Chapter 9: Sunday 28 September 2007

Bethesda Maryland — Sunday Day Thirty

Son-of-a-bitch! The damn sea monster has me and I can't move my arms and legs. I'm fighting, struggling, and thrashing around. "Damn sea monster leave me alone!" I yelled.

"Ben! Ben! Wake up." I heard Jens's sweet voice calling.

I opened my eyes and there she is sitting beside me and smiling. "Where's the damn sea monster that's trying to take Frankie? I have to save her."

"My hero! There is no sea monster. There never was." Jens smiled at me.

I looked around the room and notice the greenish walls with a TV mounted on it, and a whole crap-load of flowers and cards everywhere. Shit not again - I'm in the fricken hospital. "What the hell am I doing here?" I ask and I realized that I'm also restrained, "And why am I tied down to this damn bed?"

Jens climbed in the bed with me. "Because last time you were in the hospital and woke up you tried to fight with anything and everyone. So this time I wanted to make sure that wasn't going to happen. Besides, I like having you tied up so I can have my way with you."

She started kissing on my neck and stroking my head.

I thrashed around some more. "Jens! What about Frankie?"

She pulled away and looked in my eyes, "You don't remember?"

"Hell no! The last thing I remember was hanging on to her and fighting some sea monsters that were trying to take her from me!"

Jens laughed and her voice sounded like tinkling glass, "My big hero! You saved her. She's in another room recovering. Those weren't sea monsters." Then she gave me a huge kiss and started crying, "I thought that I'd lost you!"

"Jens, you need tell me what's going on." I ordered.

From the foot of my bed I hear the general, "I'll tell you what the hell's going on."

I tried to jump up and salute but the restraints kept me from it.

"At ease Son. You saved the daughter of a US Senator and have become the hero of Washington DC."

Liz spoke, "No, you're the hero Marine for the whole nation."

I strained and looked past Jens and saw Mom, Dad, Liz, the news crew and a few other people I didn't recognize in the room. They all started clapping and I started blushing. I whispered in Jens ear, "Honey, do you think I can be untied and that we can have some time alone?"

Jens twisted around, "Ben wants this room emptied right now."

I was shocked to see how fast everyone left the room. I looked at Jens, "How about untying me?"

She straddled me, "I don't know ... I like you tied to the bed, this way you can't tickle me."

I thrashed around pulling really hard against the restraints and the bed started groaning.

"Okay! Okay my love. Simmer down and I'll take off your restraints."

She undid the restraints at the waist first, then the legs and finally the arms. I reached up, wrapped my arms around her and gave her a big hug. She hugged me back even tighter, "I thought I'd lost you!" She said and started crying again.

I tried to kiss her and show her my love for her, but it made my lips hurt like hell.

"You don't remember the rescue?" Jens questioned.

I shook my head, "The last thing I remember was fighting the sea monsters."

"Well my big strong hero. I could tell you all about it, but I want you to see Liz's video." Jens replied.

"Jens, please don't call me that." I requested.

"You'd better get real used to it. Because after Liz's tapes were released, that's what everyone is calling you.

She gently kissed me again, "My hero Marine. What am I going to do with you? It seems like every time I turn around you're in the hospital again."

I looked at her and blushed, "I'm sorry my love. I don't feel like a hero. I just did what needed to be done."

She kissed me again on the cheek, "That's why you're such a hero. You almost always do the right thing and then get embarrassed when people make a big deal out of it."

I blushed even more.

She smiled, "You're so cute when you blush." I blushed even more and looked down. She held me and it felt so good.

I looked at her and said, "Do you think they'd let me see Frankie?"

Jens gave me an evil grin, "Right now you could ask for anything and get it. Let me take care of something first." She walked to the door and stuck her head outside, said something I couldn't hear and came back in the room.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"The hallway is packed with news reporters and people wanting to see you. I told them all to leave. The only people left are Mom, Dad and Liz with the crew."

"Thanks my love, I don't think I could have taken that."

She walked over to the closet and pulled out a pair of camo pajamas. "We can't have a hero walking around in their underwear." She helped me get them on. I winced some when they went over my legs. She put some salve on my lips, "Damn, I can't wait for your lips to heal so I can get a real kiss."

