Chapter 16

Tuesday 11 December

Present — Ben — WRAMC

Damn! This hamburger is sure tasty - it's the best thing I've eaten in a very long time. I am so sick of hospital food (and before that Zarika's ethnic cooking) all I want is some good, old, American food. I finish the burger, look at Jens and let out a huge burp.

Matt and Jim start laughing and Jens says, "I never thought you'd pick up Arabic manners."

That sets Matt and Jim off even more and soon they're laughing so hard they can't eat. I smile at Jens and answer, "Be thankful I let it out now because I might have held it in till it came out the other end."

The guys are laughing so hard they're crying. Jens' mouth drops open in surprise but then she says, "Believe me, I 'm very thankful."

But one burger just isn't enough and I start eyeing her food. Her fries are almost gone but she has half a burger left. She notices me looking at her burger and says, "Don't tell me you're still hungry!"

I try to barter with her, "I'll trade the rest of my fries for the rest of your burger."

Jens smiles, pats her belly and answers, "You can have the rest of my burger and all my fries. I need to start watching how much I eat or I'll get fat."

Her statement reminds me of a thought I had a very long time ago and I start to mentally drift, but I snap out if it with a punch to my good arm. Jens asks, "Did I sense correctly that you were thinking I was going to grow up to be fat, ugly and spoiled?"

I grin and decide to tease her, "Yes I did! I'm sure happy I was only right on one of the three," I pause, wait until I see Jens start to get upset then finish with, "Because I'm really looking forward to spoiling you."

She smiles at me, kisses me on the cheek and says, "And I can't wait for you to spoil me." She winks and I suddenly understand the double meaning and blush. I don't know what to say, so I finish her burger and play with the fries.

She asks, "Don't you like the fries?"

I reply, "Not really, I've never cared much for fries."

Jim immediately offers, "I'll take them off your hands."

I push the tray towards him, Jens snuggles up close to me and we go back to watching the coverage of Ramstein.

Present — Jens — WRAMC

Wow is it ever fun watching Ben eat his hamburger — no it's more like he's inhaling his hamburger. He does really good with just his left hand and doesn't even make a mess. I play the good little fiancée and wipe his mouth so he doesn't have to put down the burger. Besides I punctuate the wipes with little kiss and I do love any excuse to kiss Ben. Once he's finished, he does the normal gross guy stuff just to impress Matt and Jim. I wait for him to ask for the rest of my hamburger since I've been saving it for him just so I can watch him eat again. This isn't the most romantic dinner I've had with him, but it's one of the most enjoyable.

It's so nice that we can banter with each other again. I've missed it so much. With the caveman eating instinct in Ben satiated, I want dessert — some serious cuddling. I wish we could really cuddle with no guys and no television to distract us, but I know that's not going to happen for a while so I just have to be thankful for what I have now. I lean against him and touch his chest. I remember all the new scars and start to cry.

Ben stops watching the report, looks at me and says, "Jens, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

I gaze deep into his eyes and say, "Ben, there are so many reasons I can't begin to list all of them. But I'm not upset, just very thankful for all you did to come back to me."

I'm shocked from my thoughts by the breaking news, and we are all captured by the report.

Present — Liz — Dushanbe, Tajikistan

This is certainly a different dinner than the one I envisioned and I'm thankful as hell for it. There's been no romantic part at all because Sam is distracted by the news and isn't even paying attention to me or the twins. I've been halfway following the news while still working on what Jens said. I've come to the conclusion Glen must be leading the troops inside the hospital but I'm still puzzled by her last statement. A part of me wants her and Ben to know of my love for them, but a part of me is terrified of the consequences if they do know.

My focus changes when Samantha takes off and does something crazy and now I'm totally focused on Ramstein.

Present — Ira and Mira — Dushanbe, Tajikistan

I look around the room and notice how Ambassador Clark is totally focused on the news report. I can see his eyes and can tell Samantha excites him. "Mira, at least Ambassador Clark is distracted."

Mira grins at me and says, "It would be such a shame if his heart could not take both of us."

"Mira! We cannot just kill him because of things he has done to Ms. Morgan."

Mira looks me in the eyes and replies, "Ira, you know when he trained her it was through coercion and that makes it rape."

I shudder when she uses the word and answer, "Mira, we cannot eliminate everyone who has forced Ms. Morgan - I think it would be very many people."

"Why not Ira, if they forced her they deserve to die."

I try to reason with her, "What if she liked the training or what if she really wanted some training?"

Mira never answers me because things are happening in Ramstein and we are distracted.

