Olive slipped her uniform cap onto her head before getting out of the car, then grabbed her travel mug of coffee and a backpack containing her scrubs.The early morning held a quiet stillness, as if taking a moment in preparation for the day.Once she crossed the parking lot, she looked up at the sky, savoring the view of the bright blue and purple sunrise.She closed her eyes and breathed in the morning, smelling the crisp bite of dew-kissed grass and distant pine, saying a silent prayer for her day.
“Most people look at the sunrise with their eyes open.”
Startled, she turned and spotted Staff Sergeant Gerald McBride, the gunshot wound to the left biceps from yesterday.He sat on a bench, wearing an Army PT uniform.His left arm, bundled in layers of bandages, rested in a sling.
“Sometimes things are better when your eyes are closed,” she said.“Smells, tastes, you know.Vision tends to dominate your other senses.”She crossed over to the bench and gestured at the seat next to him.“May I?”
“Oh, by all means.”
She set her backpack on the ground and sat next to him, turning sideways to face him.The metal bench was cool, a faint chill seeping through her uniform pants from the morning dew.
When she took a sip of coffee, he said, “I’d still like to buy you that coffee.”
With a smile, she said, “Ah, so you remember that, do you?”
He cleared his throat.“Well, you left an impression.”
Flirtatious soldiers were part of her day.She didn’t even get embarrassed anymore.“Are you headed home?”
He nodded.“Just waiting on my medic.He’s finalizing some paperwork.”
“Where’s home?”
“Fort Bragg for now.Center of the universe in case you didn’t know.”
Memories of the two years she spent in North Carolina flew through her mind.“Oh, I know.I was stationed there right after school.”
“Not my favorite place,” he said.“But I have a good team, so that makes it palatable.”
“Why not a good place?”
He shrugged.“A lot of training happened there.Like, a lot.Hard schools, harder instructors.”He paused.“Better chow than at Benning, though.I’ll give them that.”His words slurred, and his eyelids drooped.
She gestured at his arm.“How are you feeling?”
“Kind of like I got shot in the arm.”
“Really?Get shot often?”
He stared at her silently for one heartbeat, then two, clearly deciding what he was allowed to say.“Maybe.”
“That so?”She giggled.“Why get shot so much?”
“Thought it would be a good way to meet hot chicks.”He scrubbed his beard.“Turns out I was right.Still, I wouldn’t recommend it.”
She chuckled.“So, I’m a hot chick, am I?”
“Hotter than a jalapeno pepper in a sauna,” he said with absolutely no irony.
“Well, Staff Sergeant, I am also a commissioned officer.”
All dry humor, now, he replied, “Oh, ma’am, yes ma’am, I am aware.But I would never hold that against you, ma’am.”
The doors to their right swished open, and a man in clean ACUs marched out.As he walked, he effortlessly donned his green beret and straightened it.She recognized him as part of the crew who brought Sergeant McBride in.She stood and scanned his uniform rank and name before she said, “Good morning, Lieutenant Osbourne.”She found it curious that a medic held an officer’s rank and wondered about the story behind that.
He glanced at her nametag.“Good morning to you, too, Lieutenant Duncan.”He stopped in front of Jerry.“Ready to roll, Jerry Maguire?”
“Maguire?”she asked.“I thought it was McBride?”
