Waiting for Her Soldier Read Free Page B

detect. On the other hand, maybe I was delusional, maybe I was reading unintended meanings into his letters. But I wanted him so badly, I couldn’t help but hope part of him felt exactly the way I did. I couldn’t help myself from imagining a future that involved us being together.
    So I bought a treadmill and started running every day before and after work. I stopped snacking at the shop. I only ate salad and Greek yogurt, but I wasn’t seeing any results. Still, I told myself I had to stick with the diet and workout routine. I just thought about what I really wanted: Darren. I was doing it for him, and even though it was painful, I knew I could stick with it, as long as I kept my eye on the prize.
    Then I got another letter that turned my entire world upside down.

CHAPTER 9
———
    November 11, 2013
    Dear Lauren,
    My name is Paul Samuels. I’m writing on Darren’s behalf to let you know that he was wounded in our last operation. He’s recovering in a military hospital, but he knew that you’d be worried if you didn’t receive a letter. As I waited with him for a medical helicopter to evacuate him for the battlefield, he told me to write you; he said to look in the shoebox under his cot and I would know what to do.
    Well, I looked in that shoebox and I’m not really sure what to do. He’s got a box full of your letters and a picture of you that looks like it’s from a high school yearbook. I’m telling you right here right now, you better be serious about Darren, no matter what happens to him. I’m a Marine and I’ll always look out for a fellow Marine. Darren is like a brother to me, and you better know how damn much you mean to him.
    A man doesn’t keep a picture of a woman he doesn’t care about, and he told me he’s been carrying that yearbook photo with him ever since he came to Afghanistan. Always tucks it in his jacket pocket, says it kept him safe. Yes, even when he was dating Jessica. He didn’t bring it with him on our last raid, said he was going home soon and had nothing to worry about.
    Well, now our boy is in the hospital and you best be praying for him every night. He’s going to be coming home about a month earlier than planned. I just pray he’s alright when he does. It was bad out there, Lauren. He was in a lot of pain.
    Some of the things he said to me, well, maybe he was going into shock at that point, so I don’t know how much to believe him. But I know he cares for you in a way I can’t adequately describe. And I know he’s going to need you when he finally gets home. He’s one of the strongest, toughest men I’ve ever met; that’s how I know he’ll never admit he needs you as bad as he does. I’m just telling you because I know he’s too stubborn to tell you himself.
    Please take care, of both yourself and Darren. You’ll be receiving notice when he arrives back in the States.
    Best regards,
    L.C. Paul Samuels

    My cheeks were wet with tears. I was crying, panicked with thoughts of what had happened to Darren. Paul had been too vague in his letter for me to really know if Darren would turn out ok. Clearly, Darren was conscious, or Paul wouldn’t have known all those things about me. But would he be able to walk? Would he be missing an arm or something? Dammit, I had to find out if he was alright.
    I grabbed my phone and my laptop and started calling every number I could find, starting with a recruiting station and then the military hospital located upstate. I was put through to the head nurse who confirmed that a Sgt. Henderson was scheduled to be transported to the facility sometime later next week.
    “Do you know what happened to him?” I asked meekly over the phone, trying to be strong and stifle my soft weeping.
    “It says here he suffered a shrapnel wound. I don’t know anything beyond that,” said the nurse.
    “How serious is that?”
    “Depends on the case, ma’am.”
    “Well, in the other cases you’ve seen, how bad were they?”
    “Pretty bad, but