Loved by a Soldier: A Military Romance Collection

by Alison Mello

  Sitting in the chair, she looks in Matthew and easily finds the passage she wants.

  Matthew 14:30-31: But when he saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

  Trinity’s heart beams from reading the Lord’s Word. To her, Jesus is telling her that no matter what storms she has to face He will always be there as long as she has faith. She remembers another passage that has deep meaning and turns to it.

  Matthew 17:20: And he saith unto them, Because of your little faith: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

  She continues to read more, wanting and needing as much of God’s Word and strength as she can get. She finds a verse on strength.

  Isaiah 40:31: but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

  After reading for a while longer her emotions are under control and she feels tremendously better. She closes the Bible and her eyes, and says “Thank You” to Jesus for blessing her with His words. When she opens her eyes, she smiles at Gates because she knows everything will be okay. He will be okay. They, as a couple, will be okay.

  ***

  About three o’clock in the morning, Trinity wakes from pain in her back from sitting in the chair for so long. Moaning softly, as she stretches and rubs the base of her back, she sees Gates is awake and watching her. He smiles and she all but forgets her discomfort. She immediately stands next to him, taking his hand in hers. Her heart feels like it is bursting within her chest.

  “I can’t believe you are still here. Have you been here all day?” he asks.

  “Are you okay? How are you feeling?” she replies without answering his question.

  Smiling at her he answers, “I’m in some pain, but I will get through it, and you didn’t answer me.”

  Pressing her lips together, she nods and answers, “Yes, I’ve been here all day. I can’t leave you. Do you want me to get a nurse?”

  “Will you, please?”

  Leaning down she kisses him lightly and says, “Yes, I will, and I love you.”

  “I love you too, and thank you.”

  It’s early in the morning so when she gets to the door, Trinity looks both ways for a nurse. The hall is empty, but she can hear people talking so she quickly goes toward the voices. When she sees a few nurses and a doctor behind the nurses’ desk, she gets their attention.

  “Can someone bring my boyfriend something for his pain? He’s awake and hurting.”

  “I’ll be there in a moment to check on him,” says the doctor.

  “Thank you.”

  Trinity turns to walk back to Gates’ room, and realizes—for the first time she said out loud that he is her boyfriend. The idea makes her feel warm inside and she loves how the words make her feel, but is he? She knows they are definitely more than friends; they have already confessed their love but haven’t actually made it official. Then again, when have they had a chance with all the insanity that’s happened? She wants to talk about it, but knows it can wait until later. When she walks back into his room she can see he has been trying to sit up with obvious difficulty.

  “Here, let me help you!” she says and hurries to his side.

  “Thanks,” he grunts in response.

  “The doctor is on his way to talk to you and will probably give you something for the pain.”

  He blows out a heavy breath and winces from the slight movement. “It’s going to be a real joy healing from this. It’s been a while since I have had the pleasure.”

  “What? You’ve been shot before?” she asks, obvious shock in her voice.

  “Unfortunately, yes. Twice, during the time I was in the Marines. Getting shot again is certainly a reminder that it wasn’t fun then, either.”

  “What happened?”

  “I’ll tell you about it in a few minutes, once I get something for the pain.”

  “You poor baby,” she coos and caresses his arm. She leans in and kisses him on his cheek.

  “I have to tell you I’m pretty sure I could get used to all of this special treatment from you.”

  “Oh, trust me, there’s a lot more where that came from.”

  “Okay, sorry it took so long,” the doctor interrupts as he barges in. “My attention was suddenly required by several patients at once. Good to see you are awake. So, tell me, on a scale from one to ten, how much pain are you in?”

  “Since we are playing a game, I will give it a ten,” Gates answers, with a look that questions the doctor’s sanity.

  The doctor listens to his heartbeat and checks his pulse. As he checks Gates’ wound to see if it’s bleeding, he says, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound insensitive. I have no doubt you need something; I only need to know so I can tell the nurse what to give you and how much. I’ll let her know now.”

  Gates thanks the doctor as he leaves and shakes his head. Trinity looks at him and blows him a kiss.

  “Is there anything else you need? Do you want me to get you something to drink or eat?”

  “I’m starved to be honest, but I’ll ask the nurse to get me something when she gets here. Maybe she’ll be able to scrounge up a sandwich or something. As late as it is, you wouldn’t be able to get anything since I’m sure everything is closed. Aren’t you hungry?”

  “Actually, I could eat right now, too. If I had a car I could go and get us something.”

  “Oh, that reminds me! What happened to my Jeep? Is it still at the store or did it get impounded?”

  “I called the store manager earlier and asked if it could stay there until I can get it tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind. I will have Gloria take me and I’ll drive it back here.”

  “Of course, that’s fine. I totally forgot all about it being there. Yes, please do go and get it, thank you.”

  “While I’m at it, I’ll run by the house and check on Sheeba, grab a few things for us both, and bring us back something decent to eat.”

  “All of that sounds great, but what I would rather you do before you come back is get some sleep in your bed, or at least a long nap. I know you have to be exhausted.”

