“Can we finish our conversation from last night, about pushing papers for the National Guard.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that.” He sighed and wiggled in his seat to get a better look at her as they drove. “Being in the Army is like you said, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. You are always on duty. However, in the National Guard once you complete and pass Army boot camp, and the extensive training afterward, your duty to your country after that is one weekend a month, and one month a summer, unless the National Guard is called in for emergencies.”
“Like?”
“Helping evacuate people in fires, floods, clean up after a gigantic storm. We were deployed to airports after 9/11 happened, as security.”
“Ah, okay, so whenever I heard on the news that the National Guard was called in, it was based on where as to who would go?”
“Correct. Like I wouldn’t be sent to California if I was based out of Pennsylvania. The farthest I ever went was to New York City, right after 9/11 to be security in the airport.”
“Got it.”
“Anyway, because I made my way quickly through the ranks, I wasn’t like the other people in the National Guard. For example, Tony and Marcia, she works at Broken Two, were in the same unit. They did their one weekend a month, and one month a summer. Sometimes, that month had to be done in the winter if the training called for it. If they weren’t doing that, then they worked a regular job, and lived a normal life.”
“Except for those times you mentioned.”
“Correct. Anyway, I was in charge of their unit, but they weren’t my only unit. When their unit was off, another unit came in. I had enough units under my command that someone was at the facility every single weekend of the year. It was a total of five units, and though I said they had to do one month a summer. It didn’t always have to be in the summer. When they needed cold weather training, we did the month in the middle of the winter. The conditions were about like they are here now.”
“This allows them to be ready to do their job in any condition Mother Nature has to throw at them.”
“Correct. So, that’s why I was always busy, I was in charge of five units. When they weren’t there, I had the paperwork to do, and I myself took advanced training whenever I could, not only to further my career, but to make me a better leader, and a better soldier.”
“I won’t ask if you ever saw war, because you probably can’t tell me. However, I am going to ask what Tony meant by hitting the side of a mountain.”
“Fuck, pardon my language, but that incident was a whole clusterfuck that went on for months. That’s just the legalities. The actual healing took years.”
“Now I’m intrigued.”
For the rest of the drive, Shay explained what had happened the second Caleb Burrows, Jr. stepped off the bus at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, up to the point of when they carried him off the field in a body bag. By this time, the trip had been completed, and they sat in the parking lot for a good five minutes before she spoke. She looked at him with wide eyes.
“I don’t like to swear a lot, but holy fuck. That was intense.”
“Yeah, and it’s all true. I can’t tell you to look it up, because it’s classified as military data, but I watched as Tony and Marcia lived through it. At first, when I heard the injuries and saw them when they were brought in, I thought Tony was the lucky one.”
“Why?”
“He only had a shattered, ankle, hip, knee, and shoulder. However, they were opposite of one another. Meaning his ankle and hip on one side, and his knee and shoulder on the other.”
“Damn, that meant he couldn’t use crutches.”
“Correct, and because they were shattered, he had numerous operations. Don’t quote me on this, but I believe in total he endured eleven of them. His recovery was five freaking years.”
“And this Marcia person?”
“Broke every bone in her body, except her spine, and skull. However, each bone was broken in two or three places. I do remember that both her femurs were broken in three places. After extensive x-rays, she was taken into surgery to place pins in those bones, and some in her lower legs. Then they put her entire body in a cast, and put her in a drug-induced coma. We didn’t know at the time that she was already in a normal coma. She might not have cracked her skull, but she hit her head pretty hard and passed out. It was months before she came to. See, they took her off the meds keeping her in the drug-induced coma once her bones were healed and they removed the casts. After that, a physical therapist come in every day to work with her.”
“Unconscious?”
“Yes, they didn’t want her to lose muscle mass. Once she came to, she spent another two years in the hospital for rehabilitation, mostly learning to walk again, along with extensive intense physical therapy.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, she got better, moved here to Broken Wheel, met the love of her life, and thrived. I do see that these winters are hard on her bones, and joints, but she’s working with Caleb about that. The same thing for Tony. This cold weather is hard on them, but working with a therapist that is aware, and at the top of his game is helping them both.” He sighed heavily. “I’m hoping that’s all I’m going to need. Thank god nothing is broken, but they don’t know whether there is any tissue or ligament damage.”
“That’s why we’re here.”
“Correct.” He looked at the clock on the dash and shook his head. “Do you think being an hour early will help me get in to see Dr. Johnson earlier?”
