Wounded Warrior No More

Matt and I returned to our hotel room later that evening and I immediately called Lacey to tell her when we would be coming home. She was so excited to hear the news and she told me she would have everything ready by the time we got home. This is going to be so good. Blaze will be surprised at how much I really missed her and even though none of the others have met her, it will show her how much they appreciated her for serving the country they love.

"Honey come to bed." Matt said patting the spot next to him.

"I will in a minute. Lacey wants to know what colors she should use besides red, white, and blue."

"Come on. It's almost three in the morning." he said giving me a pouty look. I shook my head knowing I was going to lose this battle. I gave Lacey a quick rundown before hanging up the phone and getting in bed with Matt.

"There's my good looking lady."

"You're not too bad yourself." I said chuckling and he started tickling me. I laughed and moved around trying to get him to stop.

"I'll stop when you say You're the sexiest man alive and I love you so much." Matt said smiling as he continued to tickle me.

"You're...the sexist man alive and...and I love you so much."

"There was that so hard?" he said as he moved back to his side.

"It is when your tickling me. Babe this is going to be so great for Blaze."

"I know baby. She's going to absolutely love it when she gets back to our house." he said smiling.

"Hopefully she won't start looking for a job the minute she gets there."

"I have feeling she probably will. She seems like a very independant person." he said propping himself up.

"Oh she is. When we were younger she took on the role as both a mother and father to me and she protected me and supported me through school. I gave her hell but she never gave in."

"Maybe you should tell her that." he said and it sounded like a good idea.

"I think I will. The day we bring her home and she meets with everyone...I could tell her how much I appreciated her taking on that role and putting up with me."

"I really think you should. I know she will love that. Now let's get some sleep. We've got to help her the next few days before we go home." he said pulling me closer to him. I laid my head on his chest and the sound of the steady heartbeat put me right to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Blaze's POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank God I'm leaving this hospital today. I don't mean that towards the doctors, nurses, and orderlies that work here...I'm just not a big fan of hospitals in general. I dressed into my Class A Marine Uniform without any help this time and I pinned my medals to my heart. It’s a good thing that the specialist who made my prosthetic designed it to where I could wear any style of shoe. It would look a little awkward wearing one dress shoe and another that completely didn’t match.

“Blaze? Your sister and her husband are here to take you home.” A nurse said as she came through the door to my room. She handed me a paper to sign and I quickly signed my name before leaving the room. I met up with Payge and Matt near the front entrance of Walter Reed and they showed me to their car. Matt took my bag and we got in to head to the airport.

Payge and I talked for a little while before we got to the airport and went through all the security crap. As soon as we got our seats in the first class of the airplane, I was determined to get in a nap before we would land at LAX in Los Angeles but Payge is also determined to keep me from it.

“Payge please I would really like to go to sleep. I mean just for a little while. I did do some last minute therapy this morning and I would like to rest up.” I said as I leaned my head back on the seat.

“Alright I’ll let you sleep.”

“Thank you.” I said closing my eyes. It didn’t take long before I dozed off.

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“Blaze we’re about to land.” Payge said while shaking me from my sleep. Well that was a short as hell nap. I rubbed my eyes and sat up better in my seat as the fasten seatbelt sign lit up. The plane jerked slightly as it landed but soon smoothed out and stopped. We got off the plane with our bags and I saw a few people salute me as I walked through the building. I gladly but awkwardly saluted the strange people back.

“Why are people saluting me?” I asked when we left the building.

“The people who work here highly respect people who have served our country. Most of them are Vets as well.” I nodded at Matt’s statement in understanding as they showed me to yet another vehicle. Matt drove us away from the airport and hit the interstate going towards Huntington Beach. I remember coming through here when Payge and I first moved to this wonderful state. I haven’t seen much that had changed while I was gone but maybe Huntington had changed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sign that welcomed people to Huntington Beach made a smile come to my face and as I looked out the window I could see nothing had changed. Every house was where it originally was but there were a few new places. Matt drove by the apartment complex Payge and I used to work at before pulling into a nice looking community. I was amazed at how well built the houses are. Matt pulled into the driveway of a nice looking home…no a mansion. The outside had a covered porch that went from one end of the house to the other with a flowerbed and in the middle a stone pathway led to the porch. We walked up the pathway and Matt unlocked the door before leading us in. Wow was all I could think of. The floor was a shining hardwood with white walls. I followed Payge into their living room where it was decorated in…what’s going on? I looked around at all the red, white, and blue streamers and a banner written in the Marine Corps’ colors Welcome Home. There was also some strange men and woman clapping when they shouted surprise.

“What’s all this for?” I asked turning to Payge.

“It’s a Welcome Home Party and don’t you even say that we didn’t have to do this. We did it because you deserved a welcome home after everything you’ve done for this country.”

“Well thank you.” I said smiling to Payge and everyone in the room.

