Duty Recall Page 3

  “Here you are, sir,” the Sergeant said; A gourmet meal of Jell-O, pudding, and soup extravaganza and your choice of selected beverages from the gallery!”

  “Thanks, Sergeant,” David managed.

  Major Calloway watched as she jotted down some notes on the clipboard she was carrying. “Your system will need to become accustomed to solid food again. You had been drinking the choicest foods for the past two months.”

  Sherry helped him sit up and while doing so, managed to bump into the cart, sending a splattering of soup onto the bed. “Oh, I'm so sorry!”

  The young sergeant rushed into the bathroom to grab some towels off the rack while Major Calloway and Sherry lifted the cover from David's bed in an attempt to keep the slimy liquid from soaking through to his skin.

  “It's okay, babe!” David chuckled. “It's really okay.”

  In a matter of time, David had the mess cleaned around him and he began to eat. Before he placed a fifth bite into his mouth, he hesitated briefly.

  “Sherry, can you bring me a mirror?”

  David wanted to see the extent of damage that a plane crash would cause, besides putting him into a coma.

  Sherry did not see any harm in giving him a mirror since he had recovered fully from the various contusions and abrasions spread across his face, chest, arms, and legs. In fact, the healing process was nearly complete for his two non-severe fractured legs, shoulder, and arm. The last thing Sherry, and everyone else, waited to discover was whether David would wake up after three months. All of the attending physicians had given her a light of hope and recommended a waiting period once the swelling around his brain returned to normal.

  Sherry held a mirror to his face. “Here, you keep eating and I will hold this for you.”

  David kept eating until Sherry placed the mirror up to his face. Dropping the fork, David grabbed the mirror from Sherry's hand and held it closer to his face. Moving the mirror around for a variety of views from different angles, he looked intently beneath his eyes. Then he moved it around some more.

  Besides seeing that his face was much thinner than he had grown accustomed to over the past several years, the wrinkles and the dark circles under his eyes were gone! Sherry giggled at his reaction, like somebody who just discovered the use of a mirror. More precisely, it was a man rediscovering his youth!

  “Sherry, oh my God, those guys are good. Not only did they fix whatever happened to me, but they made me look years younger…just like you!”

  Sherry took the mirror from him. He watched her, impressed by how young she looked.

  “Stop being silly. You have always looked young for your age.”

  “You have too, but even now…

  “Finish eating some food. You need to put on a bit more weight.”

  When David was finished eating, Sherry began picking up and taking charge of the clean-up process.

  “When you are ready, I will be happy to take care of your bath detail.”

  He smiled like a little boy in a candy store when he heard that.

  “Do you have Major Calloway's permission?”

  “I don't need anybody's permission for that. However, the Doctor did tell me that I could administer any type of comfort that you desire as long as I am here taking care of you.”

  “Any type of comfort?”

  Sherry smiled. “Any type short of strenuous activity. That will have to come later.”

  They both smiled.

  David finished his meal and enjoyed Sherry's company. “Honey, could you put on CNN or something, I'd like to hear the latest news about Iraq.”

  “Sure, hold on a second.”

  “I helped catch Saddam, you know.”

  Sherry just looked at him and smiled. “Here, let me turn this on for you.” The images on the screen showed a lot of celebration taking place around the country and on military bases.

  “Did Iraq surrender after Saddam's capture in the past two months? Are we out of Iraq already?”

  Sherry did not answer him but kept moving with the cleanup.

  “Wait, these soldiers are wearing the 'chocolate chip' uniform; they're showing old footage of the Desert Storm celebration! That explains everything. Can you change the channel to Fox news or something more recent?”

  Sherry looked a bit confused. “Fox news?”

  “I don't see any news about the current war in Iraq or Afghanistan.”

  Sherry stopped what she was doing and walked over to David. Then she sat down next to him, placing her hands on both of his.

