Free Casualties of Love by Denise Riley Page B

bother to hold back the “yeah right” this time. Tyson didn’t bother to argue, since what he had said was a lie. He did care if she disappeared and, hell, didn’t Marcus know that Tyson had already thought about that possibility. They both had an easy out this time. The Army wouldn’t leave them in Afghanistan indefinitely. They each had an expiration date on their tour. They could potentially leave Afghanistan and never bother to speak to or see each other again. 
    He didn’t know how long she had, but he was down to about four months remaining in country. That was certainly long enough to get answers from Jessica. It was also long enough to get entangled. While Tyson lied to Marcus, he wasn’t stupid enough to try and fool himself about why he wanted to spend time with Jessica. It wasn’t just to get answers. He absolutely wanted to hear her explain what had gone wrong for them, but he also wanted to kiss her again and again. He wanted to see if she felt the same as she used to beneath his hands and his body. He’d thought about it for days. Thinking wasn’t enough; he wanted to experience it. He knew it was probably a bad idea, but it wouldn’t be the first bad decision he’d ever made or the last. Hell, it sounds like I’ve made up my mind to make it happen. Maybe he had, and maybe it didn’t matter that he didn’t know what the hell he was doing.
     
    Chapter 6
    Jessica groaned, and loudly. Damn if this day had not been one of the longest she had ever spent in the field since training. She was tired, bone tired. She had been out with her unit since very early and had only needed to patch up a few minor scrapes until they were called over to assist another platoon. After hauling ass over the rough terrain, they got there to find the unit fully engaged in a firefight with some local extremist. There wounded Soldiers plus the villagers who got caught in the crossfire. They scrambled to push back the attackers and take care of the casualties as best they could. The hardest part was seeing the hurt children. It broke Jessica apart. All she wanted was to go back to her barracks, shower, and bury herself beneath her covers. She wanted to forget scenes like the one she was in today.
    Her plan was to stop by and see how Tyson was doing and then get some much-needed rest. The shouting match she walked in on at his room delayed that course of action. The man was in the face of one of the senior combat doctors giving the physician apparent hell. The doctor wasn’t backing down and, from what Jessica could quickly gather, was threatening to notify Cpt. Kidd’s superior regarding his “unbridled stupidity”.
    What in the world ?
    “Sirs, is there a problem?” Jessica asked from the doorway.
    Neither male acknowledged her. She didn’t know if it was because they didn’t hear her or because they were ignoring her attempt to intervene. She tried getting their attention from her position at the door, but that didn’t work. She even walked into the room and tried to get a response. Still, no acknowledgement. They continued to spit profanities at one another. Her long day and resultant poor demeanor left little patience for their pissing match.
    “What the hell is going on here?” she yelled at the side of them. When they both jerked their heads toward her, she tacked on the dutiful, “sirs” with a raised eyebrow and annoyed expression. The doctor spoke first.
    “Cpt. Kidd seems to think he can just decide when to leave the infirmary. He needs to get his ass back in that bed and accept the treatment we’re commissioned to provide for idiots like him,” the doctor said in a sneer.
    “Captain...” Tyson paused to look at the name patch of the doctor before continuing with, “ Morrison can kiss the ass that will be walking out of this room as soon as he gets the hell out of my way. I’m stuck in Afghanistan. I get that, but I don’t have to be stuck in this room to recover. I’ve got meds. I’m going