The Purple Heart (3 page)

I reached out to shake his hand, and
when we touched, I could feel this humming vibration thing
happening, from his skin directly to mine. It was reminiscent of
something, but I couldn’t quite place it. I found myself holding
onto his hand a little longer than was socially acceptable for a
first meeting but just didn’t want to let go. I managed to stutter
out a few words.

“
Um, hi. I—I’m Sydney
Porter. I’ll be handling your case.” This reaction was so unlike
me. No one ever had this type of effect on me.

“
Yes, Ma’am,” he said, and
he released my hand with a small squeeze.

“
Maybe you can just call me
Sydney, okay? You’re making me feel old by calling me
ma’am.”

“
Yes, Ma’am,” he said
again, but this time, I noticed a small smirk make an appearance at
the corner his lips.

“
Okay then, great. Would
you like to go to one of the meeting rooms to talk for a
bit?”

“
Ma’am.” He nodded his
head.

I walked over to the nearest open
office, and he followed quietly behind me. He was so silent I
couldn’t even hear his footsteps. I wondered if he had been trained
for covert military missions or was special ops. I showed him to a
seat, which he stood behind until I took mine. One thing about
soldiers, they were extremely respectful. I loved that.

“
So, I see you’re being
given an honorable discharge. Were you wounded?” I moved my eyes
from the file back to his. I found myself looking into them quite
often, as I liked the eye contact with him.

“
Yes, Ma’am. I was wounded
in the line of duty. Shot several times in the chest, four times,
to be exact,” he said as he continued to stare directly back into
my eyes. I wasn’t uncomfortable with this at all and I found his
presence to be comforting in a strange way. I actually felt a good
connection between us already, and we had barely even spoken yet.
It made my job much easier when that connection was there. It
allowed the soldiers to trust me, more like a friend than a case
manager. Somehow this was stronger than I had experience with
others.

“
I see. That’s just
terrible. You’re very lucky you survived.” I averted my eye contact
and returned them to my file folder.

“
A miracle, I guess,” he
softly whispered.

“
Can I assume the Purple
Heart you received is for this injury?”

“
Yes, Ma’am.”

“
And the Distinguished
Silver Cross?”

“
Yes, Ma’am. I saved my
platoon by running cover so they could get to safety.” His words
seemed uncomfortable for him to say.

“
That’s very
admirable.”

He looked down, shying away from my
compliment; nodded but said nothing.

“
I’m here to help you. I’m
going to get you back into the real world, okay? Are there any
family members I can contact for you?”

“
No, Ma’am.”

“
No family? How about
friends? Anyone at all I can call that you can stay with for a
while before we find you a place of your own?”

“
No, Ma’am,” he said, as he
looked down yet again.

“
It’s fine. I can find you
a nice place to stay.” I reached out to touch him, but pulled my
hand back. The draw I had to him was becoming more intense as the
seconds passed by.

He smiled. A man of few words, but I
swear I could tell what he was thinking with every movement, smile,
or glance we shared.

I started to flip through more of his
paperwork, and he began to fidget in his seat. His leg began to
twitch up and down, and I could see some slight signs of PTSD
emerging.

“
Would you like to go get a
cup of coffee somewhere? This place is pretty… sterile. There’s a
great little coffee house right down the street. We can walk
there.” Sometimes being in the environment wasn’t conducive to
having them open up to me. They often felt like they were being
interrogated. I wanted him to feel more comfortable so he would
speak openly.

He looked up and smiled at me. His face
was so warm and inviting that I found myself completely taken aback
by him.
Damn. All he had to do was smile.
I couldn’t help
but return the gesture as I stood. He also stood. I was starting to
feel as though I was blushing, as I could feel the heat flush my
cheeks. This was ridiculous. I had just met this man.

“
If you don’t mind, I hate
carrying my cell phone, and I never hear it ring, so I have this
wireless earpiece I use. I just want work to be able to contact me.
It’s not normal procedure to leave the building.” I adjusted the
piece into my ear. I hated cell phones becoming fashion
accessories. I liked it better when technology didn’t follow you
everywhere you went. Simpler times.

We walked to the coffee shop and idly
chatted about the weather. I talked about how cold it was getting,
and he told me how hot it had been where he’d come from. Already
the conversation was flowing more easily, and I felt like I had
known him for longer than a mere twenty minutes.

The coffee shop was one of my favorite
haunts. I frequented it a lot during lunch. It was a comfortable
place with large, cushioned chairs instead of the regular shop
decor, and there was one of those cool mid-room fireplaces.
Sometimes I went there after work, just so I didn’t have to return
home to an empty house.

We chose a table in the corner, away
from everyone else for privacy. I purchased two cups of coffee, and
steered myself over to the table to join him. I was actually
anxious to get back to him. As I handed him his cup, he gave me
that warm smile, and I melted a bit.

“
So, we have to find you a
place to stay for about a week. There are lots of hotels in the
area, the barracks, and a few bed and breakfast places that help us
out by taking in soldiers who’ve just arrived home. Where do you
think you’d feel most comfortable?”

“
I’m not sure. I’ve spent a
lot of time living the military life. Honestly I could use a bit of
quiet and a break from it, so maybe not the hotel or barracks. I’d
love to stay at one of the B&Bs but I’m …” and then he went
silent. I could see he was starting to fidget again; his leg began
a reminiscent twitch while he wrung his hands together.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I just
blurted out the words and even shocked myself.

“
Would you like to come
stay at my place? It’s pretty big, and sometimes I feel like I’m
just haunting it there all by myself.”

