AMERICA ONE by T. I. Wade Read Free Book Online Page B

any insubordinate ass of a test pilot.
    Fourteen months later, in 2009, Jonesy was released from confinement for attacking his commander, General Joseph Bishop, in his office for some argument about fuel discrepancies, was found guilty of assaulting a superior officer, demoted, spent a year in Air Force prison, demoted again to captain, and then dishonorably discharged.
    ****
    At about the same time, Ryan Richmond received payment for the sale of most of his stock in his internet investments, and Victor Isaac Noble was in Baghdad.
    Victor Isaac Noble dreamed weird dreams which felt like they went on and on for a very long time. Again, and again his mind was brought back to reality by the continuous beeping of monitors. He was starting to get used to them, and his drugged brain realized that if he could hear these monitors that meant that he was still alive.
    After one long dream of seeing men who no longer lived, the beeping returned. This time there was only one monitor beeping, not the usual three. The light outside his closed eyes did not seem so bright, and he carefully opened them. Everything looked blurry around him; dark colors seemed to move here and there. One was a cream color and as his eyes became accustomed to the light and he was able to focus on the moving shape, a nurse in a white uniform appeared staring at him.
    “Welcome back to the land of the living, Lieutenant Noble,” the vision stated to him as he watched her red lips move. “It has been a week now and the captain stated that it was time to let you come around. She will be in, in a minute to check up on you.”
    “Everybody is a she around here?” he managed to move his dry mouth and mumble.
    “It seems so,” she replied. “Far too many for my single-woman liking, Lieutenant.” A second white coat approached out of the corner of his eye and had a shiny silver thing around her neck.
    “I see you are back with us Lieutenant Noble, welcome back,” stated the second white coat and his eyes managed to focus on her face.
    “I assume you are the doctor?” he asked weakly.
    “Yes, and the bearer of good and bad news, Lieutenant. Which do you want first?”
    “I’m sure there is more bad news than good news, so tell me the good news first.”
    “Actually I believe it’s the other way around. Your spine was whipped around pretty badly, but luckily you didn’t suffer anything more than a few well exercised and maybe bruised vertebra. Your brain was also pretty beaten up with the odd chip out of your skull, but again nothing I couldn’t fix. You have the full use of both of your arms, though one was broken in two places. Colonel Guy, our senior surgeon, did a good job on plating your left humerus and left radius together; you should have the full use of your arm after a few months of therapy and the plates are removed in about six months’ time. I recommend you don’t go through too many metal detectors at the airports for a while, once you get back stateside.” She paused to think about the next item.
    “I assume you have got to the bad news, Captain?” he asked, his eyes now fully focused on the doctor’s rank on her epaulettes.
    “Unfortunately, yes, Lieutenant. The colonel couldn’t save your legs. He did his best and had you in surgery for over six hours. Your lower legs were very badly hit by the brunt of the explosion, and the shrapnel in the vehicle was your worst enemy. Lieutenant, both your legs have been amputated just above the knee. The steel seat you were sitting on, I believe helped save your upper legs. The prisoner who was sitting between you and the blast was a total mess. His whole body looked like your lower legs, and his sitting in the right place saved your life. Your vehicle was hit by more than 100 pounds of explosive and you were the only one to survive the blast. I’m sure the loss of your legs will be a mammoth shock, but that you are alive is a miracle in itself. Never forget that, Lieutenant Noble!”
    She