Almost Persuaded

Apparently they stopped where my squad lay shattered. I passed out again. I woke up to see a blur at my feet pulling at my boots. The movements had caused a sharp pain in my shin – that must have made me aware of my surroundings. In the momentary – and occasional – flashes of explosions I could see a Jap soldier tugging at my boots. I had put my bayonet back in my sheath after I used it to cut away my pants leg and now I slowly took it out and as the enemy soldier reached up to search my pockets I rammed it into his throat.

I knew I had to move so I crawled down towards the beach and found an amtrac that had been hit with a shell. I crawled in and collapsed. I was dead for three weeks before I came out of the coma I'd been in. The force of the blast had blown off my dog tags and I hadn't been identified as yet. I was on board a hospital ship – the Solace they told me. I'd had a blood clot in my brain from the impact of whatever had hit me.

A nurse in starched whites told me, "You're really lucky that Captain Gray was on board. He's a famous surgeon from the Mayo clinic."

It seemed that I should completely recover but they were going to send me home because of the brain injury. They evacuated me to Hawaii for rehabilitation. They told me they had sent a telegram to Kitty to let her know that I was injured but that I would be okay.

It was hell waiting to get out of there and go home. It was ironic that after all that training and work that I'd fought in the war for less than a day. But still, I'd done what I felt I had to and now I was going home.

HOMECOMING – KITTY

It was several weeks since I'd gotten the awful news about Billy. They were the worst weeks of my life and I felt a great lassitude. I had to stop working – they had given me two weeks off but it wasn't enough.

I got through the days okay but at night I would lay awake and relive my betrayal. Yes, I considered it a betrayal even though nothing really happened, not even a kiss. But I was in a place I shouldn't have been and because of that I was put in a position that I should have known would lead me to temptations.

Sometimes in the dark of the night, in some awful corner of my mind would come a tiny stray thought came that it was better that Billy was dead – that way he would never find out what I'd almost done.

Then, came the day! I was sittin' on the porch, Sara asleep on my lap. I saw from far away someone on a bicycle. I didn't think anything about it but as the bike came closer I could see the same young man that delivered the telegram. I should have hated him but I didn't. I was surprised when he turned into my lane.

He walked up and handed me another telegram. I couldn't for the life of me think what it was about. It couldn't be bad news; Billy was already dead – they couldn't kill him again!

I opened the envelope and the words leaped out at me. I almost dropped Sara as I stood up, almost in as much shock as I had been from the first telegram. Billy was alive! I cried all over Sara as I took her in so I could call my mom and Billy's mom.

The next couple of months were hell for me as I waited for Billy to come home. I wanted him home immediately, but still, I knew I had to tell him about my temptation.

The day finally came and when Billy's train came in all I could do was cry. After all that he had gone through, I was the one crying. We went home and for the first few days it seemed like someone was always there.

Finally we were alone and I could shower my passion on him. He still had some pain and walked with a slight limp, but when I took him to the doctor at the VA center in Tulsa, he said that both would go away over time and that he could return to work whenever he wanted to.

Life was great, I was able to work again and Billy was excited about getting back to work himself. Things were good again except for the cloud of my temptation, always on the horizon. I knew I had to talk to Billy about it but I wanted to wait until some time had gone by. If he got real mad at me, which I expected him to do, I wanted to have him as my own again for as long as I could.

About three months after he came home I sat down on the sofa with him, holding his hands. I remembered the quote from Macbeth about courage: "But Screw up your courage to the sticking place, and we'll not fail." So I screwed up my courage and told him everything, not trying to spare myself.

He looked at me, with a serious look on his face, as I spilled my guts to him. When I finished, he wiped the tears from my face, picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. He slowly pulled my sweater and skirt off, then my bra and panties. His soft touch roamed everywhere, soothing me, exciting me. When he entered me I climaxed immediately, then start crying, sobbing.

He touched me, here, there, stilled my sobs. I had been in such tension from the guilt for so long that I felt like I would explode.

Billy's soft voice brought me back from perdition, "Kitty, everyone gets tempted. That's human nature; we're not perfect. There were so many of my buddies that got "Dear John" letters that all of us were scared. I knew it would be hard on you but in the end you stayed true. Do you remember when we read Measure for Measure in our junior year under that old bat, Mrs. Drogdogin, "'Tis one thing to be tempted … another to fall." That doesn't mean that I won't beat the crap out of this guy Glenn, if I ever see him.

I laughed at that which brought on hiccups. Billy united with me in love once again, this time with a passion we had never reached before.

It's now three years later and Sara has a little brother. Once in a while I'm tempted … and I have an extra piece of pie. Once in a while Billy is tempted … and he has another beer. It's not always perfect between us, but it's damn good and we're happy together.

I probably overreacted and smothered Billy with my love but he didn't seem to be complaining.

Please read DG Hear's companion story, "When I Think About Cheatin'"

Thanks for reading this story - I hope you enjoyed it.

I love to get feedback and will respond to all emails.

Jake