“Let me introduce you to some people. Blaze this is Brian Haner Jr. and his wife Michelle, Zacky Baker, Johnny Seward and his girlfriend Lacey, and this perfectly odd couple is Jimmy Sullivan and his wife Leana.” I said hello to them but Jimmy and Leana both came running over to me and he picked me up off the ground spinning me in the air all the while saying we were going to be the best of friends and some other crazy shit I couldn’t make out because he was talking so fast.

“Jimmy put her down.” Matt said and Jimmy put my back on my feet…well foot.

“Sorry about that. He’s hyper 24 hours a day.”

“Don’t worry about it. I had friends like him in the service so I’m used to it.” I said chuckling.

“Guys, why don’t you all go on out to the patio with Matt and we’ll be back in just a few minutes.” I followed Payge out of the living room and up a set of stairs that would keep anyone fit. The staircase went up to a landing and then spiraled up to the next floor. It is the most amazing design I’ve ever seen in a house.

We stepped off the spiral stairs and went down a long hallway. Payge explained that most of these rooms were guest rooms for the guys and their girls except for four. One of the four rooms was a Library, the next was Matt’s office, the third door was a room dedicated with all the awards their band had received and fan art they got when they went on tour, and finally the fourth room was mine. Payge opened the door and led me into the large room. The room had a King size bed with a Marine Corp comforter and sheet set, the walls were painted with my colors plus the borders had drawn purple hearts with Bronze and Silver Stars, I had my own bathroom that has a Jacuzzi. Oh man that would really come in handy. I had a walk in closet where I could put tons of clothes in if I wanted. I know I’ll need some more clothes if my others won’t fit.

“How do you like it?”

“This room is incredible! Who painted this?” I said smiling.

“Those men downstairs.” I gave her an are you kidding look but she shook her head no.

“You and Matt sure did go all out on this room.” I commented as I sat down on the bed.

“We wanted to make sure you were comfortable. Oh and before I forget, I know you’re going to have a tough time getting a shower or bath so Matt and I called the people who make Safe Step Walk In Tubs and we had them put you one in.”

“Payge I’m the one who’s supposed to be looking out for you.” I joked which caused her to laugh.

“It’s about time I started looking after you.” Payge sat down beside me and gave me a long and sort of tight hug.

“I love you sis.”

“I love you too Payge.” I said smiling as I wrapped my arms tighter around her. We let go of each other after a few minutes and I wiped a tear from her eye.

“I’ll let you get out of your good uniform and your old clothes are hung up in the closet and if you want maybe I can get the girls up to going to the mall. We’ll have just a girl day so you can get to know them better.”

“We’ll see Payge. The day isn’t over yet.” I said getting up from the bed and walking over to my closet.

“You’ll love them. Michelle has a temper like you, Lacey is the sweet side of you, and Leana is that side of you that is crazy as hell.”

“You’re right. They sound a lot like me. Maybe they’re my sisters too.” I said jokingly.

“Oh yeah and they look nothing like either of us.” I shook my head and laughed while looking through my clothes to find something to wear.

“I’ll see you out on the patio. I need to start bringing food out there before everyone starves to death.” I nodded and then remembered I was in the closet.
“Alright. I’ll be down in a few minutes.” I said and I listened as the door to my new room closed. I grabbed a pair of my light grey basketball shorts and a tank top before changing inside the closet. I took my uniform out with me and placed it neatly on the bed before changing into my converse which were a little tight. I now know that I’ll need shoes.

I left my room shutting the door behind me and went back down the long set of stairs. It took me a minute to find where I needed to go but I was now outside where most of the guys were in a pool. Payge spotted me and brought me a beer. I gladly accepted the drink and drank down half of it. Whenever I forced to go on R&R, I would hit the bars until three in the morning the first day I was there and then the rest of my time consisted of resting and then going out to buy something for the children that lived around our base. It brought me so much joy to see their little faces light up with joy when they received a candy bar or a toy. I sat down at one of the patio tables with Payge, Michelle, Lacey, and Leana. They were really cool people. Personally they are like three sisters I’ve never had. They told me how Payge would read the letters to everyone about what was happening overseas and Leana said it was almost like being over there. Of course I had left out some of the more gruesome aspects of the scenes in my letters. I didn’t want Payge to worry more than she already had. I informed them that I had learned so much about them in Payge’s letters that it felt like I’ve known the girls all their lives.

“Hey honey, can you go inside and get another plate for these burgers!” Matt shouted from the grill.

“Sure! I’ll be back in a minute.”

“I can get one for you.” I offered.

“I can get it.”

“Sis let me. I need to go in anyways and use the facilities.” I said and she nodded.

“The large plates are over the sink in the large cabinets.” I nodded back and left the patio area to go back inside. I walked through the house and just about the time I was heading into the kitchen there was a knock on the front door. I made a U-turn and went to the door and opened it to reveal a woman with long blonde and black hair standing there.

“Can I help you?” I asked the woman.

“Is Zacky here?”

“Yeah he’s out by the patio. I’ll show you as soon as I get a plate from the kitchen.” I said and she came through the door. I shut it behind her and I could hear her following me. I reached up above the sink and I could feel her eyes staring at my prosthetic leg. It angered me that she would just stare at it. Doesn’t this woman have any respect? I got the plate down and motioned her to follow me.

