Only For You

XIII) Marion- Back Home

The wind stick control was very hard to manage. This was the hardest fight yet. It finally dawned on me that I'm fighting with the Germans. I'm not fighting for them, I'm fighting with them. My country and there have been allies for the longest time now, so it's nothing bad. As I glanced around the cockpit windows fighting with the controls I noticed a plane coming head on with my Mustang. I took a nose dive when I narrowly missed the plane. It was quite scary, but it felt like a huge accomplishment. I adjusted my seating position in the cockpit chair.

Planes dodged in and out around me, but for some reason they couldn't see me. They were going too fast to see a small plane like me. Nick flew one of the Luftwaffe jets and I saw him pass me. After another near collision mid air I shot down three more planes. These planes were the less agile ones. It felt good to actually be helping out instead of sitting on the sidelines like in America. I guess I just wasn't good enough, but I'm good enough in Nicholas' eyes.

It became hard to block out the thought of losing Nick. His kiss is perfect and I love him. I know it's so soon, but in war I don't know when one moment will be one of our last. I took out the number Nick gave me and read it over, then put it back In my pocket. The view from the cockpit was nothing but a chaotic mess that hurt so bad. Pilots and planes fell from the sky like cats and dogs. I took a low sweep to the ground when I saw people dying on the ground. I made a grave mistake by pulling up on the stick so my plane would go nearly straight up. "Are you still good Marion?" Nick asked over frequency. I responded with a yes. After that I turned to head west towards Frankfurt, or what I assumed to be Frankfurt. Something hit my plane... It was a familiar yet different feeling. I turned my head around and saw my top end of the plane tail fin was missing. Who cares? I could still fly.

Pulling around the corner and looking further had me furious. "Nick, plane damage." He responded with a confident affirmation. Another pilot over frequency was screaming for help. "Kannst du mir helfen?" The voice screamed over frequency. "Nick!" I tried answering back. "Marion! I've been run over by another plane. I'm alright, but I'm going down! You get back to America. When you get the information needed, call my number and come back to Germany if you can. Please, I'm so sorry. I love you." He screamed at me through the barely audible frequency. I thought I'd do something really fast. "Nick, Nick, listen to me! Ich liebe dich. I will come back for you. Please don't leave me or die." He repeated what I said and kept screaming trying to get someone down on the ground. He was showing his frustration with the plane. I disconnected the frequency so I couldn't hear anyone.

How can I get back to America? My mind immediately began to devise a plan. I was able to land at Frankfurt's military base. When I stepped out of the plane I was met with government officials. One of them was 6 foot while the other had to have been 5 foot 11. They looked mean and strong. "Hey, who are you?" The blonde man asked in an aggressive tone. I came up with a name, "Ava Brown." I choked because I wasn't supposed to express my Americanism with the German soldiers. When I took a closer look at them they wore the American flag on their uniforms. "Get over here." The tallest man yelled at me. I walked up to him and he bent over at my eye level. "You're coming with us." They placed handcuffs on my hands. They placed them too tight. I could feel my wrists swelling and rubbing against the metal. "Where am I going? Where are you soldiers taking me?" I was screaming, but found myself screaming no more when everything went black. No vision... shallow breaths... limp legs.

—

I woke up in what was presumed to be a bunker. The all metal walls made it smell musty. It was too dark for comfort. All I could see was the tips of my fingers. My hands were aching for some reason. My body laid there in a supine manner, which meant my back was touching the cold hard concrete below. When my legs found the effort to stand I walked over to the corner. "Who are you?" A deep husky voice asked. The only thing I could think of was, "Why do you need to know? Who are you first?" The voice chuckled a little. I heard a body stand up and walk closer. The accent was American, much like the one I have. "Lieutenant Betty. I'm a pilot too. You must be Marion Wright?" He asked and I responded with a shy yes. A man's figure appeared close to me. I could barely tell he was there, but I could hear his shallow breathing and heavy footsteps. "Listen up mam, they will kill you if you don't leave. When they ask if you'll do volunteer work you volunteer. That's how my brother left. I don't know what this place is other than we're in Texas." His voice was deep and it bounced off the walls. "Are you that girl that was deployed from Germany?" He asked and I was immediately taken aback at his question. I began, "yes, how do you know?"