  Frowning, she has to agree she is feeling tired from the lack of sleep and her back hurts from sitting in the chair for hours, not to mention the stress of all the events that have taken place.

  “That’s probably not a bad idea. My bed would feel great, but will you be okay while I’m gone? I’ll feel guilty about leaving you.”

  He grins and tells her, “You seem to forget that I am a big boy and I’m in good hands. You get some rest and when you wake up, take a shower, put on some clean clothes, play with Sheeba, and whatever else you need to do, then come back to see me. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

  She can’t help but giggle and agrees. “Okay, I’ll try to get some rest. I’m sure Sheeba misses you. It’s too bad I can’t bring her.”

  “She doesn’t miss me. Well, maybe a little, but I’m sure she misses her momma more. I bought her thinking she would be my dog, but boy did I get that wrong. It’s a good thing I love you.”

  Leaning down until their noses touch, Trinity says “I love you, too.”

  After a small kiss, the nurse finally walks in with some pain medicine and water, grinning at them. They ask her if they can get something to eat and surprisingly, she says there may be a couple of sandwiches in the refrigerator. While they are waiting, Trinity’s phone begins to ring and she retrieves it from her purse. When she looks at it, she tells Gates who it is, which makes him smile.

  “Hey, girl are you okay?” Trinity asks her. “You are up terribly late.”

  “I can’t sleep from worrying about Gates. Is he okay? Are you okay?”
>
  “Oh, I’m sorry, and yes we are both good. Well, better, I should say. Would you like to talk to him? He’s awake.”

  Katherine was suddenly happier when Trinity handed Gates the phone. They talk for a few minutes and she hears him tell her what room he’s in and that it isn’t too late for her to visit quickly. He tells Katherine as he watches Trinity’s expression that she needs to get the Jeep and some sleep. She eyes him suspiciously and gives him a stern look. When he ends the call without giving Trinity a chance to talk to Katherine again, she wants to know what that was all about.

  “She’ll be here in about an hour to get you,” he tells her with a mischievous grin.

  “What? It’s so early…or late, whatever. I can wait until I can get a hold of Gloria. She doesn’t have to do that now. Besides, they won’t let her visit you now. Not at this hour.”

  He grimaces when he moves slightly, then says, “Too late. She said she was wide awake and even though visiting hours aren’t open, she said she would pop her head in long enough to say ‘Hi’ and get you. You need some rest, Trinity. Please, don’t be mad.”

  “I’m not mad. I’m caught off guard a little, but not mad. Besides, you need your rest too. I’ll go and get the Jeep, do what I need to do, and be back probably in the afternoon, if not earlier.”

  “Sounds good.”

  The nurse walks in with two sandwiches and a couple of small ginger ales. They thank her and devour the food within minutes. They watch television as they wait for Katherine and the time flies by.

  They hear her in the hall telling someone she’s picking Trinity up, and only wants to say hello to Gates. Surprisingly, they allow her to. With a huge grin she greets Gates, but is extremely careful about not hurting him when she lightly hugs him and kisses his cheek.

  “You have no idea how worried I have been! I have been praying my tail off!” she tells him.

  “Thank you, I really appreciate that and thank you for coming to take her home. She is stubborn.”

  “You’re welcome. I wish I could stay, but I’m lucky they let me in at all.”

  “I’m not stubborn,” Trinity protests with a fake expression of hurt.

  “Okay, if you say so,” he replies, rolling his eyes.

  “Well, stubborn or not I guess we should go before they say something. Are you ready?”

  “I guess,” Trinity says, and leans down to kiss Gates goodbye. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “Okay, but get some sleep first, and be careful.”

  “Okay, okay…I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Trinity and Katherine walk out of the room and even though she knows Gates is right about her need to go home for a while, guilt from leaving him still consumes her. She and Katherine have a long talk on the way home. They are able to tell each other more openly about themselves and within a short amount of time create a sister-like bond. When they get to the store where the Jeep was left, Katherine follows her to the house to make sure she’s okay. Trinity talks her into staying the night so she won’t have to drive back so late. They stay up another hour and play with Sheeba, who’s ecstatic about her momma being home and bringing a new human to play with. Once they are talked out, Katherine sleeps on the sofa, and Trinity falls asleep almost instantly when her head touches the pillow.

  Visions of walking through a park filled with glamour and sunshine fill her dreams. The trees are full of leaves; the flowers are alive and glowing with their beauty. She can see herself alone, but smiling as she walks past a bench with full, green bushes on either side and the sound of Sheeba’s barking in the air. In her dream, she laughs and kneels down to love on her beautiful dog and Gates walks into view, grinning from ear to ear. As he gets closer her heart melts with the pure joy and love she has for him. The dream doesn’t last nearly as long as she would like, but the last thing she sees before it disappears is them kissing and their lips moving, whispering their love for each other.

