A Promise Kept Ch. 03

Thank you for all the praise you gave me on the first two chapters of this tale. It feels really good to be home again after being gone for so long. I have another story that I will submit after I'm finished with this last and final chapter. It is something that I wrote while I was out on this last book tour. I hope you like this one though. Last but most certainly not least, I wish all of God's blessings on each and every one of you; and thank you,

MoogPlayer

P.S. Please keep in mind that all characters mentioned in this story are all PURELY and TOTALLY FICTIONAL characters, as are the events that happened in the story as well...oh, and don't forget to vote.

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Chapter One

"...she's been in a real bad car accident."

"So; how is she? Is she..." I stuttered, "Is she dead?"

"I'm really sorry, Mike, but she didn't make it," Dave sadly replied, "Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Where's her body," I sniffled, the pain in my heart literally killing me, my two friends standing beside to hold me up if needs be, "Will you take me to her?"

~~~~~~

"I'm sorry for your loss, sir," the coroner quietly said, after I'd identified Jill's lifeless body, laying on that cold slab, "Is there a particular funeral home that you'd like for me to contact for you?"

"No," I quietly told him, "I'll take care of it, thank you."

~~~~~~

I waited until after I'd spoken to Jill's parents over the telephone and informed them of her death, before I broke down and fell into the middle of the floor, crying like I'd never done before. Of course the Navy gave me ten days of emergency leave to attend to everything I needed to take care of.

Because she was born and raised in Culver City, California, that's where her funeral was held. It was very painful for me, but I was grateful to see all of my team mates there, as well as Admiral and Mrs. White. I'd never before experienced the outpouring of love that I was shown that day, not only by Jill's parents, but also my team mates, too. Every man that was there in uniform all wore Navy SEAL Tridents on their chest, letting me know that they were there to stand behind me in my time of need, leaving me feeling deeply touched, and very moved by their actions...

~~~~~~

My days were spent on base, training, even though we were all on stand down. We still wanted to be in shape, because every SEAL is taught from day one, that the more you sweat in Peacetime, the less you bleed during War. At night I dreamed of Jill though, and every morning I would wake up to her being gone, the pain of her loss only more deeply engraving itself into my heart, while carelessly ripping out my soul.

For me, I was placed on stand down until The Navy told me otherwise, and as I'd said earlier, it was because I wasn't focused enough at that time to remain on the active list...and rightly so. My fiancée had just been killed, and the Navy thought I needed more than just ninety days to clear my head.

It was a good thing in the long run, because when the rest of my team heard about it, they all asked, Dave included, to be taken off of the active list themselves, for the simple reason of not only wanting to know about me, but also hoping to be able to be there for me, should something bad happen. However, the officers above me were a lot more lenient back then than they are now, and my team's request was placed in the hands of Admiral White, which meant that it was almost immediately approved.

~~~~~~

That afternoon after work, I headed straight to the bar. I don't know why I went there, I just did, and the moment I sat down, a cocktail glass, full of Jim Beam bourbon on the rocks, was placed in front of me.

"Hey, you," Danny smiled, taking the seat next me at the bar, "What're you doing in here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I snarled, "I'm having a drink. Do you want one?"

"Why not," Danny smiled, reaching over and patting me on the shoulder, "How're ya holding up, L.B.?"

"I just lost my fiancée," I sadly replied, "How do you think I'm doing?"

"I know, brother," he quietly replied, "You know you really ought to be home instead of here, don't you?"

"And what am I supposed to be doing at home," I sniffled, "Staring at all the reminders that my Jill is dead?" as the tears began to fall down my face.

"Aw, what's wrong, sweetie," some long haired asshole across the bar from me viciously laughed, "Did you lose your boyfriend, Squidly?"

"Uh, oh," Danny quietly mumbled.

"What did you say to me," I angrily growled at the guy, "How would you like me to rearrange your face, fuck head?"

"Well, come on then," he laughed, dropping his pool stick, as he approached me from the other side of the bar, "The law requires me to tell you that I hold a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do, squid face."

"Is that so?" I laughed, "Well then, you'd better give your soul to Jesus, because your ass belongs to me."

