Sergeant Barreto sat in front of Colonel Clegg, trying to keep the anxiety off of her face. He was watching her with an unreadable expression as the silence stretched out. After another uncomfortable moment of silently observing her, he let out a sigh and nodded.
"Fine, I'll arrange it," Colonel Clegg said wearily. "You understand that nothing may happen when she sees him though, don't you?"
"Yes sir," Sergeant Barreto nodded as relief flooded her body. "She's his only chance though—the doctors have given up."
"Alright, just make sure he gets out here to the celebration," Colonel Clegg said, standing up. "I'll make sure Colonel Rockwell's family is there."
"Thank you, sir," Sergeant Barreto said as she stood up, unable to keep the emotion out of her voice.
He nodded brusquely, patting her shoulder as he led her out of the office.
"So how did it go?" Sergeant Lynch asked, noting the unshed tears in her eyes. She had been waiting outside of the office.
"He said he'd do it," Sergeant Barreto smiled. "Thanks for talking me into asking."
"Hey, I don't want your brother to die any more than you do," Sergeant Lynch declared with an impish smile. "He's too fun to look at."
"Gross," Sergeant Barreto muttered, but her heart wasn't in it. She was trying to find a way to convince her brother to fly out to the base. He was the most stubborn person she had ever met, which was one reason the doctors claimed he was still alive. He was in the final stage of lung cancer and only had a few weeks at most to live.
"Just tell him they have an experimental treatment out here that the military can't release to the public," Sergeant Lynch suggested, as if reading her thoughts.
"Yeah, that was kind of what I was thinking," Sergeant Barreto agreed. "It's going to be hell getting him out here though."
"I know a flyboy who owes me a favor," Sergeant Lynch told her with a grin. "Do you think he would like to fly in on a pig?"
"Definitely not," Sergeant Barreto chuckled. "No, we'll need to get him out here on a normal plane. Thanks for the offer though."
It took a lot of convincing when she called her brother, Timothy, but she eventually convinced him that it was worth the pain and effort of flying out to the base for a 'special' treatment. He sounded terrible on the phone, constantly wheezing, even with an oxygen tank supplying him with extra oxygen. She hoped the trip didn't kill him before he had a chance to meet Heidi.