The room was too bright for Marc’s eyes. He squinted as they grew accustomed to the illumination. Two huge windows looked out onto the sunlit lawn under clear blue skies. A girl in a flowered dress who was perhaps seven years old, was playing tag with a toddler under the shade of the single leafy tree.

“Hello, Trent,” Marc said as he entered the room.

“Hi, Lieutenant,” his platoon sergeant replied hoarsely, his eyes straying slightly from the girl to his visitor, who was dressed in a dark-colored uniform. He shifted uncomfortably on the hospital bed and winced as the tubes running out of his nose shifted.

Marc wanted to tell him not to talk, to save his energy, but there was no point in saving it for anything. “How are you feeling?”

“How do I look?&rdquo...

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