Stormwatch - A Rest for the Heart

Josh opened his eyes and saw Major Hancock looking down at him, "A little banged up sir," said Josh answering the pilot's question. He squinted into the morning sun and said, "I think I need to take the rest of the day off sir."

"Denied sergeant," said the Major with a relieved grin. "By the way, happy birthday."

"Fuck you too sir," said Josh with a pained smile, "and your landings suck."

"Any landing you can walk away from..."

Josh tried to sit up as they loaded his stretcher into the ambulance, "In case you didn't notice sir, I ain't walking."

"But I am," laughed the pilot, "I'm the one that counts." As the ambulance wheeled off the Major turned and bummed a smoke off of the crew chief, six years of kicking the habit were gone.

The four sat around the table looking at each other in silence. Nick eventually broke the silence by saying "Bullshit."

"What?" said Ellie as she looked at her husband.

"I don't believe you told a major to fuck off."

Josh just shrugged and smiled, but Ellie said, "Josh told everyone to fuck off. When you're good, you can get away with shit like that."

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

Dr. Macy Jarecki had just got off the phone when her husband John strolled out of the kitchen holding their four-month-old daughter Katarina. Kat was hungry but she didn't want the bottle that John was offering and was being a bit fussy. "Mon amour," asked Macy in her soft, French-Canadian voice, "are not Veronica and Josh on vacation?"

"Yeah, they're in Georgia I think, they just left yesterday, why?"

"Josh just called and asked for a referral for PTSD." She held up her slim arms to take the baby from her husband.

John sighed in relief and surrendered the love of his life to the other love of his life. "It's about time, he's really been struggling with it for the past few years. What did you do?"

"I told him to relax and enjoy his vacation and that I would have everything ready for him when he gets back. I sent a Messagerie électronique to Helen, I think she would do him good."

John loved the French term that Macy used for email, and he was familiar with Doctor Lennox. "Good choice, she won't take any guff from him."

"Oui," agreed Macy as she smiled down on Katarina who finally took to the bottle and closed her eyes as she began nursing. So many people said that Kat looks just like her mother, but other than her milk chocolate skin color, Macy couldn't see it. Eyes, nose, and mouth are all from her father. "Josh may be tough, but she is tougher."

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

"Kendall! Kendall! Kendall!" chanted Veronica at the top of her lungs as the fans went wild. The grudge match between the Kendall and the Pennzoil racing teams was a wild demolition derby around the three eighths mile dirt track of Callihan Speedway. The rednecks of Northern Florida and South Georgia went wild as the cars roared around and around, gaining points with every lap. There were collisions galore and Veronica and Ellie screamed themselves hoarse with every collision.

Finally, the roar of the engines died, and the drivers gathered in front of the grandstands for the award ceremony. "Before we announce the winning team, tonight's top driver, with twelve laps in the lead, for Team Kendall, Alexa Gray of Bulogne, Florida!"

"That's my girl!" shouted Veronica as the fans cheered.

"How old are you, Alexa?" asked the announcer and he held his microphone to Alexa's mouth.

"Ten," giggled the little blond.

Callihan Speedway was a go-kart racing track, groomed to professional standards and the starting point for many drivers who rise through the professional ranks. Veronica was hoping for some open wheel modified racing but found that these kids were just as exciting to watch as their bigger cousins with eight cylinder engines. Team Kendall won thanks to the efforts of Alexa who showed an incredible talent for cut-throat driving on that track.

"Now what?" asked Nick as they made their way out to the parking lot. Being a kid's event, it ended early and there was plenty of evening left.

"I got a place in mind that was just made for this bunch," said Josh as they turned off US 1 on to Sauls road and started heading back to Amelia Island. "We should make it in time for dinner."

"You know, when you said you were country," started Veronica, "I pictured Green Acres. You know, big fields, corn, cows, row crops. These are all trees; you grew up in a forest." Veronica was right, the country was all long needle pine trees growing right up to the edge of the road. The trees stood over fifty feet tall, straight and slender, and with their long, long needles on branches at the top they looked like giant bottle brushes. Occasionally a house could be seen back in the trees and on occasion an acre or two was carved out of the forest and a new house was being built. They passed one small farm that looked like a farm from back in Western New York, but that was it. This wasn't the country that Veronica envisioned.

