{Normal POV}
(Friday, April 14, 2023-2:30 pm )
[Barbarki Outpost; Combat Support Hospital]
It was literally the talk of the entire base after what happened at the gates a few hours ago. Everyone had been ordered not to speak to anyone who wasn't military until Hayden woke up and could explain what the hell happened. The prisoner was confirmed to be the one they had been after, and the man was instantly locked up at Barbarki, heavily guarded at all times. It had been hours since Hayden blacked out from what everyone assumed was injuries and exhaustion, but Hayden was taken right to the CSH for treatment. Cody was placed inside Hayden's room, to watch for whenever he woke up. Cody was ordered not to call Troy until a few things had been taken care of, which could only begin when Hayden regained consciousness. The weirdest part about all of this was that not more than a few days ago; the location of the target enemy base went up in flames because of bombs and RPG's. There were many enemy bodies, but a lot of freed Afghan friendlies, and even some other MIA/POW military personnel. And now this, the man they'd been after for two years; found and captured by Hayden, who himself was a POW/MIA Warrior.
Cody didn't even want to imagine Troy's anger when the man didn't get informed immediately that Hayden returned, but Cody understood his orders. Hayden was in bad shape from whatever he endured with those awful enemies. Hayden had been beaten, burned, stabbed, and cut. Hayden had three broken ribs; two on the right, one on the left, but there was another rib on the left that was cracked. Hayden had even been shot a few times, thankfully, only one bullet actually hit him in the upper left arm. Hayden was bruised and had broken wrist too, but all those outer injuries had thus since arriving at CSH, were now taken care of properly, stitched-if needed and wrapped up to heal. Cody was playing a game on his phone, sighing and wondering when Hayden might wake up; the man had been out since 7:40 am. Its now five hours later, and nothing.
"Anything yet, Lieutenant Kongur?" asked Major General Nathaniel Henderson, who knocked on the door twice, then poked his head in.
"No, Major General," Cody shook his head to the man. "Sir, why haven't you allowed me to call his husband and family? I don't have to tell them anything, just that Hayden is back,"
"It's best until we know what happened the past six weeks not to alert them. You know Sergeant Raseri will demand answers that we don't have right now," Nathaniel said. Cody nodded, looking back at Hayden who was laying on the bed. "Well, inform me if-," he stopped as Hayden groaned weakly; his head nodding off to the side, then to its original position. Hayden's eyes began to flutter open slowly, and he was panting a bit.
"Wa…ter," Hayden managed. Cody got the cup, filled it and brought it closer to Hayden.
"Here, my friend," Cody said while bringing it to Hayden's lips, and helping him sip from it. Hayden took a breath, relaxing a little and peering around the room.
"Where am I?" Hayden inquired.
"Hospital," Cody replied.
"How…long have I been out?" Hayden wondered now.
"Five hours, Lieutenant. How do you feel?" Nathaniel questioned calmly.
"Sore, weak, tired, little hungry and thirsty," Hayden admitted.
"Well, you didn't come to us in the best shape, son. Thankfully, nothing that won't heal over a couple of weeks, maybe a month or two," Nathaniel responded. "Do you know where you are? What year it is? Who you are?" he asked next.
"I'm…Hayden Haddock-Raseri. Born February 29, 2000. Only son of Spencer and Vivian Haddock. I live on the Isle of Berk in the Barbaric Archipelago. I'm married to Staff Sergeant Troy Raseri. I'm a Second Lieutenant in the Archipelago Marines, Special Ops Warrior, and leader of the Inferno Platoon in Alpha Company under Commander Donovan Bludvist. Oh, and it's Friday, April 14, 2023. My mind is intact, Major General Henderson," Hayden said respectfully.
"You know we have to check. Do you remember everything that happened over the last month and a half?" Nathaniel inquired. Hayden nodded to him a few times, trying to ignore the pain he felt all over. "Will you tell me?"
"I want to go home," Hayden sighed, closing his eyes and turning his head away.
"I understand that Lieutenant Haddock-Raseri, but you've been MIA for six weeks. And now you came to us with four friendlies, and a high-priority target in tow after admitting to being captured. I need to know how all this happened, and there is a lot of paperwork involved before we can just release you to go home. You're in no condition to travel for the next few days, so tell me what I need to know, and it can go a lot faster," Nathaniel told him.
Hayden kept his head down. "It started after the grenade dropped on March 1st…" Hayden began.
. . .
(A Bit Later)
[Barbarki Base's CSH]
"And then we walked it and ended up here at the gate before I passed out," Hayden completed the story of the last five weeks. "Can I go home now?"
