The Soldier Next Door Read Free Page A

morning. He polished off both six packs, retched over the side of her deck, and took her on a virtual journey she’d never forget.
    After mentally killing Mick and threatening the plastic bag, he didn’t seem to have more hallucinations, for which she was relieved. He did, however, tell her stories and show her videos from his cell phone that brought tears to her eyes more than once. At times, he broke down and cried while staring into her with those puppy-dog eyes. She could not bring herself to make him go home though he’d scared her more than once.
    She thought about the gruesome details of war, recalled the intense sorrow in Mason’s voice when he told her about his sergeant and how his unit found him.
    We were walking down a dirt road after a bomb went off. I felt something under my feet, something mushy. I looked at my buddy and said, what the fuck is this? We kept walking, wondering what the hell we were walking through. Then we saw body parts and realized we were walking on pieces of flesh. It felt like stepping on fat. Tears had filled his eyes as he’d opened up about the hell he’d endured. We were walking on parts of his body!
    He emulated the sounds of war, which only men seemed able to do. She had yet to meet a man who couldn’t imitate the sound of machinery. Mason told her how it sounded at night, that it was never quiet because of the drones flying overhead and distant explosions. He talked about the constant gunfire, described the weapons used, and essentially took her on a verbal tour of war-torn Iraq.
    She saw the pictures of his Humvee, shredded by the IED bomb that left him disabled. Though he hadn’t lost any limbs in the explosion, the radiation from the blast caused severe brain damage and nearly crippled his central nervous system. He couldn’t recall the actual moment when his unit hit the bomb, but he remembered the hospital. She had to fight back the tears when he’d told her about his journey from hell to home and back to hell again.
    At times, she’d wanted to reach out and just hug the stuffing out of him, comfort him and make him feel loved. But they were strangers.
    She understood how it might be difficult for a woman to live with that level of insanity. The trauma that haunted this man’s mind was staggering. Even so, her night with the soldier next door strangely enough, left her wanting more.
    I must be crazy. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. I wonder if he’s any better today. She decided she’d walk over later to check on him. Knowing the extent of his disability and that he now lived alone, the least she could do was be a good neighbor even if she refused to admit her attraction to him. There is no way I can feel more than compassion for a man with so much baggage . Can I?
    Yet something about the way he’d stared right into her refused to let her go—as if he was looking for a connection to humanity and found it in her eyes last night.
     
    Sydnie rapped lightly on the front door, feeling somewhat nervous about taking initiative. What if he doesn’t remember anything? I’ll feel like an idiot. She shifted her weight anxiously on the porch.
    Mason appeared at the door. A curious expression swept his face. “Hey, what’s up?”
    “I just wanted to see how you are doing today. Are you feeling better?” She held out a stack of envelopes. “And you forgot your mail.”
    He shrugged and laughed. “My head’s killing me and my back hurts like hell. I’m just chillin’ on the heating pad. You wanna come in?”
    “Maybe for just a little while. I really should be working.”
    He closed the door behind her, then went to the corner on his couch where a heating pad was stretched out. “The disks in my back were fused together from the explosion. I won’t take painkillers, don’t want to be addicted to them.” He seemed like an entirely different person today. His voice was soft and calm.
    She took a discreet look around. “Wow, your home is