Chapter 31







Julia fought to control her voice.

“Hey sleepyhead,” Julia smiled down at Ray who was sat up in bed, a tray of food laid out before him.

Ray’s head jerked up in surprise, his hair had been allowed to grow out showing Jules that his hair was the colour of charcoal, contrasting beautifully with his olive skin.

“Julia?” Ray asked, unsure whether to trust his senses as he tilted his head, hearing where her boots connected with the ground.

Jules took a deep breath; her body was flooded with relief when she had heard the news.

“I tried to come sooner,” Jules stood at the bottom of his bunk.

Rays brushed her comment away as he tried to move the tray.

Not seeing where he could put it, and unused to his surroundings, Julia rushed forward and took it from his grasp.

“Thanks,” Ray muttered.

Jules saw that his food was just as bad as hers.

“They told me that you were all still out at the base,” Ray’s eyes flickered around her general area but Julia was just thankful to see his eyes once again.

She had been afraid he would never wake up again.

She coughed around the lump in her throat, “We flew in to Bastian this morning, when I got the news. But Strong wouldn’t let me come until we had gone through the drills.”

Ray shook his head, his legs resting over the side of the bed. Out of his uniform, Julia could see how thin he was.

She hadn’t thought about it before but it seemed logical that he had to be peg-fed when he was unconscious, and they had been in those mountains for hours-

Julia closed her eyes, she didn’t like to think about it which just meant that her brain bombarded her with memories every second of the day.

It was ironic, really, since she couldn’t remember anything else.

“Did they say anything about any long-term effects?” Julia sat on the cot across from him, it felt too formal standing.

“They said that I had some swelling in my brain,” Ray made it sound like it wasn’t as bad as it sounded, but it did nothing to help her nerves, “But once it had gone down I woke up. They wanted to fly me back to England but some poor sod got his arm blown off and took my place.”

Julia didn’t say anything, trying to think it all through.

“They brought me some fancy cards to look at,” Ray shrugged, a sad smile coming to his lips as he tried to inject some humour into the situation, “That was a strange situation.”

“I can imagine,” Jules returned the smile but she wasn’t behind it, she was thinking too much about how she had put him here.

Whether through his heightened other senses or just because he was a good person all around, Ray sensed her dilemma and reached across.

After a moment, his fingers found the edge of her elbow and ran down her forearm until he found her hand.

Julia turned her wrist so that her palm was facing upwards and clasped his fingers with vigour, as if he was a buoy and she was lost at sea.

As if he was the only thing that could keep her there in that moment.

“I’m fine, Julia,” Ray tried to ease her doubts, “If you hadn’t done what you did I would be dead right now. You saved my life.”

Julia looked at their joined hands, narrowing her eyes when his words struck a chord in her, “How would you know?”

“Huh?” Ray had used all of his wisdom on the last sentence until he couldn’t speak coherently anymore.

“How would you know that if I hadn’t moved you, you be dead now? You’re blind, you couldn’t see what was happening.” It wasn’t meant to be an insult, Ray knew that.

“I heard the RPG, I felt the earth shaking and,” Ray looked away, “Carlos told me.”

“Ha!” Julia let her head fall back, “Carlos, huh?” She looked back at Ray, “When did he get in here, we’d just arrived?”

Ray shrugged the way someone guilty would, “There’s this nurse here and-”

“-Oh, I see how it is,” Julia laughed, “You’re incorrigible.”

“Hey,” Ray leaned back and raised his arms out to the side, “What are you gonna do when you’re bed bound for days?”

Julia tipped her head, the laughter dying on her lips, as she remembered what was happening tomorrow.

Jules swallowed and licked her lips, “Ray,”

Ray dropped his arms and looked pensive, “Julia?”

“We’re being sent home tomorrow,” Julia murmured, unsure of how to feel about that.

“That’s good,” Ray nodded but he knew then, the same as she did, that this was the end. They would probably never see each other again.

“Yeah,” Julia looked down at her fingers, her voice barely audible as she tried to fake her happiness, “Yeah, it is.”

After a few moments of silence passed, each of them remembering the time they had spent together, Ray bolted upright in a flurry of movement that shocked Julia.

Jules stared at him, still sat on the bed, but with his back as straight as a rod, his eyes sparkled in such a way as if to suggest an idea had occurred deep inside them.

“Have you got a pen and paper?” Ray burst out.

“Um . . .” Julia patted her pockets and found a half-empty blue pen in her breast pocket but no paper.

Looking around her, the tent was filled with cots, sheets and medical equipment but was very bare of paper.

It seemed paper was a hot commodity in the desert.

“Hold on,” Jules looked at the front of the tent and saw that it was clear.

Getting to her feet, Julia pulled Ray’s chart out of its holder, found a piece of paper that didn’t look too important and ripped a strip a few inches wide off the bottom.

“What do you want these for?” Julia asked, keeping hold of them since she assumed she would be doing the writing.

“Write this down,” Ray spoke clearly and continued to say his address and phone number.

Julia had to get him to repeat it twice before she got it all down accurately but she soon had it.

“When I’m back in England come and see me,” Ray told her, “We can talk about old times.”

Julia folded the paper delicately, treating it like a priceless artefact, and securing it in her breast pocket for safe keeping.

“I’ll do that,” Julia promised, a smile coming to her lips.

“Make sure you do,” Ray levelled her with a look, “Or I’ll come looking for you.”

Julia didn’t doubt it.

