WAR IS HELL

WAR IS HELL


She always liked a man in a uniform! Her friends used to often tease her about it but her dad had been a fireman and so perhaps thats how it all started.

After High Sclool she attended University to become a Nurse but dropped out when she had a chance to tour as a civilian health care worker in Iraq.

"Why do you insist on taking risks?" Her mother was against her going to the war torn country but she was a believer in freedom and knew that "freedom isn't free". She wanted to do her part.

It was hard to say goodbye to all of her friends and family but she felt the call of duty. Soon she was working in a foreign hospital, bandaging the wounds of young American soldiers. She saw death first hand and was even more determined to help her country.

"What's your name?" he asked. She turned around to see a man in uniform but this time it was not an American. They all looked alike to her, these Muslims but he wore the uniform of the Iraqie militia.

"Jill" she replied. "Jill Henderson." She extended her hand and he acknowledged it. His grip was firm, his flesh was warm. He towered over her and filled out his uniform very nicely.

"Please stay clear of the area where they are drilling today," he warned. "One can get hurt from the falling debris and ill from the poisonous fumes. What is your job in my country?" His english was flawless.

"I am a nursing assistant at the local hospital."

He nodded & with that, he was gone. But she saw enough of him to see the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on.

As the hot, humid days and nights passed and she worked diligently to help ease the pain of war-inflicted injuries, she slept fitfully in her mosquito netted bed. She found herself dreaming of the Iraqie soldier with the dark moustache and black eyes. She wondered how it would feel to have his mouth on hers?

One day, she was on a bus and saw him escorting children to a school. She looked out the wide, open window just as the bus stopped and he glanced in her direction. Their eyes locked and he nodded, a semi smile on his dark face.

He looked back but she was gone; the bus had moved on quickly. He wondered about her and her auburn hair with dancing brown eyes and full lips, a bright scarf wrapped around her head. He was struck by her beauty and wondered how it would be to see all of her hair, all of her.....

The war was getting nastier by the minute and Jill was afraid but determined to help America by doing her small part. Every day she traveled to the hospital to assist the doctors and nurses as best she could. There was no free time except when she could grab a few hours to sleep and eat.

She remembers it very well. Her tent was near the school where she had seen him and it was outside her tent she was standing when he came looking for her. He asked her if she was going to work at her job in the hospital today.

"No; I just finished my shift there" she replied.

"When will you return to your work" he asked?

"Tomorrow morning" she replied. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason" he said. "There is much going on there today by my fellow soldiers so it is best if you avoid the area until tomorrow."

"Thank you" she said.

He looked into her eyes and before he walked away in his uniform, he said "War is Hell; a woman like you should stay in America."

She watched him leave to catch up with a group of armed Militia and he only looked back once. She raised her hand in a slight wave and he turned away quickly, a very serious look on his handsome face. She would never forget it!

That night, she was awakened by sirens and loud noises in the streets. She quickly dressed and ran outside her tent to see the reason for all the commotion.

Her bunkmates ran to tell her that some Iraqies had blown up the hospital and there were few survivors. The most disturbing news was it had been accomplished by the enemy who had disguised themselves as friendly Iraqies. Jill lost many good friends and valuable doctors and staff.

She was grateful that she was not in the facility when it was struck and was alarmed that it could have been herself blown to pieces. She was mortified!

The next days newspaper showed the Militia behind the massacre and she was stunned and shocked to see her handsome Iraqie soldier had been one of the suicide bombers. His name had been Mohammed Havolie.

Had he not warned her to stay away from the hospital? Was he willing to sacrifice his own life yet smitten enough to save hers?

She prepared to go home as she felt the sting of death all around her. She was one of the lucky ones; she was walking onto an aircraft; many were in body bags with the American flag wrapped around them.

Jill grew old overnight; she returned to the United States and went back to school to become a Pediatrics Nurse. But she knew in her heart and she never forgot that the enemy in uniform had saved her very own life.

War is hell!