Brooklyn

Chapter Eleven - Jaxon

//A.N: Warning for war and violence ahead. Skip to Chapter Twelve to avoid this. This is not crucial to the story -

Months had passed since he had last seen Arielle but he could tell from her letters that she was doing really well for herself. She had got a store planned and was getting closer to it everyday. She was really excited about it and Jaxon could not have been happier for her. He felt horrible for missing her exhibition but a portion of him felt relieved to have had Zac there to make her feel supported.

"Oi." Jaxon shook his head out of his daydream of a girl he loved. His paramedic buddy, Tomas shook his jacket roughly.

"Sorry."

"Let's get out of here." Tomas hissed. Jaxon followed Tomas at a crouch, blending in with the bushes. They had been heading back to camp. They had been in front of their unit and now they must have got ahead.

"Here." Jaxon grabbed Tomas' backpack and pulled him down to the floor.

"Wait here?" Jaxon nodded and pointed to a crowded area of shrubs and two trees which would be perfect cover. They crawled over and lay on their stomachs, hidden from all sides. Jaxon grabbed his M4 and placed it pointing down on the floor with his hand resting on it. Waiting.

"So what was it you were so thoughtful about?" Tomas asked in a hushed whisper. Jaxon smiled absent mindedly at the thought.

"My girlfriend."

"You have a chick? I didn't know that." Jaxon rolled his eyes.

"How could you have NOT known? I've been dating her for.. Well over six months." Jaxon raised an eyebrow. He hadn't realised it had been so long... Tomas shrugged.

"I don't know... Just never realised. Is she pretty?"

"Very... I miss her loads... But I was thinking about something." Tomas looked at Jaxon.

"Care to share?"Jaxon smiled to himself.

"I'm going to propose to that girl. Life is just too short." Tomas smiled.

"Nice, man! Congrats."

"Congratulate me when she agrees!" Tomas nodded in agreement and they both stopped talking, listening for sounds. That was when the sound of bullets ripped through the air.

"Shit." Tomas whispered. His face had gone very pale under the dirt and dust.

"Military crawl." Jaxon murmured, pointing to them both and to where they had just come from.

"Is that wise?" Tomas asked, clutching his own M4 a bit more securely in his hands. Jaxon looked over at his troubled partner and patted Tomas' shoulder. Tomas was only eighteen years old, fresh into the military but he was a good paramedic and a good eye as well. His very first paramedic experience had not been a good one, it never usually was but this one had been the worst. The bomb explosion. Tomas and Jaxon had been there when two of their unit, Sam and Henry had been blown. Sam had not survived the blow, being the first to come into contact with the bomb. Henry had been the nearest to get it without coming into direct contact. He had survived but only just. The impact had taken off his legs. Henry had been in agony and it was Tomas and Jaxon who had to help. Henry had been medically discharged so he could recover. It had shook them both up but Tomas more so.

"We'll be fine, Tomas. Let's go." Jaxon led the way back and Tomas followed. It was too much of a risk to crawl on hands or knees or even to run hunched over because of the bullets flying. The enemy was clearly near. As a result, it was slow progress to get back to where the unit was but it wasn't hard to find them. As they got nearer, a cry of pain tore sound of the bullets and shouting.

"Where are my damn paramedics?!"

"Here sir." Jaxon beckoned for Tomas to crawl and they both did, crawling behind a huge fallen tree trunk which was acting as shelter for their unit from the oncoming bullets. A few paces away from the infantry soldiers was the Major Carlson with another one of the infantry soldiers. Jaxon crawled over to the soldier. He recognised who it was, Jennifer Sole. She was sobbing.

"Deal with this and I'll then deal with you two!" Major Carlson growled at them as he joined the other soldiers. Tomas went to the other side of Jennifer.

"What's wrong Jen?"Jaxon asked, tugging at the gloved hand of his unit partner, who was clutching at her arm.

"What.... Do... You...Think... Doofus?" She hissed at him. Jaxon succeeded in removing her hand with difficulty and looked at the wound. He moved her body away from the ground and checked the wound from underneath her arm.

"Straight in, straight out. You were lucky."

"Lucky?!" Jennifer growled in frustration.

"Yup. Tomas hold down her arm." Jaxon ordered as he rummaged through his bag and found scissors. He cut the sleeve off her shirt while Tomas took Jennifer's hand, pinning it to the ground.

"He said, hold me down, not hold my hand. I have a bullet hole, I'm not giving birth, now hold me down, soldier!" Tomas blinked at Jennifer's order and pinned her down by holding her shoulder down and wrist down.

"That's better." She said through gritted teeth.

"Can you live without morphine?"

"Just do it."

Jaxon quickly sewed up the wound in her arm. Jennifer cried out in pain and she used her other hand to clamp her mouth, muffling the cries. Jaxon and Tomas then moved Jennifer onto her stomach so Jaxon could sew up her other wound. Jennifer's cries had now become whimpers so they could hear the bulletfire more clearly. It was thinning out a lot more now...The bullets were coming from their side mainly, that Jaxon could hear anyway.

"Go," Major Carlson was saying. "And remember no survivors." There was the quiet shuffling of feet moving but Jaxon paid no attention as he snipped the last thread and put a dressing on both sides of Jennifer's arm.

"How is she doing?" Major Carlson asked, crawling over to them.

"She'll survive. The bleeding is minor, which means she hasn't hit a major artery. If anything, she's hit the muscle."

"I'll be fine though, right?" Jennifer asked sharply as she looked anxiously from Jaxon to Tomas to Major Carlson and back again.

"You'll be fine but you need to recover." Tomas told her.

"The rifles have too much of a kickback after shots. She'll tear her arm up more if she uses the M4 or any other rifle for that matter."

"So what weapon do I get? A knife?" Jennifer asked. She looked angry and annoyed but Jaxon knew that was just the way Jennifer showed stress and sadness. Major Carlson took her M4 from off the ground, swinging the strap around his own body. He then reached into his belt and took out his M9 pistol. He handed it to her and she hesitated then took it.

"Thanks Major." Major Carlson nodded as he scanned the area.

"Just try and get better quickly okay? We need you. We can't afford to lose anyone else." Jennifer nodded her promise and Major Carlson patted her shoulder on her good arm. Jaxon packed up his kit.

"We're all clear, sir!" A soldier shouted. Jaxon looked up as he swung his backpack over hisbshoulder and got a good grip on his M4 again. The soldiers were stepping back over to them through the trees and shrubs.

"Well do me a favour, Smith and shut the fuck up then! Unless you want to alert more and injure someone else?" Jack Smith nodded hastily.

Jaxon stood up as Tomas offered a hand to Jennifer who took it and was pulled up to her own feet.

"Continuing on, sir?"Another soldier, Zayden asked.

"No, Black. We'll stay here and sit around for their next convoy of soldiers. YES. We're moving on."

Jaxon shot Tomas a smile as he clapped him on the shoulder.

"Good work." He muttered as their unit started jogging through the trees. Tomas smiled back.

"Teamwork." He raised his free hand for a high five and Jaxon clapped his palm against Tomas'.