Chapter 3 - I TOOK LEAVE
I requested emergency leave.
Then I did something that would once have felt impossible.
I asked to be temporarily reassigned from command duties.
General Hollis studied me across his desk.
“You sure?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
I frowned.
He leaned back.
“You’ve spent fifteen years pretending certainty is a personality.”
Despite everything, I almost laughed.
“I thought you liked that about me.”
“I like it in an operations center.”
His expression softened.
“I’m less impressed when men take it home.”
That landed.
He approved my request.
Before I left, he said:
“Mercer.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Being present doesn’t mean taking command.”
“I know.”
He shook his head.
“No. You’re learning.”
He was right.
Emily was angry when I told her.
“You changed your assignment?”
“Temporarily.”
“Because of me?”
“Because of my child.”
Her face hardened.
“And me?”
“And you, if you’ll let me.”
She looked away.
“I don’t want you destroying your career out of guilt.”
“I’m not.”
“You deleted my calls, Ryan.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get to make one dramatic sacrifice and suddenly become the good guy.”
“I know.”
She stared at me.
I meant it.
That seemed to frustrate her more.
“What do you want from me?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s not true.”
“I want a lot.”
She waited.
“I want you healthy.”
“I want the baby healthy.”
“I want you to stop looking at me like the worst thing I ever did is the only thing I am.”
My voice lowered.
“And I want you back.”
Her eyes changed.
“But wanting doesn’t mean I’m entitled to any of it.”
Silence.
Emily sat slowly.
“That’s the first intelligent thing you’ve said since the divorce.”
“Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment.”
“I’m taking what I can get.”
She almost smiled.
Then pain crossed her face.
Not emotional.
Physical.
Her hand pressed against her chest.
“Emily?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
“Don’t—”
She stopped.
Her breathing changed.
I called the nurse.
Within minutes the room filled with people.
Emily was taken for evaluation.
The lymphoma had begun causing pressure near her upper chest.
Not immediately catastrophic.
But enough.
Enough to shorten the timeline.
Dr. Brooks spoke plainly.
“We need to begin treatment sooner than we hoped.”
“How soon?”
Emily asked.
“Within the week.”
She looked down at her abdomen.
“I won’t be in the second trimester.”
“No.”
Emily’s face emptied.
Dr. Brooks continued.
“We can design treatment around the pregnancy as carefully as possible.”
“But there are risks.”
“Yes.”
“To the baby.”
“Yes.”
“And if I wait?”
“There are risks to you.”
Emily closed her eyes.
There it was.
The choice.
No longer theoretical.
May you like
No longer weeks away.
She had four days.
