His voice rang through me and I instinctively smoothed the creases of my khaki cargoes and pulled at my high ponytail. I stood up straighter in an effort of shake off the weariness from the jet lag and long flight.

It was The Captain, the man from the hospital who had recruited me for this insanely crazy “mission” I had agreed to embark upon in a moment of weakness.

And before I met Ty.

I took a big breath in and extended my arm to shake hands with The Captain, “hello, Sir, I see you’ve recovered remarkably well.”

The man was practically eaten alive by a tractor, what, two or three weeks ago? Not only that, he’d suffered a mild heart attack while in recovery—right in front me!

How was he up and about?

Most people would be in physical therapy for months. But not The Captain. Looking at him, standing in front of me, one would never know the ordeal he’d just gone through. Just goes to show what sheer human will power will achieve, I suppose.

(Either that or male ego.)

“Never better, Collins, thanks to you!” he smiled. “Ready for action?”

Hell no.

“You bet!” I smiled an equally wide grin that obviously betrayed my efforts to hide my bone crushing fear.

“You’ll be fine, Collins,” assured The Captain. “Listen, you can do anything for three months, right?”

The words “three months” rolled over me like a thrashing wave, unrelenting and unstoppable but at the same time in excruciatingly slow motion, making it all the more terrifying.

Don’t panic Lizzy!

It’s going to be okay…

I, um, hope!

“Yes, Sir,” I stuttered as I tried to change the subject. “You didn’t have to meet me here, in Guam.”

“Nonsense Collins,” he laughed. “I had to brief two top soldiers this morning for a quick mission I’m running in The Fields. If you’re lucky, you might get to tend to their sprained ankles and bug bites when they meet us back at Camp Zero. They are two of the best. Anyway, it is my pleasure to escort a lovely lady such as yourself to Camp Zero.”

Of course the mere mention of “top soldiers’ only made me think of Ty and the painful realization, once again, that I was completely and utterly in love with him.

How dare Ty make me fall for him and then leave like that!?

I’m Elizabeth Collins, I don’t fall in love.

Love is for losers.

Whatever.

I probably don’t even actually love him.

It was most likely just the drama and excitement of us meeting and then him leaving so fast.

I suddenly felt tears welling up in the corner of my eyes.

Dammit!

Okay so obviously I’m madly in love with him.

Oh my God pull it together, Lizzy!

“You okay there, Collins?” The Captain asked me.

The Captain’s words felt like whiplash and I realized I had completely drifted off while thinking of Ty.

This is so embarrassing!

I quickly pulled myself together and cleared my throat.

“Of course,” I said firmly as I shook away my moment of weakness. “Sir, I am just eager to get going. When do we depart?”

The Captain nodded in the direction of an even smaller plane than the one I had just spent all night on. Unlike the previous plane, however, this one was very light grey, white almost. It looked like how old movies used to depict futuristic planes. It was modern looking, but somehow different… and also, it was hella small! Like, smaller than an SUV, small.

As if I wasn’t stressed out enough already!

“Pretty cool, huh?” sighed The Captain as I started to have a heart attack. He was clearly more excited than I was about getting to ride in a super high-tech thimble.

My shoe closet at home was bigger than this thing. I couldn’t even imagine how a pilot, The Captain and I were all supposed to fit in there!

“Right,” I nodded, my mouth accidentally gaping open.

“Well, shall we?” The Captain picked up my small violet backpack (which now I felt exceedingly stupid for bringing… but it was all I had!) and before I could say anything he started striding towards to the door.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the pilot?” I asked as I half-ran to keep up with The Captain’s brisk gait.

“Yer looking at him, kiddo,” said The Captain over his shoulder.

“Oh wow!” I said. “You’re a pilot, too?”

“Mehhh, pilot? Um, no John Travolta is a pilot—that’s actually true, did you know that?—me, I’m more of what you would call a plane enthusiast. Do you know how many planes I’ve been in throughout my very long career in the military? Collins, I gotta tell ya, it doesn’t seem that hard. These things practically fly themselves. We’re not really supposed to say that… but it’s true. Anyway, how can I pass up taking out this beaut for a spin, look at her!”

He was saying a lot of words but all I heard was “not a pilot”.

“Sir,” I panicked as I felt my Chuck Taylor’s become rooted the ground. “Um, I thought that the military had strict rules about, um, well, everything? Like, including, maybe, um, only pilots should be flying planes? I dunno, just a thought.”

He was joking.

He must be joking!

He’s obviously joking…

His pace actually seemed to quicken as he approached the plane.

Oh my God he’s not slowing down… he’s totally not joking.

I’m not getting into a plane with someone who has never been at the helm before!

This is nuts.

What is wrong with me?

What am I doing here?

Why can’t I be a normal adult and make rational decisions!?

I could have been a great dental hygienist.

I could have had a normal life.

A husband.

A child.

Two weeks vacation.

A savings account.

But no.

Lizzy has to live on the edge!

Lizzy has to have it all!

Lizzy has to travel the world like some kind of thrill seeking idiot hellbent on getting shot in the leg by a Fear Division rebel or drop out of the sky and fall to my death and no one will ever remember me except to say, oh ya, I knew that girl, she was that crazy nurse who couldn’t be satisfied with a normal life and ended up dead in the ocean all alone with terrible bangs.

Argh!

I suddenly missed my safe and predictable Trauma ER Room back at Mercy General. And then I almost laughed at the thought of yearning for the safety and security of a trauma room… at least they had rules there!

Okay.

Breathe.

The Captain is messing with you.

There’s no way he is allowed to just fly a plane because he thinks it’s cool.

This is the military, they are all about rules!

“Collins,” the Captain tossed my violet backpack onto the plane without effort and turned around, holding me squarely by the shoulders. He looked at me confidently and I felt a bit better.

“Listen to me,” he said. “We aren’t ‘the military’ you see in the movies, you know, partying in the desert with Jake Gyllenhaal. You, me, and all the people at this base serve a group of highly trained American fighters who are about as off grid as you get. So, trust me when I tell you, we do whatever the fuck needs to be done to fulfill our mission.”

Gulp.

And with that he hopped in the pilot’s seat and motioned for me to sit beside him. Five minutes later as we taxied down the runway, embarking upon the final leg of my journey to Camp Zero and The Fields, all I could think was: I’m going to die in a terrible plane crash alongside a very lovely but totally insane older man named The Captain and the worst part is, Ty will never know how much I truly, deeply love him.