The Soldier Next Door by Storm Savage

Chapter One
     
     
    “That’s strange,” Sydnie muttered while pulling into her drive. The neighbor’s garage door was wide open with snow blowing in. “I can’t believe we’re getting snow in May. This is insane.” She parked her car, closed her own garage door, then strolled across the yard to take a closer look. Pieces of mail were strewn across the lawn on top of a fresh layer of snow. “Hello? Are you in there?” She peeked past the huge white truck parked just outside the entrance.
    Taking care not to slip on the ice in her high-heeled boots, she carefully made her way across the drive. “Oh my god! Are you okay?” She dropped to her knees in the snow. On the ground laid her new neighbor, seemingly unconscious, beside an overturned garbage cart, his face covered in blood. When he didn’t reply, she whipped out her cell phone and dialed 911.
    While waiting for help to arrive, she pushed the cart aside, removed her coat and covered him the best she could but was careful not to move him. Suddenly he bolted upright, scaring her to pieces. She jumped back, slipped on the pavement, and fell backward, landing on her butt in the grass. “You’re hurt! You shouldn’t move!”
    He shot her a warning glance. “Stay down.” Then he assumed a prone position on the ground and belly crawled to behind the trashcan, lying as if he had a rifle in his arms. “I’ll get those motherfuckers.”
    Sydnie watched in fright as a man she’d never officially met other than a wave in passing, acted out a battle scene. She’d heard he had been in Iraq and she knew he had a girlfriend living with him, but lately the girlfriend had not been around at all. Afraid to speak, she sat frozen to the ground, praying for help to arrive fast.
    “I called an ambulance,” she finally managed to say, hoping this would help.
    He gave her a quick look. “The medics are on the way?”
    She nodded briskly.
    “Good thinking, Kool . Sit tight. I’ll shoot any cocksucker that comes into sight. You hold on, buddy, nobody dies tonight.”
    She realized he was having a delusion and he thought she, not him, was the injured man down. A few minutes later flashing lights appeared on the road as an ambulance pulled up to the house. “Are you the one who called for help?” a paramedic asked from the window.
    “Yes!”
    “Turn your fucking lights off, asshole!” her neighbor shouted. “I’ve got the area covered. I have a man down. Get in here and help him.”
    Immediately the lights stopped and two men walked into the drive. “It’s okay, Mason, we called in the Apaches. We have the area cleared.”
    “Take him first.”
    One of the medics reached for Sydnie. “Come with me. We know this guy. He won’t let us help until he believes you’re safe.”
    With her heart racing, she nodded and walked with the medic to the waiting ambulance. From there she watched them talk Mason down and coax him onto a backboard.
    He stared up at her as they wheeled him by. “You okay, buddy?”
    She nodded.
    “I’ll see you in the ward,” he told her as the medics hoisted him into the ambulance.
    “He’ll be fine, miss, you really kept it together,” a paramedic told her as he came around the other side. “Mason and I were friends before he went into the war. Anytime we get a call to this address, they send me. Are you okay?”
    “Y-yes…just trying to catch my breath.”
    He returned her jacket. “He’s a good guy. He’s lucky you passed by. I didn’t know he was living alone again.”
    “I’ve never officially met him.”
    “Are you sure you’re okay? You look pretty shaken up.”
    “I’m fine, thank you.” She glanced around. “I’ll close his garage and pick up the mail. You can tell him I have it when he feels better. I hope he’s not seriously injured.”
    “We’ll take good care of him.” The man tapped the roof of the ambulance. “Ready to go?” He hopped into the back, gave Sydnie a nod, then closed the door.
    On shaky