The moment he lifted his foot off of the floor to kick me, I grabbed him by the balls and by the hair, and then as politely as you please, I threw him through the big plate glass window next to the front door; where he landed in the parking lot, on his back and gasping for air.

"Jesus, Mike," Danny gasped, "You could've killed that man."

"Oh really," I evilly laughed, "Well hang on to your hat, because I'm not finished yet."

"Oh, yes you are," Danny said, standing up, and then the next thing I knew, I felt a hard blow to the back of my head as the lights went out.

~~~~~~

When I opened my eyes again, I was at home on my couch, looking at Danny sitting in the chair across from me, while Dave sat in the other chair, both of them wearing stupid grins on their faces.

"What the hell happened," I groggily asked, rubbing the back of my skull, "And why does my head hurt?"

"Because," Danny spat, "You were about to lay waste to an unarmed civilian so; I knocked your ass out before you did any real damage."

"And we all know that you could've been court marshaled, "Dave added, "What the hell is the matter with you, huh? I had to pay the bar owner five hundred bucks to not only pay for the window, that was four hundred dollars, I had to give him another hundred so that he wouldn't press charges on you."

"I'm sorry you guys," I sat, sitting up on the couch, as my eyes again began to fill with tears, "I'm just..."

"A little messed up in the head right now, we know, little brother," Dave smiled, "I think that a little time off is just what the doctor ordered."

"I don't want any time off," I told him, "That means that I'm just going to sit around feeling sorry for myself and I don't want to do that; because Jill wouldn't have liked it."

"She sure as hell wouldn't have liked the little display you put on back at the bar either," Danny replied, "And you and I both know it, L.B."

"I know," I sniffled, "I don't know what's wrong with me, fellas, I'm sorry."

"You just lost your fiancée, brother," Dave said, "It's quite understandable really."

"I guess," I said, "So, what's next...I mean, where do I go from here?"

"I've got something for you, L.B.," he knowingly smiled, "You and Danny are going to Proctor the up coming BUD/S class that convenes in two days."

"What about the rest of the team?" I asked, "What're they going to do?"

"Nobody wants to operate without you, L.B." Dave smiled, "That's why we've all asked to be put on stand down until you're well enough to be an operator again."

"Come on, Dave," I chuckled, "That's not very fair to the rest of the men. They shouldn't have to pay for my shortcomings, skipper."

"Who said anything about paying for your shortcomings, or for that matter, what shortcomings are you talking about? None of this was your fault in any way, shape, or form," Danny compassionately replied, "We're doing this because we care...Do you hear me? We care about you, and everything that happens to you."

"Besides," Dave chuckled, "If you're going to be an instructor, then you're also going to need the rank to go with it...okay, Masterchief?"

~~~~~~

TWO DAYS LATER

At 0700 hours that morning, Danny and I stood together on the podium at the quad at BUD/S, while Danny gave the speech, I remained silent, listening, learning and following his lead.

"Good morning, gentlemen," he began, introducing himself to the SEAL candidates/students of Class 109, as their Class Proctor for the first time, "Welcome to BUD/S. My name is Lieutenant Reed, and you are about to go through the toughest training in the world. Some of you will make it, however, most of you won't. This type of training is not for everyone so; there is no shame in dropping out. According to my roster, there are ninety-four of you; and I estimate that well over ninety percent of you will ring my bell three times (called ringing out) before graduation day, twenty-nine weeks from now...

...In order for you to be able to wear the SEAL Trident, you're going to have to make it through not only me, but also Masterchief Walker standing here next to me, and I assure you, gentlemen, it won't be an easy task. To make sure that you all start off on the right foot, there are two things that need to stay present in your minds. Number one, there are no individuals in a team, nor is there a letter "I" in the word team; and last but certainly not least, the only easy day here, was yesterday. Are we clear on this?

"YES, SIR," the students yelled.

"Alright then," I said, "Let's start the morning off with a nice ten mile run to stretch our legs, gentlemen," I said, "Shall we?"

