Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Command at Camp Bastion was a bunker of activity.

Computer terminals lit the area, air-conditioning had been pivotal in keeping command functioning however it still remained upward of twenty degrees Celsius in the main hub.

Wires snaked the floor, taped down for health and safety, and people of all ranks were flittering about the room like worker bees.

Julia felt completely out of sorts with these computer techies, but she knew they were just as vital to the operation as boots on the ground.

Navigating her way through the maze of cables, technical terminology and bunker bees, she found herself stood before a group of Commanders, sweat lining her back.

Julia looked towards a slow-turning fan with longing whilst the strobe lighting above them assaulted her senses.

Turning back to look at the Commander, she saw that the entire group of men, and a single woman, were watching her intently.

“Do you need directions, Sergeant?” A man with a bald head and a stern gaze noted the rank on her uniform.

They were not used to being disturbed and they had never seen her before. It was a double mystery to them and Reynolds just watched them.

She felt as if she was seeing an inner-sanctum of military hierarchy.

“Sergeant Reynolds,” Commander Strong came up behind her, making Julia jump slightly.

Strong was smirking as he stepped past her and joined his pack of wolves, “Are you all packed?”

Julia remembered where she was and stood to attention, “Sir.”

“Well then, how can I help you?” Strong was shifting through a stack of papers.

“Apologies to intrude, sir, but I was hoping for a word.” Julia licked her lips.

Strong nodded his head, “Go for it, Sergeant.”

Julia realised that he wanted her to speak there but her eyes travelled around the tent in alarm. She was hoping for this to be private.

The bald man spoke again, “I think your Sergeant’s a bit confused, Strong.”

Julia swallowed, gripping her wrist tighter behind her back.

Strong looked from Julia towards the bald commander who was laughing at his own joke.

“Commander Walters,” Strong addressed the man, whose body looked like one giant boulder of strength, “May I introduce you to Sergeant Reynolds?” Strong nodded to Julia.

Julia frowned slightly, what was he doing?

A small hush fell about the group and Jules became aware of a few tech analysts pausing mid-stride behind her.

Julia fought not to look around.

“The woman who single-handedly captured one of the world’s most notorious terrorists, Abdul-Azim Farhat,” Strong said it with pride. Julia wanted to correct him but she wasn’t about to steal his thunder.

Commander Walters had the integrity to look embarrassed before he got to his feet and stormed from the tent, brushing past her with hostility.

Julia wanted to laugh but she controlled herself. Strong however could not as a smile stretched across his lips, “Carry on, Sergeant.”

Jules forgot where she was, “Um, I was wondering if we could speak in private.”

Strong looked concerned, “Let’s step outside.”

Julia waited for the commander to pass her before she followed him out into the fresh air, walking around to the side of the tent.

Jules took a big lungful of sand-infested air but it was somehow cooler than inside the Command hub.

“What can I do for you, Sergeant?” Strong placed his hands on his hips, his eyes squinting against the onslaught of sunlight.

“Sir, I still have not heard about what is going to happen once we get home.” Julia started the conversation.

“Sergeant, as you are aware, you were attached to this squad as part of the Veteran Rehabilitation Program.”

That was what Jules had feared, “Yes sir, but what if I wanted to-”

“-That program concludes with the end of our tour,” Strong continued.

“Yes, sir,” Julia nodded, “And I am grateful for the program for that, but what happens now?”

“Well,” Strong kept his eyes trained on her, “As part of the program, I have been asked to submit a report on everyone’s progress.”

Jules nodded, scuffing her boot against the ground.

“And it is my suggestion,” Strong smiled, “that you be reinstated to your squad as soon as possible, full time.”

Julia looked at her Commander in shock, “Really?”

“If that is what you wish?”

Jules nodded vigorously, “Yes, sir.”

“Your performance here proves your capability,” Strong spoke.

Jules hated to bring it up but they needed to address the elephant in the desert, “But what about my amnesia, is that not an issue?”

“You’ll probably have to have tests upon reinstatement but I do not foresee any problems,” Strong tilted his head forward, “And honestly, I think most people are jealous of you for that.

Julia frowned, “Because I’ll have to have tests?”

Strong chuckled, “No, because you got to forget this hellhole.”

Julia smiled and turned to leave when Commander Strong remembered the message he had received that morning, “Oh, Reynolds?”

“Sir?” Julia spun back to face him.

“I thought you’d be interested to hear that Kazeem has made a full recovery. He’s with his family now.”

Jules lips spread into a wide smile as everybody made it out okay. Ray was conscious and flirting, Kazeem was healed and Julia had earnt her place back on the squad.

“Thank you, sir,” Julia said it with as much gratitude and love as possible, “For everything.”

“Now, go on. Get back to your squad. We’ll soon be back on Britain’s green and pleasant land.” Strong watched her leave with a smile on his lips and a lingering thought in his head.

That was one hell of a woman.

* * * 40 hours later * * *

Jules slept in the taxi on their way home whilst Marc remained awake and stared out the window as the houses rolled by.

The scent of cleaned leather and lemon was pleasant and the cold breeze that came in through the open window felt heavenly against his tanned flesh, blowing the sand out of his hair.

After hours of travelling, a long plane ride and tearful goodbyes, Marc had hailed a taxi and almost crashed out in the back from exhaustion.

His happiness at being home was overshadowed by his love for Julia because as Marc went to tell the taxi driver to take them to the train station, she stopped him.

“What is it?” Marcus had thought he had gotten her address wrong.

But it was something much better than that.

Jules proceeded to give the driver their home address, the address for the house that Marc and Jules had rented together.

