Alec: Are you able to continue?
Troy nodded and took a very deep breath. Then he finished his list.
Alec: I’m sorry. I guess you hear that a lot. Not much else someone can say.
Troy: Folks who know what happened fall into two types. Those who don’t know me well enough, they say “I’m sorry.” They ask how I am and don’t want to hear the answer. The people who know me treat me the same as they always did. They call it as they see it. My friend told me the other day I looked like shit. And I did. He was invested in the why. And then there are my medical people. They push me. They don’t pump sunshine.
Alec: Where are you at now?
Troy: My leg strength is improving daily. I am able to walk most of the time without a cane. My vision has returned, except for reading, though the ophthalmologist thinks it’s because I’m forty-two. The doctors are planning to try to reverse the colostomy and we are working on my ability to function in other areas. In addition to the physical issues, there are emotional issues involved.
Alec: Through this, you’ve managed to return to work?
Troy: Yes.
Alec: We will be back with more after the following commercials.
He turned away from the camera and toward Troy. “You’re doing great.”
Ian unscrewed a cap from a bottle of water and handed it to Troy. “You can call it if you want.”
“Thanks, Boss.” Troy took a heavy sip. “I’m not quitting.”
“You never have.” Ian sighed.
* * *
When the interviewwent to commercial, Gwen watched the group in the room. “Damn it, what the hell were we thinking?” Martin stood and faced his friends.
“Mon frere, he went in eyes wide open,” Julian sighed.
“We saw him getting jumpy. We should have pulled him,” Kip said.
Zach crushed a water bottle and tossed it at the wall. “Listen to me, what value is this for us and, more importantly, for Troy? We all wish he didn’t have to go through this. We all can agree on that. I want everyone to think of that moment since August when he made a difference in our lives. That is the only thing we should be discussing.” Saoirse grasped Zach’s hand.
Gwen swallowed hard. Closing her eyes, she thought of a day in December in Denver. It was a blizzard outside. Troy watched the snowfall like a giddy child. When he found out she’d never built a snowman, he jury-rigged the circuit to the escape window in his room and opened it wide. Gwen helped him hold a blanket in front of it, creating a snow pile. Soon there was enough to build a snowman. They laughed and sang “Frosty the Snowman,” devolving into a snowball fight. She helped him fill a basin with snowballs, then she wheeled him down the hall, and together they bombed the rehab staff.
My sweet man.
* * *
Alec:We are back with Ian Chase and Troy Bremen. Ian, before we go on, I witnessed you ask Troy if he wanted to continue. It didn’t appear, for lack of a better word, an obligatory question.
Ian: It wasn’t. Troy served under my command in the US Navy. When bullets are flying at you, there is a level of trust that has to occur. Add when one of the bullets connect with you, you need to depend on your team more. I was shot in—
Troy: Ian was shot in a desert in a world far, far away. Our pickup was ten miles from where we were, and if we missed that pickup, our next chance was fifteen miles further away through enemy-held territory.
Ian: Mind you, we were on foot. Damn, your shoulders are bony. Under fire, Troy ran with a fifty-pound pack and me across his back. We made it to the helicopter.
Alec: That’s amazing.
Ian: He received a Bronze Star with valor.
Alec: That explains a personal loyalty, but are you okay with a man who suffered this severe trauma working for you?
Ian: Are you asking if this is a guilt job offer? The answer is unequivocally no. Troy is the second in command of our flagship branch. Troy is dear to me, and I will make sure his every need is met. But Chase Security is a business. I would never risk a nine-billion-dollar enterprise.
Alec: Troy, how does that make you feel?