Present — CPl. Cohen - Hospital — Ramstein AFB Germany

I'm not happy when the General orders me to get the staff and the patients out of the hospital. I want to kill more of the fucking terrorists, and I want to die doing it. But it was an order and I never disobey orders.

At least we ran into a couple more terrorists on the way out and I sent them to Scheol. The bomb on the door was rudimentary, I had it disabled in no time and wheeled myself right outside. A stupid airman almost shot me, but a Marine took his rifle away. I gave the Marines the General's instructions and they took off all gung-ho. I waited for an opportunity to slip back inside and finish my job.

Present — Samantha - Hospital — Ramstein AFB Germany

The phone call with Liz helps calm my nerves and steel my resolve. I have a crazy plan and I hope Bernie follows me.

"Samantha Stevens here reporting on the crisis in Ramstein - what you are seeing behind me is a door opening. Yes a door has opened from the inside and a man in a wheelchair is exiting the building. He is talking with the Marines and now the Marines are flying into the building. More people, even some of the patients are now exiting the building."

I see that security is totally distracted and it's just what I need. I yell to Bernie, "Follow me! We're going in the hospital." I take off running towards the building and turn to confirm that Bernie is behind me with the camera.

"This is Samantha, we have decided to approach and enter the building to provide you with all the details we can. Please bear with us for having a shaky picture."

We make it all the way past security and are in the parking lot with the people who exited the building. The guy in the wheelchair sees us, starts rolling towards us and says, "Where are you two going?"

"I'm Samantha Stevens, a reporter from the Truth Network. We're going in the hospital to show the world what these animals have done!"

"Not without me you aren't. I'm Corporal Cohen, I was just inside fighting the terrorists and I'm not finished. I'll be your guide and your protection."

I look at Bernie and he nods his head vigorously. "Okay, what do I do?"

Cpl. Cohen replies, "Just get behind me and push, I'll do the rest. And you can call me Frank the Tank." I start pushing his wheelchair towards the door and a security officer tries to stop us. Frank the Tank points two guns and him and says, "Move or die." The guard throws up his hands and we wheel past.

I start my running commentary, "This is Samantha Stevens of the Truth Network. We have entered the Ramstein hospital with the help and protection of a brave young soldier, Frank Cohen - or as he likes to be called, Frank the Tank. He is going to be our guide and protector while we are in the hospital."

Present — Liz — Dushanbe, Tajikistan

I stand up and yell, "What the hell does she think she's doing. She can't go in the hospital. She's going to get fucking shot!"

Mira and Ira stand up beside me and hold my hands. Sam yells, "Shut the fuck up I want to hear what she is saying!"

Mira leans over and says, "Ms. Morgan, I would suggest you call your network and have them get ready to replace the video with a picture. We know these terrorists very well and the video should not be shown without extreme censorship."

I whip out my mobile phone and start making the call when we see the charred remains of the soldier patient. Shit! Mira is right. I get a hold of the network and order, "Make sure you record all the video, but replace the broadcast feed with a picture of her."

I sit back down stunned at the terrible things she continues describing.

Present — Ben — WRAMC

I yell, "Son-of-a-bitch! Samantha is in the hospital. She must be fucking crazy."

Jens says, "Who's this guy in the wheelchair she's pushing."

Jim yells and turns up the volume, "She called him Frank the Tank."

We watch as they round a corner and there's a fucking towel head. Frank let's go with two AK's and mows the bastard down. We all start cheering and Jens yells, "Shut up I can't hear her!"

Present — Samantha - Hospital — Ramstein AFB Germany

" ... yes, Frank the Tank has just shot one of the terrorists. Viewers, I want to warn you some of the things you will see in here are very graphic and not suitable for children. Bernie, make sure you film what these filthy animals did to the patients."

We roll into a room and see the remains of a patient soldier on the floor - they'd set him on fire; I step into the corner of the room and throw up. Then I walk back in front of the camera. "The brutality we are seeing is beyond belief, and I refuse to subject our viewers to it. Bernie please continue to record the images, Truth Network please replace the video portion of this broadcast with a picture. I will do my best to describe the gruesome images."

We move out into the hallway and I see some mutilated bodies, I fight again to keep from throwing up. "We are back in the hallway and there are two mutilated bodies. They appear to be what's left of some terrorists who attacked this building. Frank can you tell us what went on in your battle with the terrorists?"

I put the microphone near his face and he says, "Once the women with us saw what the terrorists did in the maternity ward, they went on a rampage and killed and mutilated any terrorists they ran across."

