The Final Line by Kendall McKenna

he says PTS made him do it, I suppose it could be true. I think I know what event he’s talking about, but nothing happened that comes close to justifying what he did.”
    “At least you tried,” the Sergeant replied. “I’ll have someone escort you out.” He shook both of their hands as Deputy Pierce led Corey and Sean to the exit.
    They crossed the parking lot to Sean’s SUV. Corey wanted to kick his own ass. What had he been thinking, taking Sean into a jail? Sean was too fresh and clean to become sullied by this kind of reality.
    Sean stopped walking abruptly and stepped into Corey’s path. “Did you get hurt, or anything?” He asked quietly, opening Corey’s shirt and peering at his chest.
    Corey’s skin tingled and he resisted the temptation to lean in to Sean’s touch. “I’m fine. He didn’t do any damage.”
    “Well, he tore up your shirt a little,” Sean said.
    Corey tried to straighten his stretched shirt. He’d lost a couple of buttons so it hung open down past his sternum. “I’m sorry about that.” He muttered apologetically. “I should have had you wait in the car.”
    “What am I, a fucking child?” Sean demanded angrily. “I know what kind of shit goes on in the world. Now let’s get you home. You look tired.”
    Corey nodded his agreement, suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion.
    As Sean drove, Corey slumped in his seat and rested his temple against the window. It was blessedly silent for an extended period before Sean’s soft voice gently broke into Corey’s raging thoughts.
    “You know I could hear your conversation in there, right?” he asked, barely loud enough for Corey to hear him. “The sergeant was monitoring you for your safety so we listened in.”
    Corey closed his eyes against the pain, knowing what Sean must think of him. “Yeah?”
    “Whatever it was he was talking about might not have caused him to do what he did to that woman, but something uglier than usual happened to you.” Sean paused as if weighing his words. “Is whatever happened there the reason for your nightmares?”
    He remembered Sean’s expression when they’d learned what Nygaard had done to his girlfriend. Corey didn’t want to do that to Sean again. “A lot happened over there. It was just one of many things.”
    “But is that the incident that causes most of your nightmares?” Sean was relentless.
    Corey signed in resignation. “Yeah.” He exhaled heavily.
    “What made this incident so much worse than all the other bad shit you went through?” asked Sean gently.
    “Nothing,” Corey answered by rote. “My honor is clean.”
    Sean glanced at him sharply, trying to look at Corey and the road at the same time. His head turned back and forth several times before he spoke again. “Your honor is clean. Why did you say that?”
    “What?” Corey didn’t follow.
    “You said your honor is clean,” Sean parroted his own words back to him. “Most people would say their conscience is clean.”
    Corey looked away with a shrug, something heavy settling in his gut. He wrapped his arms tighter around himself. “Marines have to do a lot of things in combat we wouldn’t ordinarily choose to do.”
    “I get that,” Sean said firmly. “It’s war.”
    Corey gave a single abrupt nod, relieved by Sean’s understanding and acceptance. “Everything I have ever done has been necessary to keep my Marines and myself alive, while executing the lawfully given orders of my command.”
    From the corner of his eye, Corey saw Sean nod. “I have no doubt. But can this guy…Nygaard? Say the same?”
    Corey wanted to say yes. He started to say yes. He drew breath to pronounce the word but it stuck in his throat. He had the word on his tongue, ready to say it. He just couldn’t do it. “I don’t know,” he finally managed. “Maybe that’s what the investigation is trying to answer,” Corey mused.
    “Investigation?” Sean’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “You’re under