Stepping back and looking at me she said, "I guess this will have to do." Then she checked the hallway again, "All clear my love."

I went to stand up and almost fell over ... I quickly sat back on the bed.

"The doctor said you might be dizzy for a couple days." She helped me up, supported me on my right side and we walked to the door. She opened the door and we walked into the hallway.

Liz came over, got on my left side, and helped Jens. We slowly moved down the hall, all the staff stopped and started clapping when they saw me. I was blushing profusely.

We walked by a man in a wheelchair. Both of his legs were missing but he snapped a perfect salute and said, "If I could stand I would! Semper Fi Marine."

"Orraaahhh!"

I looked at him and asked, "Sandbox¹?"

¹(Sandbox - Iraq)

"Yes Sir." He replied.

I pushed Jens and Liz away and stood ramrod straight and saluted him back, "You're the hero, not me." I could tell he wanted to talk some more, but I knew that I couldn't take anymore. "We can visit later but right now I need to see Frankie."

"I understand Sir, thank you!"

"No, thank you!"

Jens and Liz moved to my sides again and we moved off down the hallway.

Jens and Liz finally lead me to a door, "She's been asking for you all day."

The news crew scooted into the room ahead of me. Jens leaned over and kissed me on my cheek, "My hero. Don't be surprised, she looks worse than you."

"What do you mean? What do I look like?" I asked.

Liz opened her purse and pulled out a compact, flipped it open and handed it to me.

I looked like twenty miles of bad road. There were a couple of raw spots on my face, my lips were cracked and I had a huge black eye.

"Shit, I look like hell!"

Jens kissed me on the cheek again, "You've never looked more handsome to me than you do right now."

We opened the door and walked into the room. Frankie saw me walk through the door, "My hero is finally awake and came to see me."

Her face was a mess, with a bunch of raw spots and her lips were swollen and cracked. She never looked more beautiful to me.

A man walked over and shook my hand, "I'm Senator Williams, thank you for saving my daughter's life."

A woman ran over and hugged me, "Thank you, thank you, thank you," then started crying.

"Ben! Come sit beside me on the bed." Frankie ordered.

I was helped over to the bed and collapsed beside her, she grabbed me and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for saving my life."

The TV was on and it was a news report about us. "Look Ben, it's about you!" Frankie said.

The video started with Jens and me pretending to be pirates. I was incredibly embarrassed because we looked so silly. The scene cut away and Liz was interviewing a suit.

"Doctor Sigmund, thank you for being our guest today. You've seen the videos of Ben and Jens pretending to be pirates?" Liz asked.

"Yes Liz. It was very interesting watching them." He moved forward in his seat.

"What did you find so interesting about them. Was it how childish they were both acting? Doesn't that seem out of place for Marines?" Liz queried.

I felt backstabbed and could have killed her for that. I looked at her and Jens and they both smiled at me.

"Not at all Liz. What I saw were two people that have the most stressful jobs in the world finding a fun and non-destructive way of releasing their tension. Many in their position turn to alcohol or other destructive behaviors. They've chosen to embrace their inner child and release that tension through play. We would all be better if we learned how to play like Ben and Jens can."

Jens came over beside me and rubbed my head, missing the knot. She leaned down, "I thought it was going to be bad when I first saw it too. Liz really covered our asses."

I looked over at Liz, she smiled and gave me a big thumbs up. I mouthed a big thank you!

Next the video showed Frankie falling overboard and me diving in after her. Frankie snuggled up close to me, "This is my favorite part my hero. I love see you dive in after me. You were the only one that knew what to do."

The video continued showing that no one on the sailboat knew what to do. I felt embarrassed for Dad. It stopped and showed Dad on the radio with the Coast Guard.

Jens leaned down again, "She cut the part about Daddy and me fighting about calling the Coast Guard. She even tweaked the video time to make look like we called the Coast Guard right away; when we really waited an hour."

Again I looked at Liz - she was smiling.

