Chapter 3
North ran over to York after the grenade had exploded to make sure he was okay.
"Shit! York is down!" yelled North.
"Calm down North. Now's not the time to lose your cool," said Maine in a surprisingly calm voice as he fired his LMG at the advancing Taliban forces. Several bullets whizzed around the team's heads.
"The evac should've been here by now," said Wash as he fired three rounds from his M4 Carbine.
"I know, I know," said Maine, firing a few more rounds. "Less talk, more shooting."
After the firefight went on for ten minutes straight, the guys were getting worried.
"Where is the evac?" said Maine in a slightly irritated tone.
"How should I know? I asked the same question ten minutes ago," replied Wash.
North ran over to Wash and Maine with a concerning look on his face, his hands covered in blood. "Hey..uh..guys? York is bleeding pretty bad. I patched him up the best I could, but we need that evac now."
"Did you hear that?" said Wash between an exchange of rounds from him and a Taliban fighter that was below the ridge in an open plain.
Three helicopters were on their way to Alpha's position: two AH-1 Cobras, and one Blackhawk. They were closing fast and the Taliban saw them too. Half of the Taliban soldiers turned to face the three oncoming helicopters, firing their various weapons. One of the Cobras split off from the group, firing its 20 mm gatling gun at the crowd of Taliban soldiers, ripping them to shreds. The Taliban troops were now in a panic and scattered. One Cobra kept them busy while the other Cobra and Blackhawk flew over to Alpha's position, touching down quickly.
North had York in a firefighter carry while Maine and Wash followed behind. After everyone had settled onto the Blackhawk they flew out from the hot zone and back to base. North looked down at York with a frown on his face.
This could have been avoided, thought North.
Maine looked over at Wash who was sitting to his left, "Hey, how are you holding up?"
Wash jumped, almost having fallen asleep. "I'm okay. I'm glad all of us made it out."
Maine nodded. "Agreed."
After the long ride back to base they finally arrived. A medical team was already waiting at the helicopter landing pad, ready for York. As the Blackhawk's side doors opened, the medical team grabbed York, laying him on the gurney they had with them, and started to wheel him off to the infirmary.
"I hope York is going to be okay," sighed North.
Wash walked up behind North and patted him on the shoulder. "It'll be alright. At least Carolina doesn't know, right?"
North turned, his eyes wide. "Oh no. Carolina is going to freak out. Do not even contact her in any way. She does NOT need to know about this."
Maine popped out of nowhere. "Have York tell her about it when he gets out."
They all nodded at Maine's suggestion and headed to the barracks, too tired to worry about anything else.
York tried to open his eyes, but he could only seem to open one eye. The room he was in was a bright sterile white.
"Ugh…" he grunted.
"Holy shit. You're awake," said North, sitting up in his chair.
A nurse walked in York's room and started changing his IV pack.
"Yeah. I'm awake," breathed York.
The nurse peered over at York before walking out of the room. A few minutes of silence later, and the Nurse entered the room with what looked like a doctor.
"Hello York. I have good, and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?" asked the doctor who stood with a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other.
"The bad news," mumbled York.
"Alright. I don't know how to say this, but during the grenade explosion a piece of shrapnel cut your left eye. You will never see out of it again."
York sat there like a deer in the headlights. "Wha- what?!" he York.
"Calm down York, please," asked the doctor in as calm of a voice he could muster.
York was breathing extremely heavily, but managed to calm himself. "Okay..okay."
"Now for the good news." said the doctor followed by a sigh of relief.
The doctor looked over at North, who stood up and walked over to York.
North leaned down toward York and whispered into his ear, "We're going home."
"When?" asked York, unsure of what his reaction should be.
"Tomorrow, so please speak to Carolina before then, boss," said North, giving York a light punch in his shoulder followed by a smirk. He turned to face the doctor, calling him over.
"When can York get out of the infirmary?" asked North in an eager tone.
"Right now, actually," said the doctor, catching both York and North off-guard.
An overwhelming feeling of accomplishment, happiness and sadness filled York's heart, yet one thing remained on his mind since his initial deployment: Carolina.
The next morning, York got up from bed and looked at his watch that read 8:20 am.
Perfect, thought York. He turned and dashed over to the barrack's laptop and powered it on. After its initial stages of powering and logging on, York came to the desktop that had a picture of Alpha on it. He ignored himself from the picture and clicked on the 'Skype' icon. When it finally powered up he saw that Carolina was online, and he immediately hit 'Start video chat'. After a brief wait, Carolina answered, she looked beautiful as ever. Her red hair was in its usual pulled back state and her pretty green eyes looked at York, her eyes suggesting concern.
"York? Are you okay?" asked Carolina, clearly looking at his newly covered left eye.
"Yeah. I feel like a million bucks," responded York.
"Too bad you don't have a million dollars," sniggered Carolina.
"Ha ha. Anyways, onto why I am calling you this late. I have something important to tell you," started York.
"Oh?" said Carolina.
"Yep. I'm coming home….. today," said York blankly.
Carolina's eyes got wide. "Do you know when you will be here?"
"Probably around eight to ten in the morning your time," smiled York.
"Great. I should be ready by then. See you soon. Love you," said Carolina.
"Love you too," said York before hanging up. He sat there for a few minutes, registering what had just happened. He then quickly stood up from the desk and started to pack his bags.