I must apologize for taking so long to get back into this. When I first started this story I was just a teenager and I had much more time on my hands. However, I still have a desire to finish this story, even if I've been away from it for a long time. This was my first fanfiction, and I wish to see it through. I know I have lost many of my readers and I'm sorry for such a long delay. I know this chapter isn't very long but there will be another part coming soon, so bear with me. Once again thank you for reading my story. I hope you find this as enjoyable as previous chapters have been.

Present

"Daniel wasn't the only one who thought I was dead," I tell my daughter.

"Irwin did too?" she asks.

I nod and say, "He also saw my landing craft get destroyed."

Sixteen Years Earlier

Irwin's POV

The second the landing craft's door opened I had lost track of everything. People were being mowed down; the people in front never even had a chance. My desire to help them was overwhelmed by my instinct to survive. I could hear someone shouting to go over the side, and that was enough to get me moving. I came down into the water hard, but not as hard as the other men around me. I hadn't been weighed down with as much equipment as most of them due to me being a medic.

Through the blur of the salty water I had seen the other men around me. I saw one being dragged to the bottom by his own gear. My first instinct had been to help him, but my own need for air outweighed it. As I told my friends later, it was probably a good thing. More than likely I would have drowned attempting to save him.

Once I breached the surface the severity of the situation hit me. People were dying all around me either by bullets or by drowning. The doctor in me was shut down. It couldn't handle the thought of all these people dying and me being unable to save them. For a few moments it left me paralyzed in the bloody water, but then I saw the explosion. My brain registered that Antony was on that specific landing craft and it woke me back up. I knew that if Antony had gotten off of there he may be injured, and I had to help him. In the back of my mind I knew he was probably dead, but I had to see for sure just in case.

I began to make my way over to the craft when I spotted my friend. He was looking at the wreckage of his mostly full landing craft as if he didn't know what to do. Calling out to him, in the hopes he would snap out of it did no good. My voice had been drowned out by the screams and shells going off around us. So I continued to swim. I was only a short distance away from him when another shell went off, this time very close to my friend.

Either it had knocked Antony unconscious or it had wounded him because he started to sink below the surface of the water. All I knew was that I had to reach my friend. The thought that he could have died didn't enter my brain.

I swam even faster at this point, and once I reached the place where he went under I dived. Before I knew it, I had my arms around him and was bringing him to the surface. My summers as a lifeguard, when I was a teen, kicked in and I managed to bring him to shore.

I hid us behind one of the tank barriers and proceeded to try to get the water out of him. I had only a rough idea of what is now known as CPR, due to it not being fully invented at the time, but I had read some journals on its basics and I tried to do my best. Pumping my arms on his chest seemed like I had made the wrong decision to use something so untried. He wasn't coming to and I was just about to give up when he started coughing up water. Once he did start breathing it was uneven and shallow. He was gasping for hair, but his eyes hadn't opened.

"Common Antony, that's right breath for me," I said to him. I was still concerned especially since I now realized there was a large gash on the left side of his head. The possibility of a concussion or worse occurred to me. "Open your eyes for me!" His breathing began to slow almost to a stop. I shook him hard, trying to be careful not to move his head. "Dammit! You are not dying on me that easily Squints! What kind of doctor would I be if my first patient died on me?!"

"Don't…call me…that." I just barely heard him say. His eyes finally cracked open and his seemed to be smiling ever so slightly. "God you're the most beautiful thing I've seen all day."

This caused me to frown. I had almost lost one of my best friends and he had the nerve to joke.

"That's not funny," I said in a serious voice. "Don't you fuckn' scare me like that ever again! Now sit up slowly. I need to see if you are alright."

I helped him and then examined him. It was still bleeding but I now realized it wasn't too deep, and it wasn't all that concerning once I realized Antony wasn't dying on me. I pulled quickly pulled out a bandage and wrapped it around his head. It would at least stop the bleeding.

"Did you save me?" My friend asked as I worked.

"Yes, and dammit I don't want to ever have to do it again!" I said with a little more force than what I normally would have. I didn't care either. This wasn't a normal situation, not by a long shot. However, I softened and became more gently when I saw him flinch. "I'm sorry. I just was worried."

He didn't say anything, just looked at his lap as I finished. When he did look up his eyes went wide. He wasn't looking at me, but past me. "Oh my God," he breathed.

Finally I looked around as well, what I saw made me feel helpless. Bodies were littered on the beach. Limbs were gone from men…heads were gone from bodies. Nearby there was the remains of what used to be a man. However, his face had been obliterated. How on earth would any skills I had going to be enough? The screams for a Medic seemed to be coming everywhere. Fear welled up inside of me for the second time that day. This time it wasn't concern for my friend, or even that I'd be killed. It was that I would fall short and be completely inadequate in this situation.

Antony's voice brought me out of my stupor, "Doc you're going to be fine. You've already saved me today."

"But there's so many."

"We both have jobs to do. You'll be fine."

It struck me funny how absolutely calm he sounded, even though moments ago he was unconscious. It seemed to calm me as well. I stole a glance at him. His face was muddy and marred with blood but he seemed confident. My mind fed off of that.

We both got up at the same time, me helping him. He wobbled ever so slightly, but stopped me from catching him.

"I'm fine. You can't carry me the whole way."

"Like hell I can't!" I tried to reach for him again when I saw him sway. He pushed my hands away again and leaned against the barrier.

"Doc, Irwin," he said looking at me. "Hear that?"

The screaming for a medic was getting louder as more people became wounded further up the beach. All I could do was nod.

"They need you. You did your part with me and now we both have jobs we have to do. You have to go do yours, I've got to do mine, and when this is all over this beach will be ours and we will meet up on that hill over there." He gestured to a ridge close to where a bunker was dug into the wall. "You got that?"

"Okay," that was all I could say. It was a sufficient enough response for him because he began searching for his rifle. His was long gone but he saw that there was another further up the beach.

"I've got to get that," he said, finalizing that we were going to get separated again shortly. I could see he was determined. "Remember the ridge."

Then a moment later he took off. I had never seen him run that fast. Before machine gun fire started in his direction, he had already grabbed his new rifle and was hidden behind another barricade. It almost looked like having his first brush with death had gave him new life and new desire. I didn't find out what his real reason for going up the beach was until much later. However, it was enough to inspire myself to do my job. I began to work my way up the beach, trying not to get killed while trying to save other people. All I could focus on was the people in front of me, but I always kept my goal in sight. My thought was that I was going to reach that hill. I swore that when I did Antony had better be in one piece or I would find him, heal him, and then break both of his legs so he could never run that fast again.