The Embattled Road (Lost and Found Series) Read Free Page A

The threat of infection had passed, for the most part, and they needed the room for more wounded rolling in. His new roommate was Gunnery Sergeant John Palmer, incomplete spinal cord injury, or SCI, paralyzed from the hips down and angry at the world. It took Duncan a week just to get a ‘fuck you’ out of him. He eventually realized this was the guy that had no family, and it made Duncan all the more determined to connect with him, in spite of his surly attitude. Duncan watched two young nurses just out of school leave in tears because they tried to talk to the paralyzed Marine and had been ripped to shreds. The only nurse not outwardly affected by his nastiness was Lacey. She grinned when he cussed her out and shook her dark head. “If you weren’t so cute, Gunnery Sergeant, I’d smack that sour look off your face.”
    “Fuck you,” he snapped.
    She grinned that much more and sailed out of the room.
    Duncan felt slightly offended on the sweet nurse’s behalf.
    “Dude, they feed you. You better cut them some slack.”
    “Fuck you,” he snarled, with no regard to rank.
    Duncan didn’t try to correct him because he understood where the man came from. A week ago he’d thought he would be in the chair permanently, and it hadn’t been a good feeling. The tiny, living, feeling area that had stretched up to his ankles had reignited all his desperate hopes for a normal life.

Chapter Two
     
    A week after Duncan moved in with Palmer, Chad Lowell rolled into the room, pushed by an orderly. His left arm was bandaged and there was a stump below the knee of his left leg, but Duncan grinned in spite of himself and gave a yell. He leaned forward as much as he could and almost fell out of bed clasping arms with his ex-Sergeant, genuinely glad to see his buddy. They’d been on two tours together in the desert and they worked together well, though Duncan was several years older. Chad had been injured months ago while they’d been on patrol, walking next to the Marine that had stepped on the mine, Mike Dodd. Dodd hadn’t survived but Chad had, in spite of the traumatic injuries to his entire left side.
    He grinned and Duncan was relieved to see the easy-going character still in there. Though his eyes were haunted, his spirit still seemed strong. Duncan shook his head at the younger man. “I never expected you’d still be here. I asked a couple weeks ago but nobody would answer me. How the hell are you?”
    Chad shrugged and motioned to the orderly standing behind him. “Fine. Getting the royal escort.” He looked up at the orderly. “Mind if we hang for a while? I’ll holler when I’m ready to go.”
    The orderly gave a laid back wave and left.
    Chad looked him over. “You look like crap, Dunc. When I heard you were part of that messy ‘copter crash, I knew it was going to be bad. What’d they tell you?”
    Reaching above himself, Duncan used the bar hanging over his head to shift his weight on his hips. He was starting to feel when he’d been in one position too long. “I’m okay. Busted pelvis and a few burns. Spinal cord shock was the biggie. But my feeling is starting to come back.” He grinned in spite of himself, and Chad grinned with him. “What about you?”
    “Ah, well,” Chad paused to clear his throat, “you knew my leg was gone. Luckily I still have the knee joint. I’m going to be fitted with a prosthetic next month.” The young Marine looked where his leg used to be. “Damn strange nothing being there.”
    Duncan couldn’t imagine. As he looked at the Marine in front of him, changed for the rest of his life, it was hard not to get pissed at the country and all the suits who pretended to run it.
    “The arm had third degree burns. I’ve had several grafts that have taken well, but I may need more. The ones on my neck didn’t need grafted.” Chad touched the skin of his neck and grimaced as if he didn’t like the feel of it.
    Duncan nodded in support. The grafting process was as painful as