The Soldier Next Door

The moment that I heard that Emma had gotten hurt, I could not bear thinking of how I would feel if I ever had to lose Ana out of my life completely. I know it was the messed-up time to realize this, but I knew that I had to let go of this thing I thought I felt for Emma. I was making her a way to run away from my pain, to deal with the heartache whenever Ana pushed me away.

Now here I am sitting, and I am asking the woman that I said I never want to see in my life again to take me back and somehow, even perhaps, forget that any of this has happened. My heart will not take to be even further rejected. I simply cannot live without this woman, and if she will give me half a minute, I will prove this to her.

Is she will only say a word.

“Ana, did you hear what I said?”

“Yes, I think I did. Well, at least that is what my mind says.”

“Please, say something?”

“Ethan, I, I think I must go. James is going to be home any minute.”

“The bar does not close for hours. Please tell me why you are so hung up on this man and do not tell me that you love him.”

I hear her as she is slightly stuttering; she is not startled from being shocked, but she is about to cry, and I know that I should not push her any further. I need to know why, why is she scared of this man, but most of all, I need to know if she will take this fool back.

“Listen here, boo, you don’t need to answer now, but please promise me that you will at least consider.”

“Ethan, I need…”

“I know you need time, and I will give you all of it that you need, just please do not forget that I love you.”

And when I think that my day cannot get any better for one brief moment, she says the words, only to but shock the living shit out of me.

“I love you, Ethan. But I need help.

And with that, the call drops, and there is dead silence. I try, and I try again, but I cannot get back through to her. Her damn phone is off. I am now terrified. What is it that she needs help with? What has got her scared?

If there were a damn wall, I would have punched it about now, “Goddammit, Ana, what do you need help with?”

I am fucking stuck on this side of the world; what use am I to her. I have no idea what she is talking about. What does she need help with? What has got her so terrified?

So I swipe up and dial Matty’s number; it takes him but a while; now I know what the man is probably up to at the very moment. It is with utmost frustration that I get up and start pacing the length of my tent.

“For fuck sakes, Matty, answer your phone!”

But it goes to his mailbox, and I am left even more frustrated. I try Ana for what is the fifth time again, but her phone yet remains off. I am hoping that the battery just died and that she cannot find the charger as she always does.

Utterly pissed off beyond belief, I make my way to the ops tent, where I only continue to pace up and down, much to Lopez’s annoyance. Only after five minutes of waiting for me to speak, he finally breaks the silence.

“Okay, Hunter, what is the problem? Are there problems in Emma paradise for the girl has awoken and is asking for you.”

For a brief moment, I feel some relief, but that is as for as it goes, just for a brief moment. I only but ignore Lopez and continue to walk the rubber of my shoes off.

“Hunter, you are starting to scare me. Has something happened in camp that I need to know of?”

After carefully considering if I really want to break the news to him, I pull a chair closer and grab his bottle of water that he has been sipping on. “I asked Ana to take me back.”

“You did what?”

“I asked Ana if we can try again.”

“But I thought, well, Emma and you?”

“No, everyone was right; I was making her a rebound. I realized that I cannot bear to ever lose Ana.”

Just then, I hear a scuffle behind me; I watch as Lopez’s eyes grow wider then the buckle of his belt. By the look on his face, I know that I am just about to get myself into a world of trouble. Well, I guess I have to turn around and face whoever it is that has got Lopez so scared.

“Emma! Why the fuck are you not in bed?”

She only but shakes her head at me. Ya, I guess the woman heard what I said. First, I shock the one, and now I make the other pissed. They say that it is more exciting to have more than one woman in your life; well, I say it is enough to damn near kill you.

So as she rushes off into the direction of the nurse’s tent, I take my foolish pride and chase after her. Now, this is exactly what I knew was going to happen. I knew there would come a time when someone would break the other’s heart. I never knew that it would be me doing the breaking.

As I step inside the tent, I see her standing next to the bed, now I am fully expecting her to be crying, but she turns around with nothing but a welcoming smile on her face.

Under a soft, whispered breath, she speaks to me, “Guess that is what you get when you disobey orders.”

“Emma, I am so sorry. Please let me explain.”

“No, Lieutenant, you need not do anything. I knew when I stepped into this that I had a chance that it would never work.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone told me that you love Ana and that you will probably never stop loving her. They said that I risked having my heart broken.”

I look at her, confused; she is not making much sense, “What do you mean? Who? Who told you this?”

“Ray, I told me that I am making a mistake if I am giving up the Raiders to come to chase a dream with you.”

“Is that really what you did? Did you gave up the Raiders just to be with me on blind faith that something will work between us?”

“Well, I first thought so myself, and believe me that you are exactly the type of man that I can see myself with. But I knew that Ray was right.”

“Right about what?”

“That you will never stop, Ana.”

She goes to reaches out for me but much to my own damn horror, I pull away from her. Now, if I thought that she would burst out in tears now, she only but chuckles at me.

“I ended coming here, not because I came for you. I came for me, and don’t get me wrong but what happened between us means a lot to me. But what means more to me is serving with the man that will become a legend one day.”

Yes, and that is me; now I am the one that is going to piss my eyes out, so not really worried about what it was that was between us; I pull her deep into my chest.

“Emma, don’t think that you don’t mean anything to me. I just cannot let Ana slip away from me.”

“I understand, so why are you not getting her back?”Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

“Her damn phone died, and my dear brother is too busy banging some strange chick in town to notice I am phoning.”

She only but burst out in laughter and slowly pulls away from me, “Friends, can we be friends at least.”

“Of course, I am sorry I was not what you were looking for.”

She looks at me and shakes her head, “Get your ass out of here and get hold of Ana.”

With a newfound urgency, I make my way back to my tent, but yet I still cannot get hold of Ana. This is unlike her to have her phone off for so long.

Then finally, as I am about to scream at the top of my frustrated voice, Matty feels that he will return my call.

“God, does it take you so long these days?”

“Does what take me long?”

“You banging some girl.”

“Bro, you know how it goes. If you want to see her again, you must pay special attention.”

“Fuck, you are really sick. Now I need you to do a favor for me.”

“Mmm, am I going to like this?”

“Just listen, I need you to go check up on Ana. I was speaking to her when the phone just died.”

“But why does that bother you?”

“I am not going to explain to you now. Will you go check for me?”

“Sure, bro, but I must tell you that there are stories around town how that asshole has been treating her.”

“Just fucking go.”