  Chapter 15

  Later that morning, Trinity is awakened by a tremendous pounding in her temples. When the light touches her eyes, she groans loudly and quickly shuts them again. She is still tired from being up for so long yesterday, but knows she needs to get out of bed. With the way she feels, moving is one of the last things she wants to do. She peeks through her barely opened eyelids at the clock and sees it’s after ten. She slept a little longer than she intended, but would still love to sleep some more. Instead, she slowly slides out from beneath the sheets and realizes Sheeba isn’t with her. She remembers Katherine stayed over and slept on the sofa. Is she still here? She shuffles out into the hall and can hear her talking to the dog like she’s human. It warms Trinity’s heart.

  “Good morning,” she moans when she walks in the room. With one hand, she tries to hide her eyes from the bright sunlight beaming through the open blinds. Immediately, Sheeba is jumping for joy to see her. “Good morning to you too, baby.”

  “Good morning; how did you sleep? I was going to wake you about noon if you hadn’t got up. You needed your sleep,” Katherine says.

  “I slept great, but I have an awful headache. Can you do me a huge favor while I look for some ibuprofen?”

  Already knowing what the request is going to be, Katherine answers. “I’ve already taken her out, about an hour ago after I made some coffee.”

  “Thank you so much. I’ll be right back.” Trinity steps into the bathroom in search of something to kill her pain before it immobilizes her. After finding what she wants and swallowing three pills, she walks back into the living room and eases herself onto the couch next to her friend. “So, what are your plans for the day? I actually need to get back to the house and get started on a couple of things, but I was hoping to go with you to see Gates first. I’ll follow you so I can go home from there.”

  “Once this headache is better I’m going to take a shower then get some things together for Gates and me. Then I’m going to go somewhere and get him something good to eat. Well, for both of us actually, so if you are going with me you can eat with us if you like.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  Trinity sits with her eyes closed and can feel Sheeba between her legs wanting her attention, but she doesn’t feel up to it at the moment. Katherine suspects something other than her head is bothering her.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Katherine asks her.

  “About what?”

  “Whatever is bothering you.”

  Trinity is caught off guard by her friend’s observation. She hasn’t said anything and has been denying it herself, but what happened to Derrick is certainly in the back of her mind. Maybe, she thinks, she pushed it away and that is the cause of her head hurting. Even though he was the cause of so much pain and heartache in her life, she didn’t want to see him killed. She only wanted to be left alone, allowed to move forward in her life in search of happiness. She has to admit…it is painful.

  Her head starts to throb worse as tears threaten to overwhelm her again. She isn’t ready to deal with this right now. She has other things to be concerned about, but her thoughts aren’t cooperating with her emotions and she breaks down into a fit of sobs. Katherine slides closer and pulls her into her arms. She allows Trinity to get it out without any interruption. A few minutes later, once she catches her breath, Trinity apologizes.

  “You have no reason to be sorry. You’ve had a tremendous amount of stress in your life for quite some time, especially over the past twenty-four hours. It’s natural to be a blubbering mess. I have no doubt I would be.”

  Sniffling and wiping her eyes, Trinity replies, “You’re right, but I was trying my best to be strong.”

  “For who, Gates?”

  Trinity nods. “He needs me right now.”

  Katherine smiles and assures her. “What he needs most from you right now is for you to be yourself. If that means not always being strong, then so be it. Knowing him the way I do, I’m sure he would rather see you cry and let things o
ut than to be stressing yourself. He loves you. You have nothing to worry about with him.”

  Trinity smiles. “That means a lot, I appreciate it.”

  She talks to Katherine about Derrick, how it hurt her to see him die, and how she wishes things could have been different for him. She says she didn’t wish anything more for the two of them, but that he would have been able to move on without her and bettered himself in some way. She says she doesn’t wish what happened to him on anyone. More tears flow and shake her petite form, but when they stop she feels better. Even her headache eases enough to start getting ready.

  “I’m going to call Gates real quick and see how he’s doing, then I’ll get ready so we can go. Thank you again for being here for me.”

  “You are very welcome. That’s what friends do, right?”

  “Right.”

  Katherine watches television while Trinity walks into her bedroom to do what she has to do. Surprisingly, the dog stays with Katherine. Gates is doing fine, but he sounds like they have some powerful pain killers in him. At least he isn’t hurting. Trinity tells him they will be there in a couple of hours when she finishes getting ready.

  “Can you bring me something to eat, please?” he mumbles in his drugged state. “I can’t take too much more of this lousy hospital food.”

  “Of course honey; what would you like? I can get you something from Subtrak, or a burger from somewhere…”

  “Surprise me. I don’t care what it is.”

  She laughs. “Okay, I’ll get you something good that I know you’ll like.

  “I love you, Trinity.” He sounds like he’s falling asleep, but she knows he means what he says. “I thank God for you.”

  “I love you, too, Gates, and I’m very, very thankful for you, too. You don’t know how much.”

  “I don’t mean to be rude, honey, but I can barely keep my eyes open from this pain medicine. I will see you when you get here.”

  Her heart goes out to him. “I’ll be there soon.”