Soldier In Me

Three: Turn The Page

The money I'd accumulated from being in the army mixed with the money my parents had stored away was enough to keep me comfortable if I refrained from any shopping sprees.
My new caregiver had really turned the house around. She'd ripped off all the plastic, taken care of dust, thrown away the rotten bottles of wine.
She even called into the electrician and arranged for them to bump up when they were coming.
I struggled to keep from laughing as she yelled at the man on the other line. She had ordered him to provide what he was supposed to instead of slaking on his butt for another day.
She'd later apologized to him for her rudeness, which I thought was unnecessary. But I digress.
Hadley had taken my card to get food. I wasn't worried, I could track her purchases from my tablet and I trusted her, against my better judgment.
I had refrained from entering any of the bedrooms, insisting on sleeping on the couch, even with Hadley's pushing.
Electricity was back and I was waiting till the right moment to go back into the basement and figure out what they were doing down there.
I sat on my sleeping area/couch, looking up at the rotating fan that hung from the ceiling.
The silence agonized me. There were always noises at the base, trainees practicing, boots going down the hall, or even the hum of the machines that powered the place.
But I just sat there all day every day, boredom a constant feeling.
I let my arm fall over my eyes. "I'm useless."
The feeling when your foot is asleep was basically how my prosthetics felt. It was stiff and numb but not completely. It felt like a peg leg, bulky and shit.
I lifted the collar of my shirt and smelt its stink. I hadn't had much motivation to change clothes or take care of myself or anything. Nor did I have many outfits. Back in the army, it was the same uniform and you didn't have to worry about what matched or not. But my uniform was confiscated, and I didn't have any clothes to replace it with.
I got up onto my feet, walking to the bathroom after grabbing a travel size bottle of shampoo I'd bought at a gift shop on the way here with my sergeant. I only got it because it had a nicely drawn picture of a soldier in uniform on the bottle. Our flag of stars was behind the soldier as he stood proudly.
I locked the door behind me, precautionary measures just in case Hadley came home early.
I started the bath, taking a good three minutes getting the faucet to spew the right temperature.
A quick look through the cabinet revealed an unopened bottle of bubble bath and I squirted enough in the bath to coat the whole surface of the water with small piles of bubbles.
I sat on the edge of the tub as I unstrapped my leg. It was like separating two magnets, same went for the hand, but for the lack of two, I used my teeth to assist in the unstrapping.
The water rose a bit as I sunk in the tub. I slid till my face was the only thing above water, soap tickled my skin.
After a few moments, I opened up the bottle of shampoo and made my hair all bubbly. I'll admit to my immaturity showing itself.
When the bath ended I dried myself off poorly and put my hand and leg back on, once again having to use my teeth.
My shirt stuck to my back. I took a short glance at the mirror, my hair was a mess. I didn't bother to do anything about it though.
I left the steamy bathroom finding Hadley stocking the fridge. I poked my head over her shoulder, I grimaced at all the healthy food she'd piled in.
She looked at me, I backed off about an inch. "What'd you used to eat at your base?"
I was pretty indifferent about what we used to eat. It wasn't good but it was what we got. It was all I got for most of my life. They were called 'Nutrition Packs' we took them twice a day and they did the job.
"None of that leafy crap," I told her.
I had a bad experience with salad before. It was on a venter in Trena, where we stayed at their base and they gave their soldiers actual food. I was so ready to like it and be jealous of the Trena army, but all I got was food poisoning.
"Picky huh?" She smirked. "I've got something special that I think will make you like it."
I always held my breath when she smiled, it was nearly an instinct.
"I'm not picky I just- I haven't ever tried chocolate or ice cream. Salad is dumb."
Hadley closed the fridge and leaned up against it. "Well, you're in luck because I got you chocolate ice cream. But only if you eat the salad."
"I'm not a child."