Hello again! Yes, this chapter is short compared to my others; that's why I got it up so quick! But the next chapters will be long and exciting! Whoop whoop! Enjoy!
Chapter 30
His plane ride back to Afghanistan was boring. They showed a couple of movies, but Ben wasn't up for watching anything. As he sat on the plane staring out of the window, he thought continuously of Allison, as well as her father and of the three lists that were yet to be released.
When he finally got to Afghanistan, the taxi took him to the familiar base he was stationed at. When he got there, he saw Tyler as well as a few other people waiting for him. He got out of the taxi and grabbed his bag. He gave the taxi driver a tip and turned back to face Tyler and the other guys. Tyler smiled and Ben couldn't help but smile and give him a hug,
"How are you doing, Tyler?"
"I'm good, how about you?"
"I'm doing okay."
Tyler smiled and nodded and Ben talked to the other guys that come and greeted him for a minute. When he was finished talking to them, Tyler patted him on the back,
"Well come on let's get you moved in; I've got a surprise for you." Ben followed Tyler into the barracks, curious to see what the surprise Tyler had for him was.
"What is it, Tyler?"
"You'll see; we're almost there." He followed him for a few more minutes before Tyler stopped in front of the rooms. He opened the door and went in and Ben followed, confused. Tyler lied down on one of the beds and spread his arms apart,
"Well, how do you like it?"
"Like what?"
"You're surprise."
"What is it?"
"This is your room, as well as mine." Ben looked at him,
"We're roommates?"
"Yep. When Matt transferred, my roommate went with him. So, I told the office that you could be my roommate since neither of us had one and they agreed." Ben smiled and hi-fived him,
"Alright, that sounds good." Tyler nodded and sat down on the bed again,
"So, tell me about your trip, and don't leave anything out; I want to know everything."
Ben recounted his two wonderful weeks with Allison, as well as his father and her parents. He told him about the things they did and they went. He also told him about their argument and that she thought he was cheating on her with his cousin. Tyler laughed when he told him this,
"She thought you were cheating on her?"
"Yeah."
"And it was your cousin?" Ben smiled and nodded,
"Yeah." Tyler laughed,
"Wow, that's messed up. I bet she lost it when she thought you were cheating on her, didn't she?"
"Yeah, she did actually. She told me herself; she told me that it felt like her heart had broken when she saw me and Lauren together." Tyler sighed,
"Man, you know what that means, don't you?"
"What?"
"Well, it's just that, if you ever do cheat on her-"
"That's not going to happen." Ben interrupted. Tyler held up his hands,
"I know, I'm just saying. Or if something happens to you while you're over here she's going to be a wreck. You have a lot of power over her, man."
Ben looked away; he had never thought about it like that before. He did have a lot of power over her; if something did happen to him, how would Allison take it? She had said herself that her heart had almost broken when she saw him with Lauren. What if he got seriously injured or even killed in one of his missions? What would she do? Or, more importantly, would she be able to handle news like that? Things started to run through his head when Tyler said,
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." He shook his head,
"No, it's okay, you're right, actually; I do have a lot of power over here."
"I just meant that she loves you a lot. You're a lucky man, Ben." He smiled and nodded,
"Yeah, I am."
The next couple of months on base were quiet. He practiced flying with Tyler and began to spend a lot of time with him. In addition to being roommates, they practiced flying together and they took a couple of classes together. They would also go and get a couple of beers; well, Ben had a few beers, Tyler would end up drinking water or nothing at all.
He also wrote letters to Allison. On his first day back, he had wrote her a letter telling her how much he already missed her and how much he loved her. She continued to go to her classes and UNCW; she had officially made up her mind that she wanted to be a nurse and not a pediatrician.
When she wasn't in class, she was at the hospital with her dad. His health remained the same, not any better, nor any worse. In the middle of Ben's second month, she wrote him telling him that her dad didn't have much time left. He sighed when he read this and, again, felt as hopeless as ever.
