Strong

by Natalie Debrabandere

  “Power showers,” she said without hesitation. “Always will be. Showers, shampoo, conditioner, the lot.”

  She smiled again and her entire face lit up, and Tyler laughed with her, still finding it quite difficult not to stare. When she had first spotted Kate watching her from across camp, she had not thought much about her beyond the fact that the new medic looked very fit, and like she could handle spending several hours out on patrol with the platoon. Good stuff. But now Tyler was finding herself unusually attracted to her quick smile, her deep, intelligent brown eyes, and the amusing way that Kate seemed so interested in watching her and not bothered if it showed. She appeared confident, and relaxed. The British accent was a nice touch too.

  Tyler was captivated.

  “What else do you miss?” she asked.

  “Clean clothes. A proper bed. The Great British Bake off.”

  “The what?”

  “Cookery show. Baking competition.”

  “Right.”

  “About as far from what I do in life as you can get. Great escapism. I can sit through hours of the stuff.”

  Tyler chuckled.

  “Sure sounds good to me,” she agreed.

  She ran her fingers through her short hair, looking happy as she took another sip of her coffee.

  “So what about you?” Kate asked, watching her with the same undisguised curiosity. “What do you miss most about home?”

  “All of the above,“ Tyler replied. “Minus your baking thing, but it sounds like something I could get into.”

  “What else?” Kate insisted, eager to hear something personal about the young captain.

  “I miss the sea,” Tyler answered straight away. “And being able to walk on the beach without having to worry that there are mines in the sand.”

  Kate saw grief flicker in her eyes before Tyler glanced away quickly, and she kicked herself for being so pushy.

  When she looked at Kate again Tyler’s face was intense, and the emotion linked to the memory of the friends she had lost to IEDs had added an intense sparkle to her already bright eyes. She looked a little bit older too. She gave the medic a long look, her expression now serious and completely impossible to read.

  “So what is your brief here?” she asked. “The boss said you want to focus on seeing the women in the villages?"

  "That's right."

  "Like a one-woman female engagement team?”

  Kate gave a soft laugh.

  “Yes, pretty much. Only I want to focus more on the medical side of things.”

  “Of course.” Tyler nodded approvingly. “Yeah, we can do that.”

  She seemed to relax again all of a sudden, and she leaned forward a little, inviting further questions.

  “Have you met or spoken to a lot of the local women?” Kate

  enquired, keen to hear her side of things.

  “A few. Not many.”

  “Is it hard to get access to them?”

  “It can be,” Tyler nodded. “And they're all pretty shy at first. We tell them that there are Afghan women out there in the army, in the police, women like them. But this area is so remote. It's like they're ten years behind, if not more.“

  “It would be nice if we could get some of these Afghan role models to come out here to visit,” Kate mused.

  Tyler flashed her an approving smile.

  “I agree. Might be a few years off in the making still... But the next generation? I really hope so."

  "So the local people are friendly then. Right?"

  "I think they're on side for the most part. All they want is to be happy and get on with their lives. But we won’t always be here to protect them against the Taliban and they are terrified of what will happen then. Their own children get blown up by IEDs too, you know.”

  “I know,” Kate said gently.

  Tyler sounded tired and frustrated all of a sudden, and Kate knew she had been up all night working. Keen to wrap things up and let the woman get some well-deserved rest, she started to tidy up for the both of them.

  “I understand you have two other medics on site?” she asked as she worked.

  “Yes, I'll get Collins to introduce you to the guys. They're attached to 3 Platoon.”

  “Cool. And I’m happy to be with you,” Kate said.

  She meant it, and it showed. Tyler smiled at her, and the little glint of sadness in her eyes that Kate had been able to spot from time to time disappeared instantly.

  “Thanks. It's good to have you with us too,” she said softly.

  She lingered for a couple of seconds, and as she gazed into the British medic’s intense brown eyes again, she was surprised to realise how happy she felt.

