Bye, Mr. Ex! novel · Chapter 18 of 24
Chapter 18: In Front of Everyone
At zero nine hundred Bravo Company stood on the concrete pad in dress uniform, and I stood in front of it.
The Colonel had arrived early, with a driver, an aide, a photographer and a gray-haired battalion commander who looked sick.
Colby stood behind the Colonel's left shoulder in his dress blues.
His chin was up, and he did not look at me.
Jonas was at the chain-link fence in a gray jacket, a civilian among soldiers, with both hands hooked in the wire.
He had told me at midnight, on the phone, to take the medal.
I had told him I'd rather take the court-martial.
He had laughed, once, which was how I knew he would never forgive me for being right.
"First Sergeant Loretta Darden," Darden announced in a flat voice, "reports Bravo Company all present, sir."
"Thank you, First Sergeant."
The Colonel stepped to the front and took a paper from his aide.
"Attention to orders," he read. "The President of the United States has awarded the Soldier's Medal to Sergeant Sadie Pickens, for heroism at Camp Mackall, North Carolina."
"At great risk to herself, she controlled a femoral hemorrhage on a pinned soldier and kept him alive for eleven minutes."
Someone near the back whooped.
The Colonel allowed himself a small, modest smile.
The aide opened the blue box.
"Sergeant Pickens," said the Colonel. "Front and center."
I was already there.
He stepped up with the medal in his hand and reached for my chest.
"Sir," I said. "I request permission to decline."
The pad went silent.
A helicopter's rotors ticked as they cooled in the hangar.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Bye, Mr. Ex! are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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