I Remember

The early morning fog hung low to the ground, like a misty blanket, and the breaking dawn cast long shadows, as we headed into the sun. The landscape consisted of sparse vegetation and sporadic groups of trees and rolling hills. We flew close to the deck as possible, trying to use the element of surprise.

This wasn't like many of our search-and-destroy missions, where the target was ambiguous at best. This time, the "eye in the sky" was giving us clear Intel and confirming this was an enemy staging area. I eased forward on the cyclic and increased the throttle until we peaked at attack speed. Low and fast, we approached on the down-wind side, four hundred yards and closing. I was lead gun ship of three, as we burst through the tree line and crested over the berm.

"Black Lightning, this is Cobra One. Target confirmed. Permission to engage?"

"You are clear to engage," was the immediate reply.

"It's all yours, Pete," I said to my gunner as we broke into the open. The field was filled with infantry, light armor, and artillery still hooked up to their trucks. It was obviously a fire base in the making.

They were totally caught by surprise, probably thinking they were a safe distance from the fighting in the south. I calculated to be around a hundred or more of them exposed in the open. They were scrambling for cover as our mini-gun spit out its lethal fire. They didn't stand a chance. Pete was the best gunner I've ever served with, and he expertly directed his wrath on the panicked, camouflage-dressed enemy. Their bodies fell like cord wood as we became the harbinger of death. War is not glorious, but vile and merciless.

The stunned enemy were so confused that their first reaction was to run and not even shoot back. We maintained our spear-head formation, cutting through the heart of their numbers, each chopper raining out terror. At the far end of the field, there was a bunkered reinforced building, surrounded by a perimeter wall. That small compound was the only protective structure to be seen, and the revolotionary guard were running amass into it.

For me, combat was such an adrenaline high. My senses were always peaked and alive, like no other time. It was as if things were happening in slow motion. Even the smell of the nitrocellulose from the gunfire and JP4 gas was etched into my memory.

Our high speed and downdraft kicked up dust from the ground, as I pushed on the torque pedal and swung around to line up our approach. They had started to regroup from the initial shock, and the tracers from their return fire streaked by with an occasional tick of rounds slamming into our ship's ballistic armor. We concentrated bursts of cannon rounds on the sporadic small arms gunfire coming mostly from the perimeter wall.

"Take it out!" I commanded as we closed in on the building.

A fraction of a second later, Pete released a tow missile and it found its way over the wall and through the front of the fortified building. The initial explosion was marked by a few milliseconds pause, followed by a massive secondary blast. We must have hit a major ammunition depository. Our speed and close proximity to the target deemed we fly through the debris field of exploding munitions. I cranked up the collective to gain altitude, but the shock wave hit us hard, pitching the helicopter violently, and creating a fearful loss of control that no pilot ever wants to experience.

"Shit!" Pete shouted as our wind-screens turned red from the pulverized exploding bodies as we passed through the carnage of the blast field.

I turned on the wipers to clear our visibility as we knifed through the smoke and flame. Suddenly, I was getting a full panel of warning lights and screaming buzzers. The turbine, engine and rotor were all compromised. The intake had sucked up too much debris.

"Can't hold it, we're going down!" I screamed. The yoke lurched violently and the ground approached quickly. Paralyzing fear gripped my guts as it all turned to black.

-oOo-

"Lieutenant Gray... Lieutenant Gray, wake up, you're having a nightmare," a woman's voice echoed through the haze as my eyes cleared.

"Wha... Where am I?" I asked in confusion.

"You're in the hospital, Lieutenant. I'm Lieutenant Halley, your nurse. Can you remember anything?"

I peered through the ragged edges of the bandages at a beautiful woman with gorgeous eyes, and golden hair, dressed in white. If this horrendous pain wasn't coursing through my body, I would have thought she was an angel, and I was in heaven.

"Lieutenant, do you have any recollection of what happened? Do you know who and where you are?... Stay with us."

After a long pause, and fighting to remain conscious I replied, "I'm First Lieutenant Billy Gray, and... I think... I was in a crash... How's Pete?"

"Very good, Lieutenant! The drugs have a tendency to cause memory loss and some confusion. Again, I'm your nurse, Lieutenant Halley. Your doctor will be in shortly. You've been out for three days."

"How's Pete?"