The scene shifted, they were inside a Coast Guard helicopter that was flying a standard search pattern. It zoomed in on Jens; she was scanning the ocean and crying. She squeezed my hand, "I thought I had lost you."

We heard the radio call stating that we'd been found. The chopper heeled way over and booked it. It arrived just as the first of the rescue crew from the other chopper went in the water. I heard Jens yelling, "Is Ben still alive? He looks dead."

The video showed a crewmember as he swam over in front of me and tried to get Frankie out of my right arm. I released the marker buoy and punched him in the face. He looked stunned and moved away from us.

We heard Jens yell on the video, "Ben's alive, he's alive." Then it showed two crewmembers wrestling with her to keep her from jumping out of the helicopter.

It faded back to the ocean and the second rescuer was coming up behind me. I nailed him in the face with my elbow. He fell back and was obviously unconscious. The first helicopter moved out of the way and the chopper with the video crew moved in. Two more rescuers went into the water. The video helicopter moved back out of the way and the first chopper moved back in with the rescue basket lowered. The video faded to Frankie being loaded in the basket and one of the rescuers supporting me as I was then unconscious. Next they loaded me into the basket and hauled me into the chopper. As soon as the basket was secured the chopper booked it with the video chopper flying right beside it filming the whole thing.

We saw me break free of the basket and one of the crew fighting with me. It looked like I beat the shit out of him. Jens said, "That was Dave, the flight engineer, you really beat the crap out of him." There was a blur of bodies and then next thing you saw I was back in the basket and unconscious. "They gave you a sedative so you wouldn't go crazy again."

It cut to the chopper landing and showed us being wheeled into the hospital. After that it was just a bunch of boring medical reports on our conditions. My ears perked up when they listed our core body temperatures, mine was 31C and Frankie's was 33C.

I looked at Jens, "How long were we in the water."

"A bit over five hours," she sniffled. "Yes, you're both lucky to be alive."

Frankie hugged me, "It wasn't luck, it was Ben."

There was a knock on the door, Jens went over, peeked out and smiled. "You two have company." She announced.

The door opened and the other four girls ran right to the bed. They fell on us and started crying and sobbing incoherently.

I looked over and Jens and she was smiling and crying, I mouthed the words "Help me!"

She came over to the bed, "Okay young ladies. Ben is starting to get tired and needs to go back to his room and rest."

They all pulled away, but not until each had kissed me on the cheek.

Miranda said, "I'll never forget watching you jump into the ocean after Frankie. You're so brave. Thank you for saving her."

I blushed and all the girls said, "Oh, he's so cute when he blushes."

Frankie hugged me tight, "Promise that you'll come see me again?"

I looked at her and smiled, damn it hurt to smile. "I promise."

Jens came over to the bed and helped me up. Miranda grabbed the other side. "This is a change," she said, "helping a big strong Marine."

Liz walked over to the door, "The crowd is back. I can clear them out, but sooner or later you'll have to meet them."

I looked at her and she was right, "Let them stay. But tell them no questions and no interviews. If they have anything to ask they can get the questions to you and I'll answer them later today."

She walked out in the hallway and I heard a bunch of noise and what sounded like some complaints. A minute later, she walked back in and said, "Damn bunch of vultures."

I laughed, "Damn! It hurts to laugh. But now you know what I feel like."

I took a couple deep breaths, Liz opened the door and we were greeted with cheering and clapping and the flash of what seemed like a hundred cameras. It was disorienting at first and I stumbled a little but Jens and Miranda held me up.

Jens yelled, "Okay! No more flashes or we close the door. She looked to the side, "Marines clear the way."

Two Marines moved over and separated the crowd for us and we walked through. I tried to concentrate on getting to my room as quickly as possible as this was damn embarrassing. I rounded the corner and the both sides of the corridor were filled with wounded warriors clapping or cheering for me. I stopped and shook hands with each one of them and made sure to tell each of them they were the heroes. Finally, I saw my room and said, "No one but Jens in the room with me." Miranda was going to protest but Jens shushed her.

Miranda held the door, Jens helped me to the bed and I collapsed on it. She held me tight as tears rolled down my cheeks burning my already raw skin and gently comforted me.

