12 Seconds (#1 in Military series)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Julia lay awake in her top bunk unable to sleep as images of her five-year old self rolling over the edge kept creeping into her mind. Seriously? Julia scoffed quietly. Three weeks ago she was blissfully working in a book shop, unaware of the adrenaline-filled life she had led before and the man she was engaged to. And now, she was sleeping in a run-of-the-mill cot surrounded by men and she was worried about falling out of her bunk?

Sitting up in her bed, wincing as the springs creaked loudly beneath her, the air held that early-morning glow as the light began to fill in through the line of windows that rested just below the ceiling.

Turning onto her stomach, Julia's bunk was level with the foot wide window and she wasted no time in looking outside at her new home.

A slight mist covered the ground but the rows of barracks were unmistakable as they stretched out in a line and the sound of rattling jeeps passing on the road was enough to keep Julia's mind from settling.

She was suddenly regretting her decision; Lieutenant Ray Matthews had already berated her in his friendly way that suffering from amnesia was more a gift than a curse.

Julia looked across at the top bunk on her left. The man was asleep, his left eyelid twitching whilst his right remained eerily still.

The entire right side of his face seemed to be melted, his nose had changed shape and the corner of his mouth was tilting downwards.

The man below him had lost both his legs below the knees. Julia swallowed uncomfortably as her eyes travelled up from the bottom of the bed and saw how the sheets lay flat where his legs should have been.

All of these men had been through some trauma and Julia's mind thought back to Marc.

He was deployed at this very moment and whilst she might not love him like she used to, she still cared for him.

He hadn't been the one to lie to her. He had told her everything she wanted to know and kept nothing back.

The fear of him being hurt was a constant cloud at the back of her mind but now, seeing these men in real life, brought that fear hurtling to the front of her thoughts and her breathing pitched.

"Hey," Ray's voice whispered, penetrating her thoughts and Julia leaned over the edge of her bed, her hair falling in front of her face.

"Ray?" Julia whispered, "Are you awake?"

Ray may be blind but he was still able to look at her as if she was stupid.

Of course, he's awake.

"Worried about today?" Ray asked as his blue eyes flickered, unsure of where to look.

Julia momentarily wondered what he saw. Was everything black?

"Not really," Julia lied, "How about you?"

"I'm terrified," Ray smiled kindly, trying to make her more at ease, "What if they give the blind guy a gun? I'll injure more people than any Taliban insurgent,"

The remark was meant to be funny but in this setting it only made Julia sober up; it had been a Taliban bomb that had caused her to gain amnesia.

"If they do," Julia rose to his challenge, "Give me a heads up first. I may not be able to remember Afghanistan but I'd like to remember everything else, thank you."

Julia felt a bit better when she saw Ray's lips tilt upwards in a smile.

But that feeling of accomplishment was quickly shredded away as the lights were thrown on above them, the door to their barracks was flown open and two men barged in, shouting through a megaphone.