Page 1 of Murphy's Laws of Attraction
Prologue
One Year Ago
No Shit! There I was…
Every good and bad military story I have ever heard starts off with, “No shit there I was.” This one is no different.
No shit, there I was pulling guard duty when suddenly there was an explosion from behind. I found myself flat on my stomach trying to catch my breath but I was finding it hard to breathe. My back felt like it was on fire and my brain felt like this morning’s scrambled eggs with loads of ketchup. There was dust all over my face and in my mouth. I could hear others screaming, but I couldn’t make out the words. Everything sounded garbled, my ears were ringing, and my body didn’t seem to want to respond.
My first thought was I’m alive, my second was I was pretty sure others weren’t so lucky. Before I could make it to my third, someone was rolling me over yelling in my face. I instantly recognized my buddy, Zednick, but I couldn’t hear any of the words he was saying. It looked like he was saying my name, but I couldn’t make out much else. His hands moved over me checking for injuries. I tried to tell him to check on the others, but my mouth didn’t seem to want to cooperate.
Just as I was about to grab him to get his attention, his hand came back up toward my face covered in blood. His face looked ashen as he yelled over his shoulder, I’m assuming for help. He held his hand against something below my waist; I couldn’t feel exactly where though. That’s when it hit, I wasn’t as alright as I initially thought, shit just got real. Zednick kept talking to me while every few seconds he yelled over his shoulder. My eyes grew heavy as I tried to focus on my buddy, things weren’tlooking so hot for me. My last thoughts before the darkness took me were hoping Savannah and Paisley knew how much I loved them.
The first thing I notice is the beating; it's like a symphony of beats really. My eyelids feel heavy, and the smell of disinfectant hits my nose like it’s trying to clean out my sinuses. My body feels like one giant fucking bruise, and I try to remember the name of the Mack truck that hit me. The light stings my eyes as I start to open them causing a sudden spike of pain ramming through my skull.
“Fuck.” I groan out and I hear feet shuffling just before my beautiful wife comes into view. She looks like she hasn’t slept in days, but to me she’s still just as beautiful as the day we met.
“Finn, you’re finally awake.” Her arms are crossed, and she doesn’t look or sound relieved at all. She actually looks pissed, which isn’t exactly the reaction I was hoping for. Maybe some sobbing, maybe some thanking God, or even some kisses, but being pissed was not on my list at all. I reach out my hand towards her and she scoots away.
“Savannah, honey what’s wrong? Where’s Paisley?” I’ve already figured out I am in the hospital, and I remember the explosion, but figuring out my wife’s cold shoulder is another thing entirely. I want to ask her how long I’ve been out and if anyone else was hurt during the explosion.
“What’s wrong? What’s Wrong?! What’s wrong is I didn’t sign up for this shit Finn!” She screams at me while flinging her arms at me. Looking down my body, I notice a cast on my right leg and a bandage on my left.
“I know it’s a lot honey, but I’m here and I’m with you. Isn’t that what’s important?” She growls in frustration at me.
“They said you wouldn’t be able to walk anymore, Finn.” Shit, things were worse than I thought they were. I could feel my legs, they hurt like fucking hell, but I could feel them. I couldn’t blame her for being scared, hell I was scared. Before I can tell her, a nurse walks in with a smile lighting up her face.
“Well good morning Sergeant Murphy, I’m glad to see you are finally awake.” Glad someone is at least happy I’m alive and awake. The nurse looks warily between Savannah and me before moving towards my bed.
“It’s good to be awake.” I smile back at her and Savannah rolls her eyes and gives me a dirty look as she plops down in a chair across the room.
“Well I’m going to check your vitals and bandages and the doctor will be in shortly to talk with you about your injuries.” She quickly checks my blood pressure, temperature, and bandages before giving me a quick smile and leaving.
“Must you always flirt with every woman that gets within five feet of you? Seriously, I'm right here Finn.” Savannah huffs out with her arms crossed giving me a dirty look.
“I wasn’t flirting baby, I was just being nice. You know I love only you; you and Paisley are my world. Come here so I can hold you.” Her face softens a little as I reach for her, but she doesn’t move from the chair she’s in. I try to remind myself she’s probably just scared, but I can’t help but think it’s something else.
“That’s not going to work this time Finn, do you have any idea what I’ve been through inthe last week. I had to get my mom to come stay with Paisley so I could fly all the way over here to be with you.” Okay so Paisley was with her momma, even though I wish she was here so I can see her it’s probably better she doesn’t see me like this.
“Then I was on a flight to Germany for what felt like freaking forever. Only to get here and you’re unconscious and the doctor is saying you might not ever walk again. So no, your “I’m your world” bullshit isn’t going to cut this time.” I’ve been out for a week, holy fuck no wonder she’s acting like this. Tears are streaming down her face, but she doesn’t look sad, just angry. No, not angry, hate filled.
When did my wife start to hate me? How did this happen? When I left she told me how much she loved me and to come back in one piece. Okay, so I admit I didn’t really keep the bargain I made her. I’m not exactly in one piece, but I am alive, and it sounds like I am eventually going home for good. Shouldn’t she be happy I won’t ever have to go back to war again?
“I know you’re scared baby, but we’ll get through this. It’s just a bump in the road, but we are stronger together.” She sits there with her hate filled eyes just glaring at me for a moment. Before she can lash out at me again, the doctor comes in to talk to me.
“Mrs. Murphy.” He nods at Savannah, and she doesn’t respond at all. When did she get to be so rude to people? Maybe it was the stress of everything getting to her. She probably hated being away from Paisley this long. Maybe I should send her home so she can be with our daughter.
“Sergeant Murphy, glad to see you awake. Let’s talk about these injuries you acquires. During the explosion you were hit with some shrapnel that went in close to your spine. We were able to get that out, but it did some damage on the way in and on the way out to your Lumbar region of your spine. When you were propelled through the air, you landed on your right leg, and it broke right along your tibia. Your left leg however only sustained minor damage and only required some stitches to close up the gash. You are very lucky, it could have been much worse.” Savannah snorts from where she’s sitting causing the doctor togive her a reproachful look. What went down between these two while I was out?
“Tell him the best part Doc, you were dying to tell me when I got here.” The doctor closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Yup, whatever went down between them was not good.
“Before we get to that, let’s do a quick examination, shall we.” Over the next thirty minutes, the doctor touches my toes, runs his finger against part of the bottom of my foot, because the rest is bandaged, and asks me questions about what I can and can’t feel.
“Well the good news is I don’t think walking will be an issue, eventually. The bad news is that you will definitely need physical therapy. With the leg break and the back, I would say probably six months to a year of physical therapy minimum to get you back to working order. We were concerned that you might not be able to walk, as I explained to your wife a few days ago. The surgery to remove the shrapnel was a success so I feel confident in saying you will be walking in the future. How far in the future will be up to you and your body. Do you have any questions?” The doctor looks between me and Savannah; we both shake our heads no and he takes his leave.
“Well that was better news than I thought I’d hear. See baby, only six months to a year and I’ll be back in action.” She cringed at my words, but then turned her head to stare out the window. Something wasn’t right, but my head was pounding so hard I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Chapter One