  Chapter Three

  After that first day Kate wasted no time getting into the swing of things. Ben Collins introduced her to the other medics, Rich Fallon and Matt Hibbert, both from New York City. Rich was a reserve officer and a paramedic at home. Matt was an ex-Navy guy and had been a specialist medic for the past five years. She fell easily into their routine, and found that they made a good team. The guys were laid back and friendly, yet extremely knowledgeable and professional. It suited Kate’s own style.

  Whenever a patrol went out a medic always accompanied them, and the other two handled backup at the FOB. Kate tried to be a part of Tyler’s missions as much as she could, and she was grateful that the captain built time in her patrols for visits to the friendliest compounds in the area.

  Kate felt that she was allowed to do her job properly, and that her mission was recognised and backed up as it should. For that reason alone she was enjoying her time at Cobel, and she owed it to Tyler.

  On a late afternoon three weeks later, Kate joined her at the back of the compound, where the guys had built a makeshift gym. Tyler was on her own. She was lying on a bench on her stomach, holding light weights in her hands, her movements mimicking a front crawl action.

  “Missing a swimming pool, uh?” Kate called out.

  Tyler turned her head a little, spotted her, and dropped the weights on the dusty ground.

  “Yeah. I told command we should build one and invite the Taliban over for a swim meet.”

  "Oh, really, how did that go?"

  Tyler stood up and grinned.

  “They said no. Go figure.”

  She was wearing her standard combat trousers, desert boots, and a simple black Nike sports bra. Kate spotted the tattoo just above her hip bone and immediately stepped forward for a closer look. She recognised the famous M, and reached out to softly trace the outline of it with a finger. Tyler’s stomach muscles twitched involuntarily, and Kate looked at her questioningly.

  The captain stood watching her with a serious expression on her face, and her eyes were a little bit darker than usual. Kate thought she recognised that look. It was a warning all right. She dropped her hand.

  “Ironman,” she said admiringly. ”You’ve done one?”

  “I did Ironman Arizona last year with a bunch of the guys, and the year before we did Kona,” Tyler replied. “You?”

  “Jesus, no,” Kate exclaimed, laughing and taking a step back as if the simple fact of talking about it might be a dangerous thing.

  “Well, you recognised the tattoo, you must be interested. Are you looking to do one?”

  Kate shook her head.

  “You couldn’t pay me enough,” she said with feeling. “But my ex-girlfriend did one in Nottingham a few years ago. Looked like torture

  to me, but she says she enjoyed it.”

  Tyler nodded curtly.

  “Right,” she said.

  She felt a little tense all of a sudden. She was not sure of the rules in the British Army, but she had learnt to keep her private life private. She walked toward the exercise bar wedged in between two branches of a small tree, and gestured for Kate to come join her.

  “Have you warmed up yet?” she asked.

  Kate did not reply straight away, distracted by the sight of Tyler as she stood sipping from a bottle, her f
ace angled toward the sun and her eyes closed. A little droplet of sweat was licking its way down the side of her neck as she drank, and for a second Kate became lost in thoughts. It only lasted a second though, because Tyler turned back to her with an eyebrow raised.

  Kate grinned at her.

  "No need, I'm ready to go," she said, and she jumped up and got a good grip on the exercise bar.

  Smiling, Tyler took a couple of steps back to observe. The medic looked good up there, she thought. It was obvious that she knew what she was doing.

  Kate executed a few perfect pull ups, looking effortless and very slick in her technique.

  "Looking good, doc," Tyler commented.

  "Haven't even started yet!"

  "Is that right?" Tyler said with a chuckle.

  She saw the bar slip off the branch just as Kate finished her tenth pull up, and she watched in dismay as the woman went flying off backwards.

  “Kate!”

  Tyler rushed forward but she was too late to break her fall. Kate landed on her back with a lot of force, her head slamming against one side of the metal bench as she hit the deck hard. It literally knocked the breath out of her, and for a moment she was too stunned to even move or say anything.

  Tyler immediately knelt by her side and rested a firm hand on her shoulder.

