by Vi Keeland
“An accident? What kind of accident?” I quickly glanced down at his leg. “How bad?” I asked frantically.
He took a deep breath. “When I was in Afghanistan my convoy was sent out and the truck I was driving ran over a buried IED, and it exploded.
“It exploded!” I gasped.
“The bomb went off on my side of the truck I got the worst of it. I had to be pulled from the truck by the Navy Corpsman that was riding with us. My leg was badly injured and he had to resuscitate me several times.” He paused trying to gather his thoughts. “I owe him my life. He kept me alive until the medivac arrived and airlifted me to the base.”
I put my fingers over his lips. “Show me,” I said as my voice quaked.
He slowly pulled his shirt off, and I ran my hands over his arms. As I reached the back side of his right arm, I felt deep scars. “Oh G,” I whispered. I moved closer to him and lightly kissed his scars. I felt his body stiffen at my touch. “Does it hurt?”
He shook his head. “No,” came out in barely a whisper.
“And your leg? Does it have the same type of scarring?”
He lowered his head. “The doctor’s had to amputate part of my leg.”
I now felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. “Amputated?” I said hoarsely trying to choke back the tears.
I slowly climbed off the bed and crouched down in front of him. I slowly pull up his right pant leg to see a prosthetic leg. “How much did they have to amputate?
“Just below the knee.”
“Can I see? I asked softly.
He hesitated for a minute. “Only my doctor’s and my parents have seen my leg without the prosthesis.”
“Please,” I whispered.
He closed his eyes and exhaled. Nodding he pulled up his pant leg.
“Do you need my help?”
“No, I got it,” he said.
As I sat on my bedroom floor, my mind began to race. How could this have happened? Not one person even thought to call me and let me know about his accident? I always thought his mother and I had a great relationship. She still sends me birthday and Christmas cards, for Christ’s sake. There were a million questions running through my head. I wanted to ask him each and every one of them. But instead, I sat quietly and watched.
He stood up and slid his pants down taking his left leg out first and sitting back down on the bed. “Here, let me,” I insisted. Pulling the right pant leg off and setting his jeans on the bed. He slid a thick plastic sleeve that went up to his thigh down over his knee and pulled his leg from the prosthetic leg. I watched him intently and noticed his hands were shaking. He glanced at me smiling nervously. He continued by removing two socks and then what he called a liner for his skin. I was trying so hard to hold back my tears. It broke my heart to see him this way.
I stood up holding my hand out to him. He stood trying to get his footing. He took my hand and pulled me toward him catching me completely off guard. Wrapping his arms around me, he squeezed me tightly, pressing his lips forcefully up against mine jutting his tongue into my mouth.
He was breathing heavily, and I could feel his chest heaving against my body. He spun me around and pushed me onto the bed. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I had seen this look in his eyes before, it was pure lust, and I knew exactly what he wanted. My heart began to race as I swallowed hard. The truth was, I was scared shitless. This was all I ever wanted but now that he was here I couldn’t help but feel petrified. The thought of him leaving again was eating at me, and I knew my heart couldn’t take it.
I moved myself further up my bed so my back was resting again my headboard. He crawled onto the bed like a tiger stalking its prey. He grabbed me by the ankles pulling me toward him. “Where do you think you are going?” He said gruffly. He was now directly over me. My heart felt like it could beat right out of my chest. I wanted him so bad.
“Take your shirt off,” he growled.
I reached for the shirt to pull it over my head, and he nearly ripped it off me.
“You don’t know how long I have wanted to do this,” he said kissing me passionately. He palmed my breasts and pinched my nipples. I could feel my breasts swelling, and my nipples were erect from his touch. I gave a small moan. He sat up on his knees and unbuttoned my skirt and pulled it down. He reached in between my legs and rubbed me through my underwear. Giving me his sexy smirk. “You’re wet for me.” I was slightly embarrassed by his words. It had been a long time since I’d had sex sober. He slipped his fingers into my underwear. I felt my eyes roll into the back of my head, and I moaned again.
“You like that, Babe?” He whispered.
Grabbing his shoulders forcefully I flipped him onto his back. I think I may have taken him by surprise because the look on his face was complete shock. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was in desperate need of him.
I moved down his body until I reached his cock. Slowly, and gently my mouth made its way around him, teasing him with my tongue. I was taking my time. I wanted to savor every moment I had with him. I had dreamt about this a million times, and now he was here with me. With every suck and pull his moans got louder.
“Leila, I’ve missed your sweet mouth.”
His words gave me goose bumps. I tightened my lips around him and sucked harder and faster. I wanted to milk him, give him everything he had been missing for the last four years.
“Fuck, Babe,” he groaned loudly. “Come here.”
I didn’t want to stop until I got him off. He led me up his body, pulling me by my arms until I was sitting on his chest. Pushing my underwear to the side he grabbed my ass and pushed my pussy to his mouth. He pulled back briefly and used his fingers to expose my clit. He grabbed me again pushing his tongue right to my clit. He started off with gentle little circular licks. He then started applying more pressure. I was throbbing for him. “Hmmm. . .”
“Babe, you taste so sweet,” he moaned.