Josh smiled at her and said, "If you notice, these trees are all growing in rows. Pine trees are one of the top cash crops in Nassau County. You'll see dozens of log trucks on these roads tomorrow because the paper mill isn't going to shut down on Sunday." He pointed out large parcels of land that had been logged out, then he pointed out parcels that were covered with bright green young trees shooting skyward. "A tree farm is a farm too."

Finally, the red jeep pulled up in front of the American Legion post in Fernandina Beach and the gang piled out. "Are you sure they're ready for us?" asked Ellie. Back at Hurlburt field the gunners were known as the biggest troublemakers in the USAF.

"This is a navy town," explained Josh, "We'll just show them what trouble is all about."

"Mop jockeys?" cried Ellie as they entered the half full club. "I ain't gonna take shit off no deck ape."

The club went silent.

"We're in trouble now," said Veronica quietly to Josh.

"Nah, she's just getting the crowd warmed up," said Josh. He's seen this act before in clubs in western Florida years ago when Ellie was assigned to gunships and was feeling her oats. She and the Ws could ransack a bar, they were a terror during spring break when they were stationed near Panama City. All eyes stared at Ellie as they walked into the club. She was a tough chick and a lot of people in the squadron thought she was an angry lesbian because she liked to pick fights with guys. Turned out she liked to pick fights with guys because she just happened to like to get drunk and pick fights with guys.

As they sat down at a table, a tall blond fellow, exceptionally well dressed too, came up to her and said, "Do you think you can come in here and call our Navy members deck apes?"

"Hell yeah," said Ellie. "Who's going to stop me? I'm a disabled pregnant veteran with a metal leg and a purple heart."

A tough looking dark-haired woman with the USMC globe and anchor on her trucker hat came up and said, "How did you lose your leg?"

"Some asshole with a Russian 30mm auto cannon tried to shoot me out of the air." Then for effect she rolled up her left sleeve and showed the scars that were left from that night years ago. The guy with the tie looked ill when he saw the scars on Ellie's arms, but the marine kept on.

"Anyone actually see this happen?" the marine sneered.

Ellie pointed at Josh, "He pulled me back in the airplane when I got blown out and was dangling on a strap." Ellie stepped up and got right in her face, she stood nearly six inches taller than the marine and gave her a scowl that would broach no bullshit. "Ghost Rider Zero Four, AC-130J."

The well-dressed man looked at Josh and said, "Serious? You two were on a Specter?"

"Technically it was a Ghost Rider, that's what they call that two-gun bomb truck," said Josh who was still watching Ellie. It looked like Ellie, and the marine were now fast friends. That's how Ellie used to work; she'll piss you off until you end up in bed with her. He wondered how angry Ellie got with Nick before they fell in love.

"I was airborne," said the well-dressed man. "Anyone that gave close air support was my best friend, Cobra, Apache, A-10, AC-130, it doesn't matter. You guys hungry? The kitchen is still open." When everybody nodded, he turned to the marine and said, "Marci, go tell Ricky that we have four more." Then he sat down and talked to Josh about that mission that ended his career. He finally said to Josh, "did you get out ok?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Josh said, but he was shut down by Ellie.

"Him? He got all fuckered up. He fell out trying to pull me back in, got all cut up on the sheet metal, me and two other guys, he bandaged us up put a tourniquet on me, saved my life, but he didn't get strapped in, so when we landed, he bounced all over that airplane breaking a dozen bones and fracturing his skull."

"I landed on Craig," he said softly. Veronica moaned and held him tight, now that she knew the story, she realized that this, the loss of Craig Dempsey, was a deep, deep wound.

Their food arrived as they were talking about the plane landing, and everyone being offloaded on to an ambulance on a base that didn't have the facilities for them or the airplane. The four of them were quickly airlifted to Germany, then when they were stable to fly, they were shipped to Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

As he was getting ready to leave, the fellow with the tie pulled Josh and Ellie together and said, "from a ground pounder's point of view, thanks. You saved more lives than you'll ever know but watching the two of you I can tell you have a lot of healing to do." He tapped Josh on the forehead and said, "Here, this is where the most important healing must take place. Copy?"

"Rog," said Josh.

"That's what we have the big turd down here to do," said Ellie as she drove an elbow into Josh's ribs.