  “Hey. Kate? Are you all right?” she asked urgently.

  Kate breathed out slowly. She could see black spots dancing in front of her eyes, and she was confused about the loud buzzing sound inside her head.

  “Doc. Talk to me,” Tyler insisted.

  Finally, her voice broke through Kate’s consciousness.

  “Yeah... Just a sec...” she murmured.

  Her stomach rolled, and she squeezed her eyes shut. If she did not concentrate she would probably be sick, and if there was one person she did not want to watch her throw up it was Tyler, who seemed like the most accomplished and professional officer in camp, and certainly would have much better control of herself. Kate kept her eyes closed and she tried to keep on breathing evenly.

  Meanwhile Tyler gently ran her fingers behind her neck and along her shoulders.

  “Does this hurt at all?” she asked.

  “No… Just tight…”

  “Okay, good. Can you sit up?”

  Kate hoped that she would be able to. She nodded and raised herself up on one elbow, and Tyler quickly slipped an arm around her shoulders to support her.

  "Thanks," Kate murmured. "Sorry about this."

  “Not your fault, Kate. Tell me if any of this hurts,” Tyler said quietly.

  She knelt behind Kate and again ran her fingers delicately along the back of her head, all the while watching her carefully.

  "I'm all right, Tyler..."

  "Yes. Just making sure. Lean back against me."

  Kate allowed herself to do that for just a second. It felt good. She closed her eyes again and exhaled slowly, and she might have got lost in the feeling if Tyler's feather light touch on the back of her head had not revealed another really painful spot.

  Kate’s eyes flew open all of a sudden and she jerked forward out of the comfortable position.

  "Don’t touch it," she exclaimed, gritting her teeth against the pain.

  "Sorry," Tyler apologised immediately.

  She dropped her hand and Kate sat up a little straighter. She was feeling nauseous and very dizzy, although she did not want to admit it. Another thing that she was not ready to admit to herself was how good Tyler's careful touch on the back of her neck had felt, and how nice it had been to relax against her body.

  Instead she tried to pretend that it was nothing and that she was completely recovered. She was a medic after all, and not supposed to be the one rolling around on the ground feeling sorry for herself.

  “I’m okay,” she said automatically. “Just a little winded.”

  She smiled, but all colour had left her face, and Tyler was no fool.

  “You don’t look so good Kate,” she said gently. “Think you should

  lie down for a bit maybe?”

  “No. I’m fine. No need for drama.”

  Kate got to her feet quickly, before Tyler had a chance to help. Instantly light-headed, she swayed. Heavy, thick strands of darkness wrapped around her head and threatened to pull her down with them. There was no coming back from this one, and Tyler managed to catch her just as she fainted.

  When Kate came to she found Ben Collins’ face was obscuring most of her field of vision. The huge marine grinned as she opened her eyes, and she knew then that some kind of heartless ribbing was on the cards.

  She squeezed her eyes shut again.

  “Go away,” she muttered.

  “Hey doc, what’s going on?” he chuckled. “Trying to get yourself shipped off home ahead of time, uh?”

  “Kate, you awake?”

  Her eyes snapped open again when she heard Matt's voice. Collins was walking away, laughing to himself.

  “How are you doing?” her American colleague asked.

  His eyes were bright and searching as they focused on her face.

  “Fine,” she said quickly.

  “Uh uh.”

  He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and rested a cool hand on her forehead. Feeling hugely embarrassed, Kate brushed his hand away.

  “I'm okay. Please don't fuss, Matt.”

  "Ah, a typical doctor answer,” he remarked with a grin. "Are you bullshitting me or what?"

  Kate looked around her and recognised the infirmary.

  “What am I doing here?” she protested. "I'm not kidding, I’m fine."

  “Yes, but you were out for a good ten minutes regardless,” Matt replied, sounding amused. “Plenty of time for us to worry.”

  “Us?”

  “Well. The captain was a bit concerned. Although Collins told her you Brits are all pretty hard-headed and that you'd probably bounce back in no time.”