“And if you ever need anything,” Ray caught her by the hand once more, his eyes burning into her in earnest, “Anything, then just ask. I owe you my life,”

Julia shook her head, “You don’t owe me anything,”

Ray’s fingers gripped her tightly, “No, please, just promise me that if you need anything you’ll come to me?”

Julia was touched by the emotion in his voice and she suddenly realised that he needed this more than she did.

“I promise.” Julia tightened her hold on his hand, reassuring him.

After the words had passed her lips, Ray seemed to relax.

“Sergeant,” A voice called from the door.

Julia looked up and saw that it was Emily.

Ray had gotten it wrong, it wasn’t a nurse he lusting after. It was a medic.

It was the same girl with the wispy blonde hair and kind smile who had given Julia her grandmother’s ring.

The band of metal suddenly felt like a great weight around her neck, weighing her down with guilt.

“Julia!” Emily gasped when she saw who it was, “I hadn’t heard you were back.”

“We just got in this morning,” Julia explained, getting to her feet.

Ray looked between Julia and the entrance of the tent, “Is it time for my check-up?”

“Oh, sorry, I’ll just get going,” Julia walked forward a few steps before she turned to look back at Ray, “You stay out of trouble, do you hear?”

Ray smirked, “Yes, ma’am.”

Julia sighed.

“Remember,” Ray added, “As soon as I’m back we’re getting together for that drink.”

“Definitely,” Jules agreed, a smile coming to her lips.

When she turned back around, Emily was still looking at her, which was a good thing because she needed to speak to her.

“Sorry about this,” Emily motioned to Ray and bursting in on their conversation.

“That’s okay,” Julia smiled at Ray before turning to Emily, “Um, could I see you later? Maybe when you finish?”

“Yeah,” Emily nodded greatly before looking over at Ray, remembering the reason she had arrived in the first place, “Give me ten minutes?”

Julia regarded Ray and the smile on his lips as he awaited nurse Emily, “Good luck.” Jules chuckled, “I’ll wait for you out the front.”

Ducking beneath the tent doorway, Julia stole one last glance of Ray, holding his arm out eagerly for Emily’s touch.

Jules realised that he was going to be just fine and left the tent.



*



Julia had retrieved two cups of coffee, hers with a lot of powdered cream, which was somewhat of a luxury in these parts, and perched herself atop a small block of metal crates outside the medical tent and waited.

Sipping at her coffee, Julia found herself wishing that she was flying back to England yesterday rather than tomorrow.

Because then that would mean that right now, she would be drinking a decent cup of Frappuccino, and not the instant granules the army imported.

Oh well, Julia clasped her nose shut as she drank up the last few mouthfuls of coffee. The taste was bitter as lumps of granules had remained at the bottom, unstirred.

Jules dubiously regarded the polystyrene cup by her side. Filled with steaming coffee, it would be the perfect thing to get rid of the awful taste in her mouth.

Just one mouthful, Jules tried to bargain with her conscious but before she could reach out and take it, Emily came out of the tent, ripping the gloves off of her hands and stuffing them in her pocket.

Cursing herself, Julia called out to Emily.

“Sorry I’m late,” Emily apologised as Jules handed her the cup.

“I wasn’t sure how you took it,” Jules smiled, forgetting to mention to Emily that she almost didn’t have a drink at all.

“This is good, thanks,” Emily sat beside her on the metal trunk and took a grateful chug of the nectar that was coffee.

“So,” Emily tapped her boot against the trunk, “How are you? I heard about what happened.”

Jules nodded, “I’m good. Tell me, is Ray really going to be okay?”

Emily licked a drop of coffee off her lower lip before giving a nod of her head.

Julia could breathe easy again.

“They want to keep him in for a few days until he can be transferred to the hospital. They can take better x-rays there and judge his condition better than we can here, but, yeah, all signs point towards a full recovery.”

Jules closed her eyes in relief.

“He may have a headache for a while,” Emily laughed, her smile widening when she saw Julia return the heartfelt laugh.

“Oh,” Jules suddenly remembered why she had asked to see her, “I wanted to give this back to you.”

Reaching into her jacket, Jules finger’s grasped the warm ring that had been resting against the flat plane of her chest.

Pulling it out, Jules removed the cord from around her neck and dropped the ring into Emily’s waiting hand.

“I just wanted to say thank you,” Julia sat back, “It really did help,”

Emily gripped the ring between her thumb and forefinger, gazing at the jewellery as if it was an old friend, “I’m glad.”

Jules spotted Emily’s eyes grow soft, sparkling with unshed tears.

Julia remained silent until the moment had passed and Emily placed the necklace over her head, breathing easy as the ring fell back into place.

“So, um,” Emily brushed the tears away, “What are your plans now?”

Julia rubbed her knees and stared off into the distance around her. Camp Bastion was alive with activity as people began to wind down the operations, pack up the ammunition and short through the jobs that still needed doing.

“I’m not sure,” Jules squinted against the sun, “Go home. Figure out what my next move is?”

“Well, I hope you come back but if you don’t,” Emily jumped down from the trunk and turned to face her, holding out her hand for Julia to shake, “I’m glad I met you and . . . good luck.”

Julia stepped down until they were on level ground and shook her hand.

“Take care, Emily.” Jules smiled.

“You too,” Emily returned the gesture before she turned and headed back inside.

Julia watched her leave, a twinge of guilt pressing against her stomach, because she knew what she was going to do now.

Now, she was going to go and see the Commander.

They had something to discuss.