The moment, although small, blew Marcus away. Marc had never told Julia his address, or that they had lived together, but she seemed to have remembered it all on her own.

The taxi driver was confused by the look of wonderment on Marc’s face as he put the car into gear but Marc didn’t care, not when Julia proceeded to rest her head against his shoulder and fall asleep.

Marcus was no longer tired, his body, not caring about the different time zones, was bursting with excitement.

As more houses went by, Marcus only realised that they had pulled into their street when the taxi came to a halt.

Their two bedroom house was situated on a quiet street, with low crime rates, just outside of London.

It made it easier to commute to the base.

Shaking Julia’s shoulder slightly, Marcus informed her that they were home and regrettably had to peel himself out of the back of the taxi.

Heading around to the boot, Marc picked up his pack but as he went to take Julia’s she stopped him and heaved it onto her own shoulder.

Marcus laughed and reached for his wallet to pay the driver.

But he brushed it off, clasping Marc’s hand firmly in a hand shake instead, “On the house, mate, use it to buy yourselves a drink.”

“Oh, thanks,” Marc slipped his wallet away, as the middle-aged driver gave Marc a small slap on the shoulder and got back into the taxi.

Jules watched him drive away, “Maybe I should wear this uniform all the time if we get free cab rides.”

“Something tells me it was only a one-off thing,” Marc dug around for his house keys and led Julia up the steps to the front door.

Blue with the number ‘9’, Jules remembered seeing it in a few of her memories.

She remembered Marcus carrying her over the threshold and then hitting her head on the-

“-Ow!” Julia hissed when she did it again, hitting her forehead on a protruding coat hook just inside the door.

Marcus plonked his pack on the ground and came to her aide, his fingers brushing over the small cut that had been made on her flesh.

“We really need to get rid of that thing,” Julia swallowed at Marc’s proximity, her body seeming to hum as her subconscious realised that they were alone for the first time.

They weren’t being watched by their commanders, they weren’t expected to hold up any pretence. They were alone and she missed him.

But Marc didn’t laugh as his fingers trailed down her cheek, across her jaw and down the length of her neck, her breath coming in soft rasps.

Marc let his fingers drop to his side and he stepped back, “There’s a medical kit in the bathroom.”

For a moment, Jules was praying that he was joking.

She wanted to scream that she didn’t care about the cut on her forehead but Marc had already turned and walked up the stairs.

Julia should have stayed there but she couldn’t. Her body wanted something that she could only remembered from flashes of memories.

Julia found herself, not for the first time, being jealous of herself. Jules, Julia knew was herself, but she couldn’t stop hating for her the time she had had with Marc.

Julia wanted something that was her own. She wanted to create her own memories with Marc; new memories to replace the old ones.

Laying her pack on the ground beside Marc’s, Julia reassured herself that the front door was locked and followed Marc upstairs.

She passed him in the bathroom, fiddling about with something in the cabinet.

Unhooking her jacket, Julia felt her pulse begin to race and fear began to creep inside her mind. What if Marc didn’t want her? Maybe that was why he pulled away from her?

After walking into the spare bedroom, Jules backtracked and closed the door, pretending as if it had never happened.

Assured that Marc had seen nothing, Julia slipped into their bedroom and stopped in her tracks.

There weren’t any photos in the cream-coloured hallway but the moment she stepped into their room she was assaulted with memories.

Snapshots of their happier, healthier, selves staring back at her.

There was a montage of photographs of them on the wall and there was a framed photo by the bed that someone had taken of them laughing from afar.

They looked happy when Julia picked it up off the side and investigated it closer. Marc was right, her hair had been shorter back then.

As Julia made an inventory of everything they had in the room, Marc was rustling about in the bathroom.

“I’ve found it. Jules?”

Julia couldn’t answer him because at that moment she had opened their wardrobe and there, hanging on the back of the door, was her bridal gown.

It was as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to her gut.

“Julia?” Marc whispered from the door.

Julia could feel her eyes begin to tear up as she realised what she had done.

“Hey, hey,” Marc placed the bandage on the bed and came to her side, his arms encircling her, “What is it?”

“I’m sorry,” Julia pressed her face against his chest, allowing herself to break down for a moment, “I’m sorry.”

“What are you talking about?” Marc pulled back and looked down at her, wiping away a tear with the pad of his thumb.

“I wasn’t thinking,” Julia wiped away the tears, “I knew there was a bomb threat in that building and I stayed. I’m sorry.”

Marc realised what she was talking about, “It’s okay. You were just doing your job.”

Julia looked at all the photographs of her earlier self and Marc- Marc seemed obtusely happy and she had ruined that.

“It’s not okay. I hurt you,” Julia sniffed, “I didn’t think about you- about what it would mean if I-” Julia couldn’t carry on as she started to cry again.

“Hey,” Marc held her tightly against his body, “It’s okay. We found each other again, didn’t we?”

“But we were happy,” Julia gasped.

“I’m happy now,” Marc told her.

Jules started to hiccup as she pulled back and stared at Marc, “You-” hiccup “-are?”

Marc tried not to laugh as he nodded his head, “I’m happy just being with you. You could have been like Drew Barrymore in ’50 First Dates’ and I would be Adam Sandler, reminding you of who I am every day.”

Julia frowned, “What’s-” hiccup “-’50 First Dates’?”

Marc laughed, “It’s a good thing. Just take it from me.”

“Okay,” Jules nodded, her body suddenly overcome with exhaustion.

“Now, come on, let me clean that cut before you forget who I am again.”

Jules narrowed her eyes at him.

“Too early for jokes?” Marc winced.

Julia just laughed and sat beside him on the bed, her hysterical episode completely forgotten.