Helmand Province, Afghanistan
5 years ago
A high, persistent hum buzzes through my body, settling in my ears before fading into the darkness surrounding me. With my next heartbeat, the hum is back, morphing into a deafening ringing in my right ear. I open my eyes and blinding light burns my retinas while pain explodes into my brain. I open my mouth to moan, but the searing pain blooming across my face stills me. I gasp a breath of dry desert air, eliciting a sharp, stabbing sensation in my chest.
"He's waking up!"
The voice penetrates the thick fog around my head, entirely too loud. The sound reverberates in my head, crashing into the sides of my skull.
"Put him back under. He shouldn't be conscious in this condition."
"Where are you keeping your anesthetics? I can't find any."
"We used the last of it on him. How much did you bring in this shipment?"
"Not enough. Intel said it was getting bad out here, but this is FUBAR."
"I'll put in a request for more."
"I don't think another shipment can make it out here anytime soon. We took heavy fire and lost two guys just bringing this."
"Damn it. Then get creative. He needs to be unconscious for this. He's got third-degree burns over forty percent of his body, broken ribs, internal bleeding, he's riddled with shrapnel, and that's just what I've confirmed so far. I've already removed his eye, two fingers, and I'll probably need to remove a third. His wounds are becoming infected and unless we get some heavy antibiotics in him stat, he won't live to see your sorry ass explain why his last hours were spent in agonizing pain. His unit lost five good men last week. I don't want to make it six."
Though I can hear the voices arguing back and forth, my muddled brain is unable to process the words. My mind drifts away from the conversation to the sounds of gunfire and muffled explosions wafting in with the wind. Even with my eyes closed, the world is still too bright. I try to move my arm to cover my face, but searing pain rages through my shoulder and across my skin. Instead, I move my left arm and feel the slight jab of an IV in the crook of my elbow. My fingers brush bandages covering the right side of my face, from my jaw past my hairline. I suddenly realize all the light I perceive is coming from my left eye. Tracing my fingers along the bandages on my face, I search for the place where they end. Down my neck, shoulder, arm, and hand. Across my chest. What happened to me? Where is my unit? I can still hear the voices as though from a distance, but only the incessant ringing can be heard through my right ear. The skin on the left side of my face is hot. My entire body is aflame with a raging fever and the desert wind brushing across my skin does nothing to cool it.
"Water," I croak, my voice sounding so foreign to me that I don't recognize it. I feel ice chips on my tongue and I close my mouth, relishing the feel of cold water trickling down my throat. My arm is pulled from my face, and in a few moments, I slip back into blessed unconsciousness.