Bullet To The Heart

Eyes of a SniperRingring ring. Elliotgrumbled words in Korean as he stepped out of the bathroom freshly showered. Hethrew the towel he was using to the side and grabbed his I-Phone and rose abrow at the unfamiliar number. "Hello?"He answered. "Isthis Elliot?" A soft and heartbroken voice came from the other end. "Yeah?Who is this?" Elliot held the phone between his cheek and shoulder whilehe pulled briefs over his naked body. "Myname is Randy Sterling, Carson said that you may be able to help me" "Carsonhuh? You must be Harrison's brother" Elliot took the phone back into hishand, "he told me you might call" "Whathe'd tell you?" Randy seemed interested and Elliot smiled cheekily. "Justthat you might need my help" "Doyou do this for a living?" "Iwas in the army myself and when I came back I got my master’s in psychology andhave been helping people who've lost lovers in the service for years" "So,you're a therapist" "No"Elliot frowned, "I'm not, I’m not here to judge you or analyze your words,I know what you're going through, I’ve felt the same emotions, I’m afriend" "Itwas 6 years ago, and I still can't move on, I must be really messed up" "Mylover died 11 years ago" Elliott said, "I haven't been in another'sarms romantically since then" "Youdevoted yourself to this" "It'swhat I can do" "soexactly how old are you?" Randy asked, and Elliot sat on his bed. "32,you?" "I'm28" "Young"Eliot observed while closing his eyes and falling back on his queen-sized bed,"how long did you know--" "Eli"Randy interrupted, and Elliot smiled. "Howlong were you and Eli together before he left?" "Heleft after we graduated high school and we started dating in 8th grade, ummm,am I allowed to ask about your lover?" "Yes,you can ask about José" Elliot said. "Howlong were you two together?" "wow,um, we met in kindergarten and reconnected in high school, we started dating in10th grade and he died when he was 23 so about 9 years" "Howdid you stop crying?" Itwas a question that shocked Elliot, most people weren't that open the firstconversation, but he could tell Randy was different, from what Elliot knows ofHarrison he's a polite country boy, so Randy is probably used to being honestand upfront. "Totell you the truth, I still cry some nights, sometimes I can't get him out ofmy mind I sit in the darkness or at the bottom of my shower and just remember him,the only thing I can tell you is try to find someone that reminds you of him, abrother maybe or just remember the good times" "Youremind me of him" Randy whispered. "Thenanytime you miss him text or call me, I am always available, Randy you can talkto me" "Whatis it like being out on the field, all I got was a letter, Carson told me yousaw it" Elliottook a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair and over his stubble, "Iwas 23" he stared, "I was dead in love with him and we were on ourway to hopefully destroy a sniper nest" Elliot reached to his pillow andgrabbed the stuffed polar bear that was there and held it to his bare and wellsculpted chest, "we were huddled at the bottom of a curved cliff, the nestwas at the top, they had hollowed out the crowns of trees and were camped outwith food, water, books, and a s**t ton of ammo" "It'sokay" Randy soothed, hearing the tenseness, even after 11 years it stillhurt Elliot to talk about José and his death. "Umm,I’m always more comfortable talking face to face" "Wecan facetime if you want, or you don't have to tell me" "Ilike to tell my friends about it, so they know they're not alone, and yes, thatsounds nice, I’ll facetime this number?" "Yes,that'd be just fine sir" "It'sjust Elliot, hell my little brother called me Ellie" "Okay...." "I'llcall you in a second" Elliot smiled and Randy ended the call. Elliot stoodup and went to his closet, he rummaged through shirts before coming across oneof José's army sweaters from boot camp, His eyes began to water, and he held itclose to his bare chest, he just wanted to be able to be in José's arms onelast time, just to say goodbye. Hepulled the sweater on, the worn-out fabric reminding him of when he was senthome after José died and slept in it every night, crying himself to sleep withthat stuffed polar bear. Elliot wiped his eyes and ran his fingers through hisstill damp hair and grabbed some blue boxers and moved back onto his bed, hepressed the bear to the headpost and sighed, he grabbed his MacBook and inputRandy's number into the facetime option and pressed call. beepbeep beep beep bee beep beep bee beep "Hello"Randy pixeled in and honestly Elliot was surprised, Randy had a structured squarejaw line with light dark brown stubble flattering his face, he had almondshaped blue eyes that reminded him of the eyes the snipers had in the Army,they were hawk like. Randy had eyebrows that were relatively straight acrosshis face, his lips were long and of medium thickness with a sharp cupid's bow.His hair was dark brown and swooped up in a quaff. "Hello"Elliot responded catching his breath shallowly. "Ididn't expect you to look like this" "Likewhat?" Elliot mused, sending a questioning smile through the screen. "Idon't know but you're so...handsome" "Well,Thank you" Elliot laughed. "So...what happened at the bottom of the cliff?" "Ohyeah, we were talking about José" Elliot said and pulled the ends of thesleeves over his thumbs, José was bigger than him so his clothes alwaysswallowed Elliot, "He went first to unarm and booby traps, that's what hewas trained in and his ankle was caught in a bare trap" "Abear trap?" "Itwas common for them to use them to trap American soldiers and..." "And...?" "Theyhave a brute shooter fill them with leads, a rebel came out of the nest and hada semiautomatic, he blew my boyfriend to bits" "ElliotI’m so sorry" "wecouldn't even take his body back, it was just bloody flesh and shatteredbones" "Ellie"Randy whined, "I’m so sorry" "Ithappened 11 years ago" Elliot shrugged, "I’m okay" "Hey"Randy tried to change the subject, "where do you live, will we ever seeeach other in person?" "I'min Portland with Carson, I run a PTSD clinic from here, I take it you're inKansas?" "Yeahthe Sterling’s have been here for generations" "Sterling's,ha" Elliot laughed a little. "What?"Randy mused. "You'relike my little bird now" Elliot hummed soothingly, "my littleSterling birdie" "IfI’m a bird what are you?" "I,Elliott Theodore Classman" Elliot boomed in a fake rich accent, "amyour loyal teddy bear" "WellI wish you were closer" Randy said absentmindedly, "you're not muchuse as a teddy bear of you're half way across the country" "ThenI’ll come out there" "What?" "You'reright, I’m pretty useless when I can't be near my friends that I’m, helping, soI can come visit every once and a while, and until we see another feel free tokeep me up all hours of the night" "Stopbeing so Nice" Randy blushed, "you'll make me fall for you" "That'sokay" Elliot grinned, "it's okay to fall for me, I’ll be here tocatch you" "Damnbear" Randy groaned. "Itake that as goodbye birdie"