“Payge this woman is here to see Zacky.” I said and all the girls looked over at me with a look of hatred. What did I do? All of the girls got up and came over to me but pushed the woman against the wall of the house.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I came by to see Zacky of course.” The woman said in a pretty much fake tone.

“Well he doesn’t want to see you.”

“Sorry to interrupt this but what’s going on?” I asked very confused as to why they were treating this woman so badly.

“Blaze this is Gena. The wicked bitch of the north that cheated on Zacky.”

“Don’t you call me a bitch Payge! You’ve probably been turned by all these guys more than their favorite book.” This Gena woman yelled at my sister. I set the plate down and grabbed the woman by the throat.

“If you ever disrespect my sister like that again…you and I are going to have serious issues.” I said getting nose to nose with this woman.

“Gena, what the hell are you doing here?” we all turned our heads towards Zacky who had his arms crossed over his chest.

“Get them off of me and I’ll tell you why.”

“Let her go girls. I’ll handle her.” Zacky said and I slowly released her throat. We backed away a little bit but only enough where we could get at her if she was to say something about one of us.

“Zacky how are you sweety?”

“Let’s cut to the chase. What are you doing here?” he asked still having his arms crossed over his chest.

“Zacky I made a terrible mistake by cheating on you. I realized not too long ago that you were the best thing I’ve ever had in my life and I want you back.”

“That’s never going to happen. You fucked me over by sleeping with that jerk off and I don’t want to have any more to do with you because it’s going to be the same thing all over again. You come into my house, spend my money, and cheat on me in my bed. I don’t fucking think so.” He said and I couldn’t believe it. The Gena woman is a fucking gold digging bitch.

“Oh I see now. You’re with her aren’t you?”

“I’m not with anyone Gena and if I was with someone it wouldn’t be any of your business.” He said which was right. She doesn’t need to be in his business. She had her chance to be with the man and she blew it.

“You’re ashamed. I can see that Zacky. I mean who would want some bitch with one leg.” Michelle, Lacey, Leana, and Payge all but pushed Zacky out of the way and got right up in Gena’s face.

“My sister lost her leg in the service of our country. You disrespecting that makes me want to punch your fucking lights out.”

“Then do it you stupid bitch!” Gena yelled. I’ve never been so disrespected in my entire life.

“Let me tell you something Gena. I went over there and watched my buddies die for the sake of keeping this country free. I became a Prisoner of War because the Taliban thought I was involved with some secret shit to over throw them. Your stupid ass wouldn’t last 24 hours over there even with all the training beforehand. I was wounded several times pulling my comrades out of danger and they looked at me with honor and respected me because I would lay my life on the line to make sure everyone was intact. You need to show respect to everyone. It doesn’t matter if it’s me or Zacky or anyone else here.” I said honestly and full of fortitude.

“Gena leave and don’t come back around us or me again.”

“Fine. Have that one legged bitch.” she said rudely before storming out the back gate.

“Blaze I’d like to formally apologize for Gena’s statements.”

“No it’s me who should be sorry. If I would have realized who she was I would have never let her in.” I said in an apologetic tone.

“No it’s alright. She should have never disrespected you like that. I should have let the girls punch her lights out.” He joked and I chuckled.

“Now that the Gena drama is done,” Jimmy said before turning on a radio and cranking up the volume, “Let’s get this party going!” I sat around talking to everyone and they were all really nice guys. When Matt finished cooking the food on the grill, we sat around at ate while music played. Payge mentioned going shopping tomorrow with the girls and of course they talked me into it. I really did need to go but I wanted to wait until I was little more settled in but all of them are so persistent and just won’t take no for an answer.

The rest of the night went by with some loud music, Jimmy’s weird dancing and comical moments, and light drinking. Soon everyone went home and I helped Payge and Matt clean up the patio. Once we finished with that I went up to my room to put my things away. A knock came to my door as I finished hanging up my uniform.

“Come!” I yelled from the closet.

“Blaze where are you?”

“In the closet.” I said and Payge’s footsteps could be hear against the wooden floor.

“Getting your stuff put away?”

“Yeah. Thanks for the party I really loved it.” I said smiling.

“You’re welcome. I uh…I was going to tell this to you in front of everyone but we were having such a good time…I just didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Wait…are you pregnant?” I asked and she laughed but shook her head no.

“Blaze…I just wanted to tell you that I love you and it meant so much to me that you would stop your life to take care of me when dad died. I mean you did so much for me and you put up with me through everything and I really never said anything about it to you.”

“Payge it’s alright. I’m your sister and that’s my job. You were my responsibility when dad died and there was no way I was going to let anyone else take care of you when I could do it myself.” I said truthfully.

“Thanks for everything. I’m going to head to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow for breakfast and a day of shopping.”

“Goodnight.” I said smiling as I hugged my younger sister with love.

“Goodnight.” Payge left me to continue unpacking and shut my door behind her. She’s more wonderful than I could have imagined and even though I haven’t been in her life for the past seven years…she still took all the learning I gave to her at heart.