Where Am I? Help Me!

Could it be the war is over? How did I get here without any memory of this? As I begin to look around, I see that I am wrapped in a sleeping bag. Wait it isn't a sleeping bag, it is a death wrap. Am I dead? I look around the cargo hold I appear to be in and see corpses. Is this my unit, my company?

Am I dead? I can't be as I hurt like hell! Or does it hurt like this when you are dead? Maybe in hell? Did I live enough of the wrong way to deserve hell? I note a tag on the wrap. Is it a train ticket, I think! It has my name on it. Could it be they thought I was dead and shipped me off still alive?

Just then I hear a noise and wait for a minute to see what it is. When I see a guard, I speak up. He jumps, looking frightened, and runs away from me.

I try to get up but I am strapped down. I am feeling too weak to do much more than lay here. I sure hope someone comes back soon. What if they just leave me here, thinking the guard just imagined seeing me alive? It happens, right? Mistakes are made.

Again, as I look around, I can't see well enough to recognize anyone. I can see enough to know that there is one hell of a lot of people in here with me. Dead people.

It seems like forever until I hear some noise coming from the same direction the guard ran in!

Three people come running toward me. One is a nurse as I can tell by the uniform, another is the guard and the third appears to be a minister. He is wearing a huge cross around his neck. Do they think I'm a vampire? Then I chuckle to myself.

Maybe not so far-fetched. Many movies portray vampires as the living dead! Okay, I can assure them, that I am not a vampire. I just want out of here. And I want some treatment for the pain that appears to be worsening.

I can feel it as we appear to be racing down the tracks at a fast speed and hitting what feels like a bump, causing me serious pain.

I plead with the nurse to help me. To give me something for pain. She explains that the doctor will have to examine me first. Is there a doctor close? I ask that in a louder voice than I expected!

Then I look up at the nurse and say, help me!

She asks to have the restraints taken off and she begins the exam on me herself. She appears to be a good nurse and appears very thorough as she asks me questions about the pain and some medical history. I can't believe it, but I am attracted to her.

I want to know where I came from and where we are going. The security guard, who I realize is in a soldier's uniform answers me. It is what I thought originally. Others from my unit were killed and we are all being shipped back to our families for burial.

As she is about to have me attempt to get up, the doctor enters. With him, he has a doctor's bag and a neck brace. After speaking briefly with the nurse, he tells me that they will be putting on the neck brace before I attempt to get up.

I can get up about half an hour after I am given something for the pain. I am told that my family has been told that I will be brought home for a funeral. They will connect me with my mother as soon as possible. There is a phone on the train.

The nurse says, your wife must have been devasted and now she will be elated. There is no wife or girlfriend I volunteer.

They still appeared to be unsure about my condition and were watching me closely. I am alive. I am going home. And if something is more serious, they will find it as they are taking me directly to a hospital to have a thorough going over!

Epilogue:

I am alive and well and living in my wife's hometown.

I married the nurse that came to my aid on the train. She insisted on staying by my side at the hospital they took me to in her town!

Even though I got better fast without any long-lasting health issues, she has stayed by my side with my permission for the past two years.

Lucky me! I am not sure how I would have faced all of that alone. My family did come to help me to recuperate. They helped to settle the emotions connected with the loss of my friends and the fears.

Finally, falling in love is such a better way to live than with trauma, grief, and loss! Just thinking about this brings me to tears!