"We can finish this conversation when we get back to Brize Norton."
It seemed so far away for Molly. Brize meant 'at the end of their tour' and that was months away. But he didn't say he didn't love her, did he?
Captain James felt himself slipping deeper into her grasp as he coped his hands around her face in the hospital ward. Those sweet tears of innocence ran down her face silently and all he wanted was to protect her.
Lady Luck had not been on Molly side. Her first tour. They were all Taliban targets, but she was the one they wanted. The one her comrades were dying for while she fought to save them. She knew the time would come where she would loose one.
Molly prayed that I wouldn't be him next time.
Captain James and Private Dawes rejoined their platoon within the secure compound that was Camp Bastian.
"Right lads," he addressed section 2 "it's been tough day for everyone. Sohail died this afternoon from injuries he sustained from the Taliban. For those of you who may have questioned his loyalty, he was beaten for refusing to kill one of us."
Captain James looked at he ceiling of the tent and breathed in deeply to steady his voice.
"Get some rest. We will reconvene in the ops tent at 0600 hours. Dawes? A word."
She followed him out int he darkness. Walking a pace behind him in silence until they were concealed between the stores. Captain James came to a holt and turned to face Molly. She was startled by his quick turn.
"Boss?" He put his arms around her and held her tight to his chest. "I..."
"Shhh..." He hushed her and let the atmosphere consume them. In that moment they were one. If that's all the time they had together it felt as if I would be enough. Captain James gently pressed his lips to Molly's forehead.
"You should get back to your pit. Double away Dawesy."
Their interlinked fingers tried to linger while the rest of their bodies knew better. Molly turned, her hand disconnected from his.
"OK." She whispered.
