Forgive & Forget (Love in the Fleet)

by Ashby, Heather

  Believe, Hallie, believe.

  Sky’s voice soothed her through her cranial. “Gauges green. Power coming on. One...two…three rates of climb. Safe single engine airspeed. Stabilator programming. Passing through three hundred feet heading to five.”

  He said something under his breath to his co-pilot, but Hallie didn’t care what it was. Just hearing Sky’s voice anchored her, let her know that somehow he was helping to make everything all right. Sky was in command here and no way would he let Philip die on his watch.

  “Five hundred feet, one hundred knots, altitude hold engaged. Give Tower a call and let them know we’ve got Bahrain TACAN singing sweet and ask them to relay to Bahrain Control that we’ll enter their airspace in fifteen mikes. Speeding up to one-thirty.”

  “Copy, Sky. After-Takeoff Checklist complete. Calling Blanchard Tower now.”

  “Hey, Quinn,” Sky called aft. “Can McCabe hear me?”

  “Yes, sir. She’s all miked up.”

  “Hallie, you okay?”

  She didn’t know how to respond, until Quinn showed her how to engage the Push To Talk button. “Just fine, sir. Though I’d really like to talk to Phil—uh, Lieutenant Johnston.”

  “I understand he’s still unconscious, but it sure couldn’t hurt. And, hell, he might be able to hear for all we know. Quinn, put a Gunner’s Belt on her.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Hallie, you’ve got five to ten minutes before Quinn will need to get you strapped back in for landing. So keep it short and sweet.”

  Quinn moved her to a Gunner’s Belt so she had free movement in the cabin, but remained tethered to the aircraft. “And McCabe, I’m gonna switch seats with you, so you can talk to the patient. Don’t worry about strapping into my seat. All you need is that belt for now.

  As soon as she switched places with Quinn, Hallie dropped to her knees beside Philip.

  She kissed his cheek gently, otherwise afraid to touch him, fearful it might hurt him. Her hand found its way carefully under the blanket to find his, and she squeezed just a little. Then laying her head down gently on their clasped hands, she prayed. Next Hallie put her mouth next to his ear and talked soothingly to him, even though she felt the stirrings of panic rising back up in her gut. She had taken Philip back out of that closed compartment in her mind, but now she had to keep shutting the door on Rashid’s evil grin.

  “Philip, I’m here. I love you so much. You’ve got to come back to me. Remember the lavender lace skivvies I’m going to wear at our wedding? Just like I do every Wednesday night on the news? Just for you? I’ll wear them every day if you’ll just come back. Remember how much you love it when I scream when we’re making love? I promise to scream every time if you’ll just come back so we can get married and make those babies together. Remember Suzanna and little Philip and Billy Gates Jr.? I need you to come back so we—”

  “McCabe!”

  Sensing the panic in Quinn’s voice, she feared something was wrong with the helicopter, but the faint light of the cabin revealed a red-faced grin, hard to do with his mouth hanging open.

  She heard him clear his throat through her earphones. He tried to speak, but started laughing. Finally he said, “Um, McCabe, you’re on Hot Mic.”

  Hallie screwed her face up in confusion.

  “You must have bumped the ICS switch when we traded places. And...um...Everyone on board just heard what you said.”

  Now she heard muffled laughter coming from various crewmembers. Sky’s voice chimed in, “So will the bridesmaids be wearing lavender lace skivvies too, McCabe? I’m up for wearing purple boxer-briefs myself, but only if I’m color-coordinated with the ladies. Hey, maybe you and Bill can do, like, a Victoria’s Secret theme. That would be a wedding to remember.”

  Didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except getting Philip the care he needed.

  Sky continued. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I probably won’t be at the wedding anyway. Once Bill finds out we didn’t cut you off sooner he’s gonna come back and strangle me anyway. Which would be a good thing, the him coming back part, not so much the strangling part.”

  She tuned them all out. The details of her and Philip’s sex life, let alone the admission of blatant fraternization, didn’t matter. Keeping Philip alive was all that was important at this point. She stroked what little of his hair she could find around the gauze and kissed each bump, bruise and laceration on his face.