"Ok, I'm Todd Dennings by the way, if you need anything, just reach out to me, ok?" and with that he handed Veronica and Nick his card and left just as their food arrived.

"Heya folks, here you go. Fried pork chop, smashed taters and green beans, if you want seconds you gotta hurry up, the kitchen closes in fifteen minutes," said the smiling white-haired fellow who brought them their food. He had such a deep southern accent that it took Veronica a moment to translate in her mind what he had just said.

"How much do we owe for this?" said Nick as he eyed the biggest pork chop he's ever been able to claim as his.

"Y'all don't worry about that none," said their waiter, "your dinner is on Todd."

"Oh wow," said Ellie around a mouth full of Italian green beans. "How do we thank him?"

"If he bought you dinner, you done something that he's thanking you for."

"I mean, how do we reach out to him?" asked Josh.

"Y'all jes look him up on the internet, he's our congressman," and the cook/waiter returned to the kitchen. Veronica took the card out of her purse and looked at it... it said he was a congressman and now she had his office number.

Their dinner was spectacular. Simple food cooked and seasoned perfectly. The pork chops were an eye rolling delicacy and when Ricky, the cook, came back out to let them know he was closing up Veronica asked him how the pork chops were made. "I don't eat much pork, but these are delicious! How did you make them so crispy yet so tender inside?"

"Ah did it the way my granny did it, ah jes dunked 'em in the deep frier."

Veronica stared at the remains of her porkchop in shock as the gathering laughed at her expression. She religiously avoids fried foods preferring grilled, steamed, and baked as the cooking methods of choice. "I've been missing out," she said in a small voice.

"Honey, you're in the south now, we prefer tradition over nutrition," said Josh as he hugged his blond lover.

"Ain't that the truth," laughed Ricky as he headed back to the kitchen.

The rest of the night was spent shooting pool and getting to know the folks in North Florida. The American Legion isn't a tourist attraction, the population of the post was "real folk," veterans, their families, and their friends who come together for mutual support, a cold beer, and a chance to laugh with people who understand how they spent their youth. Visiting veterans from around the US aren't unusual because of the tourist nature of Amelia Island, but in a navy town, Air Force vets were a rarity, so they attracted some attention.

The post commander, Lex, is a jovial fellow who spent four years in the army before enlisting in the Marine Corps asked Josh, "Why did you join the Air Force?"

"I come from a Navy town and everyone I knew was enlisting in the Navy, so I joined the Air Force to avoid those morons," grinned Josh.

"Where you from?" asked Lex.

"Saint Mary's," said Josh with a grin. They were about to discuss life in St. Mary's a couple of decades ago when he heard a familiar tune coming from the juke box. He turned and Veronica was standing next to the juke box watching him with an expectant smile. "Excuse me," Josh said to Lex, and he walked over to where Veronica was waiting. He took her in his arms, and they began to dance in the open area near the pool table:

I'll always remember, the song they were playing

The first time we danced, and I knew

As we swayed to the music, and held to each other

I fell in love with you

"Thank you so much Nica," he whispered in her ear. It's been months since they practiced their waltzing together, but their bodies remembered the steps and they danced beautifully together.

"For what?" she asked.

"Staying with me. You have every right to run far away, and no one will blame you."

"Why would I run away? You're my Effi." She wanted to draw him out, to get him to expose his fears to her.

"I'm just a busted up ol' relic who's fucked up in the head, I could snap at any minute. You deserve so much better."

Veronica brought them to a stop and looked him in the eye, her warm brown eyes meeting his icy blue eyes. "I understand that you're hurting, and I will do whatever it takes to help you recover, but if I hear you talk that way about yourself ever again, I will bust you up."

"I'm just telling the truth..."

"No! You're insulting the man that I love, my future husband and the father of my children and I won't put up with it." There was a fire in her eyes that Josh had never seen. "I waited my whole life for you. Do you copy?"

They started dancing again and Josh sighed, "Yes ma'am. Sometimes I need a reminder I guess." Josh suddenly felt so in love with this woman he wanted to jump up on a table and scream out his love for her. Instead, they simply danced.

