-Charlie-
It’s been 25 days since I woke up, and 35 days since the accident.

As of yesterday, I no longer have to wear the back brace that had been constricting most of my movement. The doctors also took my gigantic leg cast off, and switched it out with a much smaller one. Instead of going all the way up to my hip, it now stops above my knee. Ironically, it stops about the same place as my other leg does. They said my arm cast and the new leg cast will both need two or three more weeks, but by then I’ll be at Walter Reed.

The most exciting thing about today, though, is that I’m finally getting to go home. Dr. Gwynn cleared me for travel yesterday, just in time to add my name to the manifest of a plane leaving Kandahar this afternoon. Words can’t even express how excited I am.

Last night, my entire squad came by with my stuff. They heard that I was finally going home, and decided to wish me a safe trip back. I was relieved to find out that I was the only person in my squad who was seriously injured in the explosion. Chris received a few shrapnel wounds, but fortunately he was far enough away from the suicide bomber that they were only minor. He received a couple of stitches and was released from the hospital in a couple of hours. Apparently they’ve all been checking on me every time they drop someone off, but haven’t been allowed to come visit me since they were on duty at the time. Since they were not on duty last night, they were able to come to my room and spend some time with me. I was so happy to see them. When you’re in the military, your squad becomes like a second family to you. They are like your brothers, even after you have returned home.

I’m holding Sean’s hat trick puck in my left hand when Dr. Gwynn comes into my room.

“Are you ready to go home?” He asks with a smile.
“More than ready.” I reply.
“Alright, here’s what’s going to happen. In a couple of minutes, you and ten other patients will be loaded into a couple humvees. You will be transported to the airfield where you will board the plane. It’ll be about a thirty or forty minute drive. From there, the plane will take you to the American air base in Ankara, Turkey. You will then be transported to Esenboga International Airport, and will board a plane to Washington DC. When you land in Washington, a shuttle will be waiting for you all to take you to Walter Reed. There will be a couple of nurses going with you, who will likely stay for the first week or so in DC. They are all familiar with each of your injuries, and will help bridge the gap between what we have done here and what the doctors will do there. Any questions?”
I look at him and shake my head no.
“The only thing I have to say is thank you.” I say. “Thank you, for everything you have done for me.”
“It’s my job, Charlie. Just like your job is to transport people from the field to the hospital, it is by job to make sure those people get home alive.”
“But still....”
“You can thank me in the future when I go home with tickets to a Bruins game in Philadelphia. I’d love to watch my team beat up on your fiancee.” We both laugh.

With that, he helps me get situated in the wheelchair I will be using until I get my prosthetic and wheels me out to the caravan. I am surprised to recognize a man that I had helped transport to the hospital just a couple of days before my accident. He had stepped on an underground mine, and lost both of his legs. I ended up having to pump three bags of blood into him, and we still worried that he wasn’t going to make it. It warms my heart to see that he did. It means that I did my job. He’s being put into one of the other humvees, so I won’t get the chance to talk to him right now. Maybe I won’t talk to him at all, since he probably doesn’t recognize me.

Before I get into the vehicle, I take a second to give Dr. Gwynn a big hug.
“Tha-”
“Don’t say it.” He says, cutting me of. “You know you don’t have to thank me.”
I smile.
“Let me know when you’re home. I’ll get you tickets to see my fiancee beat your Bruins.”
“Ahh, I think it’ll be the other way around!” He chuckles, helping me into my seat.
“We’ll have to see.”
“Have a safe trip home, my dear.”

He closes the door and the soldier driving gets the go-ahead to take off. There are five vehicles in total, four of which are carrying patients. We are in the fourth, and there is only one other patient with me. He looks to be a Marine, with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.
“Excited to be going home?” He asks me.
“Absolutely.” I say. “All I’ve been thinking about the past three weeks is getting home to my fiancee.” He chuckles.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about my daughter.” He admits. “Or my wife, of course. But especially my daughter.”
We share a smile and I lean my head back on the headrest, closing my eyes. In less than 24 hours, I will be on American soil.

I guess I dozed off for a little, because I’m suddenly shaken awake by a tremor going through the ground and the car lurching to the side. I open my eyes and look around outside the humvee. What I see makes my stomach drop. The lead car has been overturned, and the third has crashed into the back of the second. The lurch I felt was our driver swerving to avoid crashing into the back of the vehicle in front of us.

“What’s going on?” My seat mate asks as the driver turns us around and punches on the gas, heading the opposite direction of both the airfield and the hospital.
“The Taliban must have known we had a caravan coming through here today. They planned this attack.” The man in the passenger seat says. I notice that he has a funny handle bar mustache, and wonder how he gets away with having it in the Army. “Hold on, we’re going to high tail it to the Army base. It’s only a couple of miles from here.”

My heart is racing. The vehicle that was behind us is now in front of us. I look behind us and all I can see is a dust cloud forming where we had turned around.

“I’m getting word that the second and third vehicles got turned around, and have started heading back towards the hospital. But I’m not getting any response from the first.” Mustache man says.

There are a couple of explosions right behind us, shaking the ground and kicking dust up all around the vehicle. They must have expected us to turn and head this way, setting land mines in our path. We’re lucky we missed hitting them. Outside every window is just a brown cloud, all around us. I don’t know if the driver can see anything, but he blindly keeps going as fast as he can. We have to get away from this area and make it to the Army base.

