Day 8

Hitch wasn't completely alone in his parents' garden while working to make it neater for them while they were out. It was something he did yearly now that they were both getting older. Earlier that week, his wife, Molly, had been helping. This time, he was working by himself, but had rather unusual company—a large eastern diamondback rattlesnake he had started calling Raccoon, after the viper had helped with rescuing Anah from a traveling circus several years prior. He had always called eastern diamondbacks "raccoon snakes" when he was little, due to the dark mask-like markings on their eyes, so it had been an easy name to pick for the big rattler.

Most people didn't want snakes, especially venomous ones, in their garden. Raccoon was different, as he was quite placid. Hitch's mother, Irena, also appreciated that Raccoon kept the squirrels away from her birdfeeders. At the same time, he would remain out of sight whenever there were birds around the feeder.

"I imagine the sun feels good after a crappy winter, huh?" Hitch said, looking up from the piles of mulch in one of the flowerbeds. He wasn't nearly as comfortable around snakes as Moffitt was, and he certainly couldn't talk to them in the same manner. Although it was tempting to touch Raccoon at times because of how oddly friendly and docile he was, Hitch refused. Raccoon was still wild and fully capable of biting. A bite from an eastern diamondback wasn't exactly anyone's idea of a good time, especially with no one around to help at the moment. Moffitt was kind enough to give Hitch and his family vials of antivenom for emergencies, for all types of venomous snakes that could be found in their area, but being alone meant Hitch might not be able to get into the house to retrieve it. So, he played things safe with Raccoon.

Hitch had to get another bag of mulch as he came to the end of the flowerbed, and disappeared into the backyard to get the bag from his father's shed. All had been quiet until he took the bag out and put it over his shoulder, when he heard the distinctive buzzing of a rattlesnake shaking its tail. He set the mulch down to go out to the yard, knowing Raccoon never really rattled unless someone he didn't trust got too close. He noticed Raccoon was reared up and staring at a dark-haired woman all while warning her to keep her distance from him. Hitch studied the woman for a moment, swearing that he recognized her, but was also entirely unsure of where. "Can I help you?"

"You're joking, Hitch. I search for you, for the last several years, and all you can say is 'Can I help you?'" the woman snapped.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I don't recognize you." Hitch didn't like that felt as though it was both a lie and a truth at the same time.

Raccoon stopped rattling, but continued watching the woman closely as he lowered his head, resting it on his black diamond-patterned coils.

"You don't remember that night, do you?" the woman asked. "That night in Tunis, after the North African campaign ended, when you said you'd marry me one day."

"I must've been drunk," Hitch replied. "I don't remember that." I sort of do now. The memory in question was extremely blurry. There was a lot of cheap wine involved. Loud music. Bad, sloppy dancing. He had been the only one of his unit present in that seedy little bar set up by a small number of soldiers deprived of their sinful vices. Troy, Moffitt, Anah, and Tully were elsewhere. He vaguely remembered being drunkenly shoved onto a bed before the nurse got on top of him. The memories of Troy's disapproving glare, Moffitt's disappointed frown, Anah's annoyed spreading of her hood, and Tully's quiet little headshake the following morning were much clearer, though.

"Of course. I waited this long for nothing."

Before Hitch could react and pull himself out of his thoughts, the woman swatted him with her purse. Stars burst across his vision, and a metallic scent suddenly filled his nose. Warm droplets of blood spattered onto his arms, legs, and clothing. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Hitch snapped before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!I see the ring on your hand, by the way! I hope your poor wife understands it's only a matter of time before she's dumped for the next pretty face!" With that, the woman stormed off.

That's not true. That's not true at all. Hitch adjusted his glasses while maintaining the hold on his nose, waiting patiently for the bleeding to stop. He noticed Raccoon slithering over to him, looking up at him with what appeared to be concern in his dark eyes. "I seriously don't remember her," Hitch said. "Which… is not a good thing. Just another hallmark of how badly I screwed up."

Raccoon, being a non-magical snake, couldn't exactly talk back, but he still sat there and listened. He stayed in the yard when Hitch went inside to clean himself up, and lifted his head when Hitch returned to continue working in the garden.

"I guess it's a good thing this happened when I was alone," Hitch said. "This would've been embarrassing in front of my parents. Worse yet, it could've happened in front of Molly. She knows what happened in the past, and I promised I changed." He looked at the big rattlesnake, and sighed heavily. "I thought I was able to leave all that behind. Guess not. Geez, how many other nurses did I say stupid things like that to? Are they all going to come after me now? Are they going to try and convince Molly that marrying me was a mistake? At least I remember proposing to her clear as day." Hitch wouldn't deny one of his biggest fears was Molly leaving because of the things he had done in the past. It had been years, but there was certainly a long line of nurses and fellow students from his time at Wake Forest with a big enough axe to grind with him that he wouldn't put it past them to try ruining his marriage for the sake of petty revenge. And it would be my fault in the end.

Raccoon remained where he was for another moment, then uncoiled himself to slowly crawl over, his rattle off the ground. He stopped quite close to Hitch's right leg, watching him spread the mulch around the flowerbed.

"It's been a few years since I got married. We have two kids now—both planned, by the way. No accidents. I didn't even think about messing around with the nurses when we were in Korea, especially after… what happened to Sarge. It just didn't cross my mind, especially since I'm the one who almost got Sarge killed." Hitch felt cold while thinking of the horrific injury Troy had sustained when their jeep was ambushed during an assignment at the very beginning of the Korean War a little over six years ago. He kept working, his actions a bit angrier, a bit more frustrated as he muttered, "Just one screw-up after another."

Raccoon seemed to disagree. He looked at the flowerbed. The flowers that had been planted over the last few days were blooming brightly and still standing tall. He then crawled around to Hitch's left side, reaching with his tail to touch Hitch's left hand, getting the last button of his rattle as close to Hitch's wedding band as possible.

The sigh Hitch gave was a less frustrated one. "You know, I don't know what you're trying to say, but I'm going to guess that you're trying to tell me I'm not a screw-up in the only way you know how." He was quiet for another moment, then looked at the rattlesnake. "Thanks."

Much like when he had decorated Raccoon's shed two Christmases ago, Hitch was certain he saw the viper smile.