"It's okay my love. It's all over."

I looked at her, "No it isn't. Did you see all those wounded soldiers? Shit! They were treating me like I'm a hero when they're the ones that should be thanked. They've given so much for our country."

Jens comforted me some more and I was starting to settle down.

There was a knock at the door. "Son-of-a-bitch, I don't want to be disturbed." I ordered.

Jens dried my eyes and my face, "I'll go send them away."

She walked to the door and cracked it just a little, "Honey, I think you need to see this visitor."

I wiped my face and blew my nose, "Are you sure?"

"Yes my love. You need to see this visitor."

I composed myself and nodded to Jens, she opened the door and Miranda came in pushing the wheelchair of the first soldier I'd met. She was grinning, "I found this young man in the hallway and he wanted to tell you something." She wheeled him up to the side of my bed and put her hand on his shoulder.

I tried to stand up. "Please Sir, stay in bed." He admonished.

"Please don't call me Sir, I work for a living. Call me Ben or Banzai." I asked.

"Yes Sir-uh-Banzai. I'm Corporal Dave Armstrong and I wanted to thank you so much for taking time to see me. My fellow soldiers here asked if I would come and thank you for being such an inspiration to us. We were riveted to the TV yesterday when the news of your heroic actions came in. And then when you greeted each one of us the hallway it made all of us feel special."

I sat up in the bed and swung my legs over the side so I was facing him. "Dave, you need to go back to the other soldiers and tell them that I'm the one that's honored. When I turned the corner and saw all of you, it was the greatest moment in my life. Each one of you that have made a sacrifice for our country are the real heroes. And you are all much more special than I am." SEMPER FI Marine!"

"Orraaahhh!" He replied. "Thank you Banzai. I'll leave now and relay your message to the others."

Miranda smiled and wheeled him back out of the room.

Jens came over and hugged me, "That was so nice. And did you see Miranda? I think she might have found her Marine."

I looked at her, "What do you mean?"

"Sometimes men are so dense. You didn't see how those two were towards each other?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said.

"You're the proof of what I just said." She laughed.

We cuddled for a while on the bed; I was really enjoying just being with Jens.

She wiggled up close to me and I heard her start softly snoring. My poor girl was exhausted and needed to sleep.

I heard the door creak and Liz slipped into the room. She walked over by the bed, looked at Jens and smiled. Then she whispered, "Good, she's finally sleeping. She didn't sleep at all last night. Can I get you anything?"

"Pull up a chair and sit down. I'd like to talk to you." I whispered.

She brought a chair close to me so we could talk. "What's on your mind Ben?"

I looked at her, "First I wanted to thank you for your news report it was almost excellent." I saw a little anger flare in her face. "I'm concerned that Jens told me you modified the timeline so it looked like they called the Coast Guard right away."

She softly chuckled and smiled, "I knew you'd bust me on that. I'm going to ask your forgiveness, because it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission. If I hadn't done that Glen might have lost his command. If he lost his command it wouldn't be good for America."

I looked at her and could tell she was telling the truth. "You're right. I owe you big time."

"No way, we owe you big time. You trusted us enough to give us a start in our own news network. That's unheard of in this business. Then you go and save a Senator's daughter, we're there to tape all of it and scoop all the other networks. You have no idea how much money our network has made off those tapes. Every time you see them run on TV just imagine a cash register ringing." Liz smiled.

I continued, "Thanks for the interview with the suit to keep us from looking like idiots."

"Dr. Sigmund is a well respected psychologist and gave his honest opinion. There were ten others that wanted to say the same thing."

"Well it looks like you have everything under control. Is there anything that we can do for you?" I asked.

She gave me a sly look, "Now that you mention it. I forgot to tell you that you have an interview scheduled in two hours."

"Oh no, I'm not going to put myself through that crap with all those reporters."

She chuckled, "Oh I also forgot to mention, it's an exclusive interview with me."

I looked at her and realized that I'd been setup.

She smiled, "Gotcha! Well, I need to go and talk to the rest of the press and get their questions for the interview. Take good care of your lady, she's pretty special." She left the room.

I looked down at my sleeping girl - yes, she is very special.

