AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ahhh. Makes sense.”
“See?” the captain said pointedly glancing at Gretchen, who rolled her eyes and looked at Giselle.
“He’s setting you up,” Gretchen warned openly, giving her a hard look. “It might work, it might not. You just never know what you are getting into, and I want you to be aware because not everything is sunshine and rainbows. There were a lot of bumps in the road at first with my own pen pal.”
“I’m never going to meet anyone out here otherwise,” Giselle said softly, feeling nervous and strange to be even having this discussion with them. What did it matter to anyone that she had a pen pal?
“I mean, there’s a lot of guys, but I’m not interested. They are married, goofy as could be, or only have one thing on their mind…”
“Is someone bothering you?” the captain glowered and looked at Gretchen, before they both looked at her. “Say the word and I’ll have it addressed.”
“No. No. Nothing like that,” Giselle began nervously. “I just would like…more.”
“More…what?”
Giselle wanted someone that would sweep her off her feet, carry her off, a protector, a friend, a lover, someone who thought of her with every breath. She wanted the fairytale that every girl, every mama, and any grandma wished for — someone just for her.
Her own prince of her dreams – and Giselle knew she would never find him here, in the middle of nowhere, slapping Band-Aids on boys that thrived on being disgusting like it was a competition. They were like her brothers, family members, and she wanted… well,more.
‘More’seemed to describe it accurately in her mind, because she couldn’t think of any other way to explain it. She wanted sparks, butterflies, a magic that could only be imagined. Legends, fairytales, princes and unicorns… she wanted the ultimate dream for any fanciful girl with a dreamer’s heart.
“More than just this ordinary existence,” she confessed. “I want more to my life and could use a friend – so yes. A pen pal sounds ideal and if it comes with strings attached? Then I suppose I shall dance for my puppet master.”
“Oh, I like her,” Logan snorted to Gretchen, looking over his shoulder briefly, before looking back at Giselle.
“Puppet master? Really?” he grinned, as he stood up, getting to his feet. “I found my volunteer, Perry. Thank you both for your time, ladies. Beck, I’ll be in touch shortly.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * *
Two days later,Captain Logan walked in as Giselle was inserting an I.V. into a man’s arm who had collapsed while doing physical training due to excessive dehydration.
“Just a second, Peña…” she muttered, slowly inserting the needle into the vein upwards, advancing it until the flashback of blood appeared, moving the cannula a little further into the vein. “You’re doing beautifully. Just stay still and don’t faint on me.”
“Geeeezzz, Beck. I’m not gonna faint,” Peña muttered weakly.
“Some do and it’s okay, my friend,” she whispered, focusing intently. Not moving her eyes from her work, she blindly reached up with one hand and popped the rubber tourniquet that she’d fastened a few moments ago, before applying pressure and removing the needle.
Diligently working, Giselle could feel eyes watching her as she loaded the bag, adjusted the drip, and then turned to yank off her gloves, disposing of the needles in the sharps container nearby, before patting the man gently on the shoulder… and moving to talk to the captain.
“Sorry about that,” she began politely. “May I help you?”
“It’s about our project,” Captain Logan said candidly. “Do you have a moment?”
“Of course, captain.”
She followed him into another room – and he wasted no time at all, shoving a folded piece of paper at her.
“This is his email. I would go ahead and send him a quick message, draw him out and get him to say ‘hello’ back. Then you can work on befriending him.”
“Wait… me? I’m writing to him first?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
“I thoughthewas going to writeme?”
“Plans change all the time. Besides, think of this as one of those little nursery rhymes or fairytales… coax ‘Goldilocks’out of the cave, hut, barracks, or whatever your new buddy wallows in.”
