allen. I handed the paper to her. "Pete and Lyndon are SEALs. Allen is with the Army. Some Armored Cav unit, I believe. Some of them may still be there."

Several hours later, she came back. "Some days are amazing. I talked to Sgt. Allen personally. He told me that you did a good job for him and that he put you in for a citation. He said that it would be a bureaucratic miracle if it ever came through with an Army NCO recommending a Navy NCO for a commendation. Anyway, he said that they rescued the man named Pete. Miller told him that he and Pete were being returned to the States. Miller was going to Norfolk to some other duty and Pete was going to the Naval Hospital in Norfolk.'

I let out a huge sigh of relief. "I really screwed up by going on that patrol and then missing the mission I came here to do. As long as those guys got out, I'll have to be satisfied."

"Sergeant Allen told me he was initiating papers to have you transferred to his unit and wants to know when you will be well enough to go out again. Said he was short two E5s and you already knew the drill."

She talked in her official voice and I was just on the verge of worrying about how to get out of that assignment when she broke out laughing. "Had you going there for a minute, sailor!"

"Hospitals are supposed to help people recover and get well. I think you set me back a month."

"Your mission was successful. Perhaps not the one you planned, but Sarge said you all kicked a lot of butt that day. One of the men in your squad heard you yell something like 'Contrary' and then take out three of the bad guys who were threatening his position."

"I yelled Cantera. He's my boss in the Reserve Unit. He told me to get one for him and not do anything stupid just to do it."

"Well, you're batting about .500. You got one for him. I'm not sure how you handle stupid if you tell him what happened." She smiled and wiggled her finger as she moved on down the ward. Seeing her butt twitch aroused my basic desires. I had a real hard on for the first time I could remember.

When the ward was quiet and she could see everyone she needed to watch, she would sit and talk with me. It was private enough with empty bunks on either side and a lot of white noise in the room. We talked many hours about her background, my school and plans, and finally Cynthia and our family. I left out some of the intimate details about Laura. My desire for her increased with each conversation as it had been months since I had any sexual relief. I made sure that she knew how much she revved me up.

Once, she said, "You give me lots of nice strokes and I'd like to return the favor sometime."

"I'd like to stroke you with my fingers, not just my tongue."

"That would be nice, but there's no place for that to happen. I'll have to be happy with my battery-operated lover and my imagination. I'd probably get in trouble if they knew why I was going through so many regulation issue batteries."

Next day, she came in and said, "Dr. Martin thinks you're ready for surgery on your leg. They have some time tomorrow and unless all hell breaks loose, you will go in early in the morning." She always examined my body professionally each time, but the little pats and squeezes were definitely not regulation, unless affection had been written into Army Regs.

I must have looked startled. I mumbled, "Why does surgery always have to be early in the morning? The civilians have the same problem."

"Here, we do the low priority work early just in case we have a crowd later. Why does it matter? Did you have another appointment?" She almost sneered.

She put her hand on my leg and said, "It will work a lot better when they repair it." She examined and massaged the muscle until the back of her hand brushed my stiff cock. She looked surprised, grasped the entire length of it, and then whispered, "We always worry after a trauma until these functions return. You're lucky. The damage could have been six inches higher."

I shuddered and said, "Thanks for reminding me. Once it started getting awake, it happens all the time."

She gave me a reassuring squeeze, removed her hand and said, "Wish I could help you. Too many eyes and too many regulations. I'll see if I can get you into a private bathroom for a few minutes. Do you remember how?"

"I hope so. I really want to be with a woman. A woman just like you."

We locked eyes for several seconds. She whispered, "I think that would be nice. We're all needy around here. Sometimes Dr. Martin gets downright bitchy. One day, I looked at her and said, 'I know. You're just horny.'"

That made me laugh. I'd had that same conversation before with another person. "How do you take care of basic animal needs?"

She lowered her voice. "I have some privacy and I've learned to keep my head in the pillow when the freight train arrives. I tend to be noisy."

""If you keep looking that good and telling stories, I don't think mine will ever go down."

"I'll work on finding a place for massage therapy. We'll see."

Early the next morning, she sent me into a small enclosed toilet. She winked and said, "Your surgery will go better if you get rid of that load. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Are you sure you can't stay?"

"Bradford, I'm attracted to you big time. If I thought I could get away with it, I'd be all over you." She sighed. "I'll keep working on it and if you're interested, we might have a chance when your leg gets better."

I squeezed her hand and said, "Sarah, I'm interested day or night. I go to sleep and wake up lusting for you."

"I have the same problem. I just wonder how long it would take to get tired of each other."

"Only one way to find out."

She winked. "Okay, right over there. Take care of yourself."

I went into the small latrine and worked on my accumulated problem. I remembered her hand on it when she told me how happy she was to know that it still worked. I was hard instantly and within barely thirty seconds victory was at hand. Her body occupied my mind as I came, remembering the smooth strokes she gave me in the bed. She would have made it better, but I felt a lot happier after filling the paper towels with smelly semen. The whiff went right to my old brain to remind me of what I'd been missing. The aroma of semen doesn't improve with age like wine does.