  Careful to click the right button this time, she soothed him as best she could. “It’s all going to be okay, Philip. We’ll be landing in Bahrain soon and then we’ll board an Air Force plane to take us to Landstuhl. I’ll be at your side every minute. Just hang on.” She looked up to see the corpsman watching her, wide-eyed. She smiled at him for good measure. This was a trip he’d not soon forget.

  Sky’s voice broke through. “Attention all hands. Attention all hands. This is the Skylark, your beautiful and sexy flight attendant. Thank you for flying with Operation Enduring Freedom Airlines. I have a few parting words before we land. In case you didn’t know, Petty Officer McCabe most likely saved all of your asses tonight with her quick thinking and bravery in CDC. So I am asking you to have the decency to forget everything you saw or heard on this flight that might compromise my best buddy and the love of his life, Hallie McCabe. Actually, it was all just a figment of your imagination. And just to let you know that if you feel it necessary to spread rumors about what you think you saw and heard, I will make it my mission in life to go the ends of the earth to seek you out so I can kick your sorry ass all the way to kingdom come. It’s been a pleasure flying with you tonight. We hope you have a pleasant stay in Bahrain or wherever your travels take you. That is all.”

  Hallie laughed out loud along with everyone else. What an awesome brother-in-arms Sky was. She couldn’t wait to share the story with Philip. Laughter felt good amidst the tension of the night, and the nasty images that kept clawing at her mind. She knew Sky’s little chat might not keep scuttlebutt from reaching the ship, but at least he’d tried. They were both powerless to do much more for Philip right now, but at least they hadn’t lost their ability to laugh.

  Looking directly at Hallie, Quinn clicked through. “I’m good with keeping McCabe’s secret, sir. Only I might need confirmation on the underwear color first.”

  An astonished Hallie looked at him, only to discover him winking and laughing out loud at her expense.

  Sky responded, “Agreed, Quinn. Too bad she’s leaving the ship. I bet you were looking forward to next Wednesday’s broadcast. But for now, you need to get her strapped back into her seat, as we’re about to check in with Bahrain Control for landing.”

  The aircrewman motioned for her to begin the Chinese Fire Drill seat swap with him.

  Sky chimed back in. “Hallie, when we land, there will be an ambulance waiting. Sometimes those crews are afraid to enter the rotor arc, so Quinn may need you and the corpsman to help hoist Philip and transport him to the ambulance. Then you and the corpsman go with the ambulance to wherever they’ve staged the Blanchard crewmen headed for Germany. We’re shutting down here for the night, so I’ll come find you and Bill at the hospital as soon as possible. Word is, the plane to Germany won’t depart for a couple more hours.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you for getting us here safely. This has been the most insane day of my life. I keep thinking I need to pinch myself and wake up from this crazy dream.”

  “Whether you pinch yourself or pinch Bill or whatever other kinky stuff you two do, I’d keep that on the down low for the rest of your trip and your time in Germany.” Sky was interrupted by Bahrain Tower’s call, clearing him to land in the far corner of a parking ramp where an ambulance awaited.

  Sure enough, the ambulance crew stood and waited outside the rotor arc. With Quinn on one side and the corpsman on the other, Hallie grabbed the narrowest end of
the litter, near Philip’s feet and loaded him aboard. She climbed in after him, then heard Quinn shouting.

  Realizing she was still wearing the cranial and flotation device, she promptly removed them and handed them over. “Thanks for everything, Quinn.”

  “Good luck, McCabe. I hope your guy’s okay.” Then he grinned. “Let me know when Billy Gates Junior is born. I’ll send a card. And hey, no screaming on the plane tonight, you hear?” He winked before walking back to the helicopter.

  Hallie wheeled Philip’s IV pole as she followed him into the holding room for the other Blanchard casualties. She thought the sight of the injured might be more than she could handle, but knowing Philip was in the right place, calmed her.

  A senior chief corpsman approached her. “Are you Petty Office McCabe?”

  “Yes, Senior Chief.”

  “My duty staff is stretched a little thin with all these Blanchard arrivals. Would you mind chatting with a few of the patients to keep their spirits up until we can get them loaded onto the plane?”