"Um, I'm not at liberty to discuss Warrant Officer Casey's condition. You will have to talk to your doctor about that. If you need pain meds, just push the button."

I immediately pushed the button several times. I felt so tired. The pain was giving way to a relaxed feeling as I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke again, I was being transferred to a metal gurney. Even though I was only semi-conscious, I could tell my injuries were substantial. The sheer number of people in the room and beeping monitors suggested I was in a surgical room. Everyone was so busy that no one noticed I was awake. Pain was hitting me all over, but my back was the worst. It felt like a spike was driven in it.

"He's waking... Doctor, he's waking up." The voice echoed, like I was in a hallway.

A man in a green surgical mask put his face in mine, and then held a plastic mask on me.

"Count back from a hundred," he said.

I counted. "One hundred... Ninety... Nine... Ninty..."

-oOo-

"Wake up, Mr. Gray, it's all over. Do you feel cold? Take deep breaths. Here's some warm blankets. You're in recovery," a pleasant-looking older nurse said as I strained to gain my senses. "Your doctor will be right in. Here's some orange juice," she added, holding up a juice box with a bent straw for me to sip.

"What happened? What am I recovering from?"

"Just relax, and your doctor will explain everything. Try to cough, and clear your lungs."

I had seemed to have lost all sense of time. My memory was but a kaleidoscope of bits and pieces. There was a curtain around my bed, and I was freezing. For the first time since the crash, I was lucid enough to take assessment of my situation. My right arm and both legs were in fiberglass casts. My head was wrapped also. There were IVs coming out of my left arm, and some kind of trapeze rack was supporting my casts.

Suddenly, the curtain opened and an older balding man dressed in green scrubs carrying a clipboard, entered my enclosure with two nurses.

One nurse that looked Asian, was taking my vitals, while the other was injecting something in my IV.

The man looked over my chart and said, "Lieutenant, I'm Dr. Aversion, your neurosurgeon. We just repaired your spine, and placed a rod in your back to assist the healing. Do you have any questions?"

"Yes, sir. I have nothing but questions. To start with: How's my crewman, Pete?"

"He's alive, but pretty messed up. He's in guarded condition. However, I'm only authorized to discuss your case."

He went on to answer my questions in great detail, using medical jargon I could barely comprehend. I think they do that to give the patient a sense that they are smarter than us. From what I understood, my legs suffered compound fractures, along with my right arm and back. He also said that I was lucky to be alive, which I kinda figured out on my own. He emphasized that it was going to be a long road to recovery, and then went on to say that it was doubtful I would ever return to flight status. That hurt the worst. I lived for flying.

-oOo-

After two months in this place, the only bright spot in all this was Lieutenant Linda Halley, my nurse. We spent many weeks flirting with each other. She was definitely every guy's fantasy nurse in the flesh. Linda had a smile that brightened up the room. I looked forward to seeing her every day.

The time I had my casts taken off, she had the job of wiping the stink off my skin, but didn't flinch at the job. She laughed and joked while she scrubbed the maturated skin from my arms and legs. We would laugh and chatter all day, never running out of things to talk about. I remember she was reprimanded for spending too much time in my room.

I think she knew how much I liked her, because every time she gave me a sponge bath little Billy would be at full attention. She would just cover my erection with a hand towel, and never even break her banter. I couldn't help myself. It was an involuntary reaction from a hormone filled GI. Sometimes she'd pause and flash a smile.

Our conversations have become more personal the past few weeks, and we've been talking about a full range of subjects, including family and philosophy. I discovered she was from California, like me. Linda went to junior college in a nursing program, and enlisted in the army after graduation. She mentioned that she was unattached, since her fiance had broke it off a year ago. I made clear I was totally unattached except for being married to the army.

During the course of our conversation last week she asked me, "Why the sad face?"

I replied, "Because it's Friday."

"That's silly. Why would Friday's make you sad?"

"Because you'll be off for two days, and I won't see you until Monday."

"Well, is that so?" she grinned.

"Yup. I really miss you when you're gone. Your replacement is a dude. Trust me, he's not half as cute as you!" I laughed.

While she pushed the cart from the room, she looked over her shoulder and said, with a coy grin, "I miss you, too!"

