Jericho (A Redemption Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page A

that I saw die stayed with me. Every mother I had to send my condolences to stays with me.”
    Christian closed his eyes, but what he really wanted to do was cover his ears. This was General Lee he was speaking to. The man was a machine. If he was affected by it, then what chance did the rest of them have? “Why are telling me this?”
    “Because when you got hurt, Christian, I—I was more...shaken than I ever expected to be.”
    Christian blinked at the man, unsure of how to respond to that.
    “You know I’ve kept special track of you since you came under my command. You’ve been a model marine. You never screwed the local girls, you never got drunk or broke curfew. You’ve done everything right.”
    “That’s not true, sir. I’ve made mistakes.” He made one big one that he wasn’t sure that even God could forgive him for.
    “Not yet, son. But if you go back you will.”
    “You think they’ll clear me to go back to active duty?”
    “Don’t know. But the fact that you want to after this worries me. You lost nearly your entire unit. You think going back is going to make you forget that?”
    Nothing could make him forget that, but being a marine was all he’d ever known. If he didn’t have that then he had nothing.
    “I’m married,” General Lee told him. “To one of those peace-loving hippie girls. Alma’s her name. We met when she was protesting in D.C. She threw a can at my head, and when I turned around to let her have it I saw this beautiful, lanky redhead. It took six whole days to convince her to marry me.” He smiled softly. It was the first time Christian had ever seen him do so. “And if we don’t talk about politics we get along great. We have two daughters. I’ve spent most of their lives away. I’ve missed things. Big things, like first steps and proms. You don’t have to miss those things.”
    “But I don’t have a family.”
    “You can get one. Military life is hard on a family. I know about your background. You don’t need the marines to support a family. You can do it the traditional way.”
    “The nurses can’t even stand to look at me. What makes you think finding somebody to marry me is going to be easy?”
    “You were a big ugly son of a bitch before and you’re a big ugly son of a bitch now. You’ll be fine.”
    He wasn’t so sure about that. He never thought about having a family. It wasn’t something that appealed to him. His parents were gone. The guys who he thought had his back turned out to be a bunch of drunken brutes. It was just better if he relied on himself. If the marines cleared him to go back, he would. There was no other option.
    “Is that why you came here? To give me some advice?”
    The general shook his head. “I know I’m not your father but I...I... It’s...” He shook his head, flustered, and Christian watched in amazement as the man who always seemed so sure of himself seemed lost. “I don’t want you to be one of those boys that doesn’t come back. I don’t want to attend your funeral.” He got up and paced away from him. “I don’t want you to go back. I like you, damn it. You satisfied?” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I sound like a fucking pansy. I can’t believe I’m actually saying this to you.”
    “You’ve grown sentimental in your old age, Dan. Now why don’t you come over here, tuck me in and give me a kiss good-night,” Christian joked, but General Lee’s words hit him in the chest in a funny sort of way and he wasn’t sure how to handle them.

CHAPTER 4
    “Y ou look like you’re going to collapse.”
    Georgia stopped in her tracks besides Lieutenant Howard’s bed and blinked at him, trying to figure out if she had heard him correctly. He was staring at her. His eyes swept across her face, seemingly taking in all her features.
    The urge to turn her face away was overwhelming, but she kept her eyes locked with his because for the first time since he had been there, he had spoken to her first.
    The man