  “No problem, Senior. I think it would help me to stay busy, because when I have time to sit and think, I feel like I’m going to lose it.” Her heart rate ratcheted up at the thought of what had happened tonight.

  “That’s a pretty normal response after what I heard you’ve been through, McCabe. But don’t worry. My staff knows what happened and they’ll keep an eye on you too.”

  “Thanks, Senior Chief.” Hallie adjusted the blanket on Philip, bent over and kissed him first on the lips and then on the forehead.

  She turned on her heel to check on the other patients and was greeted by the dancing eyes of none other than Trixie Williams. Her arms and hands were swathed in bandages and her face looked like she’d been badly sunburned. She stared in open-mouthed disbelief. Obviously she’d just witnessed Hallie kissing “Mr. Gates.” Trixie closed her eyes and made a half-hearted attempt to smile as Hallie made her way over and knelt down at her side.

  “Shit, Hallie, this is better than the morphine they just gave me,” Trixie said in a hoarse voice. “Bill Gates and the McBabe. Whoever would’ve thunk it? Not in a million years. What I can’t figure out is the cowboy part. I mean Mr. Gates is about as far from a cowboy as you can get.”

  Hallie nodded her head. There was no use in denying it. “It’s kind of a private joke. But yeah, I won’t lie to you. He’s the guy who’s going to be waiting for me ‘back home.’ And he will be because he’s going to be fine and so are you, Sarah.” Hallie wanted to take her hand, but didn’t dare touch her so she used her eyes to nurture her as best as she could.

  Trixie raised one of her bandaged hands a few inches in the air and said, “Call me Sarah again and I’ll have to figure out how to punch you out.”

  “Well, I see they weren’t able to take your spirit. Honestly sweetie, you’re going to be fine. I’m going all the way to Germany with you guys and I’ll watch out for you there. I promise. And I won’t let them call you Sarah either.”

  Trixie smiled stiffly and started to speak, although her speech was rough and beginning to slur. Hallie had to lean in close to hear her whispers. “God, Hallie, I was so scared.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “We knew there was something going on and we went to General Quarters and the ship was hauling ass but we didn’t know what was out there and then there was this big explosion.” She tried to blink back her tears. “I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life.”

  “It’s okay, sweetie. It’s all going to be okay. We got them all and they’re never going to hurt you again.”

  Hallie thought she’d fallen asleep, but then she spoke again. “You know what I always envied about you, McCabe?” She didn’t wait for a response. “How smart you are.”

  “Smart?”

  “Yeah, Mr. Johnston is probably the nicest man in the whole world. I mean, he’s not my type or anything, but he’s a really good man. I never would’ve put you two together. But now it makes perfect sense.” She opened her eyes and continued. “You’re a really lucky girl. Whoa. Wait a second. You’re the one who broke his heart. Okay, I’m getting it now. All those stories I brought back to berthing? You were hanging on every word, weren’t you?” She smiled as best as she could. “Damn. Did Gina know? Is that why she was feeding me all that shit so I’d take it down in the hole? You guys crack me up. Bill Gates and The McBabe. Too funny. Don’t worry. I won’t say anything to anyone. I’d never do that to Mr. Johnston. But Bulldog would shit if he knew this.” She tried to look around. “Bulldog isn’t here, is he? God, who else is here?”

  “I’m not sure. Mr. Johnston was the only patient on the helicopter I came in on, but I’ll find out all the names. You rest now. Go ahead and sleep. I’ll keep checking on you. And remember, you’re going to be fine. I promise.”

  “Yeah, well, if those terrorists messed up any of my tats, I’m going to cross deck to Aviation Ordnanceman, so I can put bombs together for special delivery on tangos’ ignorant asses,” she said as she drifted off.

  It was true. They might have burned her and they might have even messed up some of her tattoos, but no way had they put a dent in her soul.

  Hallie found another coma victim and she felt compelled to take his hand and talk soothingly in his ear. She didn’t know if he was married or even had a girl back home, but she talked about how someone was waiting for him and he needed to come back for her. She didn’t know whether or not he had kids. She just told him there would be kids in his life that needed him some day so he needed to come back and teach them how to throw a baseball. “I know. I didn’t have a dad and it was very lonely, so you’ve got to hold on and come back for them.”