Saturday came, and it was the same old routine that started with 6:00 AM therapy. They always showed up with the walker. I tried as best I could on wobbly legs to walk. This big guy held the hand grip of my wool-lined safety belt. We'd inch up the hallway toward the nurses' station, and then would pass by Pete's room, where he was recovering from severe head trauma. I'd always wave and say some smart-ass thing, but he'd just stare back at me blankly. He was more than a gunner to me. We went through flight school together. He was my best friend. I felt responsible for what happened. I had been over it a thousand times. If only... I broke it off sooner. If only... I had fired sooner. If only...

Times have changed, I thought as I struggled to walk. It was Just a few months ago, I was running five miles a day. Now I was lucky to make it down this fucking hall and back with assistance.

At 8:00 AM, it was time for my scrumptious hospital breakfast, consisting of the same old powdered eggs, soy bacon, oatmeal, milk, and coffee. I actually discovered something worse than Army food, hospital food.

It was around 11:30 AM that I was startled to hear a familiar voice. It was Linda Halley.

"Hey, big boy! It's lunch time."

She walked in carrying a basket, dressed in a sheer pink summer dress. It occurred to me this was the first time I had seen her out of her nurses uniform, and the first time I had seen her hair down. Her blond locks reached half way down her back. I was speechless, and must have looked like a fool with my mouth hanging open. She was stunning and the way her breasts moved, I could tell she was braless.

"What's the matter? You never seem to run out of things to say." She grinned a very confident smile.

"I... I thought this was your day off."

"It is, silly. I thought we'd have a picnic. How does fried chicken, real mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn on the cob sound?"

"It sounds as good as you look. Thank you... You're wonderful."

"I told the staff to give us two hours uninterrupted time, so... we could have our picnic."

"Linda, this was so sweet. You know how I feel... I..."

"I feel the same way, Billy," she interrupted. "That's why I'm here. Consider this our first date. If the brass found out, we both might be put in the stockade."

"It would be worth it, if we shared a cell." I laughed, and placed my hand on her hip, giving her a squeeze.

"You're bad!" she grinned, pushing my hand away.

"You have no idea!" I beamed.

"Come on, let's eat while its hot. After slaving over the stove and cooking all morning, I don't want it cold."

Linda set two chairs across from one another and lowered the tray between them so we could share it. She opened her basket, and started setting up. She pulled out dinnerware, utensils, coleslaw, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a big bucket of KFC chicken.

I was laughing hysterically, and said, "I thought you said you cooked all morning?"

She smiled and replied, "You found out something new about me today... I lie."

We had so much fun chatting and poking fun at each other while we ate. She was one of the few people I've ever met who could keep up with my sarcasm. Our personalities meshed like hand in glove.

Then, when she stood up with the window light behind her, it highlighted her lsilhouette through her dress. I wasn't sure if she knew it, but she paused an extended time, letting me take in her beauty of her slim waist, full hips, and flat tummy.

"You need to get back in bed. Our time is almost up." She almost commanded.

I crawled up on the bed with her assistance, putting my arm around her neck. I continued to hold her shoulders after I sat on the edge and without a word, I looked deep in her blue eyes, and pulled her to me. She enveloped me in her arms, and our lips touched for the first time. So softly at first, but then, through mutual need, we locked into a kiss that I'll never forget. It was like we were drawing the very life from each another. This was more than a kiss. It was like a promise - a promise of more to come. Our tongues twirled together in a dance that was choreographed from the beginning of time.

"Lay back on the bed, Billy," she instructed. I laid back, never taking my eyes off hers.

"I... I think I am falling for you, Linda," I whispered.

Linda picked up the hand cream and squirted some in her palm. She used her free hand to pull around the privacy curtain, and then slipped her hand under my gown. I moaned at her touch.

"Shhhh! Be quiet," she whispered, as her hand encircled my member.

I remember her touch was so pleasurable, it was beyond description. I had been dreaming about this for months. This required my full resolve to not explode immediately. Using her free hand, she took mine and placed it on her breast. It was so soft. I pulled down her stretch top and exposed her left breast. The nipple was a perky button on quarter-size aureoles. I pinched it, rolling it between my thumb and forefinger.

"Awww," she moaned.

"Shhh!" I whispered, then chuckled sarcastically.

She stroked me ever so gently, sensing my struggle in not coming too quickly. I wandered my hand down and lifted the hem of her dress, and slid my hand up her thigh.

"Billy, you mustn't," Linda gasped as I softly ran my index finger over the wet mound of her panties.

