Free Learning to Stand by Claudia Hall Christian

gate, she added, “Don’t tell anyone
but this is the only car I can drive.”
    The men laughed. Friends for over a decade,
Alex and Jesse met them in the mess hall in Bosnia. Trece and White
Boy laughed, workout and generally cheered Alex and Jesse through
the rest of the tour. They celebrated Jesse and Alex’s acceptance
to Special Forces school. They arrived ready to party not moments
after Jesse and Alex graduated. Throughout her career, Trece and
White Boy would pop up at the oddest times: stuck in Bagdad during
‘shock and awe;’ in the middle of a sandstorm in Afghanistan; two
days after she married John and just now, when she had been told
they were out of the country and couldn’t get back for a week.
    As always, she was happy for their inane
company.
    She’d hoped to get them a hundred percent of
the time. For now, forty percent of their time would have to
suffice. Of course, since Trece talked one hundred percent of the
time it felt like she had him one hundred percent time.
    Turning into the parking lot at Denver
Health, she snorted at her joke.
    “ You’re not as funny as you
think you are. I however am much funnier than...” Trece held the
entrance door for a woman. “Well, hello.”
    While Alex and White Boy continued through
the door, Trece stop at the door to flirt with the nurse. Alex
spoke with the Denver Police then the doctor. She signed papers,
and even arranged Larry’s bail, before Trece caught up with
them.
    “ That was a sweet honey,”
White Boy said.
    Trece beamed his acknowledgement of the
sweetness of the woman. Alex opened her mouth to ask what took him
so long then decided she didn’t want to know. She closed her
mouth
    “ She has a sweet friend,”
Trece said. He held up two phone numbers. “Perfect for some lonely
visitors.”
    “ When have you been lonely?”
Alex asked.
    “ Could happen. Could
happen,” Trece said. “Well hello…”
    He and White Boy stopped to watch a nurse
walk by. Blushing, the nurse waved her fingers at the men.
    “ Where have you been?
Siberia?” Alex asked. She showed her ID to a policewoman near the
nurse’s station. The policewoman pointed toward Larry’s door.
“You’re randy even for you!”
    “ Desert,” Trece said. “Did
you know there is a war going on?”
    “ Two.” Alex wrinkled her
nose at him.
    “ Three really,” White Boy
said.
    Alex stood in front of Larry’s door.
    “ Well hello...” Trece said
to a passing nurse.
    “ Why don’t you stay here and
I’ll deal with Flagg?”
    “ Great idea.”
    “ Do not leave this door,”
Alex said. “No bathrooms, no...”
    “ We’ll keep it zipped at
least until we leave the hospital.” Trece smiled his alter boy
smile.
    Alex scowled a ‘You better’ at him then went
into the room. Larry was watching television. Sitting up on an
elbow, his face broke into his characteristic bright smile.
    “ Hi Major!” Larry exclaimed.
His hands grabbed at his throbbing head.
    “ Slowly,” Alex
said.
    “ Where am I?” Larry
asked.
    “ Denver Health. You got very
drunk last night. The Denver Police picked you up outside the
Squire on Colfax. You were passed out in your car. You had alcohol
poisoning. And you now have a DUI plus a whole bunch of other
trouble.”
    “ Oh.” Larry’s bright smile
faded. “I was just thinking that I’ve never been in the hospital
before.” Larry flipped his legs to the edge of the bed and lurched
forward to grab his head again. “I guess I was in the hospital when
you broke my leg. But I was on base. It wasn’t much different than
being in the barracks. How long will I stay here?”
    “ The doctor wants to see you
this morning to decide. You have been very, very sick.”
    “ I feel very, very sick. Why
do you look so serious? Aren’t you the one who always says 'Don’t
take everything so seriously’?”
    “ You have a lot of legal
problems. I’m able to take custody of you, but Colonel Gordon is
looking to discharge you for conduct