by: Marty Chrisman

Luke picked at the food on his tray. Even after being on a starvation diet for almost 6 weeks, Luke still didn’t have much of an appetite. It seemed like whatever he did manage to choke down, he just threw back up again. He looked up in surprise when Barb walked up to his bedside and sat a bowl of grits on the bedside table in front of him.

He couldn’t help but grin widely “Grits?” he said in a pleasantly surprised voice “Where did ya ever get grits over here?”

“I have my sources.” She told him with a grin “Figured that might suit ya a little better than the stuff they been serving ya.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Luke told her with a warm smile.

“Complete with Maple syrup.” She said, taking a small sample size bottle of syrup out of her smock pocket and handing it to him. “And I expect ya to eat all that.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Luke told her. Barb gave him one last smile. It did her heart good to see the young Marine happy about something for a chance. Luke poured a few drops of the syrup in the grits and then took a bite with pleasure, savoring the taste of food that reminded him so much of home. Satisfied that he was finally going to eat, she turned and walked away.

After he’d finished eating, Luke lay there and stared at the ceiling. There really wasn’t much else he could do. He couldn’t get out of bed because of his leg and if he tried to read it gave him a headache. And sleep was pretty much out of the question because when he slept he had terrible nightmares where he was back in that cage in the jungle. The only way he could sleep at night was when they gave him something to knock him out so he wouldn’t dream. He knew that he’d been in the hospital for two weeks. The first week he had been so out of it he didn’t even remember it. It was the second week before he became lucid enough to realize where he was and that he was safe. But there was a part of him that still didn’t feel safe, not as long as he was in Viet Nam. He often wondered if he would ever feel safe again.

The only real break in the boredom was when the nurses changed the bandages on his leg. He tried not to think about how close he had come to losing his leg because of that dang snake bite. His foot and leg was still swollen but it had gone down quite a bit. The doctor had operated to drain out the infection and there was a three inch incision on the side of his foot and another two inch incision on his leg just above his ankle. Just two more permanent reminders of how close he had come to dying during his time in Viet Nam.

He hoped that someone had notified his family that he was alright. He knew they had to worried sick since he hadn’t written. He had written religiously twice a week since he’d been here. Always sending two letters. One for Jesse and Daisy and a separate one to Bo. He missed them so much. He couldn’t believe that it had been over two years since he had actually seen them. Bo would be eighteen now and Daisy would be twenty-one. Their letters had been all that had kept him going sometimes when he wanted to just give up. Letters that talked about all the things he was missing back home and reminded him just how much he loved them and missed them. How much he wanted to go home. He kept his letters to them vague, never going into any details about the things he had done or seen in this place, never telling them about the constant danger he faced every minute of the day. He knew that Jesse realized the danger because he’d been in his own war but Bo and Daisy didn’t know what it was really like and Luke didn’t want them to know. He hoped and prayed every day that Bo would never have to go through what Luke had been through in the past two years.

Luke was pulled from his thoughts when Barb came up to his bedside. Smiling, she handed him a long white envelope. Luke recognized the marks on the envelope. New orders. He fingered it nervously, not sure that he wanted to open it after all. Noticing his hesitation, Barb said gently “Would you like me to open that for you?”

“Would you mind?” Luke asked anxiously, handing the envelope back to her. He knew he was being foolish but he knew that his immediate future was inside that envelope.

Barb took the envelope from him and tore it open, taking out the single sheet of paper it contained. Unfolding the paper, she glanced over it and then looked at Luke with a huge smile “Congratulations, Soldier. It’s a medical discharge. You’re going home.”

“Home?” Luke said, his voice barely above a whisper, his heart pounding with excitement and relief.

“Home.” Barb repeated “Looks like you’re gonna be one of the lucky ones. As soon as your leg is healed enough to ship out, you’ll be outta here.” She was geninuely happy for the young soldier. He didn’t belong in this place. She handed him back the envelope. “Where is home by the way?”

“Hazzard, Georgia.” Luke told her with a happy grin.

“I knew by the accent that it was either Georgia or Tennessee.”

“Can you find out if my family knows that I’m okay?”

“I’ll see what I can do.” She promised him “Would you like for me to help you write a letter to them?”

Luke shook his head “No, I’ll probably get home before they even get it the way the mail is over here.” His last letter had taken almost two months to reach his family back in the states.

“Okay….well I need to get back to work but I’ll be back later to visit with you for awhile.”

“Okay….and thanks.”

“No thanks needed.” She told him as she walked away

Luke leaned his head back against the pillow unable to keep from smiling broadly. He was finally going home. It was almost too good to be true. He fingered the discharge papers, reading them for himself, still trying to believe that it was real and not just a dream. He blinked back the tears that gathered in his eyes, feeling foolish at his display of emotion. Luke had always been a very reserved person and kept his feelings closely guarded and hidden from everyone except Bo. And he had become even more guarded when it came to his emotions since he had been in Viet Nam. But realizing that he was finally going home had broken a crack in that wall and he was having trouble controlling the emotions that were surging through him at the moment. Suddenly, the floodgates burst open and he found himself crying uncontrollably.

Barb suddenly appeared at his side and gently put her arms around him, holding him close as he let out all the fear, pain and horror of the past two years. She had waiting for this to happen. It usually did with the ones who had been in prison camps. She was glad that he was finally letting some of the emotions out instead of keeping them bottled up inside. Finally he calmed down and gently pulled away, wiping away the traces of his tears with the back of his hand.

“I’m sorry….” He mumbled, lowering his eyes to avoid looking at her, ashamed of his outburst.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, sugar. You earned a good cry.” She smiled and leaned in close so she could whisper in his earn “I think I could sneak ya a beer as long as you don’t tell nobody. It’s even a real beer from the states and not the crap they call beer over here.”

“That sounds good.”  Luke said with a smile

“Be right back.” She told him with a wink. True to her word, she returned shortly with a paper cup that she handed to him. It was filled with ice cold beer that had never tasted so good to Luke before.