  “David, I don't know what you remember or exactly what happened, but we kicked Saddam's butt back into Iraq and you liberated Kuwait.”

  “Yes but…”

  “And then, I am very sorry to say this, but you and your driver, SSG Schmidt went into Kuwait City shortly after the main assault and he drove over a land mind left behind by the Iraqi forces. SSG Schmidt did not survive. You don't remember any of this, do you?”

  David turned pale. “No! That cannot be! That never happened! SSG Schmidt returned with me in '91 to a grand Homecoming!”

  Now Sherry turned pale. “David, what are you talking about? Your whole unit came home just two months ago; SSG Schmidt was not amongst them. You had already been flown to Frankfurt and then here to Walter Reed.”

  “I think I'm losing my mind!” David sounded like he was panicking.

  “I'm sorry honey, here, just lay here a minute, I'll call the nurse.”

  David grabbed her arm. “Wait, please.” He loosened his grip. “I'm sorry.”

  “Oh David, you have no reason to be sorry.”

  “Let me ask you something straight. Robby and Jennifer, where are they?”

  David was referring to his and Sherry's two children.

  “They're okay. They are with my mom, and your mom. They are at the house in Fayetteville.”

  David thought for a moment. “What grade are they in now?”

  Sherry felt like he was coming to his senses and was trying to recollect his memory.

  “Robby is in 2nd grade and Jennifer in 1st.”

  David stared hard at Sherry. She looked beautiful, young, just as she did 12 years before. He slowly lay back, reclining fully against the soft pillow. “I remember now. Wow, I-I can't believe this is happening.”

  “What is happening, David? Tell me what?”

  “Nothing bad, I don't think. Sherry, are there any recent magazines laying around the waiting area or something, Time, Newsweek, maybe?”

  “I'll go look,” she began, but placed her hand on his head. “Do you feel alright?”

  “Yes, honey, I don't have any pain right now.”

  “That's not what I meant, but this is good, I'm sure.”

  He reached for her hand and held it to his cheek.

  “Robby and Jennifer, when will I get to see them?”

  Sherry seemed relieved. “You'll get to see them sooner than you think. They can even call you tonight!”

  “That will be great!”

  Sherry got up to find some magazines at David's request. David looked around the room and back up at the television. He picked up the small remote that Sherry had placed on the small table sitting next to his bed. Then he flipped through the channels.

  David scanned the television screen and was both fascinated and confused by the revealing signs. He was either going through a very real dream, or else, somehow had slipped back into the past, or, quite simply, died and gone to heaven.

  He discounted the last option because he grew up believing that Jesus would meet him in paradise when he arrived in heaven, and Walter Reed was no paradise. He also envisioned the possibility of seeing his grandfather and other close relatives who had previously left the earth. As far as he knew, Sherry had not departed the earth.

  Sherry walked back into the room. “I found the latest Time magazine in the waiting room.”

  David snatched it from her hand. The cover had a young girl, looking like she was in her late teens or early twe
nties holding another girl, about a year old, on her shoulders. The caption read: The Gift of Love: Story of Miracles and Moral Dilemmas.

  More astonishing to David was the date on the cover, “June 17, 1991!” He opened the first page to read the contents. One caught his eye immediately. America's Postwar Mood: Making sure of the Storm.

  Sherry could see the expression on David's face. “What's wrong, honey?”

  “You said that this is the latest edition of Time?”

  “Yes, I think so, why?” She took it back from him to look at the cover.

  “No reason,” David said as he began to realize that indeed, he could no longer deny that something very strange and unexplainable occurred. Details of the plane crash he just experienced in the year 2003 AD would not escape him, especially the pain he had felt, the screams he heard; the taste of Iraqi sand in his mouth. Somehow, he survived but could not rationalize his current condition. Maybe he was still in a coma, somewhere in limbo between life on earth and eternity in heaven. How much should he try to understand? How much explanation should he search? How much-

  “Honey?” Sherry asked. “Can I get you anything else?”