Goose bumps ran across my skin. I lifted my hands to my nipples and began fondling them.
“Christ, Babe, that is so fucking sexy,” his voice in a deep growl.
I was moving my hips faster. I needed him to hit the spot. I could feel myself building the more I pulled and pinched on my nipples. My pussy was pulsating at every lick. I arched my back, reaching back, searching for his cock with my hands. I found it rock hard and standing at attention. I started slowly running my hand up and down on his cock, and then began to quicken my motions. He was moaning in complete pleasure. I was losing myself fast. The sound of his moans, his tongue fucking my clit, the pressure I was applying to my nipples and his rock hard cock in my hand. I couldn’t take it anymore.
I thrust my hips harder pushing myself into his mouth. “Baby. . .” I cried.
“That’s it, Babe. Let go,” he murmured.
My body felt like electricity was running through it. I couldn’t take it anymore. I rolled off him and pulled him on top of me.
“Make love to me Garrett,” I whispered wantonly.
He slowly got up pulling my underwear off. Making his way up my body he kissed and licked my inner thighs. “So sweet,” he whispered. He proceeded back to my pussy, which sent another volt through my body. It was so sensitive to the touch.
He gently kissed my stomach, my breasts, and my neck. Chills ran up and down my body. His kisses were driving me completely insane. How could I have ever thought any of those men I had been with could ever replace him? He was so gentle and attentive.
His lips finally found mine. “Please, make love to me,” I quietly spoke as our lips were pressed together. I spread my legs and reached down for his cock. He gave me a worried look.
“It’s ok, I’m on the pill,” I reassured him.
The look of worry disappeared from his face. I guided him into me. His cock was large, and I couldn’t wait to feel him inside me. He slowly pushed himself into me. He was being so gentle. I could feel myself stretching from his size. He eased himself all the way in and slowly started moving his hips u
p and down. He took my hands and laced his fingers through mine and gave a tight squeeze.
He let out a huge gasp. “Leila, you feel so good, so wet.” His rhythm began to speed up, and I could feel every inch of him moving in and out of me. It felt so good.
“Garrett, I have missed you so much,” I said blinking back my tears. My emotions were all over the place. I could feel myself building again. He began thrusting harder and faster and with one final thrust we both came together.
He was breathing heavily in my ear, almost panting.
“I love you,” he said as his voice cracked.
I couldn’t stop my tears from flowing. “I love you too. I have never stopped loving you. I am so sorry for everything.”
We laid in bed for what felt like hours, neither of us wanting to move. I feared he would disappear, that this was only a dream. I lay with my head on his chest listening to him breathe. I felt so at peace.
Finally, I broke the silence. “Garrett.”
“Hmmm,” he responded sleepily.
“I need you to tell me everything.”
“Everything?” He asked puzzled.
“Yes, everything. Where have you been? Why the hell didn’t anyone call me after your accident? I want to know everything.”
Rolling over onto his side. “Where do I start? I joined the Marines not long after we split. I couldn’t stand to be around here knowing you were here.”
His words hurt. I pushed myself off of him and sat up.
“No, Babe. That’s not what I meant,” he said softly bringing himself close to me kissing my shoulder.
“Well, what do you mean?” I said softly.
He let out a huge breath. “Christ, that didn’t come out right. Let me start again. I fucked everything up after we broke up. I was drinking all the time, called out of work at least once a week and started doing drugs. I couldn’t function without you, but the booze and drugs did nothing to help. I knew I needed a change. I wanted to better myself and staying around here was getting me nowhere. I got this crazy idea to join the Marines. You were heading off to college, and I figured you would find someone better than me. You’ve always deserved better than me.”
“Stop . . . You know that is not true. Look at me. I’m a college graduate living over a bar. So glamorous,” I said jokingly trying to lighten the mood a bit.
He continued, “I walked into a Marines recruitment office, sat down with a recruiter and told him I wanted to blow shit up,” he laughed. “I figured I would join, do my time and then come home. Well, it’s turned into a career. I didn’t expect to love it, but I do,” he said smiling.
The way he spoke so passionately about the Marines, I had never seen him like that about anything.
He began speaking again, “I went to boot camp at Marine CR depot in San Diego. That’s where I did all my basic training. It was fucking hell,” he exhaled. “Every day was the same thing. . . Drills, weapons, and shooting. It was the longest twelve weeks of my life.” He ran his hands through his hair. “You were all I thought about, I just wanted to come back home,” he paused briefly. “There was so much I wanted to say to you. But, when I did come back, that is when I saw you are the fair.” His voice trailed off.
“G, I’m so sorry,” I said lacing my fingers through his.
He cleared his throat and continued with his story. “After boot leave my orders were to return to San Diego. I was stationed at Camp Pendleton and I attended The School of Infantry SOI.”
“School of Infantry?”
“Yeah, I pretty much played with guns and blew up shit the entire time,” he smiled. “After that I was sent to Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Oahu. That is where I began training for Afghanistan. It is called a deployment work-up.”
“When I found out I was being deployed to Afghanistan I made my mother promise me that she wouldn’t tell you. We got into a huge argument over it. She insisted that I tell you. I told her if you found out I would never speak to her again.”
