Angel of Okinawa; Chapter 25

 

Angel of Okinawa; Chapter 25

© 2024 by Amber Wright

I felt myself being untangled from my bike.

A man was speaking.

But I couldn’t respond.

Or understand.

I was in too much pain. Too much in shock. Too much in the war aftermath to think or move my lips. Slowly, I came to myself.

I opened my eyes. My eyelids must have been swollen for it felt like my skin was bursting when I opened them. I would’ve howled in pain if I had any voice.

The first thing I saw was a U. S. uniform.

My heart skipped a beat, thinking it might be Derek. But then I remembered Derek was gone and far away, maybe even back in America.

The person in the U. S. uniform was winding strips of tan cloth around my head. I winced as the cloth closed in around my bloody head.

I heard the voice speaking again. “Are you alright, Angel?”

I tried to open my eyes wider and looked up at his face. How did he know my name?

“Relax,” his voice didn’t sound familiar. “Be at peace, Angel.”

I saw short blonde hair and hazy light eyes, and his voice was peaceful. He wore a white undershirt and khaki trousers.

Still, nothing about him was familiar.

“You'll be alright.” The stranger lifted me up in his strong arms and I blacked out.

^{· · ·}

I opened my eyes to find Meema peering down at me with a look of concern. American voices buzzed through my ears as I tried to sit up.

Meema pushed me back down gently. “No, you must lie still. Your head must heal properly. Angel, shh…”

I dropped my head back onto the pillow and winced. What a great pain there was in my head! The hurt was really bad, and inside I was plain confused. Where was I?

“What happened?” I looked up at Meema blankly. “Why am I here at a…” I looked around the buzzing room and saw lines of cots, “…soldier hospital?”

“You’ve had a fall or something.” Meema's brows were knitted. “What really happened?”

What happened?

I looked up at Meema with blank eyes.

I don’t know.

A soldier in a white undershirt walked over to us and placed his hand over my bandaged head.

I tried to talk to him but my words jumbled.

The soldier smiled and turned around to walk off. He opened the flap of the tent and he disappeared into the hazy light of sunset.

Electricity shot through my brain as if new blood rushed into it, and I sat up. Even the pain was gone. I could think again.

Who was that stranger who had found me?

“What happened, Angel?”

“Meema, they beat me up.” I remembered. “Those kids were my neighbor friends. They beat me up with their clubs. They said I helped kill their relatives!”

I sunk my head into the soft pillow.

“How dare they!” Meema was angry. “How dare they try to kill my daughter!”