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it can’t.
    “He’s got an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow, they’re making the decision then, but it’s not looking good. It’s not healing properly.” She’s wringing a washcloth in her hands and it’s almost in shreds from the way that she’s worrying at it.
    “What can I do?” I offer. “What can the guys do?”
    “There’s nothing you can do.” She replies helplessly. “You can’t go back and undo that day. You can’t give him his job back.” She pauses as she draws in another sob. “He says he wishes he was dead.”
    How can I judge my friend? I was in a bad place last week and had none of the troubles that he has. I was so lost in a bottle I barely knew what day of the week it was. Part of me is angry though; he has Georgia. He has a wife who loves him. That hasn’t changed. He needs to be there for her as well. I guess that’s part of Army life though, we become selfish, leaving those we love behind for months at a time and only focussing on us, our survival for that time. If we didn’t we wouldn’t make it through the tour. You can’t just switch that off when you come home. I wish we could.
    The coffee brewed I leave a mug in front of Georgia and make my way back into the lounge. Max looks at me in disgust when I pass him the coffee, but he takes it anyway, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a coloured pill that he swallows with a mouthful of the hot drink.
    “What’s that?” I ask, curious, as it doesn’t look like any of the pain meds I’m used to seeing.
    “None of your fucking business.” He grunts in reply. I give him a sharp look. Max has never spoken to me like that before. Discipline is drilled into us, and no matter how angry, you never speak to a commanding officer in that tone.
    “Don’t look at me like that, we’re not in the fucking Army anymore.” He tells me petulantly.
    “I don’t give a shit, Max. What the fuck is up with you? Why are you hitting Georgia?” I raise an eyebrow at him.
    “I didn’t invite you here, I don’t want you here, and what I do or don’t do is none of your fucking business anymore, Declan. So finish your coffee and fuck off. You’re not wanted here.”
    I’ve seen enough for today, staying here isn’t going to help anything so I return to the kitchen where I tell Georgia goodbye, and make her promise to call me if she needs me. She nods her head in agreement, but I know it’s a false promise.
    I need to call Cam and the guys and find out what we can do to help Max. I don’t know where to start, I can barely help myself, but I’ve got to do something. He’s our brother, and you never leave a man behind.
     

Chapter Eight
Declan
    The whole ride home to Harvey I kept second-guessing myself. Is there anything that I could have said or done to help Max. Was leaving the right thing to do? I need to ring my Captain and see if I can call on some psych support at least for him, knowing Max he’ll refuse it point blank like I did. There’s got to be something we can do.
    I call Cameron when we get in; when I mention the tablet he asks me what it looked like. I try and recall it. I think it was a chalky, aqua blue looking tablet with some sort of pattern engraved on it.
    “Shit, sounds like he’s on Amphetamines.” Cameron groans.
    “Come off it. You know Max, he’s as anti drugs as the rest of us.” I offer. We’ve seen too many friends fall prey to drugs to overcome the stress of combat. “Max is stronger than that.”
    “Everything you’ve told me says its drugs, Declan. I know you don’t want to believe it. The mood swings, the depression, the anger. They’re all classic signs. We need to find out how he’s getting them, but you can’t just stop him cold turkey, we don’t know how long he’s been on them.”
    “I guess I can talk to his Doctor.” My response sounds lame even to me. “What do we do? We can’t let Georgia go through this on her own.”
    “Other than helping Luke out with his