He was clueless to the fact that I had been in love with him for a very long time. We had graduated the same year and enlisted together. During the two tours in Afghanistan, we had been side by side, inseparable.

But he still didn't know.

After his marriage ended, he needed an escape and signed up for more action. Ofcourse, I went with him.

I hated the desert as much as I loved him. This was what we were good at, Sarah had called her ex-husband a death dealer.

She had never understood him.

Everything seemed calm that day. We had breakfast in the mess hall and spent an hour cleaning the fucking sand out of our equipment.

We were sent on a scouting mission in the early afternoon. It was supposed to be a routine sweep.

It wasn't.

I saw the rifles just on time. Seconds before they opened fire, I ran towards him and pushed him to the ground.

There was hardly any pain as two bullets ripped through the side of my neck. I fell first onto my knees and then dropped to the floor. I instinctively clutched to my neck but the blood was squirting out of me quickly.

The gunfire stopped and I could suddenly see his face hover above mine. His hands were pressed to my neck as he yelled for help.

He was crying when he demanded, "Why did you do that, you idiot?!"

"Because I had to save you," I breathed, barely able to speak.

"But how am I supposed to save you back?!" he cried, tears streaming down his face.

"You saved me a long time ago," I said, trying to smile despite the mess my carotid artery was making. "You gave me the biggest gift of all."

He looked at me confused, as I was slowly losing consciousness.

"Someone to love with all my hea..," I whispered before everything went dark.

And then the pain was gone.