50.

~ Cobb had come home that week from London. Robert had connections at the hospital and was able to alert the pretty nurse when he arrived.

The colonel was glad to be home, but he was nothing like the man she had met in Paris. He was too thin, and his body looked spent and worn. He seemed tired and haunted. He would look at his wife as if he couldn't trust her.

His wife was truly a lovely woman. Mal was graceful, elegant and cultured. She reminded Ariadne of a model more then a normal woman with two children. They spoke briefly as Cobb seemed bothered by things the women couldn't see. Robert had spoken with him, asking if he wanted to come and talk to him. Cobb becoming angry at the idea of a therapist.
"Cobb, what happened to Arthur?" Ariadne asked when they had a moment alone. The war weary colonel looked sickly but was still alert.

"Last I saw him, he was a prisoner." Cobb said sadly.

"Was he alright?" She asked feeling her heart beat loudly in her chest. The rush of blood to her brain making her dizzy.

"He was the last time I saw him." Cobb said. "that was 3 months ago now. I don't know what happened after I was evacuated."

~ Robert was waiting for her outside. Waiting to take her home.

"How is he?" He asked gently.
"Not well." Ariadne said. "He looks so different."

Robert nodded.

"His doctor has him on the list for counseling. A lot of our men are coming home with all kinds of problems." Robert said. "It will take a lot to convince him to even come to therapy."

"What's wrong with him?" She asked.

"Night terrors. Panic attacks. His wife is very worried. He's been fighting with her a lot." Robert said.

"Is that common?" Ariadne asked as he walked her out of the hospital. "With the men coming back?"

"Just the other day, I had a young man beat his wife to death. He had just come home from Japan. The shock of being home was too much for him." Robert said. "We need to take care of our service men once they come home. The doctors are calling it post war trauma."

"Arthur could be like that when he comes home." Ariadne said sadly.

"Well, hopefully not." Robert said as she suddenly felt dizzy and sick.

"Ariadne?" Robert asked feeling her forehead.

"I don't feel well." She whispered.

Suddenly she felt her world go sideways and she was on the floor. Robert kneeling by her side and shouting for help from the hospital staff.

"She's still 4 months away." Robert said worriedly as the nurses lifted her onto a gurney.

"Doctor Fischer, wait here. We will take good care of your wife." A nurse said.

"Robert?" Ariadne croaked. Looking for a lifeline to reach out to.

"It'll be alright, Ariadne." Robert promised. The well groomed young man looking scared as she was wheeled into an exam room.

~ She was given medication to stop her early labor.

"No more work. Bed rest until you deliver." The doctor had said. "No more stress." He added.

Ariadne nodded as she was glad her early labor had subsided. She couldn't lose this baby. Aside from a news article, a clumsy wedding band, and a few pictures, this baby was all she had of her major.

"I'm sorry Robert." Ariadne felt ready to cry as the well groomed man came into the room. He looked kindly at her. A trait she never really noticed till now. Robert never became upset or angry.
"It's fine. So long as you're alright." Robert said from her bedside. "Dad's doing a lot better because of you. I think I can get some part time help and he will be fine. It's important that you rest."

Ariadne nodded and bit her lip. Her baby felt so uncomfortable right now. She still had 4 more months. How could she tolerate that much longer of bed rest?

"You're a doctor." She said in surprise.
He chuckled.

"Yes, not a strictly medical doctor." He said. "I had to go to medical school so I could prescribe medications."

"Arthur wanted me to go to medical school." Ariadne said weakly.

Robert nodded. His clear eyes kind.

She shook her head.

"With the baby, and the fact that Arthur might not come home... It's just a silly idea." Ariadne said feeling foolish.

"No it's not." Robert said. "You brought my dad back when other doctors gave his condition up to dementia. They were not even willing to look at him."

The well groomed man showed a brief flash of anger at her doubting herself.

"And we don't know if your husband is truly lost or not. Lets... not make plans till we know for sure." Robert said sitting on the edge of her bed.

His eyes full of meaning.

His warm hands finding hers.

For a moment, she felt that happy rush flood through her. A life with Robert. He would be an intellectual companion to her. A man so caring and sensitive to others. He would love her child. She was sure of that. The well groomed young man wanting so much to love something, it would be so easy for him to accept a new baby as his own and never think of it as anyone's but his.

They could have a life together. She would have no past, only a future with him.

A life with Robert would be easy and a fresh start. She would no longer be a girl who washed up on some forgotten shore all alone. She and her child would be cared for and provided for. He wasn't a soldier and would never risk death to defend others. He would never leave her all alone despite words that he loved her.

