I smile at her. "You're an angel."

"Nah," she says.
"I'm just a girl crazy in love.

I don't know where you have to go or what you have to do, but I'll wait for you, John. Every bit of my heart belongs to you, whether you ask for it or not.

I'll come back to you," I say. "I promise you, if it's the last thing I do, I'll come back to you."

Her face is buried in my neck. She nods.

"I'll count the minutes until you do." she says.

My heart is breaking," she says. "I want to be strong for you right now but the thought of you leaving is killing me inside.

All I can think about is what she must be doing, and how I wish she were still here.

This is war, and people are going to die. Friends are going to die. I've come to accept the pain, to take the ugliness for granted. So it can be a little stunning when something good actually happens.