Waiting For You

Rārangi upoko 9 'Home Sweet Home'

23rd of March

The past couple of days she had been busy cleaning up the house. Her mother and Amber were a huge help, and thankfully they managed to get it done before the morning of the 23rd.
She had asked the officers to make sure that it wasn't let known to the media that she had her house broken into. She didn't want the hassle of the people's pity.
The morning finally did arrive. The SUV pulled to a stop inside of an aeroplane hangar at Auckland City International Airport, and Anne clenched her fists together in nervousness as she peered outside the window.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Amber asked as she watched Anne from the other side of Rosemary who sat between them both.
Anne nodded; of course she was ready, she was finally going to see her husband again.
"He will not be the same man that you remembered him being when he left," Amber said slowly. "He will be different."
She knew he would be, how much so, she did not know. It worried her, leaving her awake the past two nights worrying about his mental health.
She watched as the Prime minister's car pull up with security, and secretly wished that it could just be her and Joshua, no one else. But she knew that it would be selfish to do that after what the country had gone through with her.
Amber reached over Rosemary and held Anne's clenched hands. "Anne, look at me."
Anne turned from the entourage of Security cars and News presenters that were setting up and looked at Amber and Rosemary, her mother had somehow fallen asleep while on the way from the TVNZ building to where they sat now.
"Are you sure that you can do this? For the past three months, you have been put under more stress than what is normal for someone your age." She gestured at Anne's hair. "Your 31 and you're already going grey."
Anne smiled. "You don't need to worry about me, Amber. I will be fine, as long as Joshua is safe." She turned her attention back to the growing mass inside the hangar.
Amber let go of her hand and sat back into the seat. Rosemary roused from her sleep and looked about. "Are we here already?" She asked and peered out Anne's window.
"Yes, mom. We're here." Her thoughts wondering. How different will Joshua be? She knew death on a daily bases was a really hard thing to cope with without going made, he would be different, she knew that but how different? Amber was right; she had been under a lot of stress lately, but no more than any other wife, boyfriend or girlfriend of a soldier that had gone to war. She would stay strong for her husband. Behind every victorious soldier there was always a more victorious connection back home for them to keep on fighting and surviving for, and hopefully eventually come home to. Her mother was right. Life problems seemed to be only solved by strong family ties.
A knock sounded from her window, pulling her from her thoughts. Toby was standing outside smiling down at her. He pointed downwards signalling for her to put her window down so he could speak to her.
She obeyed his commands and lowered her window. "The moment the whole country has been waiting for is finally here!" He exclaimed and lent through the window and gave her a triumphant hug.
"I suppose." She replied a little surprised at his actions.
Amber gave her a playful nudge while Toby looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You ok?" He asked.
She nodded. "Yes, I'm fine."
He nodded slowly. "Well, the reason I am over here instead of in my van is to tell you that it is time that we get you ready and position the cameras so we can catch your facile expressions as the plane lands."
"Do we have to televise everything?" She asked slowly. "I mean do we have to have the cameras right in my face all the time?"
Toby must have felt the anxiety that Anne was feeling because his face became more serious and firm. "This is your moment Anne Hickey; we don't need to film any of it if that is what you wish."
"That's right, Anne. " Amber said from next to her. "If you want privacy which is your right during this. The country doesn't need to see." She whispered.
Anne closed her eyes and breathed in. Seconds ticked by before she eventually breathed out. "You can televise it, Toby," Anne said after a couple of seconds. "Just don't have it all directed on me and Joshua all the time. Try and get Wendy and Chris to divert it all. And maybe the Prime Minister too."
He nodded and smiled. "Excellent, we will want pictures of you with the Prime Minister before and after the plane lands, so you should do that next."
Chris strolled up with his hands in his pockets. "What is happening?"
"Everything and nothing all at once," Toby said, his voice filled with the excitement of the moment. "Anne, Amber and Rosemary, if you get hungry there is a food table being set up in the side office just over there," he pointed in the direction of a side door that led into a small room off of the hangar. "There will be also hot drinks to combat the cold cloudy weather we are experiencing." He said before patting Chris on the back and left towards the 1 News van.
"You should meet the Prime Minister and get your picture taken," Chris said and he too turned and walked off towards the crew van.
"I don't know about the both of you," Rosemary said as she leant over her daughter to open the door, "but I would love to get a picture with the Prime Minister."
"Mom, please." Anne opened the door for her and got out, allowing her mother to get out with some sense of dignity. Anne wasn't sure why she was the one that should be in the centre of all the attention, it was her husband that was the war hero, not her. "Toby!" She called across the concrete floor of the hanger.
Toby looked up from a spreadsheet he was holding.
"Why should I be getting a photo with the Prime Minister, today has nothing to do with me."
"Today is all about you, Anne." He called back and continued to study the spreadsheet.
The next three minutes were of cameras flashing and her poising with the Prime Minister with a smile. Before she knew what was happening the sound of a plane in the distance appeared and everyone started to role their news cameras while a handful of presenters including Chris and Wendy started to talk into their lenses.
"Welcome to 1 News to watch the moment we have all been waiting for!" Anne could hear Wendy announce. "As you can see behind us in the distance the plane that is carrying the war hero Joshua Hickey back from the Philippines after three months of helping out in the field as a medic. His wife is standing off to one side waiting to meet her husband for the first time since he left."
The engines grew louder and Anne could now clearly see the planes logo. Her heart beat faster and faster as the landing gears dropped nearer to the runway. Seconds later the wheels touched down in a cloud of smoke.
"And that's a touchdown for Joshua Hickey, Ladies and Gentlemen."
The plane flew down the runway before taxing towards the hanger. She could no longer hear the news presenters over the sound of the plane's engines. It pulled to a stop in front of the hanger and the engines powered down. She could see movement through the side windows before a metal stairway was wheeled into position under the yet to be opened hatch.
Rosemary placed a hand around her daughter's shoulders.
This was really happening, Anne thought as her heart beat against her chest, she was finally going to see her husband again, back in the safety of New Zealand.
The hatch opened and the crowd could see the heads of an air hostess and she waved before disappearing from view. The next second Joshua appeared. He stepped out into the metal staircase with a bag in hand.
Anne left the side of her mother and rushed up the steps and into the embrace of her husband. Yes, he was real, yes he was really there, yes he was alive. His warm arms around her and his smell filled her nose, and the next thing they were kissing and she was crying and laughing all at the same time.
She couldn't drown out the sound of the cameras clicking and flashing and she suddenly felt Joshua's full weight on her as he slumped to the floor of the stairway. "Joshua!" She heard her self cry, "Joshua, wake up." There was a rush of hands as she was pulled away and the paramedics at the scene checked over her husbands still body. They lifted him onto a stretcher and placing him into the back of an ambulance and drove away under lights. Leaving Anne with the bewildered onlookers. Her mother held her tight and whispering into her ear. "Everythings going to be alright."