Becky's Marine Ch. 04

When the valve was closed we waited to see if it stopped leaking. After a few minutes the leak hadn't changed, telling us the upstream block was leaking by. Typical.

The fire truck pulled up lights flashing, stopping on the road and basically closing it. Mike met the firemen and informed them of the situation. As they were developing a plan, the valve finally gave out.

"Fuck!" I said before cueing up my radio. "The valve let go!" I said with some authority.

"Copy. Chuck, hit the evacuation siren. Carl, Jim and Shawn, clear the plant!" Mike said, getting replies in the affirmative as the sirens began to wail.

The pump this valve is on operates at around 750 degrees, circulating the bottoms material in the distilation column through our reboiler furnace. Unfortunately, its auto-ignition temperature - the temperature at which it will ignite when it contacts oxygen - is 500 degrees.

I was just grabbing the water hose off the rack when it caught fire, raining down flaming oil on top of Mike. I grabbed a fire blanket, left by a contractor, throwing it on him to smother the flames before guiding him to the safety shower. A fireman came and helped me get him out of the area. I could hear his screams as I walked back to the plant. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital, 45 minutes away. They were the only one with a burn unit.

Within an hour, the flames were contained, but not before sending a plume of black smoke into the midday sky.

With the chaos of the day, I had forgotten that Becky had probably heard the sirens and seen the smoke. We were so close to town, it was hard to miss something like that. I pulled my phone from my pocket, seeing I had 6 missed texts from Becky.

From Becky:

What happened!!???

Are you OK?

Please be OK!

You better be OK or I'm going to kick your ass

Baby please respond!

I need you! Don't leave me!

I had to text her back. I felt a little bad about not texting her earlier, but then again I was busy helping fight the fire.

To Becky:

I'm OK, I'll be coming home to you tonight baby. I love you.

She replied almost instantly.

From Becky:

Thank the gods! I'm crying so hard, I was worried sick.

The rest of the shift was spent bringing down the plant and isolating the column and the pump. When I got home that evening, Becky came running out the door to meet me. She jumped into my arms, sending us backwards against my truck door.

"I was so worried about you," She said between kisses. "I thought I'd never see you again."

I held her head in my hands so she would stop assaulting my face. "I'm fine, I'm here now, everything will be OK. I love you."

"I love you too. I love you so much!" Tears were streaming down her face, though if they were tears of sadness or joy I'll never know. I went and showered, finally getting to wash that smell off me, and returning to Becky sitting on my bed.

"I heard the sirens and got worried. When I saw the smoke I got so scared, I thought I lost you. You mean the world to me and I don't know what I'd do without you." She said through tears. I got dressed and sat down beside her, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close to me.

"I'm not going anywhere. Haven't you figured out by now that it takes more than that to kill me?" I was trying, quite unsuccessfully, to lighten the mood. She smiled a loving smile and let me hold her for a while. Carl knocking on the door reminded me that we weren't alone.

"Come in, we're decent."

Carl opened the door holding a note. "The hospital called, Mike is gonna pull through. His family wants you to meet them down there so they can thank you personally. What happened?"

"Mike got covered in oil when the fire started, it lit off and he was covered in flames. I threw a fire blanket on him and got him to a safety shower before they took him away."

Becky looked at me in shocking disbelief. "You ran into a fire to save him, even though you could have been killed trying to save him?! I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Carl was scared enough for both of us. "I'll leave you too alone. The family will be there around 11 tomorrow," He said, closing the door behind him. Becky gave me her full attention.

"You're my hero. I'm so proud of you, I wanna fuck you right now." She threw herself at me and we kissed for a long moment.

"Becky, I'm completely exhausted. We can fuck in the morning, you can even beat on the wall so Carl knows I'm fucking your brains out."

Her disappointment showed, but she understood. That night was hard, my mind reliving the events of the day. That was my first fire, and though not big by industry standards, it was still bad. Any fire in a refinery is bad.

---

I woke up early, unable to shake the memories from my mind. I decided to make a pot of coffee and get breakfast started. About an hour later, Carl came in, back from working his last night shift for a few days. We talked, mostly him bringing me up to speed on what they had found and how the shutdown went. Becky came out a few minutes later.