The water dripped from the ceiling resting some serious echo location. The man finally made his way too close to me. His strong hand grasped my arm. It hurt really bad, but I didn't flinch. "You were on the news. You're that girl... the girl everyone is cheering for. We don't want you here. Lieutenant Wright, you are supposed to be dead; dead in the eyes of the Americans and the world." His grip tightened until I let out a little whine at the pain. I didn't want anyone to touch me -like holding my hand- unless it was Nick. "You want help?" He asked as he loosened his hand.

My eyes wandered up the tall soldier's body until I could see part of his face. He looked nice from what I could tell. "Do they know?" I asked him. He walked me over to a small bench only for one person. He sat down and then he put me on his leg. I didn't like it at all because I remembered what happened with Nick. If this guy was willing to help me then sure. "Know about your disobeying command, abandoning post, and the guy you kissed?" I cringed at the last few words he said, but the officer was very blunt. My mind couldn't brew up something to say for a second. "And what makes you say that?" I tried to be kind because I was worried he would hurt my arm again. "I'm a spy, they sent me over and I saw you guys kissing. What twice? They put me over in Aviv. I was supposed to be on operation Fools Gold, but they switched it up and called it Aviv. I saw so many men lying on the ground and dying. Listen, I have your back. Marion, you were on TV because you were shot down. Everyone thought you were dead. I lied to the guys above us, which means I lied to the major. You're going to get off Scott free on this one. You just have to keep your mouth shut." At that point I was halfway between believing him and trusting him. "They fixed your stomach. You were bleeding profusely after getting off the plane." He said.

Just out of curiosity I put my hand under my shirt and felt stitches that ran across my stomach. "How many? Why was I knocked out and then brought back here?" I thought asking myself was worth a shot. The officer lowered his face next to my ear. "You know, 57 stitches. You have a new bandage too. Marion, you were not knocked out. They put an injection in your back to make you pass out because you resisted arrest. You didn't feel it because you're already in pain. That's how those work." From his statement I basically understood that America wants me gone.

The water dripping from the ceiling increased. "How do I leave?" I asked while trying to get out of the officer's tight grasp. My arm began to hurt due to his hand squishing it. He shifted his shoulders, "I got a plan and it's going to be hilarious." Just as he uttered that last word a big soldier walked into the room and passed the locked door. "Hey guys. Get up!" He shouted. There were two other people that also got up from the other side of the bunker. We all obeyed off course because of the fear of the unknown. The problem is that I was a fighter and I wasn't ready to surrender my life to these people.

They took us down a narrow corridor that led to nowhere but a bright white room. I could hear some guys joking around. After sitting there for a minute I could hear them breaking out in song. They began to sing Amazing Grace, but in heavy country accents. My head went from hanging low to sitting high over my shoulders. The man next to me looked at me. My eyes were opened, ears were tuned, and my brain understood. Even through the darkest times there was still time for God and positivity.

A tall man walked in and asked everyone questions. "So deployment... to Germany." After he said that I quickly raised my hand, "I'll go. Send me, please." The singing is louder, almost like a country chant. I got a dumbfounded look from one of the officers. "Really?" That same short officer asked. I looked up at him and gave a smirk. "Gosh, I'm here. Look, I'm here to serve and end this dang war. It hurts me too much to see people die. I've seen things that I cannot unsee, yet that song still gives me the courage. Give it up boys! I'll go and help the Americans and the Europeans. Put me to Germany. I can speak German. And if you're too afraid of being shown up by a woman, well, I feel bad for you." I smiled as they just gave me a blank stare.

We all just sat there in silence for a short moment. "Yes mam! We will put you to Germany. First you're going to have to go to New York. That's where most of the soldiers going to Germany are. You will fly over with them." The tall commander said. He seemed all for me, so why not.