onto the floor. It landed with a loud clunking sound and the top burst open, the contents flooding the tile.
“Mark’s alive?” My hand flew to my mouth as I gasped in relief and shock. It felt as if my legs were about to go out from under me and I grabbed hold of the kitchen counter in order to remain upright.
“Jo Marie? Are you okay?”
“Tell me…tell me everything,” I blurted out, my voice shaking uncontrollably.
“Listen, I don’t want to mislead you. Mark was located and he’s in bad shape.”
“But alive.” That was all that mattered; all I needed to know.
“He’s been transported to JBLM.”
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the same base where Paul had once been stationed.
“He was shot, Jo Marie, weeks ago. The wound wasn’t tended to properly and became badly infected. Ibrahim’s wife did what she could to nurse him, but the only means available were primitive at best. I don’t want you to get your hopes up. What information I have is sketchy.”
“He’s alive.” I couldn’t think beyond that. As long as Mark had breath, hope remained.
“Let me put it like this: Mark’s alive for now.”
Reality struck a hard blow. “For now?” I repeated.
“He was half dead by the time he made it into Saudi Arabia. He’s been transported, everything that can be done to save him is being done, but from what I understand it doesn’t look good.”
I refused to accept that he would make it back to the States only to die. “What about Ibrahim and his family?”
“They’re fine, doing well, and are settling in.”
“Where are they?” My concern for Mark turned to immediate anger. “How long have you known?” I demanded.
If Ibrahim and Shatha were already in the States, then where was Mark all this time?
“Jo Marie, listen, I went out on a limb as it was, getting involved in this. I found out this information only minutes ago myself. Mark’s been stateside a week or so now.”
A week? I didn’t dare let myself think about that. The one thing Mark had asked of me was to look after his friends.
“Ibrahim and Shatha and the two children are in Detroit. They have family connections there.”
“Ibrahim left Mark behind?” From everything I’d learned about the other man, which I had to admit wasn’t much, it didn’t seem like something he would do. Especially after Mark had risked his life in order to rescue him and his family.
“Ibrahim had no choice but to leave Mark once he was stateside. If Mark survives, I’m sure they’ll reconnect.”
If Mark survives.
If Mark survives.
If Mark survives.
The words reverberated in my head like an echo against a canyon wall.
“When can I see him?” My head had started to clear and a plan of action formed. All that was important was to reach Mark as quickly as possible.
“He’s at Madigan Army Medical Center…”
“When can I see him?” I demanded a second time, cutting him off.
“Jo Marie.”
“Tell me,” I shouted, losing all patience. I had to get to Mark, had to look at him for myself, had to let him know I was at his side and that I loved him.
“There’s no guarantee. I believe the only reason I was informed was because they don’t expect him to live much longer.”
“He will survive.”
“You don’t know that,” Milford argued. “No one does.”
“I do. He’s home where he belongs.” It was useless to debate the point. “Just tell me what I need to know to get to him.”
“He isn’t conscious, Jo Marie. He’s in a coma and has been for some time now.”
“Tell me,” I cried, unwilling to listen to anything but my own heart, which told me I needed to get to Mark as quickly as possible.
Milford relayed the information, which I immediately wrote down.
The lieutenant colonel continued to warn me, continued to speak, but by this point I’d stopped listening. All that was important, all that mattered, was getting to Mark. I’d waited nearly a year for this and nothing, absolutely nothing, was going to stand in my way.
Not the military.
Not the United States government.
And, certainly, no doctor, nurse, or hospital.
I cut the connection and doubted anyone had dared hang up on the mighty Lieutenant Colonel Milford in his entire army career. I dared.
“Jo Marie.”
I heard my name through the haze of turbulence and realized it came from Emily.
“Mark’s alive,” I told her, stretching out my arm to her.
“So I heard.” She grabbed hold of my hand, squeezing it hard and tight. “What do you need me to do?”