September 2010 – Waiting for Tom’s Return

Chloe looked down at the sleeping face of her beautiful baby daughter, who was lying beside her on the front room sofa. She looked from there to the picture of Tom that was standing on her father’s mantle piece. He was standing in front of a tent in the blazing desert sunshine. Strong, confident pose, with his tanned arms folded tightly across his chest. Chloe was relieved that their reconciliation had taken place before his…. She didn’t exactly know what to call it. Injury? Accident? Incident? Chloe was no Army wife. Apart from Tom, she had never even met anyone who had served in the armed forces. Let alone someone who’d been on active service.

It had been over two months ago in the middle of the afternoon, when the worst had happened. Eve was sleeping in her little bed upstairs. She still liked a nap after her lunch. Chloe’s phone had gone off, and withheld number had flashed up.

When the man on the phone introduced himself as Captain something, her world had stood still for a moment. Temporarily numbed, she couldn’t take in what his words were trying to tell her. She knew it was serious by the tone of the voice on the other end. Chloe forced herself to calm down and to listen to the explanation. She heard mortar attack, and then the dreaded word, fatalities. Her heart seemed to stop. She blurted out.

“Is he….. Dead?”

The reply restarted her heart. No, he was seriously injured. But there was nothing fatal. There was a problem with his leg, but so far they’d saved it. The voice said they would be in touch again the next day. Her hand was shaking as she put the phone down on the table. She collapsed onto the chair and her whole body began to shake with shock. Chloe was still in the same position when her dad got back from work an hour later.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

There was a distinct tone of panic in his voice. When he found out the problem was an injured leg, he threw himself down on the sofa right next to her.

“Don’t worry love. He’ll be OK. They’d have been here in person if there was any real danger.”

Her dad’s words proved prophetic. Four days later they had spoken to Tom from Afghanistan. He sounded just like his usual self. In a few days, he would be on the way back to the UK, to Selly Oak Hospital. He was out of danger. And even better his leg had been saved. There was going to be a long period of rehab. And it might not be possible for him to return to frontline action. But he would be back home in maybe eight weeks. And calling from the UK hospital before the week was out. Chloe went to bed that night feeling hugely relieved. And as a bonus, her dad had offered to have Tom stay with them for a few days, when he finally got out of hospital. Until he found a place of his own.

It had now been nearly ten weeks since the Captain’s call. Tom was due home later that week. Chloe couldn’t wait to see him again, and show him how much his daughter had come on. The only cloud on her horizon was that Eve seemed a bit troubled in her bed that evening. She hadn’t been sleeping soundly for a week now. That was why Chloe had taken Eve out of her room and had her lie for a while on the sofa next to her. She resolved to take her to the surgery in the morning. The little girl gave a muffled moan and started to cry. Still seated, Chloe picked up her up for a quick cuddle.

“Hush, hush my sweetheart. Daddy will be home soon.”