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“You have to tell him, Elena.”
“No, they have a lot going on right now. I’ll wait.”
She did wait. She waited and waited, hoping for some sign that said she should meet him in Louisiana. He texted her, called her a few times, and even asked when she would come for a visit. But it wasn’t the same as ‘hey, I’m pregnant, can I still come?’. She needed to make that statement, and she couldn’t muster the strength.
At seven weeks, she was feeling miserable. Beyond not being able to keep anything down, she was feeling pain in her abdomen and that had her terrified.
“Elena, you have to call him!” she said to the woman lying in the hospital bed.
“No. What if this is all a false alarm? I mean, it could be nothing. And if I lose the baby, then I put him through pain.”
“You’re being foolish!”
“Dr. Fayek?” said the man, walking into the room. “I, uh, I just saw your test results, and I have to say that I think the best thing would be to abort the child.” Elena paled, staring at him.
“You need to work on your fucking bedside manner,” snapped Daphne.
“I’m sorry, but there was no easy way to say it,” he said, frowning at the young woman.
“There was a damn sure easier way to say it than the way you did. What’s going on? How can it be fixed?”
“We don’t believe it can be fixed,” he said.
“Where’s Dr. Baram?” asked Elena.
“She had to take emergency family leave,” he said, not looking at them. “I’ll be taking over your care. Listen, you need to decide about this soon. It could endanger your own life. I’ll be back in the morning.”
“Elena, you need to call him,” she prompted.
“Daph, please. I’m tired. I need to think. Just let me rest.”
She watched over her friend for an hour before she finally fell asleep. Then she did the one thing she swore she would never do. She invaded someone’s privacy.
“When do you think Elena might come to visit?” asked Brix.
“I’m not sure,” said Major, shaking his head. “I’ve called her a few times, but she seems different. Maybe she’s moved on.”
“I can’t believe that,” said Sebastian. “That woman was smitten with you.”
“Smitten and in love are two different things,” said Major. He looked at his friends, realizing that he may have just shown his hand. Shaking his head, they just smiled at him.
“It’s alright, brother. We knew,” said Forrest. “The newly married couples seem to be doing well.”
They all turned to see Leif, Ellie, Magnolia, and Walker having breakfast together. She was still struggling with what happened to her in Egypt, but the counseling team was helping her and helping Walker manage the issues.
“I don’t suppose you’ve heard from your friend Burkhard?” smirked Garr.
“No,” laughed Major. “I don’t expect I will hear from him, but I damn sure bet we’ll see him at some point. I’ll never understand why he helped us, but we owe him one.”
“We let him walk away,” said Sebastian. “That was enough.”
Major nodded, then looked down at his phone as it buzzed. It was a London telephone number, but not the one he had for Elena.
“Hello.”
“Is this Major Carson?” asked the distinctly British voice.
“Yes. Who is this?”