Free Corpsman and the Nerd by D.R. Grady Page A

Whewe’s that?” Ryan kicked
out at something only he could see.
    “ It’s a long way from here,
buddy.” Too far. Too long.
    “ She has to be on an
aiwplane to go thewe?” Another enemy must have jumped Ryan because
he punched out and kicked, making all the necessary fighting
noises.
    “ Yes.” Even though they told
him repeatedly, Max wondered if Ryan really understood. Now that KC
had left them, he seemed to understand this was more serious than
her weekend leaves.
    “ When is she coming
home?”
    “ Not for eight months,” Max
said, aching and empty and a little depressed. Ryan finally seemed
to grasp that eight months was a long time. But when Max looked at
KC’s son, he realized at least he had Ryan. She was facing these
months without him. The ache expanded.
    “ How long is that? How many
sleeps?”
    Max hunkered down and gazed into
Ryan’s eyes. The little guy had stopped being a superhero and now
just looked confused. “It’s a lot of sleeps, buddy,” he answered
heavily.
    “ More than
thwee?”
    “ More than
three.”
    “ But she is coming home,
wight? Back to ouw house?” Ryan looked so upset Max nearly lost it.
He tugged the little boy into his arms.
    “ I hope so, Ryan. I hope
so.”

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 11
     
    Two days later
     
    To:
[email protected]
    From:
[email protected]
    Subject: I’m
here!
    Dear Max and
Ryan,
    I’m here! And missing you
both so much. How is Ryan? Has he finally understood that I’m not
going to come home right away? I hope so. He’s pretty adaptable and
since he’s with you, Max, I think he’ll be fine.
    I arrived safe and fairly
sound. I slept some on the plane, but I’m still tired, and hungry
and totally out of sorts. I have a cot, though and plan to make use
of it shortly.
    I did spend some time in
Norfolk, VA and we
mobilized from there. I’m at a Fleet Hospital on the Navy side,
since I am a surgeon. Probably be doing much of what you’d see in
M*A*S*H. (Even though M*A*S*H is Army, my unit will be similar, and
of course more modern.)
     
    Max decided to buy the entire M*A*S*H
boxset. He planned to watch the movie and the TV program, so he
would have an inkling of what KC experienced. Anything to feel
closer to her. He returned to her email.
     
    I’m in a tent with nine
other women. All of us of the medical persuasion. I’m the only
trained lab person, although I’m going to be working as a
surgeon/doctor, apparently. (Of course, I haven’t done that type of
work in a while, but I’m sure (hoping!) it’ll come back to me.) I’m
a bit nervous by the practical end of doctoring, since I’ve been
using the text book end recently, but anyway, this should be
interesting...
     
    Max read through the lines and decided
she was a nervous wreck. He doubted she would have any trouble, but
KC was likely to worry herself to nausea over this. For her sake
and everyone else on the base, he hoped she got comfortable with
her skills quickly.
     
    Speaking of hot, it’s
scorching here! Around 110 degrees. Those who’ve been here for a
while say it’s positively cool... (That doesn’t bode well.)
Although they do say you get used to it. Mitch also assured me I
would. He also, bless him, gave me a very good overview of what
this would be like. So, I’m not that surprised. But it is one of
those situations you have to experience.
    While the days are
scorching hot, the nights drop rapidly in temperature, by about
thirty degrees or so, so then it feels positively cold. I can
already assure you, I don’t like the desert!
    I start work tomorrow. The
other women were so happy to see me (or another surgeon, anyway),
they cheered when I found my cot.  Which was nice. I still hate that I’m here, but I
guess I’m needed, so it’s not as hard.
    I also realized I’m about
the only one here with her own computer. (Which I got cleared as
soon as I came.) Yay for Mitch and Lainy loaning me the same
computer she built for him.