On Point (Out of Uniform 3)

Please don’t let him be worse. Maddox was the praying one, not him, but he sent the wish up anyway. As usual, his wishes were for shit. He found Maddox where he’d left him, wounds still oozing despite the clotting powder, skin pale, eyes half-closed. He was mumbling under his breath, bungling the lyrics to some country song.

“Been almost twelve years since you left that hick town. Think you’d have better musical taste by now,” Ben grumbled, because complaining was easier than letting on how damn worried he was. They’d been in plenty of jams together over the years, but this felt different.

Maddox opened one eye. “We can’t all have grown up in a pretty house in Oceanside,” he mumbled. “And I liked growing up in Clarkston. Good memories.”

Ben sighed. This was the problem with Maddox—he’d never stopped missing the rural Washington town where he’d grown up. Didn’t matter how shitty Maddox’s family treated him, he still had a hole in his heart that Ben would give anything to fix.

But right now, it was the hole in Maddox’s head that most worried him. Maddox’s speech was slurred, whether from pain, exhaustion, or something more serious, Ben couldn’t say. He hated not knowing.

“You should drink,” he said, fussing around to find the drinking valve for the CamelBak-style hydration system.

“Nah.” Maddox batted Ben’s hands away.

Fucking stubborn SEAL. “You were right. Climbing’s not a viable option. I think the best option is trying to hike due north along the ravine. It flattens out some and then we can try to either double back to the encampment or make rendezvous B.”

“You go ahead. I’ll be okay.” Maddox’s pale lips belied this assertion. “You can send the others back for me.”

“Nope. Not leaving you.” Ben had briefly considered that idea, but worry about Maddox while he’d been looking for their equipment had been bad enough. And no way was he leaving Maddox defenseless. “Gotta keep you talking. And we’ve only got one gun between us right now, and hell if it even works. Staying together is the best plan.”

“BS. I’m going to slow you down.”

“Then we’ll take a lot of breaks.” Once Ben made up his mind, he wasn’t going to deviate from his plan. No way was he leaving Maddox only to return to find him passed out—or worse. Even if he had to drag Maddox out of the jungle, he wasn’t leaving him behind.

* * *

When Ben wanted something, Ben generally got it, so Maddox didn’t waste his very limited energy arguing. His head felt even foggier now, and the gash throbbed with each word he spoke. “Can you make me a second crutch? I don’t want to lean so heavy on you. You’re hurt too.”

Ben bristled at this. “I’m fine.”

“Liar,” Maddox said with no real ire. They were both messed up, and Ben knew it, no matter what kind of spin he wanted to put on things. But Chief I’m Fine grimaced and grunted his way through fashioning another crutch.

“Okay, try this.” Ben helped Maddox up. Maddox wobbled, weight leaning into Ben way more than he’d intended. “Oh—fuck.”

“Sorry.” Maddox attempted to right himself. Heck. His vision briefly went double as a wave of dizziness swamped him. The makeshift crutches were heavy and not quite the same height, making it hard to find his equilibrium.

“It’s fine.” Ben’s strained voice said that it was anything but. “Just my ribs. Few days wrapped when we get back, and I’ll be fine. Hell, might not even need to miss time.”

“Heaven forbid you have to take leave.” Maddox could count on one hand the number of extended leaves Ben had taken, few of them medical. He’d completed a Monster Mash drill last year with a raging case of the flu, only consenting to IV fluids when Wizard had threatened to plunk his ass in the hospital.

“Hey, we’ll have you back on your feet soon too.” Ben led the way out of the thicket, but still skirted close to the line of trees. “And I like the job. No need to take time off if I don’t need it.”

But what if I need it? The conversation on the way to the mission echoed in Maddox’s ears. Ben was never going to understand. “Some of us like a bit more balance.”

Predictably, Ben snorted. “This about you not getting your reenlistment paperwork in? You’re going to have some medical leave coming to you after this. Take that and some personal. Go hang out on a beach somewhere if you need to, but just get the papers in.”

“You gonna come with me?” Maddox asked the question even though he knew the answer. For all their years of friendship, they’d never vacationed together. Heck, he wasn’t sure Ben was even capable of relaxing for more than a few hours. He worked hard, partied hard, but was far from the sipping-cocktails-on-the-beach type.