Roz Dunbar - The Marine's New Family

Looking around, he mentally calculated the safest path out and picked his way through the debris. As he stepped across a pile of concrete rubble into the cold, bright sunlight he noticed the woman wince, and he lifted a heavily gloved hand to shield her jade-green eyes from the glare of the sun. He quickly scanned the area for medical personnel and called for a corpsman.

“Doc, we need help. This patient’s bleeding pretty badly.”

Luke gently lowered the woman to the hard, arid ground as the medical officer made his way over to them. He stepped back as the corpsman knelt next to the injured female and began a cursory examination, starting with the wound on her head and working his way down to her lower extremities and then back up to her skull again. Luke noticed her grimace with pain as the medic probed the gash on her temple gently, trying to stop the bleeding.

“How bad is it, Doc?” Luke knew her situation was serious, but had no idea how grave it really was.

“Honestly, Gunny, it’s not good, but it’s not the head wound I’m most concerned about. There may be internal injuries, and her left leg has a pretty serious break. Femur. Not pretty, and she’s in a lot of pain. It’s what we can’t see that bothers me, though. I have no idea if she’s bleeding out.” He never looked up as he spoke, instead reaching into a medical kit and pulling out a bag, a battery-powered IV pump, tubing and needles.

“Can I help?” Luke lowered himself next to the corpsman, his eyes focused intently on the woman’s face.

“No, but someone’s going to have to carry her down this mountain to a safe zone. There is no way that a helo can land in this terrain.” The corpsman had already inserted a needle into the woman’s arm and attached tubing as he spoke. “Ringer’s lactate with a morphine push,” he explained to Luke as he worked next on immobilizing the broken leg.

“I’ll carry her. Just make sure she’s good to go, Doc.”

“I’ll carry her, Gunny,” Corporal Baldwin offered. Luke hadn’t notice him standing there, he had been so caught up in what the navy corpsman was doing.

“No, Baldwin. I’ve got this.”

The young marine looked at him oddly for a moment and then walked away without another word.

“She’s ready to be moved now,” the corpsman said a minute later. “We need to get her out of here, fast.”

Luke nodded and knelt to pick the woman up gently, balancing the portable IV pack securely against his chest. It wasn’t going to be an easy trip down the mountain by any stretch of the imagination, and the less pain she was in the better.

The journey was rough, but he never really gave that part another thought. She would periodically open her eyes and focus on his face. He had no idea if she could hear him, but part of him felt that she could. So he talked to her. He talked about anything and everything he could think of. He told her about his life at home. He told her about two special elderly ladies who had welcomed him into their lives and hearts, making a home for him, the first he had had in years—maybe ever. He told her about a village on the coast of North Carolina where he wanted to live for the rest of his days.

Before he knew it they made it to flat terrain, and up ahead he saw a CH-53E helicopter waiting. Luke breathed deeply, knowing that they had made it and that this was her ticket out of there. He just hoped she’d pull through once they got her to proper medical facilities. He met the corpsman at the door of the helo and gently transferred her into the man’s arms.

“Don’t leave me.” The hoarsely whispered plea was heartfelt.

Luke had looked at the woman with surprise, his eyes locking with hers. He hadn’t thought she was capable of speaking or that she was even aware of what was going on.

Smiling, he told her, “You’ll be all right. You’re in the best hands possible. I’ll check up on you. Promise.”

He watched her nod slowly and close her eyes. The corpsman saw Luke hesitate and assured him that they had her and would take care of her. “According to comm she’s in pretty bad shape. We’ll get her to Kabul as soon as possible. They’ve got the best medical officers there.”

“Can you let me know how she does?” Luke still hesitated, not wanting to leave her for some reason.

“Can’t say that we can or can’t. They don’t tell us much because of HIPAA laws, and she’s a civilian.”

Luke nodded and backed away from the medical helicopter, watching it as it lifted from the landing zone and took his charge away. And he prayed, just as he had prayed for her every step they took together down the mountain. He knew that God was everywhere, even in that remote part of Afghanistan.

Shaking his head, he came back to the present. He had tried to find her, follow up on her, but without a name to help him identify her, he couldn’t seem to find any information. He had run into one dead end after another and had finally given up. But he prayed for her each day. He had never stopped doing that. It was all he could do.

Yet now she was right in front of him. He felt guilty for staring. It wasn’t fair somehow. She was vulnerable in sleep and he did not want to wake her. But he couldn’t look away. Then his eyes caught sight of the cane next to the chair and he felt a sharp stab of compassion. The soft lavender sundress she was wearing hid any scars that might be on her legs, but he knew they were there. One thing he was sure of: if God had brought her here, He had a reason.

“Hey, Dad, I finished with the chairs. Can I go to... Hey, who’s that?”

Luke put his finger to his lips, “Shhh.”

“Who’s she?” Caleb whispered.

“She’s the new tenant we built the screened porch for,” he explained simply, as he tried to usher his son out of the room.

“We don’t have to whisper no more. She’s awake.”

“Awake?” Luke turned sharply to see that Caleb was right. The woman was sitting up and looking at them with shock.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my house?” Her tone was low and even, but she was obviously frightened and disoriented, judging by the way her small, white hands were clutching the arms of the chair.

Luke immediately tried to diffuse the situation. “I’m sorry, ma’am. We didn’t know you were here yet. We brought groceries for your pantry.”

“Groceries?” He watched her closely as she slowly digested what he had just said.

“Yeah, the ladies asked us to do it,” Caleb tossed in helpfully.

“The ladies?” she repeated, still looking slightly disoriented.

“He means the Salter sisters, Katie and Annie.”

Luke watched as recognition dawned in her green eyes, and her hands visibly relaxed their death grip on the chair.

“Oh, the aunts.” She summoned a small smile as she shook her head slightly. “I’m sorry. I fell asleep.”

She has a lovely smile, Luke thought inconsequentially. She’s lovely, period. And she didn’t recognize him. That much he was certain of. There was no spark of recognition in her eyes.

“My name is Luke, ma’am, and this is my son, Caleb.”

“Hello, Luke and Caleb. I’m Tess. Tess Greenwood.” The smile again.

“Hello, Tess. Nice to meet you. Say hello to Miss Greenwood, Caleb.”

“Hello,” Caleb muttered, before adding, “Can we go now, Dad? Joey is waiting for me.”

“Yes, son, we’re leaving now. Everything has been put away, Tess. If you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to call on us. My number is on the calendar in the kitchen.”