A while later the door opened again. Whoever said that you could rest in a hospital should be shot! Mom and Dad came in and quietly walked to the side of the bed.

"How are you doing Son?" Mom whispered.

"Much better knowing that I'm back in your good graces," I answered.

"It's good to see her resting; she stayed up all night with you." Dad said. "Sorry I screwed up the whole rescue so much. I've learned my lesson and we're going to be practicing man overboard drills the next time we go sailing."

I smiled and my lips hurt again, "Just as long as I'm not the one to go overboard next time."

They both chuckled and Jens started stirring; she yawned, stretched, opened her eyes and looked at me. "Mmm, I love waking up next to you."

Mom and Dad laughed and Jens turned and looked at them, "Oh, I didn't know we had an audience."

"Sorry we woke you up. We just wanted to make sure that you were okay." Mom replied.

She snuggled up close to me, "Now that Ben's back. I'm better than okay."

"You two might be interested, there's more news about Ben on the TV." Dad added.

I tried to figure out how to turn on the damn idiot box and ended up pressing the call button for the nurse. Jens took the controls from me and laughed, "You'd think as much time as you've spent in hospitals you'd learned how to do this." She pressed a button and turned on the TV, it was the video of my meeting with Frankie.

The nurse came in the room, "Did you need something?"

"Sorry, I pressed the wrong button." I answered.

The nurse left and Jens teased, "I hope you know which buttons to press after we're married."

"Well, I do know the tickle button." I replied and grabbed her waist.

"Young man, did you forget that she's still hurt?" Mom chided me.

I had forgotten, "Jens, you're still hurt?"

"It's nothing my love, just a little bruise." She answered.

"Since we're in the hospital maybe you should have it looked at?"

"No way, I can't wait to get you out of here and get my huge surprise." She said.

"Shit! I forgot about that. Would everyone please leave the room so I can make a phone call?"

Jens was not happy about leaving, "This had better be the best surprise ever."

I called my friend in Leadville and he gave me a ration about being a hero. But he confirmed it was all setup for tomorrow.

Several minutes later Jens and Liz came in the room. They walked over to the bed and Liz said, "Are you ready for your interview?"

"Not really, I feel sort of sick."

Jens looked at me, "Ha, I can still feel your lies. You're not getting out of this."

Jens crawled up in bed on one side of me. Frankie came in my room and crawled on the other side of me. They moved the bed away from the wall and Mom, Dad and the other four girls stood behind the bed.

Liz gave us about ten minutes instruction and then started the interview. Even though she asked hard questions, it was the easiest interview I'd ever done. I was sure that we'd come out of this smelling like roses.

The taping was killed and Liz came over and smiled at all of us, "You guys all did great. It's so good to work as a team."

The girls all gathered around again, other than Miranda, "Sorry everyone. I need to go and see someone." She smiled and left.

Jens looked at me and said, "I told you so."

Michelle asked, "Told Ben what?"

"I told Ben that I think Miranda has found herself a Marine." Jens grinned.

All the girls were excitedly gabbing and giggling wanting to know the details. They didn't have to wait long because Miranda came back in pushing Cpl. Armstrong's wheel chair. The other three girls ran over and finally we had some peace.

Jen cuddled tight on one side, Frankie snuggled the other, and we watched as a real hero received the attention.

"It's good to see the girls paying attention to Cpl. Armstrong. I don't think his wounds even bother Miranda." I remarked.

Jens grinned, "Silly man! When you love someone you can overlook their faults."

"So which of my faults have you overlooked?"

"I'm not sure there's enough time for me to list all of them." She teased.

Frankie squeezed me, "Well I think Ben's perfect."

Jens laughed, "Boy do you have her fooled."

"Almost as much as I have you fooled." I teased and Jens faked a pout.

I was feeling better and looked around the room, "So when do I get to leave?"

Frankie hugged me, "Never, I hope."

"Frankie, we're both going to have to leave. We have jobs to do and we can't do them here. But we both promise that whenever we're back here that we will stop by and see you." Jens answered. "We can leave as soon as you're ready."

