Chapter 4

In late August Emily headed back to school. This time she took the bus, saving her family what they thought of as a long trip. When Emily arrived at the apartment she and Lynn had rented, she found that Lynn had already been there for a day. They spent the next two days getting all the stuff they would need here that hadn’t been necessary in the dorm. Food, cleaning supplies, dishes, pans, tableware. Fortunately this was a little easier than Emily had expected because Lynn had brought a car back with her. Not a new one by any means, but it did allow them to get things without having to carry everything they bought.

Again, within a week or two, they settled into a routine as though they had been doing it for years. Emily was once again thrilled with her classes. This year she was getting more engineering courses even if there were still a couple of required basics she had to take. She even managed to work in a course on the English Romantic Novel just for her own interest. Here she discovered a couple of writers she had never heard of before but who enthralled her interest from the first pages.

As always, the leaves began to change color, the air cooled with crisp autumn nights. In the more remove and isolated reaches of the campus such nights were filled with sharp, bright stars. And often they were filled with couples hiding from the lights and concentrating on each other rather than the leaves or stars. Frequently Emily was among them, her strong desires being filled with some very serious kissing and roaming hands. Yet no one seemed exactly right and each morning as Emily took her pill the question would creep into her mind: Would she ever really need them? Perhaps she was raising her standards too high? Still, she held back, a distant hope glowing over the horizon that there would be a man who met her ideals.

Emily had a wonderful personality and, of course, as her brother had said, the physical appearance of a very hot fox. There was never a shortage of men who asked her out, but generally not more than a few times. Sometimes this was a result of Emily’s lack of interest in drinking. She was firm in her abstinence and many of the men moved on to easier prey, as they often thought of their dates. Also a lot of the problem was that many of them expected more intimate activities on the second or even the first date. Many of the girls on campus realized this and were ready to sleep with a guy as an expected activity. Emily was not. Occasionally this resulted in strong language, insults, a sullen date and, not infrequently, a frustrated Emily. Emily knew she wanted more, but was not ready to look for that more with just anyone.

Fall semester progressed smoothly despite her social limitations and before she realized it finals were past and she once more made the trip back home. John’s e-mails had indicated that he might be able to get leave and be home for Christmas but at the last minute he found this was impossible. He was now stationed near an active combat area and the situation could alter rapidly. Of course, he could never give her any details, but they did still exchanged e-mail fairly regularly.

The holidays went well. With Emily showing her parents how, they even managed to have a chat session with John. Emily wrote down explicit directions for her parents so they could chat with John after she had gone back to school. Her family had had a computer and internet since John was in high school but didn’t use it enough to be really familiar with all the capabilities. While she was showing them exactly what to do, her mother remarked, “When I was little the only way to exchange news was mail. There was the phone, of course, but long distance calls were quite expensive and you only used that for an emergency.”

Emily smiled. “Things have changed, Mom.”

The vacation passed quickly and soon Emily found herself back in classes. Again things were going smoothly. Then one evening in mid February when Emily was in the apartment by herself preparing supper, her cell phone rang. She glanced at the number, surprised to see it was her parents. She did talk with her parents occasionally but had done so only two days before. She answered and heard her mother’s voice. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi. Emily I’m afraid I have some bad news.” The tone of her mother’s voice was such that Emily stopped what she had been doing and dropped down into a chair at the table.

“What’s happened, Mom?”

“It’s about John.”

Emily felt her stomach tighten into a hard knot. With fear in her voice she hesitantly asked, “Is he...”

Before she could finish her mother replied, “No, he’s alive but he’s been injured.” Her voice broke as she said, “He’s lost his right foot and part of his leg.”

Emily stopped breathing for several seconds. Then she managed to get out, “What happened?”

She heard her mother take a deep breath. “I don’t know the details. He and some of his men were ambushed. He evidently tried to help get a couple of them out of danger and the terrorists hit them with something. Some kind of rocket, I think. They got him back to a hospital and he’s on his way to Germany and then back to the US. I understand he’ll be in the hospital for some time. I’ve e-mailed him but I haven’t heard back yet.”

“Do you want me to come home, Mom?”

Her voice changed, became firmer. “No, Emily. There isn’t anything you can do here and it will be some time before John is able to come here. You’re doing what is really important to you. Don’t stop. I’m sure John would agree with that.”

For several seconds Emily was totally silent. Then she realized what her mother had said was correct. John would tell her to stay at school. She took a deep breath. “All right. If there is anything I can do, let me know.”