She suddenly felt guilty for thinking about Robert that way.

Guilty that a deeply buried seed of resentment at Arthur started to grow. She was angry that he wasn't here with her now. She realized she was bitter towards a husband that sent her alone to this strange country with a mother-in-law who hated her and called her a whore. She was hurt that Arthur was not here, taking care of her like he promised he would.

She tired to force those feelings away as Robert told her they wouldn't speak of any plans till they knew for certain Arthur's fate.

~ Arthur had no idea how long he was at the hospital. He read a discarded news paper article that said Hitler had committed suicide in Berlin just a few weeks before the Major was wounded and sent to London.

The talk was constantly about the war ending and all the celebrations going on. Nurses anxious to leave their duties to go to parties. The women talking of some sweetheart coming home now that the war was done.

Their talk interrupted by a boney, harpie like nurse told them about work to be done and for the wounded, the war would never end.

Arthur almost laughed at how seriously the woman took herself.

~ Summer came bright and early one day as the nurses all forced the wounded men out of their beds and into the fresh air and sunshine. Arthur didn't want to argue with the boney nurse as she ordered thousands of men onto the front lawn to air out so the staff could clean the hospital.

The older woman was like Moses leading them to a better land as they flooded out of the hospital and onto the grass.

There was thousands of wounded men crowded into the hospital. Some of their beds were lined against hallway walls. No room for them left as nurses and doctors were overworked with the heavy bombardment of wounded.

Arthur refused a wheelchair and walked out into the gardens on his own power.

He almost thought he saw a ghost when his eyes fell on a familiar sight.

"Eames?" Arthur laughed.

The British Lieutenant looked up at the major.

"Arthur." Eames said. The lieutenant forcing himself to sound happy. Arthur saw he was in a wheelchair now. His leg heavily bandaged and rendered immobile.
"What happened?" Arthur asked as he sat down next to his old friend. His arm still hurt and he couldn't make his fingers move very well. He had to keep it wrapped tightly to his chest which made doing little things like dressing himself difficult.

"Land mine." Eames said bitterly. "I was lucky it didn't kill me. Killed the other boys with me."

"I'm sorry." Arthur said sadly.

"Yes, seems the reason my girl didn't want to get married before I went off to war was because she was worried this might happen. See, doctors are not sure if I'll lose the leg or not. She doesn't want a cripple for a husband." Eames told him.

"Has she come by to see you?" Arthur asked.

"Just now. Her and her new fellow. She said she didn't mean for it to happen." Eames bitterly

"I'm sorry." Arthur said again. What else could he say?

"I should have seen it coming. For four years and I was so focused on having my fun in this war. Never gave her much attention. Always thought she would be waiting for me." Eames sighed.

"Eames, I'm really glad you made it out. Girl or no girl waiting for you. You're a hero to me and Ariadne." Arthur said.

The Lieutenant looked at his old friend and smiled.

"I guess there's that." He laughed. "How is your girl?"

Arthur shook his head.

"I haven't heard from her since I was captured. I wasn't allowed to make contact till I was debriefed." Arthur said sadly.

"Well, Now that the war is almost done, you'll be able to let her know you're alive." Eames said hopefully.

Arthur nodded.

~ For some reason, he didn't want to think about Ariadne. He wasn't the man he used to be. He was too thin and his face looked so much older and worn down. He would look in the shaving mirror in near shock a the ghost staring back at him.

He wasn't the young man who had swept her off her feet a year ago in Paris. He wasn't confident and brave anymore. The imprisonment, the endless push into Germany and the war in general had taken too much out of him.

He found he was pulling into himself each night and shutting out the world.

~ He had found the tattered copies of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" tucked into his bag. He thought briefly to the colonel who these books belonged to. The older man must have stuffed them in his bag before he was evacuated.

Arthur flipped open "The Odyssey". He wanted to read about Penelope. He spotted the colonel's messy handwriting.

Major,

I hope when you read this, your safe from all this fucking madness and back home to that nice girl who married you. I want you to find your "Penelope" and live a long happy life with her. You deserve it.

My wife died giving birth to my son, and I have always liked to imagine he would have grown into a man as fine as you. Go home, Son. Go home, and put this shit war behind you. Raise an army of brave little kids who never know what a war is like.

The bastards will be lucky to have such a man as their father.

Your Friend,

Colonel Nathaniel Burch

Arthur fought the tears that wanted to well up in his eyes.