Chapter Ten
Brody wasn’t going to utter the Q word but, so far, the Christmas Eve shift wasn’t too terrible.
Most seemed to have kept their revelry to a mild limit.
They’d had their share of holiday celebrations gone awry already this month.
The soldier who had fallen off the roof of the barracks while he was trying to light up the sky wasn’t the greatest and ranked up there in the top five for the season.
Yes, falling from a three-story building was going to put him in a cast for months, but it could’ve been worse.
Probably the amount of alcohol in his system helped him out, making him more relaxed than if he’d been sober.
The call that they’d had to make to his first sergeant had been entertaining.
“Lieutenant Walker, why are you here today?” Jared asked as he walked up to the desk. Shift change.
“I took the overnight since I wanted those with kids to be home with them. What do I have at my apartment but Netflix and take out?” Brody wasn’t looking for sympathy.
He was a single person with no family. He’d tried to make friends but hadn’t developed close friendships yet.
Sergeant Major Mullvaney had told him to come to their home for the holidays but Brody wasn’t sure the offer wasn’t made out of sympathy.
Maybe one day he would feel comfortable with a family.
“Well, let’s hope that it’s qu—”
Brody almost came out of his chair to cut Jared off.
“Don’t you even think about finishing that word.
Are you insane? It’s almost as bad as ordering Chinese food.
I haven’t been in the ER long but those are two of the first things I learned.
” He watched as Jared snapped to attention at Brody’s words.
Wow, his officer training kicked in there.
“My apologies, sir. I wasn’t thinking,” Jared mumbled. Shit, now Brody felt like an ass.
“Relax, Jared. You’re not in trouble. Don’t want either of us to get in trouble with the rest of the staff for jinxing us.
I’m sorry I snapped.” He really didn’t want to get on the wrong side of any of the staff and the techs were the backbone of the ER.
They did so much that offset nursing duties.
There was no way Brody could do his job without their assistance.
Jared blushed and looked side to side. “None of the other nurses heard me, did they?” It took all of Brody’s training to not laugh at the young soldier. He forgot sometimes that they were soldiers, too.
“You’re good. The others are in the breakroom grabbing snacks while I watch the desk.
Everyone brought in treats to share. When you go to drop your stuff in your locker, fix yourself a plate,” Brody instructed the soldier.
As Jared stepped away from Brody, he gave the soldier a quick look over and frowned at what he saw.
Something looked off. Jared was in the standard black scrubs for a tech, had his badge clipped on his chest but he looked…
disheveled? Untidy? Brody wasn’t sure how to describe the soldier’s appearance but it wasn’t his normal.
“I’ll make sure to get myself something. Do you want one, sir?” Jared mumbled again. There! That was it, in addition to the condition of his scrubs, the soldier’s jaw was discolored and if Brody was correct, his lip was swollen.
“Jared, are you okay? Do you need to be seen?” Brody wasn’t going to pressure the tech but he also wasn’t going to let someone beat on the man.
As Brody watched, Jared’s shoulders dropped and he shook his head then nodded. “Maybe.” He wasn’t an expert but he could tell when someone was ashamed. He didn’t know what was going on.
Approaching the situation with kid gloves and empathy, Brody asked, “Are you safe?” He thought the man was in the barracks; he was only a specialist and wasn’t married…
that Brody could remember. Cap had them keeping up with evals, training, and PT but wasn’t strict on command structure.
Technically, Brody was one of the platoon leaders.
He remembered listening to Drew’s brother at the pinning — soldiers are your best resource.
Listen to your senior NCOs . Brody hadn’t interacted with the first sergeant much.
He was going to figure out what was going on with Jared and then see what they could do to help him out.
No one was going to be overlooked on his watch.
He just had to figure out how to get him to open up.
§ § § §
New Year’s Eve. Drew wasn’t sure what the new year was going to bring for him but he knew he was happy this one was over.
Between finals for his Bachelor’s to cramming every bit of knowledge into his skull during basic, he was exhausted.
He’d thought his captain was blowing smoke up his ass when he said he’d get his choice to work with the MWDs and their handlers.
He’d been 100 percent honest with him. The past two weeks had been eye-opening.
He knew that the dogs were amazing; he remembered watching the teams when he went with Uncle Danny after a hurricane hit Surf City.
The partnership he watched between the handlers and the dogs wasn’t something he’d ever forget.
Tonight, Drew had offered to be CDO so others could ring in the new year with their significant others.
It wasn’t like he had anyone to kiss at midnight.
Christ, the amazing kiss he’d shared with Brody was the last action he’d had in…
yeah, better stop that thought in its tracks before he got melancholy.
He remembered way too many holidays without his dad there.
His mother had made every moment special.
He, Tris, and Julia never lacked support or family holidays.
He remembered having two Christmases one year when his father had been deployed and gotten R&R in January.
He’d been eight that year, if his memory wasn’t playing tricks on him.
He still didn’t know how his mother had kept the tree alive and green that long but she’d made that miracle happen.
Note to self – call Mom and tell her he loved her.
“Lieutenant Nolan?” Drew turned to see Sergeant Provo standing beside the desk. There was something about the sergeant that had Drew on edge. He didn’t know what, but something…
“What’s up?” He didn’t remember hearing the radio go off, thank fuck.
If the night could be a laidback one? Yeah, he’d be a happy officer.
Might be propping his eyelids by four a.m. but he would take it.
Drew should’ve thought ahead and planned something for those on duty.
Maybe a potluck? Lesson learned for the next holiday shift.
“There’s a guy here for you. Said he’s your uncle. But he looks nothing like you,” the specialist finished.
“Drew, get your ass out here,” Uncle Mike called from the desk area. Drew jumped to his feet, moving to the desk.
“He’s my uncle, Provo. It’s okay. Uncle Mike, why are you here?
Shouldn’t you be dancing the night away with Aunt Trish?
” Drew asked as he grabbed his uncle in a hug.
Yeah, he’d been feeling lonely since he’d moved into his apartment.
He’d yet to have his family over. Hadn’t taken the time to put everything away.
He knew he’d be at JBSA for two years but he just wasn’t sure he liked the complex he’d found.
Something didn’t feel right to him. He’d taken over a lease from another lieutenant that had eleven months left on it.
If he didn’t get comfortable soon, he’d start looking for another place.
“Your aunt would kick my ass if I even thought about going out on New Year’s.
She is not fond of watching people act like idiots.
You should know that. Nope, we had Nova, Keith, and Nicole over for a quiet celebration,” Uncle Mike was grinning from ear to ear.
Yup, that little girl had her grandpa wrapped around her little finger.
“Doesn’t explain why you’re in my MP station, though. You should be home, curled up in your recliner with Nicole sleeping on your chest.” Drew really couldn’t figure out why his uncle was here.
“Oh, I will be and soon. We knew that you’d volunteered for the shift so your aunt and cousin decided that we— and I use that in the royal form — needed to bring you food. Take care of you and your soldiers. So, move your ass outside and help me unload,” he commanded as he turned to walk outside.
Drew just shook his head. “You and Aunt Trish can’t help yourselves, can you? Once a senior NCO, always a senior NCO.”
Uncle Mike called back over his shoulder, “You know it and I know it. Can’t resist taking care of soldiers. And while I know that you are perfectly capable of taking care of those under you, we both know that you didn’t think ahead to coordinate something. So, take this for the gift it is.”
He felt tears behind his eyelids. Uncle Mooney might say that the kids were going to kill him one day but his uncles knew how to do it, too.