Dear Jack

Chapter Seven

I lay on my stretcher bed in the infirmary, my eyes closed and focused on my thoughts. I need to keep my head straight; I can't let my mind get to me. I tried my best to forget the pain that torments my left leg and my lower back. My back thankfully is just bruised badly and I've torn some tendons and ligaments in my ankle and foot, but no bones are broken. The doctor says I have a few weeks of recovery before I can return to active duty but I'm determined to be back in the sky in two weeks max. I can't leave my troops behind. They need me.

I should have been killed. I did the wrong thing. I let my troops down. I left my flight path and nearly died. I'm lucky that my injuries don't reflect that of someone who crash landed their plane after being shot down by the enemy. But the enemy weren't where they were supposed to be, our intelligence was wrong. I needed to find out where they were. My mission depended on being able to plan the final assault and free the town. If we freed that town and kept a stronghold on multiple positions, we could win the war. But I got stupid, I flew in open sky. It's not like massive war planes are subtle like birds in the sky. I think I threw seven years of flying experience down the drain and it could have been fatal for my troops.

"Fucking hell Barakat" I sighed as I relieved the moments before my plane was shot down and the few moments I regained consciousness when my troops came to rescue me. I remember finding the enemy and the euphoria I felt when my instinct was right. I was so excited to relay information back to my battalion and plan our next attack, but I was caught off guard by a massive fireball flying through the sky towards my plane. I don't remember much but I feel as though time slowed down and I was frozen; stuck staring at the fiery ball of metal hurdling towards me, ready to take my life. All I can see is bright red and an eye blinding orange/yellow. And I guess that's where I blacked out.

"Corporal Barakat, are you awake Sir?" two of my soldiers walk into my area of the infirmary to greet me.

I open my eyes and nod to the men. "At ease gentlemen, we're off duty in here" I smile back. I slowly lift myself up in my bed trying to limit the pain as best I can. One soldier sets another fluffy pillow behind my neck to enable me to sit up. Fucking hell Barakat.

"Sir, we wanted to come in and see how you're feeling and deliver you some news" Private Henry starts. I was immediately worried.

"Oh god, we've lost our advantage. It's all my fault. I knew I should have stayed my flight path but I couldn't help it, nothing seemed right. Oh god I've put you all in danger, this whole base in danger. I'm so sorry men". I bowed my head in shame.

"Sir, that's not what we're here for, not at all. Our news is good news" Private Henry lays a hand upon my shoulder and grips it tightly. "We wanted to tell you that we were able to make an advance on the enemy's containment lines and with the help of the Western Battalion who apparently had lost their course and were only a few miles away from their position, we were able to take hold of their base, take in some POW's and force the rest to retreat. We've taken back the town. We won sir"

We won Sir... those words rang over and over in my mind like church bells being run, bouncing off the walls of my mind.

"I don't understand though. I left my flight path. I flew over enemy territory and they shot me down. How did they not advance upon us?" I still could not help but feel guilty that I was not there to lead my men into battle and be on the front line with them.

"We got the coordinates of where your plane was shot down and we were expecting an attack but they never came. They must have thought you were a stray plane and thought they had killed you and didn't bother moving. And so, we sent our Recon Team after you and the rest of us closed in on the town and the Western Battalion closed in on the other side. The enemy never expected us. Nor did they expect the WB sir" Private Henry explains with the broadest smile one could muster.