I disposed of the evidence in the trash and returned to the gurney where she was waiting. She grinned, and then said, "Well, maybe I was wrong. If you're that quick, maybe I'll change my mind."

"I'm out of practice. I need to get back in shape for the endurance run. I'm sure you'd be a first rate conditioning coach."

She gazed at the wall, "Yeah, I used to be pretty good. I'm way out of practice and the simulator doesn't fire live service ammunition." She squeezed my leg. "Get this thing working again and we'll see what happens."

Shortly, I was in the OR looking at the brightly lit arena. Strangely, I wondered if the lights were full spectrum or each had a separate range of frequencies. The anesthetist started work and the screens were put in place. I was introduced to Dr. Desai who explained what he was going to do and why. He gave me the chance to back out, but the upside was that I would have much better use of my leg. I opted to continue.

I recovered from the anesthetic more quickly than I expected. Of course, I had no idea how long I was out. Seemed like a minute. Sarah was standing next to me. She smiled and said, "He did another classically superb job. I think your left leg will have a near full recovery. That is..." and she winked..."if you take your physical therapy seriously."

"When will I be able to call home?" I gasped, "Left leg? It was my right!"

She lifted the sheet and ran her hand across my cock as she examined the leg. "How forgetful of me. Unless I'm facing north, I sometimes have trouble with that left-right thing." Then she winked. "Gotcha.'

"About calling, I'll set something up for you." Then, she smiled impishly. "Wife, girl friend, or both?"

"Just two girl friends."

She giggled. "Do they know each other?"

"Yeah. We're all in this together."

"Now, that sounds interesting."

Cynthia

It must have been after nine that evening when my phone rang. Not many people call at that time of day. "Cynthia?"

"Yes, Chief. I'm alone in my room."

"I just returned from the Pentagon. Had to go there on other business. I talked to our folks and they are completely bewildered by the situation. We know that his body has not been found, so we conclude that he is still alive and maybe being held. The Pentagon thought it strange that they hadn't had any back channel news about it. The good news is that the SEAL team rescued Pete and three other prisoners and brought them out."

"I'm damn glad to hear about Pete. He was a friend, too, although he didn't save my life." I was beginning to crumble inside. "Thank you for calling. I don't care what time it is if you have any news."

"You're good people, Cynthia."

No more than thirty minutes later I had an email from a strange source. I opened it.

Cynthia:

I'm the friend of Bradford's who arranged to get the pens sent to Laura Tyler. I found your email among Bradford's things. He's apparently been missing since he went on patrol with the Army before our mission to retrieve Pete. Pete is recuperating here and sends his best. We had to go on the rescue mission without Bradford and no one seems to know where he is. I'll talk to the sergeant tomorrow to see what he knows. If you know anything about Bradford, I'd appreciate your sending me a note. This is a strange situation.

Lyndon Miller

I replied to him immediately:

Lyndon:

Thank you for your email. Great to hear from you. I know nothing about Charles and can't find out from anyone. I haven't talked to him or received an email for months. We are worried sick and don't know what to do. I can't even go looking for him. Please give Pete my best wishes.

Cynthia

After that exchange, my adrenalin was going crazy. What could have happened to Charles that he didn't go on the mission? He went all the way there just for that purpose. Now, no one knows where he is. I ran downstairs to see Laura, who was still in the midst of a TV movie. I ran to sit beside her on the couch and put my arms around her. "I had an email from one of his buddies who wanted to know if I knew anything about Charles. He might find out something tomorrow. He's been missing since he went on patrol with the Army. I don't understand any of this, but it's the first word we've had."

"Oh, God, Cyn. I don't know what's worse. Waiting like we've been doing, or hearing that news."

"I'll let you know if I learn anything more. You coming to bed?"

"Yeah. I think we need to be close through this."

We snuggled and cuddled, but I was quite restless. I had to work tomorrow, so I took a sleeping pill and finally slept until the alarm jolted me awake. Laura rolled over and went back to sleep. I immediately checked my email.

Cynthia:

I talked to Sergeant Allen just a few minutes ago. He told me that Bradford was injured and was taken out by helicopter. He doesn't know where. He thought that if they didn't bring him here to Salerno, they'd take him to Kabul to the hospital there. I'll try to track him down. Pete gives you his best and wants to know what's going on between you and Bradford. I could only tell him what I knew, since Bradford didn't tell me it was private.

Lyndon

P.S. I thought you might like to read this news brief.

Missing commando rescued: Two members of an eight man Navy rescue team have themselves been rescued after their group was reported missing in a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan last week, a senior Defense Department official said Sunday. No details were disclosed about how the commandos evaded Taliban fighters for about five days. No further details on the rescue will be released until the remaining members of the downed team have been brought back. The names of the rescued and missing commandos will not be released until after the operation is complete.