“Why? Why didn’t you want me to know?” I asked confused.
“Because I knew you were in college and I didn’t want you worrying about me. I knew how important school was to you and I wanted you to be successful.”
I looked at him with a puzzled look.
“Leila, I always knew what you were doing. Just because I was away didn’t mean that I didn’t talk to people around here.”
The words I always knew what you were doing ran through my head. Does that mean he knows about the all the men and booze? I began to feel uneasy about him knowing about my behavior. I always just assumed he left and never looked back. He must have noticed the look on my face.
“Babe? You ok?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Keep going.” I shrugged off my insecurities.
With a huge exhale of breath he continued, “Where was I? Oh, yeah, my mother. Needless to say she was pretty pissed at me. She thought you had the right to know.”
“Well, I have to agree with her,” I said.
He shook his head at me. “My platoon was only supposed to be in Hawaii for a few months but our deployment got pushed back, and I ended up there for about nine months. Hawaii was beautiful,” he said with a smile. “The beaches and blue water were amazing. There were nights I wanted to call you so bad and tell you about it. Sometimes I would dream that you were with me and we were making love on the beach.”
I closed my eyes at his words and the butterflies were fluttering in my stomach.
He pulled himself up to a sitting position running his hands through his hair again. “When my platoon finally got deployed, we were stationed at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan. Afghanistan was nothing like Hawaii. It was either hotter than hell or freezing. No beautiful ocean breeze or ocean, nothing but sand and mountains.”
He paused momentarily. “The night of the bombing my platoon was called to a QRF in the middle of the night.”
I gave him a strange look.
“Oh sorry, a QRF means a Quick Response Force. My convoy was sent out to help a Captain who rolled his truck. We were sent to flip the truck back over and fix it. I honestly don’t remember anything after that.”
I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Did anyone else get hurt?”
“Everything else was told to me after I woke from my coma.”
“Coma! You didn’t say you had been in a coma.”
I could feel my anger building inside even though I was no longer his girlfriend I thought I deserved a phone call.
“Will you let me finish my story,” he said with a smirk.
“Oh, I’m all ears. Please continue,” I said in an annoyed tone.
“I sustained the worst of the injuries. James who was on top of the truck was thrown off by the explosion and both of his feet were broken.”
He paused again taking a deep breath. “So when Dennis, he was the Navy Corpsman in my unit, was trying to save me, he was hit in the arm by shrapnel.”
He must have again seen the confused look on my face.
He smiled. “Sorry I keep forgetting you don’t know what I am talking about. Let me slow it down and explain. Our truck had ammo on it and after the bomb went off the ammo heated up and began firing off.”
My hands covered my mouth as I gasped.
“That’s when Dennis was hit by the shrapnel. Once the medivac helicopter arrived, I was airlifted back to base and immediately taken into surgery. The injuries to my lower leg were so bad they had no choice but to amputate.”
“You don’t remember any of this?” I asked rubbing the top of his hand.
“No, I have to rely on what the doctors tell me,” pausing for a moment, he sighed, and continued with his story.
Running his hand over his jaw he said, “My mandible was fractured in four different places and plates had to be put in. The trauma to my head caused me to be in a coma for over forty days, and I suffer from diplopia, which causes me to have double vision.”
“Double vision?”
“Ye
ah, I will have it for the rest of my life,” he said sadly.
“How long were you in Afghanistan after the accident?” I asked.
“I was in the hospital in Afghanistan until I was stable enough to fly, which was about a week. I was then flown to a hospital in Germany where I spent another eight days.” He paused for a moment. “Next I was flown back to the states and taken to a VA hospital in Maryland where I spent two weeks. During that time my parents were flown in and preparations were made for me to be transferred to Palo Alto, California. The day I was leaving for Palo Alto I woke from my coma,” he paused again and collected his thoughts.
“Even though I was awake, I don’t remember the transfer from Maryland to Palo Alto. I actually don’t even remember the first few weeks I was in Palo Alto. I had no memory and had to relearn everything.”
“What do you mean you had to relearn everything?”
“I had lost my memory and had to be taught how to form memories again as well as talk, read, and write.”
I was again trying to blink back my tears. It was tearing me up inside that while he was lying in a hospital bed, I was whoring myself out to any guy that would have me…
He continued, “My fine motor skills were non-existent, and I was in every type of therapy known to man. Not only did I need to learn how to walk again I had to learn how to walk with a prosthetic.”
My eyes scanned his face trying to figure out how he was feeling at his very moment. I couldn’t wrap my head around how he had been through so much yet still able to carry on. Yet I had troubling dealing with our break-up.
“Once I was well enough for physical therapy, I began busting my ass. I was anxious to get back to combat. I didn’t give a shit that I was almost killed I wanted to be back with my platoon.”
I felt my eyes widen at his words.
“Unfortunately, I found out later that I couldn’t go back to combat. I was pretty fucking pissed at first, and I wanted to quit.” I felt his body tense up as he spoke. “The only thing I really loved about the Marines was combat, and I couldn’t be there. My parents were the ones to convince me to stick with it. Now I’m training infantry to other Marines.”