I pulled the microphone back, "Are you telling me these animals attacked the women in the maternity ward and that American women did this to the terrorists?"

Frank the Tank replies, "Yes Miss, not just the women in the maternity ward, but their babies too. The maternity ward is so bad I refuse to take you there. And you can see what the results were when other women saw it. The American women are responsible for chasing the cowardly terrorists back to their WMD. I've never seen anyone fight like they did, it was grisly and grotesque but the terrorists richly deserved everything they received."

We continue down the hallway and enter another room, "We have just found another dead patient." I throw up again, "sorry about that, I just lost the rest of my breakfast." I start crying as I tell the viewers, "This poor man was tied to a chair and was beaten to death. He-he-he is nothing but a bag of broken bones. The torture he endured before his death is shocking. They must have beaten him for hours."

Present — Jens — WRAMC

I notice Ben is getting extremely agitated by Samantha's report. I clear my throat to get the attention of Matt and Jim and give them a hand signal to move closer to Ben's bed.

Samantha just finishes reporting about a man being tortured to death. Ben goes crazy and yells, "Those fucking bastards, I'm going to kill every one of them!"

He tries to get up but I hit the call button and jump on his chest. Mat and Jim fall on his legs.

He's thrashing around on the bed and yells, "Get the fuck off me, I need to go kill those bastards! I knew it was a mistake to come here!"

I yell in his face, "Ben quit it. You're going to hurt yourself even more."

He yells back, "Jens get the hell off me and let me up. I have fucking bastards to kill!"

All the noise attracts the attention of the guards in the hallway, they come in the room and start helping. I yell at them, "Be very careful with his right arm. I don't want it re-injured!"

Ben continues to yell, "You sons-of-a-bitches, let me up. I need to get back to Ramstein!"

A nurse finally comes in the room and I yell at her, "Ben's going crazy, we need help and a doctor!"

The five of us are doing a good job holding him down: Matt and Jim each have a leg, the guards each have an arm and I'm sitting on top of him. He gives me a pleading look and I see tears roll down his cheeks, "Jens, I beg you! Let me up and let me get back to Ramstein. I need to kill those fuckers! Look what they did: They beat a wounded soldier to death!"

I answer, "Ben you can't go back right now, not with your injured arm." I look and see his eyes roll back in his head, he begins to shake uncontrollably and suddenly he stops fighting.

The nurse and doctor finally run into the room and the doctor asks, "What happened?"

I answer, "We were watching the news report about Ramstein and Ben went all crazy. We held him down to keep him from getting up. Then his eyes rolled back and now he's just shaking."

The doctor yells in anger, "You were letting him watch the news report! Haven't you ever heard about PTSD¹? Get off him and let me take a look at him."

¹ Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - is an emotional illness that develops as a result of a terribly frightening, life-threatening, or otherwise highly unsafe experience.

The guys let go and I slowly move off his chest. I feel like shit for not even thinking about PTSD. Ben seems so normal.

The doctor examines him, "Shit he's having a seizure." Then he orders the nurse to get a bunch of meds while he continues the exam. He looks up at the television and orders, "Turn that damn thing off. No more news reports for him."

He checks his tongue and says, "At least he didn't chew his tongue off. I've seen that happen before." He checks his arm and says, "Damn, it's bleeding some more. We really have to get him in for surgery before he messes this up any more."

The nurse comes back and gives him an injection and they start an IV. The orderlies come in and put restraints on him. I tell the doctor, "He's going to be pissed at you for tying him to the bed."

He gives me a dirty look, "I read what he did in Ramstein when they didn't keep him restrained and he's not going to run amok in Walter Reed. Once I'm sure he's okay I might let him out of the restraints. I want all of you out of his room for the night so he can rest."

I walk over and get in the doctors face, "Like hell I'm getting out of my fiancés room. You'd better write a fucking order so I can sleep in this room or I'll kick your ass, because I'm not leaving his side."

The doctor takes a step back. I can tell he's thinking about calling the guards and I continue, "Don't you dare call those guards. They lay one finger on me and General Donaldson will raise hell with all of you."

I can see he finally understands the situation and compromises, "Perhaps it would be better if you watch him all night in case he has another seizure. I'll write the order. But those guys can't stay in the room."

I smile at the doctor and affirm, "Thank you for taking good care of Ben and for understanding. Matt and Jim will rotate guard duty in the hallway."

He gives one more order, "Make sure you call the nurse right away if he wakes up. We need to evaluate his mental condition."

