The Journey to Freedom: Path to WW3

Chapter LXXXI

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Mark Twain

I wake up and see the ceiling. It was white and the room was bright also.

"Oh man, am I dead? Please tell me that this isn't heaven? It's too bright here." I say out loud.

I see my mom next to me and she asks me how I felt and I tell her that I felt like a million dollars. She laughs and my twin girls were there looking at me and asking if I was in pain. I tell them I didn't feel anything now that I saw them. I see their little tears and tell them not to cry because I was going to be ok. They continue to be sad but that was kids for you. No matter what, their emotions always got the best of them.

"Hi, honey! You doing ok?" Eve asks.

I ask her if she could close the blinds because my eyes were hurting from the sunlight. She closes them and I hear a lady's voice say "The reason your eyes hurt is because you've been asleep for almost 48 hours. You are very lucky that the bullet went through and hit no vital organs. You lost a lot of blood but you should be out of the hospital in about a week. Then you should take it easy for the next three months and you should be back to normal, Major Santiago."

I look and see that it was a Doctor, I thank the Doctor and she leaves the room. The nurse tells me that if I needed anything, there was a buzzer by the bed and to push it and she would come to help me.

I thank her and she says "I'll leave you to your family now."

I smile and thank her again. I look around the room and see that there were flowers everywhere. My mom and Eve tell me that the flowers, balloons, and bears were from my squad and all my friends and family.

"I told Kevin and everyone else that I would call them as soon as you woke up," Eve tells me.

I tell her to go ahead and call them up. She gets on her cell phone and walks out of the room. My mom looks at me and asks what happened to me. I tell her the whole story while my little girls were sitting on the bedside looking at me. My mom asks what Zaelia's son was doing at the camp. I tell her that most likely he was sent to do a mission or maybe that he volunteered and they got caught and my team and I were sent to save them. My mom asks if I was going to retire now that this happened to me. I tell her that I had been shot before and hurt before and situations like this won't change my mind to retire. She asks how much longer I was going to be in and I tell her that I was going to do one more year and then get out and open a restaurant, dedicated in her honor. She asks me where and I tell her that I was going to open it in Dallas, so she can run it and make money, so she doesn't ever have to work again. She smiles and thanks me. I hold her hand and tell her that she deserved much more but for now, it was all I could do for her. She tells me that retiring is the best thing I could do for her.

Later on that day my squad goes to visit me, including Commander Guzman. They were happy to see me and glad that I was doing better.

"You know, when the helicopter showed up at my ship, I thought that maybe a few of yall got hit, but it looks like there was only one injury. You did good Major. I would be honored to have you on my boat and help me if I ever requested your assistance." Commander Guzman tells me.

I stick my hand out and shake his hand and tell him that I would be there for him whenever he needed my help. He thanks me and tells me that he had to go because he had to go back to his base. I thank him for taking care of me and for visiting.

"Get better, that's all I could ask from any of my men and friends." He tells me.

I tell him that I was on my way to recovery already and he laughs and says goodbye and leaves. The rest of the guys were excited that I was ok and they tell me that I gave them a scare when I didn't wake up after them trying to wake me multiple times.