After breakfast, Carl went to shower and get some sleep while Becky and I cleaned up and headed to see Mike. We got to the hospital just after visiting hours started. His family was there, talking with the doctor.

As we walked up to them, a woman who I guessed was his wife ran up and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you so much for what you did. You saved his life!". She had all the telltale signs of crying. Other family members came up and hugged us or shook hands. The doctor came out and talked to us.

"Mike's doing well, he just got out of surgery and is being moved to a post-op room now. You should be able to see him in about 30 minutes."

"Surgery for what?" I asked.

"Nothing serious, just to clean up some of the tissue around his face and neck. Left unchecked, it could have become infected," the doctor said.

"Got it, how bad are his injuries?" I asked.

"He's gonna make it. He's got second and third degree burns over 40% of his body. His coveralls saved most his body from the waist down, but his chest and head will have some scarring and disfigurement," the doctor said.

The doctor left and we talked a bit with the rest of the family. After a while, a nurse came to get everyone. We followed her to a room deep in the bowels of the emergency room, stopping outside the door.

"This is his room, only 2 people in at a time unfortunately," she said before walking away to tend to other duties. His wife looked at Becky and I.

"You two should go in first, you did save him after all."

"That's awfully kind of you, but he needs his family right now more than me. Y'all go ahead and we'll come by later."

"Are you sure? We don't mind waiting."

"Yes ma'am, I'm sure. We'll come by in about an hour or so."

She gave us hugs and kisses on the cheek before going in to see her husband. As we went to leave, a young boy stepped in front of us. If I were a betting man, I'd say it was his son.

"Thank you sir, for saving my daddy," He had tears in his eyes and I could tell he was worried sick about his dad. I bent down and gave him a hug.

"You're quite welcome young man. I know he would do the same for me. How old are you?"

"Seven," He said, holding back tears.

"What's your name?"

"Ben."

"Well Ben, I'm Andrew. It's nice to meet you. Here, I have something for you." I pulled out my set of dog tags from my shirt. Normally, dog tags have important and sensitive information on them, namely ones social security number. The sets that I wore around had that information omitted. I took off the chain they were on and hung it around his neck. "These are my dog tags. They have kept me safe through many tough times, including yesterday. They've served me well, now they will protect you."

He stared at them for a second, not saying anything. Then he reached forward and hugged me tight, getting my shirt wet with his tears. "Thank you," he said, though he was muffled by my shirt. A tear of my own gently rolled down my cheek.

He let me go and I stood up. His mother came over and hugged me again. "Thank you so much. If there is anything we can do for you, just let us know."

"He would have done the same for me ma'am. Take good care of them, and tell Mike I'll be by later."

Becky and I walked from the hospital hand in hand. When we got outside, she kissed me passionately. "That was a nice thing you did back there. Just when I thought I couldn't love you more, you surprise me yet again."

I looked deep into her eyes, seeing the love in her soul, as well as the desire to rip my clothes off and take me right there. I smiled back at her. "Becky, I love you so much. I've loved you from our first date, and I don't know where I'd be without you. Be mine.. Please by mine."

She kissed me like we would never share another kiss again. When she finally broke away from me, she smiled that mischievous smile.

"Are you in 5th grade? That was so cheesy," she said as she laughed.

"Is that a yes?" I couldn't help but ask. She slapped my arm and nodded her affirmation.

"Yes Andrew, I'll be your girlfriend, officially."

We went to get coffee at a local spot. I told her about Mike and all the fun times we had. After about an hour, we headed back to the hospital.

Mike was on a good amount of morphine to kill the pain. He smiled as he saw us come in.

"Drew, how the hell are ya?" He said excitedly.

"I'm OK. How are you?" I asked.

"I feel amazing. This stuff they gave me is working wonders."

"I'll bet. Mike, this is my girlfriend, Becky. Becky, this is Mike."

They exchanged pleasantries and we talked for a while. He was drifting in and out of reality as the drugs suppressed his pain. A woman came in a little while later, peeking in through the slightly open door.

"Come on in, I'm Andrew and this is Becky," I said.

"I'm Sarah, Mike's sister. Nice to meet you," she said shaking our hands.

