Free The Second Coming by J. Fritschi Page A

applied the blue flame to the cigar until it was a brilliant orange ember.
    He handed the lighter to Axe who repeated the process until billows of smoke hung magically in the canned lights over the counter.
    “Why did you leave Delta Force?” Mike grumbled between clenched teeth.
    Axe glared at Mike. He wasn’t supposed to know he was in Delta Force. That was classified information, but there was no point in trying to deny it now. “After 911, my roommate and I wanted to do something to help fight terrorism besides just talking about killing terrorists, so we enlisted in the Army,” Axe explained with a reflective gaze. “Before we went to basic training, Tom asked his high school sweetheart to marry him. When we were deployed to Afghanistan he told me that Denise was pregnant and made me promise that if anything happened to him that I would take care of them. We were both just kids and I didn’t think anything was going to happen to us so of course I agreed that I would take care of them if he would name his child after me.”
    “So what happened?” Mike asked assuming that he knew the answer.
    “Denise miscarried,” Axe explained remorsefully.
    “Oh shit, that sucks.”
    “Yeah, it was really hard on them being that far apart, but a couple of years ago Denise became pregnant again and this time she had carried the baby for about seven months so they were really excited.”
    Mike took a sip of his bourbon as he prepared for the worst.
    “Tom was getting ready to go on leave and was being extra careful to keep himself out of harm’s way when his vehicle hit an IED. It blew his legs off,” Axe said in a raspy voice as he choked back tears. “When I got to the vehicle it was too late. He had lost a lot of blood. The last thing he told me was to take care of his girls.”
    “Holy shit,” Mike said under his breath. “That is horrible. I’m truly sorry.”
    Axe took a sip of his drink with a steely gaze as he composed himself. “That’s when I decided to leave Delta Force before something happened to me and there would be no one to help Denise.”
    “Did she have the baby?”
    Axe nodded his head. “It was bitter sweet because Tom wasn’t there, but at least there is still a part of Tom that will live on through her.”
    “What did they name her?” Mike asked wondering how they were going to incorporate Eric Axelrode into a female name.
    “April Rose,” Axe said proudly.
    Axelrode; April Rose. Very clever. “That’s a beautiful name. You should be proud.”
    “I am. I just wish I got to spend more time with them.”
    They sat in the dim light of the kitchen smoking their cigars and sipping on Bourbon, sharing a moment of silent admiration.
    “Why did you leave the SEALs?” Axe asked breaking the silence.
    “I got tired of the politics of war,” Mike said unconvincingly.
    Axe gazed at him skeptically. “Why do I feel like you’re not telling me something?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I feel like you’re holding something back from me.”
    Mike was holding back. To this day he had a hard time telling anyone about his problems except his doctor and the only reason he told his doctorwas to get drugs for his tremors and anxiety. Mike stood up from his stool with a stagger and held both of his hands out. His left hand shook like a Parkinson’s patient and his right hand wasn’t much better.
    “Jesus Christ,” Axe said under his breath.
    “Posttraumatic stress disorder,” Mike mumbled as he climbed back onto his stool.
    “Yeah, I know,” Axe said stunned. “I just didn’t expect it from you.”
    That hurt Mike’s pride. Maybe he shouldn’t have told him. “Neither did I.”
    “How did it start?”
    “At first I started having nightmares and flashbacks, but I didn’t tell anyone. I was hoping no one would notice and they would go away, but when my hands started shaking I knew I was a detriment to my team and I had to leave before someone got injured or killed.”
    Axe shook his