"Let's leave in thirty minutes. I want to give the girls more time to talk to Cpl. Armstrong."

Jens punched my arm, "You old romantic."

I kissed her even though it hurt my lips, "Thanks to you I am."

We didn't have to wait that long because Miranda came over. She was all sparkly and bubbly. "I hope you three don't mind. But we're going to go meet some of Dave's friends."

Jens smiled and said, "Just remember the warnings that I gave you about Marines."

"Oh yes ma'am we certainly will." Miranda said and skipped back to Cpl. Armstrong.

"What warnings were those?" I questioned.

"NALTS!" Jens and Frankie laughed.

Miranda and Cpl. Armstrong and the other girls left and the room became much quieter.

Frankie's parents came over, "Young lady say goodbye, it's time to get back to your own room." Her mom ordered.

"Goodbye my hero Ben. I'm going to miss you." She looked at Jens, "You'd better take good care of him."

One more hug and a kiss on the cheek and they left. Her dad came over one more time and shook my hand, "I don't know how to thank you. Francine, is the only child we could ever have. If she would have died, it would have killed my wife."

"She's a wonderful young lady; I feel lucky to have gotten to know her so well." I answered him.

He shook my hands a few more times, I saw a few tears in the corner of his eyes as he turned and left.

The room was almost empty, "Well, I think it's time that we leave too." I announced.

Liz said, "Just so you know, it's going to be a huge zoo when you walk outside the hospital."

"Damn fucking news vultures." I replied.

"Hey! I resemble that remark." Liz laughed.

"Can't we sneak him out the back?" Jens questioned.

Liz just laughed, "No way. All the exits are covered. Ben's just going to have to face the music. He's a hero whether he likes it or not. Just remember, I'm your personal news reporter so it's better if you don't say anything to anyone else. And it pisses me off that we won't make much money off this because we won't have an exclusive."

Dad came up, "You're all wrong. I've already figured out how we're getting him out of here without anyone knowing."

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Liz asked defiantly.

He looked at me, "Son, are you claustrophobic?"

Jens arched her eyebrow, "D-a-d-d-y! Just what do you have in mind?"

He smiled, "I should say NALTS. But I need all your help."

He explained the plan. "Are you fricken crazy? There's no way in hell I'm doing this." I complained.

He laughed, "It's either this or face the news vultures. So, which one is it Son?"

Damn! I hate it. I always seem to end up in a difficult situation. I weighed the pros and cons and decided that as distasteful as Dad's plan was it was the lesser of two evils.

"I guess we'll do your plan." I grumped.

Jens hugged me, "Don't worry my dear. It's not like it's for real."

Dad made a phone call. "Ben, go get dressed."

Jens helped me off the bed and into the bathroom. "You need some help changing my love." Jens asked in a sultry voice.

"I wondered when the sexy Jens would appear again."

"Don't worry about her; she's always waiting for a chance." Jens teased and left.

I dressed and had to be easy pulling my MCCUUs over my legs, they were still very raw. I stood up and walked out into the room. There were two orderlies and another Marine there.

Jens came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek, "Well see you on the other side my dear."

Liz said, "We're staying because the other news crews won't miss us. Besides I think this is going to be fun to tape."

Mom, Dad and Jens took off with the Marine. Jens was hanging on his arm as if he was the real Ben. We heard clapping and cheering in the hallway.

The orderlies asked, "Are you ready?"

I gulped, "As ready as I'll ever be." I climbed on the gurney into the transport coffin. They closed the lid and I heard the latches catch.

I felt the gurney being wheeled away; I was taking a fake ride that I hoped to never take for real. But I realized that someday this is a ride that we all take.

I never thought I was claustrophobic, but being in this damn coffin was different and was giving me the willies. I was freaking out and wondering what this would do to my karma. It took all my concentration and training to stay still and not start beating on the coffin. I felt a couple big bumps and wondered what the hell was going on.

Finally, we stopped moving and I could tell I was loaded into the hearse. I started banging on the lid. I saw Liz as she opened the latches, "Welcome back from the dead."

I tried to get up and she said, "You need to stay in there until we get a bit further away." Then, she started lowering the lid.