He leaves the room and I say to the guys, "Thanks for your help. Figure out the shift rotation between yourselves."

I don't dare climb into bed with Ben, not with his arm restrained the way it is. I pull up a chair, hold his good hand and start to cry. Then I sense what's going on in Ben's mind.

Present — Ben — WRAMC

Hearing the news from Ramstein about the torture is too much for me. I'm not comfortable with my decision to come back to America and not return to Ramstein. Now I know it is a huge fucking mistake! I could have traded myself for those poor patients. I feel like a coward who ran away. I decide I need to correct this mistake and Jens and everyone else is keeping me from doing my job.

I struggle and fight with them. Some guards come in and one is hurting the hell out of my arm. I feel hard Ben start to take over and I worry he might unintentionally hurt Jens, so I start fighting him instead of them.

Present — Jens — WRAMC

Oh my God! Ben's mind is in huge fucking turmoil. I can sense things I never could before and start to cry. I can see into the hidden black spot I could never see before and now I wish I couldn't.

I can't believe the hell he's gone through his whole life! Now I know why he always calls his dad a son-of-a-bitch. What a nasty old bastard he was. He tortured Ben almost as much as the fucking Taliban! I'd gut him with a dull deer antler and let him bleed out if he was still alive.

He worships his mom, but she didn't do anything to really stop the torture.

Shit! He no longer needs to tell me about the hell he went through when he was captured. I can see it all and he barely told me about any of it. They even did — oh my God I can't believe it! No wonder he hates that bastard and no wonder he got so upset about the news report.

Ben- Ben- Ben, I-I-I am so sorry I didn't know this before. If I had known I might have been able to protect you from what you're going through right now. Please come back to me!

Present — CPl. Cohen - Hospital — Ramstein AFB Germany

This news lady is my ticket back into the hospital! At first I worry she'll collapse when she sees what the terrorists did, but even though she's young, she's tough. However I will not take her to certain areas since no one should see what happened there.

She even interviews me and I get to say my piece about the terrorists.

I'm just upset that most of the bastards are hiding by the WMD, and I don't want to take her there.

Present — Samantha - Hospital — Ramstein AFB Germany

We go by room after room of horrific deeds. These bastards are really animals and I've lost all objectivity. I want a gun and I want to shoot them myself. I can totally understand why the women went crazy and I'm damn proud they did.

"This is Samantha Stevens still reporting about the butchery at Ramstein. Be thankful viewers, all you can hear is my voice, because I've seen brutality and savagery on a level I didn't think was possible. It's worse than any horror movie I've ever watched. Someday when we can show you the few images that are acceptable you will understand why it is so important to stop this butchery masquerading as a religion. This is not the religion of peace, it's the religion of hacking innocent people to pieces."

We stop at each room and I try my best to describe the horrors, "Viewers, each patient room we enter brings a new set of horrors." I sniffle and fight back my tears, "This room has the bodies of a young man and woman. I think it's a soldier and probably his wife or girlfriend. The body of the woman shows signs of sexual torture culminating with her death. The man apparently had a back injury and was immobilized in his bed. Because of medical devices he couldn't turn his head, and his eyes are taped open so he had to watch the torture. When they finished with her," I stop and cry, then I pull myself together — I have to tell the world about this, "they castrated him and he bled to death."

We move into the hallway and I continue, "These are not random acts of violence. These are planned acts of terrorism designed to strike fear into the hearts of Americans and the world. The tortures and the killings were planned and talked about ahead of time. The terrorists must have had this planned for years and just used the excuse of going after one patient to launch their war. They will try to call this a holy jihad, but there is nothing holy in what I've seen here. I've witnessed pure evil."

We roll into another room and I describe the scene, "Viewers, this room contains the body of a very old woman. It looks like she had a broken hip and thankfully the butchers just shot her in the head and didn't abuse her."

I look at Bernie as we head out into the hallway and motion for him to cut the camera. He does and I say, "Bernie, I'm not sure how much longer I can continue this."

He walks over and hugs me, "Samantha you've done a great job and we can leave whenever you want. You've already shown the world enough of the hell that went on in this hospital."

I sniffle and I say, "I think we need to leave now." Then we hear a noise in a room. I nod at Bernie and he turns the camera back on. I roll Frank the Tank through the door. There's a young teenage girl, nude and curled up in a ball in the corner of the room. She sees us and starts screaming. I order, "Frank take the microphone, I need to help her." I hand him the mike and slowly walk over to her, she's been abused in all of the worst ways possible. I continue, "I hope the microphone can still pick up what I'm saying. We've just found another casualty of this war. There's a teenage girl that's been brutally abused and left alive. I'm going to try to comfort her and see if we can get her out of here."