Cody had been asked to leave the room when Hayden got to talking about what he went through as a prisoner, but Nathaniel had everything on a recording. The man couldn't believe everything Hayden endured, and managed to pull off after breaking out of captivity.
"I told you, son; we can't release you yet. You're in no shape to travel, and you still need to be seen by the psychologist for mandatory evaluation. After that, then you can go home. You won't be back on Berk until the earliest next week. Sit tight, and focus on recovering for now," Nathaniel informed. Hayden turned his head away, trying to blink away tears that the Major General did see. The man sighed and patted Hayden's leg before exiting the room.
"How is he?!" Cody asked instantly after seeing the Major General exit the hospital since Cody had gone outside for a smoke break.
"A mess from everything; I'm going to call the psychologist to see him tomorrow after he's had some more rest," Nathaniel stated. Cody nodded, understanding, then the man walked off. Cody looked at his phone; if Nathaniel had his information, then Cody could call right? The Major General didn't say Cody couldn't make the call. Cody waited until the coast was clear, then he pulled up Troy's contact ID and tried to call him.
. . .
(7 pm- Archipelago Time)
[Hayden & Troy's Apartment]
Troy didn't mean to snap at Donovan last week, but Troy would not accept Hayden to be gone for good unless there was evidence to prove Hayden was dead. Once more, everyone had come out to check on Troy. Even Donovan again. As soon as Troy saw him; things tensed in the silence.
"Sergeant Raseri…I'm sorry for what I said a few days ago. You're right. Hayden is an exceptional Marine, and I'm sure he's going to be okay and return to us," Donovan apologized calmly to Troy.
"You have the right to believe what you want," Troy remarked from his place on the couch.
"Still. I should not have told you to stop believing what you do," Donovan replied.
"Whatever. It's over and done with now," Troy glanced at the TV where Skype was still logged in. Every day, Troy would hook it up and wait; hoping Hayden would call through. Troy could see the picture of them on his profile; from their wedding six months ago. Gods, he just wanted to hear from Hayden; that's all it would take for Troy to feel better. Vibrating was heard as everyone checked their phones, but Troy saw that it was his with a call from Cody. Troy reached for the device, fully prepared to understand that there was nothing new to report. "Let me guess, still noth-," he stopped. "What?..." a pause. "Cody, I can't hear you. You know the reception sucks. Call me on Skype," Troy pulled the phone from his ear and set it down after seeing the call dropped. Five minutes later, a call came through on Skype. Troy pressed accept as it took a moment to load, then Troy was able to see Cody's face.
{Troy? Can ya see and hear me alright?} Cody asked.
"Yes, now what were you trying to say?" Troy asked.
Cody's face lit up like a Christmas tree. {We got him!}
Troy sat up quickly. "W-What?" then it hit him, his eyes widening. "Hayden?! You found where he is?!"
{No, WE GOT HIM! We have Hayden, Troy!}
"Where is he?!" Troy said fast, everyone's full attention to the TV.
{Inside CSH. Showed up with friendlies this morning and passed out at the gate.}
"How is Hayden? Is he okay? What happened? Tell me everything you can! Please?!" Troy pleaded, overwhelmed with joy and fear.
{I'll do my best, but Major General Nathaniel is around somewhere, and I'm technically breaking orders right now. I wasn't supposed to call you and say Hayden's back until he gave me permission. I knew you'd be pissed if you found out days later that we had him now.}
"I'm gonna be pissed if you don't tell me what the hell happened to my husband, Cody!"
{Like I said, I can only give ya the basics. Hayden went unconscious after the grenade went off during that Special Ops mission in March. Hayden came to a few minutes later to enemies around him, and they captured Hayden; locking him up inside their compound. Unfortunately…I don't know what happened in there. Major General made me leave the room when Hayden started talking about.}
"That's fine. I'm sure Hayden will tell me himself. How did you find Hayden and rescue him?"Troy inquired.
{That's the thing, Troy. We didn't.}
Troy's eyes widened a little. "Then…The Afghan friendlies returned him?"
Cody shook his head. {Hayden broke himself out.} Everyone gasped. {Yeah, I did that too. I don't know the details behind it because I was out of the room. But according to the friendlies who helped him get back to Barbarki Outpost, Hayden broke himself and a bunch of others out; some friendlies, some of our own who had been POW's there.}
"You said friendlies helped him? How hurt is he?" Troy questioned.
