The Maroon Beret

-Brayden-
“She should be coming home any day now.” Sean says, lifting the other side of the couch with me.
“I know.” I say with fake annoyance in my voice. “It’s all you’ve been talking about for three weeks.”
He looks up at me and just smiles.
“I’m sorry, I just can’t wait.”
“Believe me dude, no one else can either.” He laughs and we move the couch over towards the window, placing it the new spot. “Tell me again why we’re moving everything around?”
“I read a thing online that said that confined spaces are hard for amputees to get around. It’s easier for them if they have more room.”
“Yeah, but why are we doing this now? Isn’t she spending time in that hospital in DC before she comes home?”
He gives me an annoyed look.
“She is, but we’re going on a long-ish road trip soon. I don’t want to wait until the night before she comes home to worry about fixing everything. I want to get it done now. Plus, one of the women in the support group offered to bring her husband over to check it all out. He’s a bilateral amputee, so they can tell me what needs to be fixed.”

I nod, finally understanding why he’s been so crazy lately. I’m proud of him. From what I’ve heard, it takes a lot to live with an amputee. They need help with a lot of basic daily tasks, and rely heavily on the people they live with. I know Charlie isn’t going to want a lot of help with things, but at least he’s preparing the apartment and himself for what he’s getting into. I’m glad he’s taking this role seriously.

“When are you officially buying the house?” I ask as we move to pick up the table.
“Technically I already have.” He says. “But we aren’t moving in for a couple of months. I have it planned so that we can move in right before Christmas. I’m thinking about furnishing first everything and then giving Charlie a key as a Christmas gift.”
“You’re such a fucking romantic!” I laugh. He turns red.
“So what? You think I don’t see you all head over heels for Janine? You follow her around like a puppy! Especially lately. I swear, ever since the Kelsi thing you’ve been lost without her.”
“Yeah, well.....” Fuck, do I tell him? We’ve only told our families so far. Screw it, Luke has a big mouth and everyone is going to find out eventually anyway. “Janine is pregnant.”
Sean smiles.
“Congrats, man.” He says, not really getting too excited.
“You already know!” I state. He laughs.
“Janine told me the other day. She was here helping me decide where to put the furniture and I offered her a beer.”
“You knew and you didn’t say anything?” I holler.
“She threatened me! Told me she would cut my balls off if I mentioned anything to you before you told me yourself!”
I can’t help but laugh. That sounds exactly like something Janine would say. We move on to the second couch, which I’m thankful is a lot lighter than the first.

“I thought your parents were going to come visit.” I change the subject.
“They were, but then I Charlie called me. I talked to them and we decided they should wait until she’s home from Walter Reed first. We figured it’ll be nice to have a little extra support when she comes home.”
“I still can’t believe your parents haven’t met your fiancee.” I say, shaking my head.
“Me neither. It’s definitely not what I had planned. But to be fair, we never really thought we would be together. And it’s not like I’ve only known her for a couple of months.”
“I get it, man. It’s just kinda funny. I mean, you’re already engaged to her and the only parent either of you have met is the crazy psycho who’s now in jail.”

We finish putting the rest of the furniture in their new places and flop down on the couch. He turns on the NHL network and I get up to go to the kitchen.

“Some of the guys are coming over soon.” He announces.
“Kay.” I respond, grabbing beers for each of us from the fridge.
“So you’re going to be a father.” He says from the other room. “How’s that feel?”
“I’m scared shitless!” I say. “But I’m also excited.”
“Seriously, congrats man. I know you’ve both been thinking about kids for a while.”
“Thanks.” I say, sitting back down on the couch and handing him his bottle.

We both hear his phone ringing in his bed room, and he gets up to go answer it. I’m sick of seeing the highlights from the Capitals game from last night, so I start flipping around. Who cares that Ovechkin had another 3-point night? The front door opens and my brother comes waltzing in with Rinaldo, Raffl, Mason, Simmonds and Mac behind him. Simmer is carrying a case of beer and heads into the kitchen to put it in the fridge.

“I like the new arrangement.” Mason declares as they all claim spots around the couches.
“Oh shit, I didn’t even notice it’s different!” Rinaldo chuckles.
“You’re an idiot.” Raffl says. We all laugh.
“Where’s Couts?” Luke asks.
“He just went to answer his phone in the other room.”
“Well he better hurry up and get back out here. I brought all three Mighty Ducks with me!”
“Oh shit, the popcorn is still in my car!” Rinaldo exclaims, jumping up and running out the door.
“Definitely an idiot.” Raffl jokes and we all laugh.
“Yo, seriously. Is Couts gonna join us or not?” Mason asks.
“He’s been back there for a little while. I’ll go check on him.” I say, and make my way back to his room.

I knock on the door, and it swings open a little bit. I can see him sitting on the end of his bed with his head in his hands.
“Hey man, everything okay?” I ask.
“No.” His voice is pained. “Everything is not okay.”
“What’s wrong?”
“She’s not coming home.”
I start to panic. Did something go wrong? Is she- is she dead?
“What do you mean?” I ask, my voice shaking.
“I mean, she’s coming home. But not when she was supposed to. She was supposed to get on a plane today. A couple of hours ago. But on the way to the Air Force base, their caravan was attacked.” He breaks, and I can see the pain on his face. “Her vehicle got diverted to the closest Army base, and she’s going to be spending a couple of days there. Then they’re going to the Air Force base and spending more days there. She’s not getting on a plane to come home for another week.”

I breathe a sigh of relief.
“You had me worried there for a second.” I say. “I thought you were going to say she’s dead. Cause let’s face it, that would suck.” He gives me an angry and confused look. “Couts, man, you gotta look on the bright side here. She called you?” He nods his head. “That means she’s okay- she’s alive. She’s not going back to the hospital. So it’s going to be another week before she comes home? That’s okay. Because she’s still coming home.”
He sighs and drops his hands to his knees.
“I’ve just been so ready for her to come home. And I thought she was going to be here soon. But it’s just been one thing after another. I can’t take it anymore.”
“You won’t have to. By next week, Charlie will be on American ground. She will be a couple of hours away from us, and I’m sure coach will let you skip a practice or two to visit her. Hell, you could probably skip a game at this point. Then she’s going to spend some time learning how to use her prosthetic, and she’ll be cleared to come home. After that, you’ll never have to worry about her again.”

I hope my speech is good enough to help him. Somehow, I feel like nothing anyone says at this point is really going to make this better. But maybe I can help him get through this.

“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. Now get your ass out there. Luke brought all three Mighty Ducks. We’re gonna watch them all in succession.” He laughs.
“Okay, let me just fix my shit. Not that any of them haven’t already seen me at my worst...”
It’s good that he’s joking around, at least.
“Alright. Do you want me to tell them what’s going on?” I ask.
“Sure. I don’t really want to talk about it anymore though.”
“Gotcha.”

I head back out to the living room and take my seat on the couch.
“Alright, listen up.” I say, getting everyone’s attention. “Charlie called. She was supposed to get on a plane today, but their caravan to the Airfield got attacked. She’s okay, and is currently at the Army base. But she won’t be getting on a plane until next week. Sean doesn’t want to talk about it, so we’re not going to talk about it. Got it?”

Notes