"Well, we will leave you two alone. Mike, we will be back to see you. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call."

"Thanks for coming," Mike said as we left.

We drove home holding hands the entire way. Her skin was so soft, like satin. It melted my heart to know she was now mine.

"I love you Becky," I said as she was singing to the radio.

"I love you too Andrew," she said as she leaned over to kiss me.

We came home to Carl in the kitchen. He calls what he makes food, but I've eaten MRE's that tasted better. Becky had been over enough to know about Carl's cooking and hurried over to him.

"What do you think you're doing?! Get out of my kitchen!" She said heading toward Carl and grabbing a wooden spoon.

"Your kitchen? Last time I checked you don't live here," He said avoiding her playful swats.

I couldn't help but join in. "That garbage you call food is almost inedible. If I didn't have an iron gut, I'd be hating life."

"Ha ha, very funny, I've been watching food network and I think I can cook some of that stuff," Carl said, now out of the kitchen and doing his best to avoid a woman with a wooden spoon. That's a dangerous combination at best..

"OK Carl, you can cook breakfast tomorrow, how bout that?" I had to help the poor guy. I loved him like the brother I never had and couldn't just dash his hopes like that.

"OK, breakfast it is. How's Mike?" The mood dropped a bit throughout the room.

"He has burns over 40% of his body. Doc says he will be OK, his family is visiting him now." My expression must have indicated a bit of disappointment. It sucked to have such a good guy get hurt on the job like that.

Carl walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. "I heard what you did. He owes you his life. You're a good man for that."

I hung my head at the thought of the days events, "He would have done the same for me."

"Don't worry too much about it, you'll give yourself an ulcer." He slapped my back and walked towards the couch. "Besides, you'll be the talk of the refinery. You're a hero!"

Great, now I'm in the spotlight. I prefer to stay under the radar as much as possible.. oh well.

Becky made parmesan chicken for dinner. She was a way better cook than either of us. We ate dinner and talked for a while, telling old stories and remembering old times. Carl volunteered to do the dishes and received no objections from anyone, much to his displeasure. Becky and I sat on the couch watching TV for a bit before Carl came and sat down with us.

"I'm cold, I'm gonna get a blanket, anyone want anything while I'm up?" Becky said as she headed to the hallway.

"No, we're OK, thanks though!" Carl called after her. She returned a few minutes later with a blanket and two small boxes, one was purple and the other red. I recognized them instantly and a small groan escaped my throat.

"Don't give me that, you said you would tell me later and it's later, so I'd like to hear how you got these." She presented me with the boxes and sat back down between me and Carl, covering her legs with the blanket.

"What are those?" Carl asked motioning for me to pass him the boxes.

"This is the Purple Heart, and this is the Bronze Star with combat 'V' device." I handed him the respective boxes as I named them off. He took them and opened them, revealing the contents of each.

"Now I'm curious, how did you get these? If you don't mind sharing."

Once again, my comfort zone had been abandoned. I didn't like being thought of as a hero for the Bronze Star and I hated telling the story of my other injury.

I sighed and went to the kitchen, feeling their eyes boring a hole into my back. I went to the liquor cabinet and grabbed the mason jar I kept hidden in the back, then went back to the couch. Becky's eyes lit up, knowing that I would tell the story, but Carl was a bit more reserved.

"You don't have to tell us, we understand," he said receiving a slap from Becky

"Get comfortable, these are rough stories," I said sitting down between them.

They settled in and we passed the moonshine around once before I started speaking.

"This is the Bronze Star with combat 'V' device. It is awarded to those who have distinguished themselves by heroic achievement while engaged in conflict with an opposing enemy force," I recited as if reading from a manual. I held up the medal for them to see. "We were supporting an infantry unit headed to Ramadi in April of 2006, serving as convoy escort. A few miles outside of Ramadi, we came under attack by enemy forces. They had superior numbers and a better firing position, but we had to hold them there while the grunts evacuated several casualties from an earlier fight."

We passed the shine around again as I continued.

"Normally they would hit us hard and fast, then take off, but they stuck it out this time. Soon we were running out of ammo and we had several casualties of our own," I explained after another drag on the bottle of shine. I took a long breath, looking up to see Carl and Becky hanging on my every word.

