Danforth came out of Ortega's ward.
He had come to meet Shelley too, obviously, so he made his way towards the ward she was working in.
Danforth hung back a little in an effort to buy time because truth be told, he was tense. He wasn't ready to meet with her yet. It was as if he needed to change his 'mask' before meeting up with her. He didn't want her to see who he really was.
Danforth focused, took a deep breath and tried to relax. He tried to remember how it felt, back in the days, when he was a normal person after being a soldier for an entire month.
So, after procrastinating a little longer, Danforth realized that deep down, he hadn’t really come to just meet Ortega or get his second in command duties done. Not in the least.
Deep down, the main reason he was there was because of her, and he had, in effect, just found her.
Shelley was working, of course.
She was doing well and it was great to be watching her.
Danforth paused one last time to fix the image of her in his mind as she simply stood there reading her patient reports.
He would have stayed there, just aweing, forever.
It would have been nice if she hadn’t notice him at all, but shortly thereafter, she turned in his direction and recognized him immediately.
She opened her eyes wide when she saw him, but the instant she realized what she was doing, she quickly returned to her calm, collected self. It took her no time at all to regain her composure as she turned away from him nonchalantly and went back to ignoring him.
Once she’d finished jotting something down in her notebook, she flipped over its cover, slid it into her pocket and hurriedly walked away in the opposite direction. She didn’t even remotely glance his way after that.
“Shelley?” he said calling out to her.
He couldn’t understand what was going on
He started following her, quickening his pace in an effort to catch up.
When he was close enough to reach her he grabbed her arm – and finally managed to stop her.
“Shelley” he whispered moving in front of her. The moment their eyes met however, he saw a fountain of tears and realized she was weeping.
“You...” Shelley said in a voice as sharp as a blade.
“You said you’d be gone for five days!”
Danforth didn’t know what to say.
He was absolutely and positively petrified.
“And look at you! You don’t even have anything to say me, nothing at all, you asshole.”
She began punching him in the chest crying all the while.
Danforth moved his arm gently around, pulling her as close as he could to him stopping her.
Unable to fight him off, Shelley pressed her face up against his chest as she sobbed even harder.
She eventually gave in but still went on crying.
“I thought... I thought you were dead!”
“I’m sorry Shelley. Something unexpected came up and I was late. That's it. I’m really really sorry Shelley.”
She looked in his eyes through her tears. They seemed to be pleading with him.
“I love you, you stupid, fucking idiot.”
Danforth got the shivers, not unlike an electric discharge he got once, and he didn’t like it at all.
I love you too – he immediately said in his head. Just thinking it wasn’t nearly enough though, and it echoed a few times more in his head before he could even think straight again.
Me too – he thought.
I love you too.
“I love you too,” he finally managed to say aloud to her.
It was his first time ever.
It was the very first time that Joseph Danforth said those words aloud, ever, in his entire life.
After saying it, Danforth lowered eyes, almost unable to bear seeing such a beautiful face so weary with tears.
Worst still, they were tears he had caused.
“The thing is, well, the thing is that it was tough, over there,” he said, apologetically.
“I’d already got that, you asshole” she said.
“I’d already got that because I know what’s going on in those eyes. I know what death is, you prick. I know it better than you do.”
She continued to cry softly and snuggled back into his chest again.
To Danforth, those words really hurt.
They burned his insides and felt as painful as a poison probably would.
He turned to look straight into her eyes and said in a firm voice:
“But I am alive, Shelley, and now I’m here.”
Danforth tilted his head slightly, even managing a smile.
“...And I told you that I love you too.”
He was well aware of how much more could have been said than just that.
To start with, it should be pointed out that the thing he had just said to her was something he had never, ever, not in his life and not to a single other person ever said aloud before to anyone.
Honestly, it was his first time.
No kidding.
He’d have liked to tell her that, then and there.
He wished he could explain how much all of this meant to him, but he couldn’t.
The fact that he’d told her he loved her too would have to be more than enough for one day and today in particular. He was so beyond himself, truly overwhelmed and couldn't find the words. All the same, he’d get around to it eventually because he meant to.
There was no denying that the talk he had with Shelley could have turned into, shall we say, 'problematic', but he definitely hadn’t expected this.
Despite not having slept together, at least, not as of yet they hadn’t, she already loved him.
And he loved her too.
He just hadn’t noticed it before.
“I survived Shelley. I made it through,” he said.
“Did you risk your life?”
Danforth sighed.
“To tell you the truth, it’s a miracle I’m alive. It’s a miracle any of us, team and all, are alive actually…
“Well then, leave... Give your notice, go back to the US and find a new job.”
“I can't.”
“Of course you can.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
She didn’t reply.
Then he added:
“This job gave me you, Shelley.”
His eyes met hers and it was as intense as the first time and a sort of reawakening.
Her face was tear stained from all the crying she’d done.
His expression on the other hand, showed signs of a smile.
That was because Danforth finally felt happy.
A strange kind of happiness, the odd kind. The kind of happiness he’d never experienced before.
“I...” he stammered, but Shelley cut him off him mid-sentence.
“The fact that the Special Forces unit you’re in isn’t just a plain, old, run of the mill Special Forces unit, has been rather obvious for a long time, and I get it, Joseph. Be that as it may, sooner or later, one way or another, you all end up in here. Whether it be you guys personally, or maybe your officers, or even your corpses. So I asked around and you’re not the person you claim to be.”
Danforth looked up above.
There was no point in lying anymore, not now.
Letting the lies go on this way would only serve to make the situation worse than it was.
“Okay, okay. I’m not exactly in the Special Forces any more. Now I’m in the Secret Service.”
She became suddenly serious.
“Is it that dangerous?”
“Yes it is. But I really do love my job, Shelley. Well, you see, occasionally, we do save some lives. Not every single time, but sometimes we save lives too. Just like you do.”
She looked away from him and then shook his head.
“I knew it. I knew I shouldn't have fallen in love with someone like you. You always die. All of you, each and every one of you always dies, you assholes. Are you going to leave me all alone too, Joseph Danforth?”
“No, I won't.”
“You’ll leave me, and I’ll be all alone. You all do it sooner or later,” she said in a broken voice.
“No baby, I won't let you down like that. I’ll never leave you like that.”
He saw that her lips were trembling with emotion as he put his arms around her in a protective embrace.
Joseph Danforth had never known anyone, in the entire world, who regarded his life that highly or that worthy.
His own parents hadn’t even cared about him the way that woman was doing for him now.
If she really did care so much about him, then maybe, just maybe, his life really was worth something.
Danforth hugged her tightly and pulled her close up against him, as his face slowly moved towards hers.
“I’ll survive, baby. I’ll do it for you.”
“Is that a promise?”
“I promise.”
She hugged him back squeezing him so hard that some of the bruises from his last mission actually started to hurt again.
“I’m going back to the real world in a few days, honey. I have a few things to take care of back home, and once I'm done I’ll come right back. I just wanted to tell you before I left.”
Immediately her lovely eyes darted straight up at him and stared with such sincerity it almost worried him. She turned facing him directly and whispered:
“Stay the night, Joseph.”
Her eyes were still teary and, almost imploring. She stared at him the same way a weapon would have locked onto its target and would probably never look away. “I want to be with you tonight, please, I’m begging you.”
“Okay, sweetie”