Identity Crisis - Rochelle Paige Page 0,2

through the training and I didn’t think he had the mental toughness to make it.

When we were paired together as swim buddies on day one, I was pissed right the hell off. I knew I had what it took to be a damn good SEAL, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be saddled with Brody.

The number one rule was to never leave your buddy behind and having him as my buddy was bound to be a major liability. When I first saw him, there was no doubt in my mind he would be one of many to ring the bell and signal their defeat. Not only was I going to have to make sure I never rang that damn bell, I would need to stand between him and it anytime he was ready to call it quits.

Quickly, I realized he wanted this as badly as I did and I was never so happy to be proved wrong in my life. Brody was the one who figured out the trick that helped us both survive. We got four meals a day, one every six hours. After our first day, Brody started to measure our time in meals. We pushed hard with one goal in mind: making it to the next meal. After a couple days, we were both operating on auto-pilot, focused on each six-hour block of time, pushing hard until we made it through the final day. He more than earned my respect and blew my misconceptions out of the water.

His skills on the keyboard had saved our asses on more than one mission—something I later realized the Navy had counted on when they gave him the chance to become a SEAL. I could ask Brody for anything and there was no doubt in my mind he’d either get me what I needed or die trying.

“You know you’re going to owe me an explanation later, right?” Brody asked, drawing my attention back to the problem at hand.

“I know.”

I heard the sound of typing in the background. “Found someone. I’m sending you contact information now.”

“Thanks.”

“You need me to meet you in Atlanta?” he asked.

I had no idea what was going on with Serena, but I knew what it took for Brody to make that offer. I didn’t want him to leave Vegas unless it was absolutely necessary. “Hold tight for now. I’ll let you know once I get there.”

“Does Damian know you’re heading out?”

“Not yet,” I answered. “I’ll talk to him after Serena has what she needs. I’ll let you know more once I know the plan.”

As soon as I hung up, Brody’s text was waiting for me. I forwarded it to Serena.

Me: Call this guy ASAP. He’ll help you until I can get there.

Serena: Got it.

Me: WTF is going on?

Serena: Not sure it’s safe to text. Tell you when I see you.

Me: I’m overseas. It will take me about 24 hours to get there.

I waited a few minutes, but there was no reply. I figured she had either turned her phone off or was giving the guy a call. With that taken care of, I needed to talk to my boss—Brody’s big brother, Damian.

Even though Brody and I were as close as brothers, six years passed before I met Damian. At the time, I was flat on my back in a naval hospital with Brody in the bed next to me. Our last mission had been fucked up beyond belief. Brody had been riding shotgun when we were hit by an IED. I’d been in the back of the humvee and was thrown clear of the wreckage. By the time I made it back to my team, three of our teammates were dead and Brody was hanging on by a thread. We were less than half a mile from our extraction point and I managed to carry him to the helo before taking a round to the knee as I was climbing on board.

When I awoke in the hospital, my injuries weren’t as bad as Brody’s, but we both knew we were going to be found unfit for duty. Brody’s doctors had already sent a summary of his condition and records over to the nearest designated medical treatment facility. Mine were on their way since I was going to undergo knee replacement surgery. Damn bullet to the knee completely fucked it up and blew my chances to stay with the teams.

Eventually, Damian wanted to take his brother home and get him the best medical care possible, but Brody wasn’t