I responded by pushing the soaked cloth to the side, and parting her labia with my probing finger. She shuddered at my touch.

"Suck me!" I gasped, in a low voice.

"I can't. We might get caught." I held the back of her neck, gently pulling her to my throbbing hard cock.

She pulled the sheet aside, and inched her face toward my waiting member. When her sensual red lips parted, engulfing my swollen cock head, it felt like nothing I experienced ever before. Her tongue tantalized the ridge. I could feel my cock head swell. At the same time, I probed her sloppy pussy with three fingers. The squishy sound of my digits sliding back and forth, added to the moment. The rapid pumping pace sent her in to a delirium of ecstasy.

I was amazed that I could last as long as I did, but I wanted this moment to last forever. It had been so long since I tasted pussy, and I desperately wanted to, but my lack of mobility seemed to make it impossible.

"I want to taste you," I exclaimed.

She lifted her head, staring into my face with a look of lustful passion, and replied, "So do I! But how?"

"Take off your panties, lower the bed and carefully straddle me."

She barely paused before her knickers were on the floor. She then systematicly placied her knees to the sides of my shoulders and bed rails. I cupped her firm butt and pulled her to me. The scent of her womanhood was so enticing. My goatee was soaked in pussy juice immediately. The tip of my tongue seemed to have a mind of its own. I licked and swirled around her clit until it was like a erect little button, and at the same time, probed her opening with my finger. She jerked and spasmed and gained yet another orgasm.

"Oh, Billy. Oh God! Don't stop! Ohhh!" she moaned in a low voice as the continuing orgasm rocked her body.

"Fuck me!" I begged.

"We can't! Your back isn't healed yet," she said, sounding more like Nurse Linda.

Suddenly, there was a rapping on the door.

"Are you done in here yet? I need to take some blood," a woman's voice asked.

"Give us a few more minutes," Linda replied, trying to maintain her composure.The door shut.

I thought my experience was over, but my sweet lover knew I wasn't done. She crawled off the bed and lowered her head, engulfing my still-hard erection. With no restraining this time, I erupted quickly. That was, what you might say, a two-month cum. She swallowed, but couldn't contain it all. Semen seeped out, and coated my shaft.

"Thank you!" I mouthed my words to her. She took a wash cloth and wiped her chin and rest of the evidence. Then, in a hurry she adjusted her clothing. I watched, as she scurried around, packing things up. I don't know why we weren't talking. Maybe the moment just needed to stand on its own. Words weren't needed.

Finally, she came over to me and sat on the edge of the bed. We looked at each other, digesting what had happened.

I couldn't contain myself any longer, and put my hand on hers and said, "Linda, I- I..."

"You don't need to say it. I feel the same way, and have for a while."

"I fell for you the first time I set my eyes upon you," I replied.

"I gotta go, love!" She kissed me good-bye, and I watched as she opened the door. She looked over her shoulder and grinned with that radiant smile. The door shut, and I immediately longed for her presence, still smelling her scent, and her taste upon my lips.

About fifteen minutes later Edward, my Saturday nurse, came in with my meds and started cleaning up. He was a big black man, who was more apt to be a football player than a nurse.

"I hear you had a picnic today," he said, wiping off my roll-about tray.

"Yeah, Linda brought me lunch." I replied with a smile.

"How was it?"

"She brought chicken. It was really yummy. Much better than hospital grub."

"I bet, Lieutenant," he said, bending over beside the bed.

"I like what you had for dessert," he chuckled, holding up Linda's wet panties pinched between his fingers.

-oOo-

As the months passed we had many more encounters. She was, at her own request assigned to help with my therapy. Linda promised me that as soon as I was able to jog the side walk around the hospital we'd go away on a vacation together. I remember how hard I worked to make that happen with endless hours of painful exercise. I wanted to prove my doctor wrong with all of his negative predictions.

Then the day came. Linda waited out front of the hospital with several other nurses, as I started the mile and half jog. About twelve minutes later I rounded the turn to the applause of a growing crowd. I never felt prouder in my life. It was as if I just won the Boston marathon. I was slapping hands as I approached Linda. She threw her arms around me as I panted to a stop. We kissed and embraced and I lifted off her feet, spinning her around. My prize was getting my life back, even though I knew I would be transferred away from Linda.