Fortunate Sons

Chapter 24: Bad Moon Rising

Sue finished up the last rounds of the evening at the hospital by making sure that all of her patients were settled in and given enough medication to last until the night shifters came in to tend to their duties.

"How are you feeling Jason?" she asked one of the soldiers. "Any pain at all?"

"Well besides the last nurse being a pain in my ass, no." Jason joked. "I think I'll be able to last the night."

"Alright," Sue replied. "If anything gets worse you know what to do right?"

"Got it."

"Oh," Sue said. "Before I forget, this came for you in the mail."

Sue handed the fat envelope to Jason who had been confined to his bed for the last three days. He tore open the envelope with his thumb, reading the letter within as carefully as he could.

"Family ok?" Sue asked.

"Yeah, Amy was finally able to get the house at a knockdown price," Jason told her happily. "We've had our eyes set on the place for months."

"Whereabouts?"

"Nice little place right outside of Houston," Jason told her. "My family's moving out of California in a few weeks. She and I were supposed to get married before I left but it fell through."

"I'm sure she'll be glad to hear that you're coming home," Sue said wistfully.

"I hope so," Jason chuckled. "The rabbi's wife at our synagogue keeps asking when I'll come back but I guess nobody asked if it'd be in one piece."

Sue laughed a little but still kept thinking of Taylor. She hoped he was still in one piece......and alive.

"You got somebody?" Jason asked her.

"Oh......yeah," Sue replied, trying not to betray what she really felt. "He's....he's an American serviceman. I've got a photo."

From the breastpocket of her fatigues Sue pulled the photo she kept of Taylor, a colorized polaroid of him sitting in the back corner of a jeep with his lucky aviators shielding his eyes from the scorching sun and his hair bleached such a brilliant red-gold it may as well have turned blonde. Taylor was as handsome as ever in that photo, his shit-faced grin able to bring out the best of him.

"Handsome devil that's for sure," Jason chuckled. "He'd give Steve McQueen a run for his money."

Sue and Jason talked for a little while longer until she heard Dr. Pearlman calling out one of his usual witty euphemisms. "Time for the changing of the guard," he announced.

Sue bade Jason farewell, gathered her things and headed out for the evening. Only when she stepped out of the hospital and hurried down the streets to the nurse's house did she release what she had been building up for the past two weeks. Her eyes burned and stung with the tears that could no longer be held back. Sue wished with every bit of her soul that Taylor didn't have to go. Every night since he left she was terrified that he'd get himself killed.

Damnit why can't he just come home??!!!

Her fast paced steps soon broke into a frantic run. She wanted to run away, run away and take Taylor with her. Sue wished he was right there with her so that they could sneak away in the middle of the night to St. Andrews or to the embassy and get married. She wanted to search for a way to go home, something, anything to get away from this war that was tearing people apart.