The Forgotten War

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J.R.R Tolkien once said 'war must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory.  I love only that which they defend.'  When my siblings and I were younger, we used to always watch Lord of the Rings.  War is ugly.  It's not a thing to be glorified.  There is death.  So much death.  And sadness.  But then at the end of it all there is peace.  Only one side can win.  People who don't have any family members or loved ones in the military seem to forget that those soldiers have loved ones waiting for them back home.  The war in Afghanistan has been going on for six years now and the only time I hear about it is when I turn on the occasional news.  But it seems like everyone else forgot about it.  Like it's the forgotten war.  

-

Eleven hours later...

Alison couldn't believe that it seemed like everything around her was crumbled.  It was like a domino effect.  Once it starts it doesn't stop until it gets to the end point.  

How did her life get so bad so fast?

She thought she was doing the right thing.  She thought she was making the right decision.  But it ended up being the very thing that destroyed her.

*

Eleven hours earlier...

"Hey, are you okay?" Addison asks the resident as she notices she's sad and more anxious today.

"My, um," she started to say but shook her head as tears started to cloud her vision.  "My younger brother, James, is being deployed to Afghanistan towards the end of the month."

"Shit, Ali," Addison sympathized with her resident.  "I'm so sorry," she said as she brought in for a hug.  "You know if you need to maybe you should ask Richard for some time off from work."

"No," she shook her head as they stopped hugging.  "I'm okay.  Work will be a good distraction."

"Alright," Addison let out a sigh, knowing how stubborn she could be.  "Just know that I'm here if you ever need anything."

"Thanks," she smiled at her attending.  "So how did it go with Alex?"

"Oh nothing is going to happen with that.  I read the situation entirely wrong and yeah," she smiled strained.

"I'm sorry," Alison pouted.  "If I'm being honest - I love Alex but he doesn't stay with one woman anyway."

"Yeah, I have a bad track record with that too," Addison sighed. 

"Just know you're never alone," Alison said.

"Thanks," Addison smiled at the blonde as she tilted her head slightly.  "Same to you too."

*

"Aren't you going to get in there?" Mark asked Addison as he saw Derek and Burke pestering Richard about something to do with becoming chief.  "You want to be chief you gotta fight with the big boys."

𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢 - 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯Where stories live. Discover now