PART 4: The Forgotten Codename
PART 4: The Forgotten Codename
Military daughters identify lost tactical legends.
Commander Sterling stepped sideways, attempting to block their path to the nurse’s station.
"Miss Cole, you need to remain in the family waiting lounge—" Sterling began, holding up a hand.
The middle girl—Chloe—didn't look at him at all.
Her dark eyes were fixed entirely on me.
She stopped three feet away from my desk, her breathing slightly elevated, her hands clenched tightly at her sides.
The other two sisters fanned out to her left and right, their gazes locked onto my face with an intensity that made the surrounding ER staff step backward.
For a terrifying, surreal second, nobody spoke.
Then Chloe took a slow, trembling breath, stepped past the federal commander as if he were a ghost, and reached across the counter.
She didn't grab my hand.
She reached up, her fingers gently brushing against the edge of my collar where a small, silver scar shaped like a shrapnel crescent marked my left clavicle.
Her eyes filled with sudden, heavy tears.
"You're alive," Chloe whispered, her voice cracking in the quiet ER.
I couldn't breathe.
"Excuse me?" I managed to choke out.
The third sister—Zoe—stepped forward, her voice steady and clear as she looked straight into my eyes.
"Dad told us you didn't make it out of the valley," Zoe said softly. "He said Raven Six held the ridge until the last chopper cleared, and then the mountain came down."
Commander Sterling spun around, his face draining of all color. "Girls, step away from the nurse right now—"
"Shut up, Commander," Maya snapped, her voice carrying an absolute, unyielding authority that belonged to a four-star general, not a fourteen-year-old girl.
May you like
She looked back at me, a heartbreaking, reverent smile breaking across her face.
"Welcome home, Captain Ellis."
