I watched as he struggled to get from his bed to the wheelchair that had become his means of transportation. Slowly the surgery was healing and therapy would provide him the chance to have as normal a life as possible. No sadness did he show for the harsh reality that was brought to him to bare. He had never and would never ask why him or regret what he had done that had put him in danger. Many men before him had served their country, facing even greater sacrifices then he had.
Finally in his seat, the stump ends of his legs barely hanging over the edge, he turned and rolled towards the door. A nurse stepped aside as he opened the door and rolled into the hallway. Entering the hallway the early morning sun cast its warm brightness all over him and he smiled. The smile was not from happiness but of comfort that he had been able to see another day. When he laid in the middle of the battlefield in pain he had wondered if he would make it. He could still see the grim look of the medic as he feverishly worked over him trying to stop the flow of blood flowing from his body.
He remebered listening to the doctors as they carefully examined his injuries once he had made it to a hopsital. Those words still echoed through his head as they said, "We hate to tell you this but you are going to lose both of your legs." He had looked at them with horror filled eyes as he laid there. He wondered what an athlete would do with no legs, how would he be able to do the things he loved in life? He had laid in his bed, tears flwoing from his eyes, feeling more and more pitty for himself. Then the pitty stopped when he witnessed another soldier being brought into the hospital where a chaplain was waiting and adminsitered his last rights for him. In minutes the brave soldier had passed away. He knew that somewhere, back in the country he loved, a family would be filled with grief from the news of their loss.
He turned and headed down the hallway, stopping long enough to chat with others he had come to know in his stay there. They all had one thing in common as it had been war that had brought them together, not just for the common cause of defending their country but also for what it had done to them. As his hands gripped the wheels and pushed the chair rolled closer and closer to the rehab that awaited him. He ctopped suddenly as he passed by a door that was usually closed. This morning it was open and the room seemed to draw him in.
Turning his wheelchair into the doorway he slowly entered the room, looking back and forth. The room had changed, gone was the sound of the heart monitor beating out its familiar rythmic sound. No more did her see the curtains drawn seperating the sleeping areas. His heart fell deep inside him as a lump filled his throat. He looked up at the lone nurse who was just leaving. The look in his eyes asked the question of words that his heart would not allow him to ask. She stopped at his side, placing a hand softly on his shoulder she said, "I am sorry, he passed away early this morning."
Tears filled his eyes quickly as he sat there staring out into the emptiness of life. He rolled over to where the hero had laid and placed his hand on the bed and closed his eyes. Tear after tears stained the front of the hospital attire he wore as he released his pain. In that bed had laid the brave hero that had carried him out of harms way, risking his own life in the prcoess. The nurse watched with a breaking heart as he uttered over and over, "No God, you took the wrong one, take me instead." Time had passed as he had sat there with tears streaming down his cheeks.
Finally he composed himself and turned away from the bed and wheeled out into the hallway. Nothing seemed to matter anymore as his problems seemed so minute to the death and loss a family was suffering today. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice and looking down the hall he saw his rehab nurse coming towards him. He watched as she approached, her beaming smile and her bouncy step receding as she could see on his face the pain that filled him. SHe stopped momentarily to talk to a nurse that was passing before walking to him in silence. She understood the heart felt pain and loss he was feeling now. She alked up to his wheelchair and knelt down beside him.
Her heart pained for what he was feeling and yet she knew that each person dealt with their pain in their own way. She knew the connection between the two of them as they both had talked to her, telling of the battle they had been wounded in. Her soft voice slowly calmed him him as his tears lessened. He looked at her as he courageously built a forced smile. She smiled reassurance back to him, lettinghim know she was there if he needed. She stood and stepped up behind his chair, her hands sliding onto the handles. She bent over and whispered to him that she had something to give him. He looked over his shoulder inquisitively, wondering what it could possibly be.
She pushed him to the elevator that they rode sielntly down to the rehab center. Once there she pushed him past the door they usually entered. Through the glass he could see the many stations were filled with others that had been injured, rehabbing their own injuries. Down the hallway they went until they came to his traniers office and she opened the door and they entered. She pushed him up to her desk and then walked around and opened the top drawer and drew out a plain white envelope and walked back to him. She held out the envelope telling him, "This is for you, your hero wanted me give it to you if he did not make it. I helped him write it as he told me what he wanted to say to you." With trembling hands he hreached out and took the envelope from her.
He slowly opened it as his world emptied of everything around him. He began reading it through tear filled eyes. The more he read, the more the tears came, blurring his vision until he handed it back to the nurse and asked her to read it to him. SIlently he sat there staring into space, listening to ever word that she read. The nurse paused, took a deep breath and said, " To my hero. I know that we both have met under circumstances that neither of us controlled. With our comrades we united to answer our country's call. The honor we both have in our job, uniform and country will never die as we will carry it in our hearts for eternity. If you are reading this I know I have paid the ultimate sacrifice for my country with no regrets." She paused and looked him sitting there in total silence.
He looked up at her and in a barely audible tone said, "Please go on, finish reading what he wrote." With that she went on, "I ask that you fight and cling to your dreams and hopes and soon you will be able to leave here and return to your loved ones. I ask only one thing of you as you strive to conquer your disabbilities. Remain strong, drive yourself, and never take no for an answer or give in to them. I will be watching you always from my place in heaven among other fallen heroes. When you are able I wish you to meet my family as they know all about you and love you as one of their own. Remember one thing soldiers never die, we just fade away until we answer muster once again on high." Witht he final words still ringing in his ears he looked up at the nurse with a cold hard face.
She sat there silently waiting for him to speak, wondering how he was dealing with all the pain and suffering his mind and heart were going through now. Seconds passed into minutes as they sat there in silence. With determination he suddenly grabbed the wheels of his chair, turned it around and headed out of the door. Stopping in the doorway momentarily, he looked over his shoulder and asked, "Aren't you coming we have work to do, I will walk again." With that a smile returned to her face as she jumped to her feet. Together they entered the rehabilitation room and went to their station. His session finished he asked her to walk him back to his room. Down the hallway they went in silence until they entered his room. She held the chair as he pulled himself up onto his bedand sat there looking at her.
She smiled at him and turned to leave, heading back as there were others that she would work with that needed her. She stopped as he called her name, turned and looked at him sitting there. He looked at her and said, "I want you to escort me to his funeral, you really do understand. Promise me, please!" With that request filling her ears she agreed and smiled as she turned and walked out of the room. She knew that this was a special man, a hero and most of all one that would overcome the odds that he now faced.
(C) Tall Mountain Dreamer June 15, 2007
