Phoenix

Memories from the Past

The sounds of sirens rang in my head and pain throbbed throughout my entire body. I slowly opened my eyes and tried to look around. There was a bright, blinding light above me. A few people were around me talking to each other. I tried to listen to what they were saying but the sound of sirens and my heart pounding in my chest overpowered their voices. Before I could try to find out where I was everything went black.

I woke up to the sound of a monitor beeping and the sound of people talking. Taking a deep breath I slowly opened my eyes. It took a few seconds for my eyes to get used to the light in the room. I was laying in a small white hospital bed. The room I was in was painted a light baby blue. There was a large window on the left side of the room overlooking the city. A small couch sat under the large window. I was alone in the large room but I could hear people talking outside of my room.

The sounds of people's voices made me want to get out of bed and leave the hospital. I knew that I wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon, especially in the state I was in. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't move my body and it was probably for the best. Every time I tried to move a shot of pain flowed through my body. After a few minutes of trying to sit up in my bed I gave up. The pain was unbearable. I rested my head on the overly fluffed up pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

I laid in the bed for a few minutes in complete silence, until the door to the room opened. I looked over at the door and who had walked in. A tall and slim man holding a clipboard walked into the room. His hair was bleach blonde and his eyes looked like dark chocolate. I watched him walk over to the beeping monitor that stood next to my bed. He tapped the screen of the monitor and glanced down at me. I looked away from him and closed my eyes.

After a couple of minutes of listening to the doctor mess with the equipment in the room, I opened my eyes again. With nothing to do, other than lay around in bed and listen to the doctor mess with the equipment, I tried to move my left arm. There wasn't too much pain as I moved my arm from under the white blanket that laid on top of me.

The doctor looked down at me and spoke, "I don't recommend moving around too much. You just got out of surgery not too long ago. So try and take it easy."

I looked over at the tall slim man with a slightly irritated look on my face, "Oh come on I'm fine. I think."

"You are far from fine Mrs. Grant. You had suffered second and third degree burns, along with many puncture wounds that should have killed you."

I stayed quiet and thought about what the man just said, and he was right. Even though I knew what had happened to me, I still couldn't wrap my head around what had happened to my jet. The jet must have blown up after I got out of the cockpit. I forced the horrific memory of my mind and focused on what was happening in the room. The doctor was still looking at me. I could see the sympathy in his eyes as he looked at me. It wasn't everyday an air force pilot ends up in the hospital from a plane crash.

The feeling of me being back in the plane flashed in my mind. I shivered from the feeling and looked up at the doctor. "Do you know what happened to the jet I was in?"

He shook his head and spoke, "I don't know anything about what happened to you. My job is just to make sure that you don't die."

I knew that he was lying about not knowing what happened to me, but I tried to forget it. "Well do you know what time I can leave this place?"

"You'll be able to leave in two months. Maybe one if you're lucky" He said as he looked down at his clipboard.

An annoyed look formed on my face. I hated the thought of being stuck in a bed for two months. "Two months seems like a very long time. Is there any other way I could get out of here sooner?"

The man shook his head. "No, not really. You're stuck here till you get better, or till you're in good enough condition to get home and get better there."

"Well why can't I just go home and get better there?"

He looked at me with an annoyed look on his face and put his clipboard on a small table near my bed. "You are in no condition to leave this building. We have to keep you here so that we can help you get better."

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "I have a family and a job I---"

A quick knock of the door cut me off. The door slightly opened and a nurse poked her head into the room. "Doctor Martin, there's someone here to see Mrs. Grant."

Doctor Martin looked over at the nurse and grabbed his clipboard. "Can you wait just a few minutes? We are almost done here."

The woman shook her head, "He wants to speak to her now. It's something really important."

"Alright, you can let him in." The man said as he walked towards the door.

The doctor left the room and a tall muscular man walked into the room. I instantly recognized the man. His near shaven head was hidden under an old Yankees baseball cap and his milk chocolate eyes were staring right at me. The man pulled up a chair next to my bed and sat down. I glanced down at the plain white t-shirt the man was wearing and the light blue jeans he wore. I had never seen my general wear any other clothes other than his military uniform.

He cleared his throat and kept his gaze on me, "Phoenix, I'm happy to see you alive." His voice was rough and scratchy as he spoke. I could tell that he had been yelling a lot from the sound of his voice.

"I'm happy to be alive sir. I just wished that I wasn't stuck in a hospital bed." I respond. I tried to keep my voice steady as I spoke. Being in a hospital bed in front of my general made me feel scared and nervous. I rarely spoke to him, but when I did, I always got nervous.

"Well I see that you haven't changed at all." The man said with a small chuckle.

I put on a smile and tried to act normal. "Ah want can I say, it's hard to not be me."

He slightly nodded and sighed, "I have heard lots of good things about you Phoenix, and I have seen you do great things to save others." He paused for a few seconds then spoke again. "But after what had happened to you and your F-15D I had to make a big decision." As he spoke his voice started to sound sad and frustrated. He glanced around the room before talking again, "The injuries that you received from your F-15D blowing up are going to take months to heal. And it will take twice as long for your life to get back to normal." He looked me dead in the eyes. I could see a hint of sorrow in his eyes, and deep down inside I knew what he was about to say. "I know that you are only 24 and you have a family back home. But after this accident you are going to be forced to retire from the air force."

"What!" I could barely control my emotions. I could feel tears forming in my eyes and my throat got tight. "I can get better from these injuries. I'll be okay in a few months and I can go back out and fight. And I'll work my ass off if I have to." Tears were rolling down my cheeks as I spoke. Part of me wished that this was all a joke or that I was dreaming, but I knew that I wasn't.

"I'm sorry Phoenix, I really am but you don't have a choice. I'm doing this for your mental and physical health. You need to take care of yourself, and your family."

"General Nicholas please. I love being in the air force. I love this job and I don't want it to go away so soon."

General Nicholas stood up and started to walk to the door, "I'm sorry Phoenix, but that's an order."

He opened the door and left the room. I was in tears and there was nothing I could do about it. Deep down I knew that he was right. I had never really taken good care of myself in the air force. Now I had no choice but to take care of myself. I hated the idea at first, but after thinking about it for a few seconds I started to look on the brightside. I would now be able to stay home and be with my family. There was a massive list of things I could do, but my thoughts went back to the thought of never being in the air force again.

"How much worse can this day get?" I asked myself. I looked up at the ceiling and closed my eyes. A tear rolled down my cheek and I opened my eyes again. Everything was going down hill, and there was nothing I could to stop it.