Could I have this dance, for the rest of my life

Could you be my partner, every night

When we're together, it feels so right

Could I have this dance for the rest of my life

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

The next morning the four amigos had breakfast together one last time in the Amelia Palms. Talk was happy and hopeful now that Josh and Ellie have reunited and exorcised a demon or two. "I want to thank you guys so much for everything you've done for us, this has been a marvelous chance to get away from Ybor City," said Nick as they prepared to leave.

"The hotel was marvelous," said Ellie. "We arrived long before you got here, and I got to play bikini games."

"You didn't," gasped Josh, his eyes wide in shock.

"Oh yes!" she gave an evil grin. "The pink bikini."

Josh started laughing as Veronica began asking, "What? What's a bikini game?"

Josh told the story at Ellie's insistence. "Ellie has an older sister, they're nearly identical except Angela has buck teeth."

Nick snorted and began laughing, "She's got them fixed now, but back then, that girl could eat an apple through a picket fence."

Josh continued, "I got to know Angela, she worked at Base Ops in the Weather office, and we'd hang out at the base pool together. She'd wear this tiny neon pink string bikini that was really revealing, but the guys didn't notice because of her buck teeth. And she has some big ol' boobs!" Josh held his hands in front of himself like he was clutching a pair of melons.

"Just like Ellie," agreed Nick, "Tig old bittys!" Ellie cupped her own full breasts and grinned.

"What's the joke?" asked Veronica.

"Angela gets orders to Iceland, so before she leaves along comes Ellie, she just got assigned to Hurlburt Field and we started flying together. I invited her to come along to the pool on a down day and she shows up wearing Angela's pink bikini."

"She wasn't going to need it in Iceland," said Ellie.

Josh nodded, "That's for sure. Anyhow, the guys freaked out. They were drooling and howling over Ellie, but they were the same guys that ignored Angela."

"Them boobies are something to behold," agreed Nick. Veronica didn't know what to think, here's Josh and Nick talking about Ellie's boobs like she was one of the guys.

"Anyhow, we're flying on a training mission and heading back to Hurlburt, and Craig is the only one on base who doesn't know about Angela by now, so he finally asked Ellie, "What's with your teeth? one day they're buck teeth, the next day they're normal," said Josh, and he started laughing so hard he couldn't get the words out.

Ellie sweetly smiled, "I said every now and then I forget and leave set in the blowjob position."

Veronica tried not to laugh but she lost it, "Oh thank goodness I wasn't drinking coffee when you said that. It would have come right out my nose."

"It was my proudest moment," smiled Ellie. Veronica realized that Ellie really was one of the guys. She doesn't put on airs, she's all girl, but she's all airman too.

"She was all over me to protect her from the throngs of boys who wanted a better view of those knockers," said Josh shaking his head. "In the end I introduced her to Nick just so I could relax at the pool."

"Happiest day of my life," said Nick as he and Josh bumped fists then he hugged Ellie and they kissed

"So, you were in the Air Force too?" asked Veronica.

"No," said Nick as he hugged Ellie. "I was the lifeguard at the base pool."

"What did you do Friday?" Veronica asked Ellie before Josh could stop her.

"It was nice and warm, so I just laid out at the pool here," Ellie grinned, she was obviously proud of herself. "A seven-month pregnant big-boobed blond with a metal leg and scars up and down her left side in a neon pink string bikini."

"So what happened?" Josh asked, mostly because he knew that Ellie would stand there grinning until someone asked.

"Folks did their damnedest trying to not look at me. Then this sweet old lady came up to me and asked, "My word! What happened to you?" smiled Ellie as she tried to imitate a sweet old lady.

"What did you say?" coaxed Josh.

"I pat my belly and said, "I met the man of my dreams!" Ellie hugged Nick's arm while rolling her eyes. Nick broke up laughing hard and Josh joined him in laughter while Veronica chuckled and shook her finger at Ellie.

"This was the first time I've been able to talk about Craig," said Josh sadly as they rose to leave. "I miss that guy."

"We miss him too," said Ellie softly. When they got to the car in the parking lot, Ellie turned to Josh and held his hands, "It was so good to see you again Redneck."

"It was good to see you too, Hellinore."

"I just want to say thank you," She took his hand and put it on her belly, and he felt a slight fluttering going on inside of Ellie. "She wouldn't be possible if you didn't save me."

"I'm just sorry I didn't save your leg; I didn't know how to set a tourniquet; I was so scared for you..."