“Hey, Major. I haven’t seen you in here for a minute,” Jenny, or Jet, as we sometimes called her, said. “You want the usual?”
“Sure.” I was surprised Mick wasn’t working. He was this old timer who was as weathered and grizzly as this bar. He loved telling stories about all the different bar fights he’d witnessed over the years. His stories were always both entertaining and frustrating when you weren’t in the mood.
“Here you go.” She pushed the glass toward me. “Good to see you back.”
“Thanks.” I picked up the glass and walked over to the table where Crewe was sitting.
“I was beginning to think you’d turned into a hermit.” He laughed.
“Nope.” I took a sip. It had been a while since I’d had a beer. Between the accident and then not coming out with the guys, I hadn’t been drinking. Not that I was ever a big drinker in the first place. It was hard to get hammered when you could get called on duty at any moment and would be holding someone’s life in your hands.
“What’s been going on?” He finished off the drink in front of him and lifted his hand for another. “You back in uniform yet?”
“Soon.” I was hoping that if I followed all of Rita’s rules, I’d be able to get her to sign off on my release for active-duty nextweek. After that, it was only a matter of time before we’d be done with the therapy and on to other things.
“That sucks.” He smiled at the server who brought him his drink. “I bet the guys miss you.”
“Not as much as I miss being part of the unit.” I twisted my glass back and forth.
One of the other things Crewe and I had in common was family legacy. He joined because his father was also a pararescue leader. He had way more siblings than I did, all of them brothers, but he understood the pressure of following in a parent’s footsteps. It wasn’t completely the same, but it counted.
“I hear ya.” He took a drink. “I’d be lost without my unit.”
“Yeah.” I kept playing with my glass.
“So what have you been up to during your downtime?” He took a drink.
“Not a lot.” I leaned back in the chair. “I’ll be glad when I can get back to work.”
“You should take advantage of the time off.” He followed my actions and relaxed back. “I’d get as much done as I could. Knowing my family, they’d probably move in with me until I was back in uniform. Especially my mom.”
“Mine is on me to come out and visit.”
“You should go.” Crewe nodded. “I’m sure you could get leave, and it might do you some good to get away.”
“What would do me some good is getting back to work.” I cracked my knuckles. “I need to get back to my guys.”
Crewe stared at me. His eyes smaller than normal. The irises almost pitch dark. “You doing alright, Stu?”
“I’m fine.” I was getting really tired of repeating myself.
“Are you really?” He sat forward and rested his arms on the table. “Do they have you seeing someone?”
“How did you know?”
“Dad’s always telling me stories.” He replied.
“Ah.”
“Is it helping?” He asked.
“I’m here.” I looked around the room. My chest tightened as I focused on the table in the corner that would normally seat my unit. I could almost hear them laughing.
“Are you?” I turned back to him. “Are you really here?”
“Are you trying to get insightful with me?” I laughed, but he didn’t follow suit.
“It’s alright to need help.” He surprised me by admitting. Most people saw him as the cocky little kid on base.
