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“Do we know who’ll be coming in, Daniel?” Keith asked quietly.
“No, not yet.” I added, “Frank mentioned Dr. Jerry Mayer, but nothing’s set in stone.”
“He’s not horrible.” Mark shrugged a shoulder. “He does make a weird clicking noise when he thinks, though.”
“He does,” John agreed. “Sounds like a pen clicking.”
“We know nothing yet, but when we do, you’ll know soon after,” I assured them all.
“All right, we’re training in ten, but first, this.” Cole motioned for Abby to put the tray she was holding down in the center of the table. “Thanks, Abby.” He handed her a shot, and the rest of us all took one and held it in the air. “To a brother, a great soldier, and one hell of a friend. Raven One to Fox One, happy birthday, Paul.”
“Happy birthday,” we all repeated as we turned to his picture, then each of us threw back the shot. I held my empty glass a little longer and gave him a nod. We’d retired Paul’s call sign out of respect, and it felt nice hearing it again.
“Let’s go, boys.” Cole knew they would need time to mentally prepare for all these changes.
Needing a mental break myself, I joined the guys outside. I timed their training and tried to give some helpful suggestions to John, who had developed an issue with leg cramps.
“Let me see, John.” Mia called him off the track.
“I’m fine.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion,” she snipped back, and I hid my amusement at her tone. The wives never coddled or interfered where they shouldn’t. They knew the rules and always respected them, and in return demanded the same from the guys. Mia was a fine nurse and has proven time and time again that she could handle herself in any situation with any loved one. She was a huge asset to the house and never made a call to pull a guy from training unless it was important.
“All right,” he huffed, limping his way over to her, “let’s just do this.”
She dropped down on the ground next to him as his face twisted at the pain.
“How much water did you drink?”
“Double what you told me to drink.”
“You’ve been stretching?”
“Yeah.”
She pulled his leg out flat and pressed his toes backward and then forward. She manipulated his leg, and I watched as his calf quivered and tightened. John’s head flopped back as the pain finally eased up.
“You’re still on those pills for that infection?”
“Yeah.”
“Those can cause muscle cramps.” She looked him over. “I’d say to change up the meds, but you’ve only got a week left. Let’s keep an eye on the cramps, see what happens after you’ve finished them.
“Can I still train?” John’s face spoke volumes. All the guys hated to miss anything the others were doing. If one was weak, they were all weak. We all knew how important it was to stay in shape. Once you let it go, even a little, it was all that much harder to get it back.
“Yeah, just stop when you feel it coming on and walk it off slowly or stretch it out. You know by now they won’t go away if you push it, so don’t let it get a hold on you.”
“Copy that.” He rolled onto his knees and hobbled over to the others.
“Mia?” I kept my gaze on the others but wanted to hear what she really thought.
“I really don’t think it’s much, but once he’s finished with the pills, we can go from there.” She grabbed her medic bag from where it lay on the ground. “Maybe if they stopped getting infections, gunshot wounds, and God knows what else, their bodies could actually fully heal.”
“Tell that to them.” I chuckled as we both watched the guys as they army crawled through thick mud hauling forty-pound sacks up and over the obstacle course. Then lined up to do it all over again. She shook her head and gave a sigh as she turned away.
“Well, you know where to find me.” She head-pointed to a seat under a nearby tree where she kept her textbooks to study.
I left the guys to run their next drill and headed back in the house. Savannah had an arm full of fresh laundry as I walked in. Abigail and June normally handled the linen, but I knew June was out, and Abby hadn’t been feeling the best.