"A Marine was hit about 10 feet from the truck I was behind, so I ran out to drag him to cover. When I got him behind the truck, I used what little was left of my med kit and patched his wound. There were shouts for ammo and Corpsmen, so I ran to the supply truck and grabbed as much ammo as I could carry."

Reality slipped away and I was right back there on that afternoon. I could hear the cries of the wounded and the calls for ammo and support. A tear rolled down my face, which Becky wiped away.

"I distributed the ammo as best I could given the circumstances, and then replaced a fallen Marine on a humvee turret. Not the ideal place to be, but the support of a .50 cal was needed. About an hour later, the enemy attack shifted to their right flank as the grunts hit them hard. Another hour later and we were headed back to base."

"I was put in for the Bronze Star for my efforts to keep us in the fight. I never wanted it, mostly because it is a reminder of that hell." Becky had wiped away several tears of her own and Carl looked awestruck. We finished the bottle and set it on the coffee table.

"Holy shit dude. Why did you never tell me of this?" Carl said, still trying to grasp what he had heard. I never spoke to him in detail of combat or life overseas, giving vague answers whenever possible.

"I hate what happened over there, not because of what we did, but because of the effect it's had on me ever since. It's difficult to talk about," I said as he sank back into the couch.

"Do you still wanna hear the story of my Purple Heart?" I asked. I had opened up this much, might as well keep going.

"Yes, actually I do. Let's get another round though," Carl said standing on shaking legs to get another bottle. He walked down the hallway and went into his room, emerging a moment later with a blue cardboard box. "This is the good stuff, you've earned it," He said as he pulled out the bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label.

We had a few sips and I prepared myself for the coming tale. This was going to be painful.

"We were performing route security in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. It was a quiet and clear day with temps probably in the high 90's. We stopped at a village in preparation for talks between our officers and the village elders later in the day. We went door to door, sweeping each building and clearing the town when a small group of insurgents opened fire on us from the east."

"We took cover where we could find it and returned fire when we had targets. I took several Marines to press our attack and hopefully drive them off, when I heard several gunshots, that distinctive noise made by AK-47's, and felt a burning sensation in my right calf. I hit the ground hard and rolled to see where the shot had come from."

My leg started to hurt, a common occurrence when telling this story. Becky took my hand and kissed it lightly.

"I saw my attacker standing no more than 50 yards from me. It was a boy, no more than 14 years old. He had an AK-47 in his hands and a smile on his face. What happened next I hate myself for, every day of my life. I shot him twice in the chest."

Tears were rolling down my face and my leg was burning as bad as the day I got shot. These two were lucky I loved them, because this was hard.

"I was taken by a Corpsman back to a humvee and evacuated. The bullet had barely missed my artery and I was back with my men in 7 weeks, very much against doc's wishes. I was given the Purple Heart for being wounded by the enemy in a time of war."

Stunned silence was the only sound for a good minute while they soaked up what I had said. I lifted up my pants leg to show them the wound.

"You told me that was from a bicycle accident when you were in school. You said the chain sprocket stabbed you in the leg," Carl said in disbelief.

"I know. It hurts on occasion and every time I tell this story it hurts like the day I got shot. I hate talking about it," I said.

By now I was tired and uncomfortable but I hoped it didn't show.

"I almost lost you, twice," he said, still in shock. I could tell my stories had a profound effect of him, probably more than Becky.

"You don't know the half of it," I said holding back the floodgates behind my eyes.

"I don't need to know more. If you ever want to tell me more, I'm here to listen, but not tonight. I'm gonna go lay down." He got up and walked to his room. Becky pulled me in close and held me for what seemed like an eternity. I cried, I cried like a bitch in her arms. I couldn't hold it back anymore.

When I took my weight off of her, she stood up and grabbed my hand, leading me to the bedroom.

"Come on, lets go lay down," She said.

"Sleep will be difficult tonight," I said sullenly

"Who said anything about sleep? I wanna hold you close and never let you go."

"Becky," I said in a hushed tone.

"Yes?" She turned to face me, gazing into my pitiful soul.