I slowly walk up to her, "It's okay, I'm Samantha and I'm here to help you." She starts crying and shaking and finally just mutters, "Those-those-those, men they were..." Then she stops and just sobs.

I tell her, "I'm going to touch you right now. Don't worry, I won't hurt you." I look back and Frank the Tank has turned and is guarding the door. Bernie is at the side of the room with the camera. "Don't worry about the men in here, they are with me and they are here to help too."

I gently touch her and she clings to me like a drowning person, "It's okay, you're safe now. I won't let anything happen to you. First we need to cover you up, then we need to stand up and walk out of here." I find a hospital gown, help her get into it and then we slowly walk towards the door. I say, "Frank I'm not sure how I'm going to take care of her and push you too."

He softly says, "You take care of her and I'll push myself."

I give my last running commentary, "This is Samantha Stevens reporting, our mission here has now changed from reporting the news to one of rescuing this young lady. I will no longer be giving you any commentary about the rooms we pass. You've already heard enough. If you're not mad as hell about this, you need to be. Frank the Tank is going to lead us to safety."

He rolls out in the hallway and we follow. She pauses at the doorway from fear and I say, "Come on we have to leave this room if we're going to get outside." She hesitantly walks with me towards the nearest exit.

Present — Liz — Dushanbe, Tajikistan

I listen to the excellent job Samantha is doing and I wonder how much therapy she is going to need to recover from this. I will pay for it no matter what it costs because she's too good a reporter and too valuable a person to lose. As she describes what she's called the 'butchery at Ramstein' I can't help but cry. I look over at Mira and Ira and they are softly crying too. Shit! Even Sam is crying and I consider him a tough old bastard. The report goes dead for a minute and I'm not sure what's going on, then it continues as Samantha finds a young girl and does the right thing by getting her out of the hospital.

We hear her coaxing the girl into the hallway and towards the door. The mike still picks Samantha up and we listen to the dialog, "I told you my name, I'm Samantha. What's your name?"

We hear a small weak voice, "I'm Georgia."

"Come on Georgia, we are headed outside and I promise I will take care of you. That's it, keep walking with me."

We hear multiple screams and then a bunch of gunfire — and we anxiously wait. Finally we hear Samantha continue, "It's okay Georgia, Frank the Tank took care of the bad man. He'll never bother you again. I told you, Frank the Tank will protect us from any bad men. That's a good girl, just keep walking with me."

Then Samantha orders, "Frank, Georgia has passed out. We need to put her in your lap."

Frank complains, "Then who's going to protect you three?"

Samantha answers, "Give me one of those damn guns. I'm ready to kill some of those bastards."

She answers, "Hell yes, they have on man dresses. Give me that grenade."

He throws her a grenade, she pulls the pin and bounces it around the corner, there's a huge fricken explosion which even scares Bernie and makes him jump.

Frank asks, "What the hell was that?"

Samantha turns and grins, "That was retribution and our way out of here. They were trying to disarm one of the explosive devices on the door," then she giggles and continues, "I just gave them a faster way to disarm it."

We watch as she looks around the corner again, then she motions for Frank and Bernie. The network should have cut the video feed because there were pieces of terrorists everywhere. But for some reason they didn't and it didn't bother me. Not after what I'd heard went on in the hospital. We watch as Samantha holds the gun up over her head and walks outside, Frank disappears through the door and then Bernie follows.

I'm mad as hell when I see the video feed from outside.

Present — Bernie - Hospital — Ramstein AFB Germany

There's a huge fight going on when I finally get through the door. Georgia is awake, the security guy is trying to take her away from Frank the Tank, she's screaming bloody murder and Samantha is fighting with four additional security guards.

I yell, "Everyone, smile! You're all live on the Truth Network." They all stop and look at me. I continue, "Nothing like getting live feeds of police brutality in action." Samantha takes my cue and goes into reporter mode.

She says, "This is Samantha Stevens from the Truth Network. After fighting our way through the butchers and safely rescuing Georgia we are being roughly attacked by the American airmen." She looks around and continues, "Who's in charge here because I want America to know your full name and rank."

One senior airmen walks up, "I'm in charge here and we thought you were the terrorists."

Samantha lays into him, "Do we look like terrorists. Are you so blind you can't see I'm a woman and he's in a wheelchair and holding a teenage girl? When God was passing out brains did you think he said pains and said don't give me any? Now where in the hell are the medics?"