"HOO-YAH," the students yelled, and then followed me to the surf.

~~~~~~

"Before we begin our run," I said, "I want everyone of you to hit the surf, NOW," and the moment I went silent, ninety-four men scrambled into the ocean, getting wet from head to toe, and then I had them roll around in the sand, making sure that each and very man was covered, head to foot, in sand. After that, I made them go back into their barracks and change into dry uniforms, making them repeat the same exercise be they'd just done. And after ordering them to do it enough times, I was sure that every uniform they owned was soaking wet...

~~~~~~

"Ready, begin," I commanded, and the entire class took of running beside Danny and I who were keeping pace. We ran a total of five miles up the beach, in tidal surge water, before turning around and running the five miles back to the SEAL quarterdeck. As I ran, I remembered running down this same stretch of beach, only I was wearing an eighty pound dive pack, hence the reason the run seemed like nothing after that.

~~~~~~

After we finished our run, we moved the students to the obstacle course to begin their training. Hell, the run on the beach was just something that we did every morning to get the heart up and pumping. Still though, I was excited to be teaching these men what I was taught, but I wasn't going to be easy on them one bit, because the more you sweat during peace time, the less you bleed during war.

"And just in case you're wondering," Danny told the class, "Masterchief Walker holds the record for the obstacle course; and he invites all of you to try and break it."

~~~~~~

As I said before, there were ninety four men that started this class, and now knowing Danny as well as I did, he wasn't going to end the class until at least one person rang out. However, after the second time through the obstacle course, one person rang out, bringing the class ranks down to ninety-three people.

"Damn...and it's not even noon yet," Danny laughed, "I've got a feeling that this particular class is going to be one of the smaller ones, come graduation day."

"I don't know," I chuckled, watching these guys going over the same "Obstacle Course" that I had to go over, and I knew, from having experienced it firsthand, that it sure as hell wasn't child's play, that much was certain, "I think there might be two, maybe three frogs in the bunch, what do you think?"

"I'm not real sure yet," he quietly told me, "I think there might be at least four, or maybe even five...we'll just have to wait until after hell week is over; and then we'll know."

By the end of the day we'd lost four people, narrowing BUD/S Class 109 down to ninety people, or, fifteen boat crews, each crew consisting of six men. And like my own BUD/S class, we started off with a hundred and twenty seven people, yet only sixteen of us graduated. That ought to at least tell you something about how difficult the training is, huh?

~~~~~~

I was alright while I was at work during the day and had something to take my mind off of everything; but it was when I went home that things became difficult for me, and that night was starting off just as the previous nights which had passed since my Jill had been gone. However, I hadn't been home for very long, and had just finished changing my clothes when I heard a knock at the front door.

"COME IN," I shouted, at whoever was on the other side, "IT'S OPEN!"

I watched the front door open, and in walked none other than Dave, followed by Fleet Admiral Richard T. Jameson, who, in his own right, was very important in the chain of command there in the San Diego area. In other words he was the Admiral in charge of the whole Seventh Fleet, well, back then anyway. I was wondering why Dave brought him to my house by this time.

"Mike, this is a friend of mine, Admiral Richard Jameson," Dave smiled, as he introduced us, "Rick, this is another very good friend and fellow team mate of mine, Masterchief Mike Walker."

"Welcome Admiral," I nervously smiled, "It's nice to meet you, sir."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Mike," he smiled, as, at my behest, he and Dave both took seats on the couch, "And please, I want you to call me Rick when we're not on duty."

"I'll bet you're wondering what in the hell I'm doing by bringing the Admiral of the Seventh Fleet over here," Dave laughed, "Aren't you, L.B.?"

"Well, to start with, I never know who you're going to bring over here, Dave," I teased, "But yes, I guess you could probably say that I'm at least a little curious," and then I laughed again.

"I heard about what happened to your fiancé, Mike," Rick kindheartedly told me, "I wanted to tell you how sorry I am that it happened, and if there's anything I can do to help you, please don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

"Thank you, Rick," I appreciatively said, "That means a lot to me to hear you say that, it really does, sir."

"I've heard a lot of really interesting things about you," Rick smiled, "And those things that I heard about you were all very good."

"Is that right?" I grinned, "Well if you heard from Dave here, then you be fairly sure that it's all bullshit," which elicited a hearty laugh from the three of us.