  She knelt and talked to the others about their girls back home too. And the guy who said he didn’t have anyone? She told him he just hadn’t met The One yet, but she was out there somewhere and he would know it when he met her. She asked the married men about their families and the young guys about their parents and their brothers and sisters. She asked everyone where he was from and what their hometown was like.

  She got close and looked each man in the eye, then talked sincerely and tenderly. Her soothing voice reassured them and her concern made each person feel special. All of this allowed the corpsmen to do their jobs: to treat wounds, to relieve pain, to change IVs, until they, too, found themselves falling under her calming spell, along with one particular helicopter pilot who had stopped in his tracks to listen to her words of comfort.

  Hallie was afraid to touch any of the burn cases, even to hold their hands. So she bent close to their ears and comforted them with her voice. Between patients, Hallie made her way back to Philip to check on him and whisper in his ear. She juggled checking on him with getting water bottles for the thirsty and wiping tears for the fearful. But despite the positive energy she was exuding for the patients, her brain continued to churn.

  She finally, truly understood that all the wounded were snipes. It was just what Philip had feared on the beach the day they’d met. What if one of the dhows had hit directly? What if the others had hit too? What if they’d compromised the reactors? Flashbacks of the nightmare kept trying to invade her brain. As much as she tried to focus on the wounded, images flashed through her head. The kick of the gun after she’d pulled the trigger. The split-second horror that she might have killed Dixon too. The not knowing if the noise and vibrations were the catapults and aircraft launching or the dhows hitting the ship.

  Do not go there.

  Focus, Hallie, focus.

  Right here. Right now.

  While they transferred the wounded to the Med-Evac plane, the senior chief corpsman appeared out of nowhere. “Hey, Florence Nightingale, thanks for what you just did. You were like the perfect mom or girlfriend for these guys. You were like, I don’t know, an angel or something. Be safe and take some time to heal in Germany.

  Just as quickly as the
senior chief vanished, Sky sidled up and put his arm around her.

  “I have no idea how I’m going to handle being in your wedding now that I know what you’ll be wearing under your dress, but just keep telling Bill about it, okay? Whisper ‘lavender lace skivvies’ in his ear. That ought to bring him back.”

  “Thank you for coming with us, Sky. Thank you for caring and making us all laugh. I’m touched. It means a lot to me and I know it will mean a lot to Bill when I tell him.”

  “Hey, thank you. What you just did here at the Trauma Center? You were like hypnotic. You ought to bottle that bedside manner stuff and go into business. And the fact that you could talk to them like that after what you went through yourself tonight? Man, you’re something else. Hey, when Bill comes to, just tell him the Skylark says you’re definitely The One and I’m freakin’ jealous. And tell him I’ll never call him a dumb ass again. No way can he be a dumb ass, if he’s got you.” Then Sky hugged her and kissed her temple. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll all laugh about this someday. And you better believe I’m telling the Hot Mic story at your wedding.”

  “Oh, I hope you do.”

  “Even the skivvies part?”

  “Even the skivvies part. It means we’ll all be there. All of us.”

  He got it. “Okay, but I’m skipping the screaming part. Bill’s mom is not cleared for that kind of information.”

  Sky walked over to his alpha male wingman, squatted down and spoke quietly in his ear. “You got a real winner there, buddy. You’re not going to believe what that woman did on the ship tonight. I just want you to know that if, whatever happens, just know I’ll take care of her if you need me to.”

  He paused, blinked, pinched the bridge of his nose, cleared his throat several times before trying to continue. Then realized he couldn’t, too overwhelmed with the events leading to this moment. Hallie alerting them. Guns firing. The dhows exploding. His missiles taking out one of them—he’d never forget that explosion as long as he lived. Learning of Hallie shooting the traitor and Bill in a coma. The laughter that had obliterated all of it when Hallie spilled her guts on Hot Mic, then becoming a different person, impersonating an angel with the wounded.