He was thousands of miles away, across the ocean. He couldn't hold her and tell her that it was okay, because everything wasn't. He wrote back telling her how sorry he was and to tell him to never give up and that Ben was praying for him. He prayed every night before he went to bed and had even gotten Tyler to start doing it.
In addition to praying, he had found a recruit that was also a preacher and who had services every Sunday in his barracks. Ben and Tyler both went to them, Ben more than Tyler. Allison had also continued to sing at the church. She sung every other weekend and still loved it just as much as she first had. The church had even started to pray for her father, asking the Lord for a miracle, but somehow knowing it was too late. His health was depleting quickly and, as much as Ben and his father, both had prayed, it didn't look as though things were going to get better.
As well as writing letters to Allison, he wrote letters to his father as well. His father wasn't up to much; he had visited Allison's father in the hospital twice and continued to take her out for dinner on Sundays after going to church.
He also called Allison and a couple of times and they talked on the phone for a while, but their main method of communication was writing letters. She had gotten the pictures they had taken down by the river on his last day on leave developed and got doubles; she sent him one copy of them and kept a copy for herself. When he got them, he stared at them for hours. It had been two and a half months since he left and he missed Allison, as well as Wilmington in general, every second he was gone.
At the end of November, his second month, Tyler came into the room with an excited and scared look on his face. Ben was reading a book when he came in and he put it down and smiled,
"What's wrong with you?" Tyler smiled,
"Oh nothing, I've been sent on a mission though." Ben smiled again and sat up on the bed,
"Where to?"
"I don't even know, all I know is there's an out-of-control fire and they need my help."
"When are you leaving?"
"In about two minutes."
"Well you better get going, what are you doing in here?"
"I wanted to say bye to you, do you have a problem with that?" Ben smiled and shook his head,
"No, just be safe, okay?"
"I will. You have fun here without a room-mate okay?" He nodded and a gave him a quick hug,
"I'll try."
He lazed around the base for the rest of the night and into the next day. He went and had a beer with a few of his friends and, when he came back to his room, there was an officer standing in front of his door.
"Can I help you, officer?" Ben asked when he got closer. The officer turned around to face him, with an envelope in his hand.
"Are you Ben Carter?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Carter, we just got the call about fifteen minutes ago."
As he packed his things to go back to Wilmington, he was both excited and saw at the same time. He was excited because he would be seeing Allison, his father and her mom, but sad because of the circumstances; her father had passed away in his sleep the night before and the Force had granted him emergency leave.
He couldn't imagine what Allison and her mom must have been feeling. He finished packing his things and, since Tyler was gone, he left without saying good-bye to anyone. The taxi picked him up and brought him to the airport. When he got there, he went to a payphone and called Allison. He was sort of nervous; he didn't know how she was or how she was feeling and didn't know how she was coping with what had happened. He dialed her number and he waited a few seconds before she answered,
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Ben."
"Ben?" Her voice was excited and he couldn't help but smile and sigh a breath of relief,
"Yep." He sighed,
"I'm so sorry, Allison." She was quiet for a minute, before she sighed and simply said,
"It's okay." H heard the intercom come on overhead and announce that his plane was about to board,
"Well, listen to this; I have a surprise for you."
"Really? What is it?" She sounded curious and excited and he smiled,
"I'm coming home."
"What? You're coming home?" She exclaimed. He smiled again,
"Yep, I'm actually at the airport in Afghanistan and my plane's about to board; I was wondering if you could pick me up?"
"Absolutely!" She took a small break, then asked,
"Are you coming home because of my dad?" He sighed, knowing she was going to ask,
"Yeah, they granted me emergency leave." She was quiet for a minute and he knew she was thinking the same thing he was; the last time he was granted emergency leave he had to go back for eighteen months.
"Don't worry, I doubt I'll have to go back for eighteen months again; they're giving me five days this time, not two weeks." She took a deep breath,
"I hope not, well, I'll pick you up at the airport. Have a safe flight, I love you."
:( sad chapter. But this had to happen. For future events. Which I will not speak of. Until the time is right. :D the next chapter/chapters will be longer, I promise! Hope you enjoyed! Please review!
