If I Don't Ask by E. J. Noyes

Author:E. J. Noyes [Noyes, E. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2022-05-12T00:33:38+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Amy seemed to relish her new role as Sabine Spy, as she’d called it when I’d explained Sabine had taken ten milligrams of zolpidem and should probably be checked on periodically.

“Will do, ma’am,” was Amy’s cheerful response. Then she’d paused and added a more serious, “Thank you, Colonel Keane, for uh…helping her.”

As I’d instructed, Sabine had remained confined to barracks for the whole next day and I didn’t see her at all until dinnertime where she’d sat surrounded by friends, wisecracking and seeming more like herself. Or at least on her way back to herself. It made me feel slightly better about what I’d done.

The day after her enforced rest day, Sabine had found me in my office and offered me a sincere apology for her behavior. Her openness and giving me this so freely had felt like a small win. And then she’d looked at me in that way she had, like she was trying to see inside me, trying to feel what I was feeling, that I’d panicked. And yet, despite my reiterating that my door was always open for her, she still hadn’t said anything. Maybe she never would. Maybe the apology was her version of spilling her emotional guts. And I would have to be satisfied with that.

With Mitch having arrived back from his R&R that morning I felt even better about Sabine, and in my mental triage I moved her from red down to yellow, expecting green in another few days when she’d be back in the States with her family. She obviously wasn’t miraculously better, but she’d rested, eaten, and her best friend and main support system had returned which meant I finally felt as if I didn’t have to watch over her constantly to ensure she was safe.

An unscheduled video call from Linda had me shoving my paperwork aside to answer. The moment she came into view, Linda raised both hands to the sky. “Miracle! I took a punt and actually caught you!” She brushed her shoulders off as if congratulating herself.

I pushed my panic down. “Is everything okay? Are you okay?”

She scoffed, “Rebecca, do I look okay?”

I stared at her more closely. “Well…yes, you do actually. Considering.”

“Exactly. Because I am okay. Considering. Can’t a person call their friend just to say hi, tell them they love them and that they mean the world to them?”

“Of course they can. Let me guess? Carpe diem?”

She winked. “You know it, baby.”

Though my office was reasonably soundproof, I still lowered my voice. “I love you too. You know that, right?”

“Of course I do.” Linda grinned. “Right, now that’s out in the open, I’ll let you get back to saving lives.”

“That’s really all you called for?”

“It is. And now I can tick it off my dying list—regularly let people know how much they mean to me.”

Her words triggered a niggle at the back of my subconscious, but I couldn’t quite pin it down. “That’s a good plan. I’ll try to do that more often too. Talk soon?”

“You know it.

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