I glance over at Mia as they begin to lower Troy into the cold, hard earth.

I’ve never seen a woman as broken as the one I see now, and I’ve seen a lot – more than any man should ever have to.

She’s clutching her newborn son like a lifeline as she says her final goodbyes to her husband – the love of her life.

This grief – it’s the price you pay for love.

Sobs wrack her small body to the point where I’m worried she’ll drop Joe, the tiny baby my best mate will never, ever get the chance to meet.

He was so excited to be a father. He loved Mia like nothing I’ve ever seen before and he loved the baby growing inside of her just as much.

The two of them were one of those couples that you can’t help but watch – you could literally see the love in their eyes when they looked at one another.

I’ve known the both of them since high school; they were childhood sweethearts who shared a love you would probably never find twice. Hell, I haven’t managed to find anything like it even once.

That’s what scares me the most I think… that Mia will never find that again and that Joe will never have the father he deserves.

I hate to think they’ll be alone forever.

I catch Mia’s eye and I watch her bottom lip tremble as everything she’s ever known is ripped away from her.

She’s looking right at me, but it seems like she’s looking through me more than anything.

I know she doesn’t blame me, but I couldn’t fault her if she did. I couldn’t save her husband when they brought him in to me, and I should have been able to. I wish more than anything I could have.

I’d have given anything for it to have been me that was struck with that stray bullet instead of him. I have nothing and no one who would mourn me as deeply as Mia is mourning Troy. He had the whole world waiting for him back home.

He had everything he ever wanted, and he was only a few days from getting it all.

He was getting out. We both were. Him to be a father, and me to pursue a different career path… a different life.

We both wanted a life outside of the Army.

We were so close.

He should have been there with Mia when she gave birth. Instead his body was in a box being flown home from the other side of the world.

I don’t know how Mia will survive her life without him. He’s all she’s known for such a long time.

I know she’s accustomed to being without him for long periods of time while we were deployed, but this is different. This time he’s not coming back.

Up until he took his last breath, his only concern was for that of his family – his wife… his baby.

I made a promise to a man I respect far more than I respect myself, that I’d take care of her, and their son, for as long as they needed me too. No matter how long that might be for.

I might not have been able to save his life, but I can keep my word. I can dedicate my own life to them.

I can do that for him.

I never, ever break a promise and I’m not about to start now.

I crouch down next to the deep, dark hole, long after everyone else has gone and whisper into the darkness. “I’ll take care of them, Troy, I promise you.”