Serendipity

Calling

"So how've you been?" Belinda's best friend Courtney asked.

"I've been okay" She answered with a sad smile

"I'm serious Belinda. How are you?" Courtney asked getting worried for her friend. She managed to get her out of her house and hang out and watch a movie. Now they were at a small cafe a block down from the cinema.

"I've been fine. I've been studying and going out with you guys. I even visited my parents " Belinda answered her. Reassuring her she was fine just a little sad.

"oh how did that work out?" asked her friend knowing it could go any way but mostly horribly wrong

"well it went surprisingly well considering-" Belinda was interrupted by her phone.

"its a strange number" she told Courtney after seeing the number wasn't from the US "Hello?" she said answering

"yes. Is Belinda Marie there?" a man asked from the other end of the line

"Speaking" answered Belinda. She was starting to get worried.

"Ah yes well we have here that you have been put as the only person to contact if something were to happen to William Lamberti. Do you know him ma'am?" The man said. And it all clicked. Something had happened to Will.

"Uh yes. He's my boyfriend. What happened to him? Is he okay? Please tell me he's alive." she asked starting to hyperventilate

"Ma'am unfortunately Mr.Lamberti  was injured in action. He was shot while covering for another soldier and broke his leg trying to find cover. He's alive but the damage done is too much for him to stay in war so he is being sent home while he can recover from his injuries." The man said probably giving Belinda the second worst news she could get.

"When is he getting home?" she asked calming down

"He is on a plain right now. He should be landing in three hours. Apologies for not contacting you before but the ambush was far to dangerous for it" He said to her. After giving her the information she needed to pick Will up she filled Courtney in what had happened and left.

The two hours and twenty minutes it took to get from that small cafe to the airport were the most stressing, emotional, and overwhelming Belinda has ever had. After she got there and found the right gate she waited the fifteen minutes before the people started filing out one by one.

Since William was injured he was the last one out with the help from the hostess. Even with crutches he looked handsome as ever. His hair a little shorter and his stubble gone and he was a bit more built but his smile and his captivating blue eyes were the same.

When he saw her he got the biggest smile on his face. Not the smirk he had when he made small talk with the hostess as she helped him towards Belinda but his real smile the one too big for his face the one that made him look like a kid who finally just got the ice cream cone he's been asking for.

"what happened?" asked Belinda as she tackled Will with a hug which made him groan in pain.

"I'm sorry are you okay?" she asked starting to worry

"oh I'm grand" he answered with a grin "and just some assholes ambushed us and almost got us all killed" he continued with sad eyes

"Did they?" Belinda asked him knowing where this was going

"They killed Drew" William whispered while they made their way to the car. Drew was Will's best friend in the army. They met in training and have been inseparable ever since. She even met him a couple of times while she and Will video chatted. He was a sweet guy who didn't deserve to die.

"oh no" she said hugging him letting him cry while she shed silent tears.

After they drove the two and a half hours to their house they decided to just lay on the couch and talk. They talked for hours. Belinda filling him in on her uninteresting normal life and Will telling her some of the antics and the trouble he and Drew got in their time together which had them laughing until their stomachs hurt.

"I have to change the bandages" William said and he winced while getting up. It hurt Belinda seeing him like this so hurt and broken

"I'll help you" she said following him to the bathroom.

"Uhm. Can you take my shirt off? it hurts when I raise my arm" he asked a little nervous.

"Okay. But you have to raise your arms up a little more " she told him seeing as how he had his arms up a little over his chest

"this is as high as I can raise them before it starts hurting a lot" he told her wincing a little. She took the hem of his shirt and slowly lifted it being careful not to hurt him. When she couldn't keep pushing it up she helped him work his arms out one by one. After a few cusses and more groans in pain she managed to pull the shirt off of him.

After the shirt was gone she started changing his bandages. His wound was on his left side. It looked a little bad but a lot better than she expected. Fifteen minutes, two gauzes, alcohol, more cusses and a bargain to get Will some gummy worms if he stopped squirming so Belinda could finish changing the bandages later.

"There. That wasn't that bad, was it?" Belinda asked him making him smile

"I think I'll do it myself next time" he told her joking

"you're such a big baby" she said reaching up to grab his cheeks

"Ow! You're gonna rip my face in half, woman!" William said pushing Belinda's hands away from his face

"But you're so cute! Look at you!" she told him grabbing his cheeks again but with more force

"Jesus, woman! I won't look cute much longer if you keep abusing me like that" he said trying to get away from her.

They laughed. She had missed him a lot more than she though and so did he, but she couldn't help but feel guilty. Yes, she wanted him to come back home but not like this. Not when it meant for him to loose his best friend and to be so hurt and damaged and broken.

She was happy he was back but she knew his smile was fake and he was still hurting from loosing an important person in his life since his parents weren't around he only had Belinda and Drew and now Drew left too.