The Return

Carter winced as his wife dropped her hand bag for the third time that day. She was so full of fury that she couldn’t even see straight. He longed to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright. But he was part of the problem and could only watch in silent agony as she continued to torment herself.

They tried to prepare soldiers for this moment; the return. Nothing could prepare him for his wife’s tears when he arrived home. It had been one week since his return and Alison still hadn’t accepted his injury. She couldn’t even look him in the eyes and fewer than twenty words had passed between them since his arrival.

Carter knew that he had been wrong to expect for everything to be the same. Allison had changed, and he could see that now. The war had been hard on everyone.

Finally the lift arrived and they entered side by side. “Wow, the war sure hasn’t taken anything anyway from what we Americans can achieve. This glass elevator is amazing!” Carter mused.

All he got was a scowl as Allison impatiently jabbed at the floor button to show just how disgusted she was to be even sharing the lift with him. When she stepped back there was a great jolt as the lift came to a shuddery halt. There was a ten second silence before Allison jolted into action.

“What’s happening? Why aren’t we moving? We can’t be stuck! I’m claustrophobic!” she whined as she paced the two metre by two metre lift.

“Claustrophobic?” was all Carter could say.

“Yes, honey, I’m claustrophobic. I guess that’s just another thing that changed since you dropped out to fight for our beloved King and Country,” she spat furiously. “While you were gone and I was working two jobs while pregnant so we could keep the house, and not to mention spending every day and night worrying about you, I may have forgot to mention that I’m claustrophobic.” So, she had finally cracked and the truth was out. Carter was ready to defend himself but was cut short to the sound of dripping water.

Allison’s waters had broken.

She looked just as horrified as she did. “Don’t worry darling, this elevator is transparent someone’s bound to see we’ve stopped and call maintenance.”

“Nooo!” she yelled clutching her abdomen, but then she seemed to change her mind and grabbed for his arm. “Carter, I can’t have this baby now. I’m not ready, please make it stop…”

“You know I can’t do that Ally Cat. You’re going to be fine, we’re going to do this together…”

“We can’t, you know we can’t, not with your injury…” Carter was silent, trying to wish that it wasn’t true. Then she grabbed his arm and looked dead in his eyes and asked “Carter, tell me how it happened, please? I need to know.” In any other circumstance he would have refused, but any man knows that you don’t say no to a woman in labour and he reluctantly began the story…

***

The attack came unannounced. One minute it was raining, the next it had stopped and we were under full attack by the Vietcong in the heart of the Vietnamese jungle. A bullet zoomed past my ear, so fast I felt it brush against my ear, and then heard it as it hit point black into the man behind me, piercing through his helmet and ending his life. Then time seemed to speed up and slow down all at once. I swiftly turned round to face my men, “Fall back, fall back! Get out of range!” Some stood there dumbly, unable me to hear me over the thundering of the Vietnamese bullets. It was like a movie playing out before me, the look of panic, horror and sheer hopelessness displayed on the men’s grimy faces around me, and that same look I imagined mirrored on my own face.

My feet began to move without my head telling them to. There had been no warning, no time to make a plane of defence. We were like helpless scattered chickens. All there was to do to run, and pray you made it out of the jungle alive. I was running for my life, scenes of war and devastation all around me. We were in a large group, but all around me, men were disappearing; a man sent whizzing of his feet, clear into the sky like fireworks on new year’s day. And all the while I was running, the bullets swishing behind me, the screams and cries of men calling for their mothers echoed around me. I was in a hot, burning nightmare and all I had to do was run.

I was about twenty metres from the safety zone when I was shot in the back. That single bullet almost instantly paralysed me waist down. I wouldn’t have made it out if a fellow soldier hadn’t stopped for me.

***

Allison was speechless. All the pain of labour had somehow miraculously subsided with the story and she revelled in the silence. She almost asked him to tell her more, another war story maybe. But then she remembered his warning about the horrors and sadly realised that he was right. This would always be the part of his life that she would never be part of. She looked at her husband, actually looking at him and his wheel chair, and for the first time since his return began to accept the new Carter for what he was.

“Okay,” she gasped clutching her swollen stomach as the contractions continued, “Maybe I was a little too harsh…”

“And…” he prompted for more as he wheeled himself closer to take her sweaty hands in his.

“And we’ll do this together, because I do trust you, and while I may not like to admit it, this baby needs you, just as much I do.”