{He's pretty banged up, Troy. I mean, he wasn't even in uniform; not all of it anyway. Boots, pants, shirt, and an Afghan jacket, no hat, none of his weapons. From what I heard, Hayden couldn't stand on his own when reaching the gates. One of the friendlies was holding him up, and after he told guards who he was; he just passed out.}
"Doctors say anything you happen to overhear?" Donovan asked.
{Well, Hayden was severely dehydrated. Grazed about five times, shot in the arm, three broken ribs, two cracked ones, broken wrist…Guy has a shit ton of stab and cut marks, burns, covered in bruises…Whatever these people did; Hayden didn't even want to talk when Henderson asked. All Hayden said was he wanted to go home.}
"And how is he now? Still out? In surgery?" Spencer managed to inquire.
{Surgery didn't last more than an hour and a half for the GSW and a broken wrist. Everything else was stitching, bandages, wrappings. Right now, Hayden's in the room on an IV for fluids to rehydrate him, heart monitor, oxygen. He woke up at 2:35 pm our time. And then after Henderson assured Hayden's memory was okay; he got the information about whatever happened, which I was not present for most.}
Troy didn't like how it all sounded, but at least Hayden wasn't a POW/MIA anymore. Hayden was hurt severely, but he was alive and back on the military base in a hospital. Troy felt a complete relief knowing that.
"When can he go home?" Donovan questioned.
{Hendersen told Hayden not for a few days because he's in no condition to travel. And when the MG came out of the hospital a few minutes ago; he said Hayden was a mess and was going to be seeing the Psychologist tomorrow.}
"So you can go into his room?" Troy asked. Cody nodded. "Bring him the phone; I want to see him, Cody." The male didn't argue.
{I gotta put you in my pocket for now. Like I said; I wasn't supposed to call you.}
"That's fine; we'll be quiet," Troy nodded. The screen showed nothing for a good six or so minutes, and the only noise heard was Cody telling the doctor that he was allowed to sit with Hayden Haddock-Raseri. Troy heard a door close, then he was able to see the hospital room. Cody approached Hayden, who was sitting up a little and staring out the window with a blank stare.
{Hayden…Hey? I got something for you.}
{Found a bag big enough to smuggle me out of here so I can go home?}
{No, but I went against Henderson's orders to call someone you might like to see…} Cody handed the phone to Hayden. Troy saw his husband, how beat up just his face was. Troy had been able to see Hayden in the bed too; Gods, he looked awful and miserable. Vivian was almost in tears, so was Rachel. Spencer was trying to stay firm, but he was worried, and Dustin could be seen frowning. The friends and Gabriel looked concerned.
{Troy...}
Troy could see that Hayden was about to cry. "Ssh; it's okay, baby. Don't cry, or your monitors are going to alert the staff to come in,"
{I-I want…t-to come…ho-home.}
"I know, Love. I know, and I promise that you'll be home soon. They just have to make sure is safe for you to travel first, remember? Like with me; you have to be stable to make that kind of trip," Troy tried to tell him. Hayden nodded, wincing a bit. "Are you alright?"
{No…} Hayden's lips trembled a bit, tears forming in his eyes. {I'm tired, hungry, thirsty, and ev-everything…hurts…}
"Cody, can't you have the doctor up the pain meds or something?" Donovan remarked.
{I don't know; I'll try.} Cody responded.
"Hayden, baby, listen to me okay. You need to get some sleep and get back your energy to be released and come home. Cody, I'm sure can go get you something to eat and drink, along with a stronger painkiller. I'm gonna do what I can from here to bring you back, alright? Everything is going to be okay," Troy said.
{I bel-believe you…}
"I love you," Troy said.
{I love…you too.} Hayden managed, beginning to doze off again.
{Shit, MG is coming. Call you later if I can.} The call ended quickly afterward. Troy left the computer alone, sitting back with his eyes closed.
"You know that if you even try to interfere in this you could be dischar-," Donovan began.
"I'm not going to step in, Commander. No, I won't interfere, sir. It would make things worse for Hayden, and Cody too. I said what I did to assure Hayden that he will be home soon, so he could calm down and rest," Troy stated. "Nothing else matters to me right now than knowing he's on that base, in a hospital, and alive. I don't care about anything more than knowing my husband was a Prisoner of War, for five weeks, and through all that Hayden went through to look the way he does right now, but Hayden broke himself out of an enemy compound to get back so he could come home. Exactly like I told you last week that he would. Hayden might be injured, but he is alive and will return," he added firmly, then walked away to the master bedroom.
All any of them heard Troy say after that door closed was; Thank Odin. Thank the fucking Gods.