The Heart Knows Best

Chapter 11: War

Chapter 11: War

April 20, 2011

Kendra's eyes flashed open as she woke up that morning. She could see the sheets tangled around her legs; obviously she'd been fighting something off in her sleep; probably the sight of Jon being locked up and tortured by the Taliban. She's been having horrible nightmares lately.

She rubbed her face as she looked over at the pillow beside her. She'd strictly kept to her side of the bed so that Jon's pillow would keep his scent on it for as long as possible.

It was times like these, that when she really missed him, she curled up with his pillow or some of his clothes and inhaled his scent.

It'd been three weeks since Jon had left for the Middle East. She wondered why Jon hadn't written her back yet, but Edna informed her that it took a week for the letter to get there, a week for them to sort everything out. And then two weeks for the letter to come back; so Kendra assumed she was waiting another week or so before Jon's reply came back.

She nuzzled her face in Jon's pillow. She closed her eyes and started to relive some of their memories together. His smile and laugh and the way he held her. She smiled to herself and opened her eyes, half-expecting him to be staring at her, telling her to wipe the drool off her face because he was too sexy for her.

But, alas, when she opened her eyes, only the wall stared back at her. She wondered if he was thinking about her. Jon probably did, at night, but during the day he was probably fighting for his life; he didn't have time for those kinds of thoughts when he had to lead an army of men to safety.

She thought of the battles he must be going through now. The heat of the desert, the stink of sweat, the fear in the new privates' eyes; Kendra commended Jon on signing up in the first place. The thought of war was enough to make her nauseous. In fact… Kendra made it just in time to the porcelain god.

She'd never liked throwing up, the burn from the stomach acid always made her eyes water and she would look as if she was crying.

"Kendra, honey, it's time to wake up dear. It's a new day!" Edna said from the door.

She noticed that the bed was empty as she walked into the room, looking for her daughter-in-law.

"Kendra?" she called out.

She heard a noise in the bathroom, followed by Kendra's voice, "In here."

Edna walked in to see Kendra collapsed next to the toilet. Her face was pale and almost green and she looked weak.

"Oh God, Kendra, are you alright?" Edna exclaimed as she rushed over to the young woman.

Kendra tried to stand up but her legs were shaky. Her eyes were watering and had bile running down her clothes.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Edna said and she started to strip Kendra down.

A few minutes later, Edna had Kendra soaking in the tub while she cleaned up the bathroom.

Kendra was silent, playing with her wet hair before she started crying. Of course, Edna knew the drill and ignored the fact that she was wet and drew her into her arms.

Edna remembered when Trenton had left her almost forty years ago. She'd been through this stage already, where the pain from missing them is go great you feel like you can't even move.

"What am I going to do, Edna? It's been three weeks and I'm a complete wreck. How the hell am I supposed to last ten months?"

Edna just held her tighter, "It'll get better, I promise. It's your first time, it gets easier; it still hurts but it gets easier."