~~~~~~

After I made sure that both Rick and Dave had some coffee, which had just started brewing when they first arrived, Dave was the one who spoke first.

"Rick just lost his wife three and a half months ago," Dave quietly said to me, and then he looked at Rick and told him, "Mike lost his fiancé a little less than two weeks ago," and then Dave looked at Rick and I both and said, "And I think it might be a good idea for you two to talk to one another, and see how much you two just might actually have in common..."

~~~~~~

The three of us sat and talked, well, Rick and I talked to each other, that is, while Dave sat with us and simply listened, a content smile on his face. And after a couple of hours passed, I began to have better feelings about Jill's death, in that there was nothing that I could've done to prevent it. However, I don't think I could ever go through the pain of having to identify her lifeless body, though. From looking at her body, it was apparent that she'd been killed in a car accident, hence the reason she looked all swollen and bruised. She'd been cleaned up before I was brought in to see her, and I can't begin to talk about how grateful I was to whoever cleaned my precious Jill's body.

Her parents desperately asked, almost begged me to let them bury her in their family's cemetery, which, of course I had no problem whatsoever with. It was bad enough that we lost her at such a young age, but I felt that it would be so very hard on Jill's folks to have to make such a long drive from a small town that was about thirty miles north of the bay area, all the way down south to San Diego to visit their daughter's grave Besides, all of her close friends and family were there, too, hence the reason I had no problem with Jill's parents' request.

I also gave Jill's mother and father not only her engagement and weeding rings, but also the opportunity to go through our house and take anything they wanted, whatever it might be, which also helped me make another big decision in my life...

~~~~~~

While I certainly enjoyed living in what was once mine and Jill's home off base, I knew without a doubt that because it was just me living there now; I wasn't going to need anywhere near the space.

Not counting Jill, God love her, there were a couple of things that I was going to miss about living there; and those were having grounds keepers, as well as a swimming pool. Still though, it's a very well known fact that you can't have your cake and eat it, too.

~~~~~~

After finding a smaller place, actually it was a garage apartment, which was owned by a sixty-two year old widow, named Ms. Glenda Patrick, the widow of Naval Captain, also SEAL Team Three's Commanding Officer, the late Gary Patrick. Ms. Patrick, or just plain Glenda, as she insisted that we all addressed her as, was a very sweet lady. When I entered her house for the first time, I saw a couple of headshots of Glenda, all of which had been taken of her when she was young, and...all of which were hanging on the walls of her living room. I had to admit that she was very beautiful in those pictures; which even now, that same beauty stayed with her in her later years.

"So, tell me, Michael," she gently, but demurely smiled, "Do you recognize the girl in those pictures?"

"I most certainly do," I tenderly replied, gently grazing her pretty cheek with the back of my right hand, "And that same girl in those same pictures grew up to be one of the most beautiful women that I've ever seen, Glenda."

"You sweet, sweet boy," she girlishly, yet sweetly grinned, "One of these days you're going to make some lucky girl the perfect husband."

"Maybe," I nervously laughed, "I don't know about all of that; at least not right yet, anyway."

"And what on earth would make you think such dreadful things?" she politely asked.

It was then that, with the exception of the operations my team had gone on; I chose to tell Glenda about Jill, as well as everything that had taken place from the moment I first met her, until the moment God called her home,

And when I was finished she was wiping her eyes with a piece of tissue, sniffling and telling me, "Oh, my God, Michael honey. I don't see how you're even functioning right now, I really don't. If you need anything, I don't care what it is, I want you to call me, regardless of what time of the day or night it is; okay?"

"Thank you, Glenda," Dave humbly replied, "I can't find the words that even begin to describe how much it means to us, Mike's closest friends, to know that he's going to be looked after when we're not around."

"Are you kidding me?" Glenda very gently replied, "I'd do the same for any of the rest of you, you know that."

"Hoo-Yah," Dave chuckled, "Thanks, Glenda. I knew that we could count on you."