  Kate smirked.

  "Bet he did."

  Her eyes searched the room, and she felt instant disappointment when she realised that the officer they were talking about was not present.

  "Where is Tyler?" she asked, trying for casual but not quite managing it.

  Matt narrowed his eyes at her, looking way too interested in her reaction.

  "She had to rush off. Got called out on a shout. Why?"

  Kate's pulse immediately quickened.

  "What kind of a shout?" she asked, ignoring his question.

  "A patrol got ambushed on the other side of the river. They needed additional firepower, so she's gone out with the guys of 2 Platoon."

  Kate's blood started to pound at the news. She sat up suddenly, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

  “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Matt exclaimed.

  He looked just about ready to try to stop her, and she silenced him with a warning look before he could even try.

  "Hey, thanks for checking me out. But I'm going to see if I can make myself useful at the Ops tent."

  In the end there was not much else for Kate to do but sit around and wait, which, considering her line of work, was in fact pretty good news. And the platoon did not make it back to base until well into the night, by which time she was dozing inside her sleeping bag. She awoke just after midnight at the sound of suspicious rustling inside the tent, and immediately reached for her weapon. Jumping off the bed and adopting a defensive position, she gasped a little when she saw who she was aiming her gun at.

  "Hey, doc."

  Tyler was eyeing her calmly, looking like she did not really mind having a nine millimetre pointed straight at her head. Kate lowered her hand, very carefully.

  "Tyler,“ she said, and she sounded slightly out of breath.

  “Yep, only me.”

  “Sorry. Oh, God, you nearly gave me a heart attack...”

  "Just please don't shoot me before I’ve had a chance to shower, okay?" Tyler muttered, shaking her head in pretend annoyance.

  Kate c
ould see her eyes were sparkling with amusement. Her hair was stiff with dirt and she looked exhausted, and yet in Kate’s opinion she still managed to look gorgeous. Her gaze grew gentle as she watched her take off her body armour and gloves. It was happening, she could not help it.

  "Hey," she said softly. "I'm glad you're back. Sorry it looked like I wasn't."

  "No worries, Kate. Nothing wrong with being alert and ready. And yes, I'm glad we're back too. Wasn't an easy job. Anyway, how is your head?"

  “All good. I just…”

  "Stood up too quickly, I know," Tyler interrupted, laughing. "Only asking, not getting dramatic about it, don’t worry."

  Kate climbed back inside her sleeping bag and sat cross-legged on her bed.

  "Yeah, well. Sorry. I admit I'm not a very good patient."

  Tyler gave her a quick glance.

  "Nah, you're all right," she said quietly.

  Her tone was a little wistful, and Kate raised a questioning eyebrow. Tyler saw it and she smiled, almost shyly.

  "I'm glad you're okay," she said simply. "You came down pretty hard, I was worried. And then I couldn‘t wait to make sure you were fine, so...”

  "Thanks. But I was a lot safer inside here at the infirmary with Matt than you were out there on patrol.”

  Tyler shrugged a little.

  "Are you not eating this?" Kate asked as she dropped her MRE, meal ready to eat, on the table.

  "No. I’m not really hungry. I need a shower first I think, and to chill out for a bit."

  "Was it bad out there today?" Kate enquired softly.

  Tyler's expression became serious as she replayed the day's events in her head. Fighting, blood, fear. Soldiers getting hurt. She felt agitated and anxious.

  "We did good work, on the whole," she reflected. "The patrol out there had lost two guys by the time we managed to reach them. But after we got stuck in, nobody else died. I guess that's a result."

  She looked tired, Kate noticed, and a little angry too, which was unusual.

  "Are you okay, really?" she asked.

  Tyler took a deep breath and stood up again.

  "Yeah," she said firmly. "Sorry. Sometimes I just get a bit fed up."

  “How do you mean?”

  "Sometimes I can‘t really understand what we‘re doing here. Doesn‘t seem to make a blind bit of difference..."