Young Writers Society

I knew Wayne and I were close after Wednesday night.

It had been a long day. I was tired, sore, and ready to escape to a secluded, quiet place after my basketball game. Wayne and I sat around, talking to even more new friends, listening to ring tones, and dancing to our own rhythms. It was good to be away from the noise of the evening sports games, the confines of the bays, and our annoying teammates.

Unfortunately, we missed an unannounced formation. I was furious when I learned what had happened and what people were saying about our absence.

“They’re really grotesque,” I remember Heather telling me. “I know you aren’t like that though!”

I was speechless. I wanted to be alone.

“You didn’t miss much. The Sarge was just complimenting our motivation and progress.”

“Wonderful,” I had replied haughtily, standing up. “I’ll see you in the bay.”

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“To run off some steam.”

I took off. I was hoping to run all the way to the bunks, where I could cry and scream all I wanted. I rounded the corner of the break building, jumping sideways to avoid running into people…

I fell. I had landed on a patch of gravel at the peak of that rocky, steep, tall hill, and I tumbled. I rolled seemingly forever, rocks embedding themselves in my bare lower leg and elbow; the larger, partially submerged blocks of concrete cutting my back and shoulders through my ROTC shirt; and finally…

I stopped at the base of that slope, having rammed into the sidewalk leading into the boys’ bays. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. Blood trickled down my arm and leg, and there was a sharp, burning sensation through my shoulder and side…

Heather and a few others were at my side; everyone who had been laughing were now standing around, worried since I had not gotten up.

“Audra? Audra, come on, get,” Heather coaxed, trying to help me to my feet. “Come on, let’s get you to the medics.”

“God,” I groaned as four pairs of hands took me by the wrists and shoulders and – almost literally – picked me up. I couldn’t stand straight, the pain was so intense…

“Can you walk?” Heather asked.

“I don’t know…” My head was spinning. The fall had done a lot to me.

“Can you try?” She supported me as I took two steps. “Jamon.”

Jamon, a tall black boy in my platoon, picked me up before I could protest. Together, he and Heather made sure I got to the first aid station, halfway across our part of the base.

I then realized that I had not seen Wayne. I tried to question Heather, but she and Jamon were guiding me to a seat inside the building.

“Heather – ” I began.

“Excuse me,” she was talking to one of the medics.

“Heather – ”

The medic came over and knelt in front of me. Her fingers began to run up the gashed on my leg, brushing away the sand and smaller bits of rock. Heather stood out of the way as Jamon left.

“Go to the bathroom and rinse this out. It’ll hurt some,” the nurse told me.

Some. Even the touch of damp paper towels brought tears to my eyes. I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming and swearing aloud when the woman doused my injuries with alcohol only a few minutes later. The excruciating, blinding pain lasted for many long moments, leaving me silent, irritable, and with a strong desire for some object to destroy or throw.

I sat there, quiet for a long time, just holding an ice pack against my lower shoulder blade. My side was still pounding. A few minutes later, Nina came to the center and comforted me. Heather left to find Wayne, leaving us alone.

It was a few more long, nigh unbearable minutes before I was released to the barracks. It was after nine, after curfew, and it took me three times as long to walk those one hundred yards to my bay, up twenty stairs, and to the third bed from the door.

Lying on my stomach, the ice pack on my side, where pain still prevailed, my mind wandered. Where was Wayne? Where had he been? Did he know? Where was Heather? Were people still talking? Would I be able to complete the camp? How long would it take me to recover?

My whole body throbbing and stiff, I fell asleep as I was. After waking up several times at night because I turned wrong, I concluded I had never been in so much pain in my life.