I feel my seat mate’s hand wrap around mine, and turn to look at him. I see the fear I’m feeling mirrored in his face.
“It’s going to be okay.” He says. I nod my head and squeeze his hand. I feel a tear threatening to spill onto my cheek and will it to stay where it is. I can’t look weak. Not now. “Tell us about yourself?” He asks.

“What do you want to know?” I ask.
“Whatever you’re willing to share. Just distract all of us from what’s going on.”

That’s a strange request, but I see mustache man and the driver nodding in agreement. If that’s what they want, I guess I’ll tell them my story. I take a deep breath and begin telling them about myself.

“My name is Charlotte Rose Coleman, but everyone just calls me Charlie. I’m a Senior Airman with the Pararescue Jumpers, located at the main Kandahar Airbase. I was born and raised just outside of Philadelphia, about ten minutes from the city. I’m twenty-one years old and engaged to the most wonderful man in the entire world. His name is Sean and he’s been my best friend for four years, but my fiancee for only six months. I live with Sean in an very nice apartment in down-town Philly, but we were looking at houses around Vorhees, New Jersey before I left. My father passed away a couple of years ago, and my mother is currently in jail for stealing everything out of my apartment when I spent the night with some friends. Also for threatening me and a bunch of police officers with a gun. She got involved with some gang or something when I was little and disappeared for almost fifteen years, so it’s not like I had a close relationship with her or anything. My only brother is a Master Sergeant in the Army, and is currently stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Basically I have no family other than Drew, who is going to kill me when I finally get the chance to talk to him. We made a promise to each other that we would come home unharmed whenever we got deployed.”

I sigh. We’re almost there, but I’m running out of things to say. There’s really only one thing left to talk about, though I haven’t said all of those words out loud yet.

“I was involved in an accident 35 days ago when my squad and I were picking up two American victims of a suicide bomber just outside of the Kandahar city limits. What we didn’t know was that there was a second suicide bomber lurking in the shadows of the buildings, waiting for his opportunity to make his mark. I was talking to the platoon medic when he came out from his hiding spot and triggered his bomb. He was about thirty yards from me, and fortunately was farther from our helicopters and the rest of my squad. I was blown backwards into a cinderblock wall, which broke a lot of bones on my right side. A large piece of shrapnel got lodged in my lower left leg, and they had to amputate it. I was in a coma for ten days, and that’s basically my story.”

I finish my last sentence just as we cross into the border of the Army base.

“Thank you for sharing that with us.” Mustache man says.
“Yeah.” Is all I can reply.
“The other vehicle notified the Army that we were coming, and they have told us to head straight to the Colonel’s office. He will decide what is the best course of action from here. Obviously you will not be leaving on the plane today, but they have already contacted the Air Force to determine when the next flight out will be.”

We pull into a parking spot in front of the main building, and mustache man helps me get out of the car and into my wheelchair. I can’t wait until I get my prosthetic so I don’t have to rely on other people anymore. He wheels me into the building, with the driver and the Marine behind us. We head to a meeting room, and find that the people from the other humvee are already there. Like our vehicle, there are two Army escorts and two hospital patients. I don’t see the man I saved, so he must have been in one of the other vehicles. Mustache man takes me right up to one of the tables and the Marine sits down next to me.

“I never got your name.” I say to the Marine.
“My name is Matt.” He says. “I would offer to shake your hand, but we have injured opposite arms.” I chuckle.
“That’s okay. I’m pretty sure we don’t need to shake anymore.”

The door opens and a man who I assume to be the Colonel comes in. Those who are capable salute to him, and he salutes back.

“To those of you who are not members of the Army, welcome to our base. I’m sorry that you have to be here under these circumstances. I have talked to the officials over at the Air Force base, and we have been working together to determine when the next time we can get you guys out of here is.

Unfortunately, there isn’t another flight leaving for almost a week. However, it is a direct flight to the Dover Air Force base, which is only two hours from Walter Reed.”

We’re going to be flying into my home base.

“We have also agreed that it makes the most sense for us to try to transport you to the Airfield sooner than the day of your flight. We will give you bunks here for tonight and tomorrow night, and will transport you the next day to the Air Force base. You will spend the remaining time there, before your plane leaves. Are there any questions?”

No one says anything, and he gives us a short nod before exiting the room. Another officer steps in, and begins explaining where we will be staying for the next 48 hours. I don’t really pay attention to anything after he mentions that we will have the opportunity to use their phones to call loved ones back home and tell them when to be expecting us. All I can think about is how this is going to affect Sean. He’s already been through so much with me. He’s going to be devastated when he finds out I’m going to be here for another week.

Mustache man pushes me out of the building and towards the barracks, where our stuff has been dropped off. I’m sharing a bunk with Matt, which I’m oddly okay with. He seems like a decent guy and I’m glad I got to meet him, even if the situation sucks.

“Are you going to shower? Cause if so, I’ll let you go first.” He says.
“I probably can’t.” I respond, a little sullenly. “I have to sit down and there’s no room for a chair in there.”
“Oh. Right, I forgot.” He says. “I’m sorry. This week is going to be difficult for you.”
“It’s okay. I’ll adapt. I might be able to wash my hair in the sink when I need to. And I might be able to use a sponge for my body at some point. I’ll just wear a lot of deodorant.” We both laugh and he helps me get into my bed before heading for the shower.

I’m so sick of this wheelchair already. I just want to go home.

Notes