He smirked, and cocked an eyebrow at
me. He honestly seemed to come alive.

“
Are you sure it won’t put
you out or get you in any type of trouble with work? I don’t want
you to feel like you have to do this.”

“
No, no, I want to. I’ve
got a spare room, and it’d be nice to have some company.” I
couldn’t believe I was saying the things that were coming out of my
mouth.
Word vomit.
What was I doing?
He was a
complete stranger.
A highly-decorated soldier stranger. A hot,
highly-decorated soldier stranger … in uniform.
He was becoming
seemingly irresistible to me.

“
Yes, Ma’am. I’d like to
take you up on that offer.” His eyes began to burn right into mine.
I was now unable to avert my gaze from his.

“
Okay. Why don’t we go get
your belongings?” Now I was taking him to get his things to
basically move in with me.
Was I going insane?
I just
couldn’t resist him. Something about this man pulled me in. It was
as though I had known him forever, or maybe we had met before? I
had no idea. All I knew was that I just invited this
Purple-Heart-toting stranger to stay in the room right down the
hall from me.
Oh lord.

I just smiled at him like a complete
idiot.

“
I have everything with
me.” He picked up his duffel bag and pointed at it to show
me.

“
Maybe we can stop off and
pick you up a few things you might need,” I offered.

He stared at me. I couldn’t take my
eyes away from his again. I wondered if my eyelashes were
batting.

“
I need to get something
for dinner, too.” This was a true statement. I needed to get
supplies for two. My house was honestly set up for only one
soul.

“
Wait. Let me get this
straight. Not only are you offering me a place to stay, taking me
to get necessities, but you’re also going to cook dinner for me?
And I just met you? You’re a woman after my own heart,” he said
smoothly. I had to check the floor for puddles because I melted
some more.

I smiled, and a little sigh escaped my
mouth as I turned to walk down to the local store with him for some
supplies. I was suddenly very aware of every movement I
made.

We shopped together like we were an old
married couple. We picked out the same colors and similar things.
We laughed a lot, and I could only think we had some sort of
kismet. I’d heard it said before, that once in a lifetime you met
someone who you just completely connected with. Aiden and I were
definitely connecting. Could I have just met a man I actually
clicked with? I wondered if he was feeling anything close to what I
was. The conversation even continued to flow effortlessly on the
car ride home. I pointed to various places I thought he might be
interested in.
Like I had any idea what interested him. I hope I
did.

When we finally reached my house, I
unlocked the door, and offered him entrance. He instead graciously
held the door for me.
Soldiers. Gotta love them.
I fumbled
with the bags, and he sweetly came to my rescue, dropping his
duffel bag at the door, scooping the shopping bags from my arms,
and delivering them to my kitchen. We spent some time emptying them
together, while I showed him where to locate things at the same
time. Soon, everything was done, and I turned to look at my new
roommate. It felt right.

“
Okay, well, let me show
you to … um, your room. You can get settled in while I start
dinner.”

“
That would be great. Thank
you, Sydney.” It was the first time he had used my name. It was
fine either way, because I would be happy to be ‘ma’am’ if it was
coming from his lips. I blushed a little and turned to head up the
stairs. We stopped at the first doorway.

“
This is my room. You know,
if you want me during the night.
Need.
Need me
during
the night. Anything you might want. I mean
need
. That … that
I …”
What was wrong with me?
It was like there was someone
possessing me.

“
Thanks. Good to know.” He
smiled as he rescued me from my own inability to spit out my words
gracefully. At this point I think he blushed a bit, too. It seemed
the attraction
was
mutual, or possibly he thought I was a
bumbling idiot. I felt like the latter.

I walked quickly down the hall to the
next bedroom.

“
This will be your room.
The only thing is, we share an adjoining bathroom.” I shrugged my
shoulders nervously.

“
I’ll make sure to always
knock first before entering.” This made me smile, but maybe it was
more the thought of him walking in on me during a shower.
Great.
Now I was thinking dirty thoughts about him. I shook
my head.

“
Me too. Okay, well, I’m
going to head back downstairs, down the stairs. I just said that.
Okay, well, I’m going now.” I walked away slowly, rolling my eyes,
and cursing myself for rambling.
If I couldn’t even have a small
conversation with this man regarding bedrooms and bathrooms, what
was I going to be like next?

I stopped off in my room and changed
into comfy clothes. Once I stepped through my front door at the end
of the day, I lived in either sweats or skinny jeans; and I
preferred to be barefoot. I opted for a cute pair of black
boyfriend sweats and a white cami. I refreshed myself with a quick
spray of vanilla-scented perfume.

I set off downstairs to quickly set the
table, and then was off to the kitchen to begin making
dinner.

I started out making the salad, washing
the greens and various vegetables. He was suddenly beside me, like
he had just materialized there. Startled, I jumped and had to catch
my breath. This seemed to make him chuckle.

He was out of his uniform, and dressed
comfortably in gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt. He looked
amazing even when he was dressed down. I could see his build
underneath the thin material of his shirt, and the sweats were
hanging just perfectly to make my mind wander.

“
I hope I didn’t scare you.
I’m sure you’re not used to someone sneaking up behind you around
here. Can I help?”

“
No worries. I’m pretty
skittish sometimes. And no, you’re a guest. I wouldn’t ask you to
help. Just sit back and relax. I’ve got it under control.” I
continued with my dinner prepping. He reached out and put his hand
on my forearm.

“
Please, let me help you.
You’re letting me stay with you, so the least I can do is pitch in.
I can wield a mean broom,” he offered. His voice was so calm and
relaxing. It was like listening to an angel.