The following morning Danforth woke and was pleasantly surprised to find himself on an actual hotel bed, for a change.
There was a stream of sunlight beaming in through the window.
It hotel was clearly of a certain calibre, the kind wealthy tourists stayed in, with crisp pleated bedsheets and new, morning-fresh scented blankets.
There was a heap of brown hair on the bed still laying beside him.
As his face moved gently towards it, the wonderful fragrance of her hair sent him into bliss.
It was the first time Danforth had woken up in bed next to a woman. As he rose to sit on the side of the bed, he looked attentively at her.
He hadn’t done drugs or drunk heavily for quite a long time and thanks to continuously having to work out, he was in better shape than he’d ever been.
Well, at least he would be once he gained back all the weight he’d lost on that fucking mission. The same fucking mission they lost Johnny and Jorgenson on.
Even Shelley had noticed how much he’d gone down in weight.
The sight of his hollowed out chest had brought sadness to her eyes for a brief and painful moment.
Even so, they’d gone on loving each other.
At long last Joseph possessed two of the very things he’d always wanted, but never had, a job and a future.
He had it made, apparently.
Apparently, it would seem so.
A touch of underlying uncertainty was always mandatory, of course.
There were still plenty of occasions and time for him to mess it up somehow.
He could fuck things up with Shelley in some way, manner or form.
The Army could kick him out for one thing or another.
He could end up killed since it was, after all, it was a fucking war.
If, he could just find the way to keep doing everything they way he was doing now though… Wow.
He had become well respected and had important responsibilities.
He had an extremely important job, and was part of an equally important team, despite having been an addict, a pusher and even a thief.
It was nice to finally have reasons to live.
Joseph Danforth took out a figgy and lit it using his Zippo, looking at the SOG emblem on it.
It was almost too good to be true.