G Hopf - The End

“Hi sweetie, is everything okay?”

She turned to him and said, “Brad, please sit next to me.”

She had a gentleness in her voice that he had not heard in a long time. He missed her and did not hesitate when he heard that long missed tone.

“Of course.”

She grabbed his hand, turned and faced him.

“Brad, I know we have been through a lot together, I know you personally have a huge responsibility. I love you and respect you. You didn’t choose this but you have stood up and taken charge like the man I know you are. I’m so proud of you. You are a good man, a good husband and a good father. I know that over the past couple of weeks I’ve been very distant. I hope you forgive me for that. I know that it must have been hard for you, too, and that you haven’t had the chance to truly mourn because you’ve been called upon to lead our country.”

Conner just held his wife’s hand tight and looked at her. The more she talked the more tears started to well up in her eyes. He had wanted to interject his thoughts, but this was the most she had talked to him since Bobby’s death. He let her continue uninterrupted.

“Brad, I know you love me and I know you want the best for me.”

Conner nodded.

“Brad, we are good people, we are good decent people; we are loving parents, or I should say we were. With everything that has happened, from Bobby’s death to the attacks. We have to start over.”

Julia paused. Tears flowed down her cheeks; she looked down and wiped her cheeks. Conner reached over and placed his hand on her cheek and raised her head so he could look at her.

“I love you, too. I have missed you so much. I am so sorry that I couldn’t save our son.”

“Stop, please. I don’t want to revisit that. Bobby’s death wasn’t your fault. Others are to blame and I know you will deal with them in time.”

“I will, I promise you.”

“Brad,” Julia said softly, breaking her gaze again and looking down.

“Yes sweetheart. What is it?”

“I want us to have another baby,” she said, lifting her head and looking at him.

Conner was shocked; he would have never guessed this is what she had been thinking about. He did not answer. She kept looking at him for an answer, but he kept silent.

“Brad, did you hear me. I want us to try to have another baby.”

“I heard you Julia. Don’t you think it might be a bit early?”

“No I don’t, I have thought about this for almost two weeks. Our country has suffered a horrible attack, millions will die, our son is dead and we must rebuild our country. We, more than anyone, should be having babies. We have all the resources to ensure a baby will survive.”

“Julia, sorry to interrupt; but shouldn’t we take some time before we contemplate this?”

“No, Brad. I want to have another baby,” Julia was now getting upset.

Conner decided to be cautious about the next thing he said. He knew how fragile she was and the last thing he wanted was for her to relapse. He thought about the idea. He did love babies and children and they did have the resources.

Julia kept staring at Conner, her eyes red from crying. Looking into her begging eyes, he could not resist her. All he wanted was to make her happy.

“Julia, I agree; let’s have a baby.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

She quickly hugged him tightly. She kissed him on the cheek, then the lips. She pulled away from the kiss to look at him and say, “I love you Brad, thank you.”

“I love you too, Julia.”

She kissed him, again this time more passionately. She stopped only to say, “There’s no better time to start trying then right now.” She reached over and brought him closer to her, they both laid back on the bed.

After saying yes to Julia, Brad felt better about his answer. Having another child would give them a family again. The new baby could never replace Bobby, but Julia deserved to be happy and he would do anything to make her so.

San Diego, CA

Nelson ran to the door as fast as his legs could take him. The banging and yelling at the front door portended something of great concern.

He unlocked the door and flung it open to find Jimmy and two people he did not know wearing uniforms carrying a bloodied stretcher. They proceeded into the house without a word and headed straight for the dining table. Nelson thought to himself how convenient no one else was home at the time to witness this.

As he followed the men, he peppered them with questions. No one would answer him. He could not see who was on the stretcher but the fact that Gordon was not carrying it and wasn’t in the room gave him enough info to guess that the bloodied person on the stretcher was his good friend.

“Jimmy, what happened?” he asked.

“We were ambushed.”

Once the three made it to the dining room, they pushed everything off the table onto the floor and placed the stretcher on the table.

Nelson rushed to Gordon’s side and immediately placed his hand on his neck to confirm if he was still alive. Finding a faint pulse, he began to do what came normal for him as an EMT.

“Does anyone know how many times he was shot?” Nelson asked.

“No, it was so loud and so many bullets were whizzing by. I wasn’t focused on him. I’m sorry,” Jimmy said. The other two did not say a word; they just stood there staring at Nelson.

Nelson saw the wound in Gordon’s left arm. He then ripped open Gordon’s shirt and saw the wound in his upper chest.

“Go get me some fresh bandages!” Nelson commanded.

“Where?” Jimmy asked.

“Just go into the kitchen and get me a clean towel, don’t grab the ones on the counter.”

Jimmy rushed off.

“It’s going to be okay, my friend,” Nelson said to Gordon.

Nelson rolled Gordon over onto his side to see if the bullet had exited. He was pleased to find that it had.

Needing to thoroughly examine Gordon, Nelson ordered the two men to help him strip Gordon of his boots and other clothing.

Fortunately, Nelson located all the wounds. The wound in his chest looked bad but the main issue was the blood loss and potential infection. They could handle the infection with antibiotics, but if he needed blood he would have to find out if someone had Gordon’s blood type.

“Jimmy, do you know Gordon’s blood type?”

“No,” Jimmy answered.

“Here’s the situation, I think these wounds can be mended but Gordon needs blood. We obviously don’t have any in our supplies but we can give him some when we find someone who is a match. We need to do this quickly.”

“What do you want us to do?” Jimmy asked.

“I need you to go find Samantha.”

“Okay, I’m gone,” Jimmy said and raced off.

“You two are like sticks in the mud. I need one of you to go to the clinic and get some antibiotics, bandages, tape, gloves, just bring me a trauma kit.”

“I’d go but I don’t know where the clinic is located,” one of the men answered.

“Who are you anyway?”

“I’m Sergeant Holloway and this is Lance Corporal Fowler, we rescued your men.”

“I’m Nelson, now whoever is going to make the run, here is how you get to our clinic. Exit the front door, turn right and go to Calle Cristo, turn left and on the right is our large clubhouse or was our clubhouse. The house two doors down is our clinic. Just tell the guard that I sent you and that the meds and bandages are for Gordon.”

“Okay,” Sgt. Holloway answered. “Lance Corporal Fowler, stay here and do whatever the man asks.” Fowler nodded and replied, “Yes sergeant.”

Holloway took off at top speed.

“What can I do?” Fowler asked.

“You can help by telling me what happened.” Nelson said.