  David smiled, “I have you, babe! You're all I need right now.”

  4. Homecoming Déjà vu

  Sherry felt like a large load of bricks had been lifted off her shoulders. David had only been on the Neurological wing of the hospital for three weeks, arriving there from the ICU. She pondered her new role as a caregiver, wanting her husband to have total access to any rehabilitation programs offered by the U.S. Army.

  The three long months seemed like an eternity to her, sitting at his side, holding his hand, talking to him, singing to him, cleaning him. Now, everything was going to be all right. Well, almost everything. “David has been acting strange,” she had confided to her mother. “He talks about events that haven't happened yet, like Robby going to West Point and our home in Orlando, in exquisite detail.”

  David kept many things to himself, not sure how much to reveal. Deep inside, he felt sure that the events he recalled and described in detail had actually taken place.

  Emerging from a coma was a slow process. His rehabilitation began while he was still in a coma, thanks primarily to the respiratory therapist and her instructions to Sherry on maintaining David's pulmonary hygiene. Sherry understood the importance of keeping him free from pulmonary problems such as pneumonia or atelectasis. She knew the preliminary signs of trouble.

  Before David returned to full consciousness, he had opened his eyes on a few occasions but would fall asleep almost immediately. This cycle continued, each time his eyes opening a little longer.

  Shortly afterwards, he began moving his arms and legs, little at first, but then with enough purpose to reach out. His head began to move from side to side as well but his speech was still mumbled.

  That seemed so long ago for Sherry, who could now look forward, beginning with some time with David at the plush Hilton Garden Inn hotel that the Army, along with an anonymous donor, put up for her during her stay outside the capitol. She stood on the small balcony overlooking the surrounding DC landscape where she had taken in the mixture of the vast and busy landscape of Maryland. Hopefully he can come home tonight, she thought.

  * * *

  During her 3-month stay, she felt the need to get on the metro and ride it to the Federal Triangle, Smithsonian, or the L'Enfant Plaza, and then walk around admiring the Cherry Blossoms during its Peak Bloom in late March and early April. In fact, she was there long enough to witness the changes from the visible florets to its extension, peduncle elongation, and the eventual puffy white appearance, just prior to beholding the moment of full beauty.

  Only once did she ride the metro to the Arlington cemetery to witness the changing of the guard. She only glanced past the white stones, hoping with all of her heart that David would not be amongst them anytime soon.

  Then, she returned to the hospital and sit beside David, giving him all the support she could. She had waited and watched, day after day, for any sign of life returning to her husband of nearly ten years.

  Dr. Meyers often conferred often with Sherry, explaining to her about the medical prognosis on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and temporary verses permanent comatose conditions. He explained to her how some people experience long-term problems with memory, fatigue, concentration, dizziness and even anger that could always be present long after full recovery. “Even in the event that David recovers quickly, it could take years to fully understand the extent of his injuries,” he told her.

  Sherry always remained hopeful, biting her lip and holding back the tears on more than one session with Dr. Meyers.

  “I love him, Dr. Meyers! Our children love him! They wouldn't know what to do without him,” she responded. “He is their hero! He is our hero, their daddy, my husband!”

  Dr. Meyers had an open door policy when it came to discussing David's condition at length with Sherry. He seemed to admire her tenacity and the way she appeared to control her emotions during a very stressful time. At first, she thought that the Colonel was enthralled by David's survival and great chances of full recovery. No doubt, this would have been a recognizable accomplishment if Major Allan had fully recovered from the injuries' he received. Dr. Meyers could write in medical journals about the breakthroughs on wartime TBI's and receive numerous accolades.

  It was not until Dr. Meyers began asking to see Sherry more frequently and proceeded to share things that she had already heard him say before, when she began to wonder if his interest extended beyond David's medical condition.

  I'm probably just imagining his interest, she thought to herself.

  But when she received word from the hospital staff that the Army had arranged for her to move into the Hilton Garden from the Travel Lodge in Silver Springs, her suspicions grew. Dr. Meyers had even invited her to dine with him at the hotel restaurant when she accidently “bumped into him” while checking in to her new accommodations. Caught by surprise, and not wanting to seem rude, she accepted his invitation.

  Not long into the dinner conversation the topic began to shift from David's condition and the medical breakthroughs, to more personal background matters. Although Sherry was somewhat naïve when it came to subversive propositions, she wisely caught on soon enough to avoid long, direct eye contact with him. She also consciously withdrew her hands naturally towards her drink whenever the Colonel appeared to moving closer in her direction.

  Whether or not he had any subtle ideas about Sherry, it was obvious that Colonel Meyers enjoyed her presence. She was a pretty, green-eyed brown-haired woman, with shoulder-length thick hair who had a, “beyond the call of duty” type of resolve.

  Colonel Meyer's feelings could have been influenced by the fact that his wife had left him years before when circumstances became harsh in their own lives. He had even told Sherry that he admired her disposition and sense of loyalty that she displayed towards her husband, despite the odds of a full recovery by most medical standards. He felt that she was the reason that David was able to recover so quickly.

  Dr. Meyer wanted to see more of Sherry, to be sure, but he was also fascinated or puzzled, he was not sure which, by David's ramblings about future events. He wanted to learn more about what David thought he knew and whether or not it was simply a delusional reaction to the TBI.

  * * *

  David was on the mend, more than what anyone expected. He had already scanned and digested enough magazines, television programs, and the daily Washington Posts newspapers to realize that he was currently living in 1991, and not where he expected to be in 2003.

  Gathering the factual tidbits interested him from all sections of the newspapers, including the leisure section. The movie critics wrote about, An Angel at my Table; Dying Young, with Julia Roberts; and Rocketeer.

  The N.Y. Times Best-selling list of books included, Oh, the Places You'll Go! By Dr. Seuss, Immortality by Milan Kundera, and The Commanders by Bob Woodard.


  Finally, he looked over the music hits of the day and noticed that the Smashing Pumpkins had debuted their album, Unusual heat, with the song, Only Heaven Knows. David's eyes stopped when he read, Bohemian Rhapsody/These are the Days of our Lives, by Queen and Do you remember, by Phil Collins.

  “I don't know,” he muttered.

  Sherry walked into the room with some coffee, her mere presence emitting a ray of sunlight that engulfed the room. “Good morning, honey. Coffee?”

  “Yes, but first…”

  David was not able to complete his request for a kiss because she had already leaned forward to give him one, being careful not to spill the contents in the Styrofoam cup that she still held.

  “Umm, that's the sugar to go in my coffee, right?”

  Sherry laughed and sat carefully next to him on the bed. “You betcha!”

  “How about the creamer?”

  “Sherry grinned. Hmm. Maybe…” She quickly reached over to kiss him again, for a longer period, as she simultaneously kept her arms around his neck.

  David delighted in this sudden emotional outburst and when she came up for air, he replied, “I could have in that state forever, you know.”

  Sherry smiled delightfully. “Hmm. Me too!”

  Dr. Meyer's entrance into the room interrupted their cozy state. A different nurse, another Major, followed him. Garret, was written on her black nametag, pinned above her right breast.

  Sherry jumped up from the bed as Dr. Meyer approached them. “Please, sit down. You are fine. I just came to check up on you both and to deliver the good news that we will try to get you out of here before the end of the day!”

  Neither of them could contain their excitement. “Yes!” David shouted while raising a fist in the air.

  “YEA!” Sherry screamed while leaning back towards David and giving him a huge bear hug.

  “Major Garret will assist you with the discharge details and you both have the information packet containing all of the instructions with you already, I believe.”

  “Yes we do, Dr. Meyers! Thank you so much for everything!” Sherry had jumped up to give the Colonel a hug of appreciation. He sheepishly allowed her to do so.