Hope
“Gently, Isabella. Ace’s head is still soft, you don’t want to bump it,” Hope encouraged, as she placed a hand over the little boy’s head protectively.
“I know, I know,” Isabella chided as she rocked her little brother in her tiny lap and arms. “I can do it,” she reminded her mother, the infant oversized in the preschooler’s arms. Hope had positioned Isabella in the corner of the couch of their family room so that both children were stabilized.
Hope’s cell phone rang from its spot on the kitchen table. “Can you grab that, Harper?” Hope called out to her sister, who was already in the kitchen, washing dishes and cleaning the refrigerator.
“Sure.” Harper reached for the device. “Hello?” she answered. “No, no, let me give you to her.” Harper’s voice was tinged with concern as she walked the phone over to Hope, motioning for her to swap places.
Hope’s forehead crinkled as she took the phone from her sister and stepped into the hallway for some privacy. “Hello? This is Hope Buchard.”
“Hello, ma’am, my name is Lieutenant Colonel Tyree. I’m calling to inform you that your husband has been injured during a firefight…” Hope could almost feel her heart stop as the words rang in her ear.
“Wait, what? Is he okay? Is he alive?” Hope’s words escaped in a frenzy of fear, as many questions began to swirl in her mind.
“Ma’am, it looks like he may have sustained some head injuries and is being transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. They will determine the final severity of his injuries there,” the man continued, as Hope clutched the front of her shirt, tugging it away from her skin, a feeling of suffocation washing over her.
“Is he okay? How did this happen?” Hope slid down the wall, bracing herself into the corner, holding her face in her hand.
“As of right now, all we know is that he was part of the transportation team headed toward a north base when the convoy was ambushed. That is all the information we have right now. Do you have any other questions?” the Lieutenant Colonel asked, his voice tinged with sympathy, but also edged with formality. “My contact information is…” And that was when Hope scrambled to jot the information down on a scrap piece of paper she found on the hallway table, as he would serve as their contact point until she heard from Chad or another military officer.
Hope disconnected the call and braced herself against the wall again, as Mrs. Lulu rushed to her side. Harper took the responsibility of caring for Isabella and Ace while Hope fell apart. Mrs. Lulu wrapped her arms around Hope, comforting her. “What is it, darling? What happened?”
Hope cried into Mrs. Lulu’s shoulder, her sobs interrupted with hiccups as she was rocked. “Chad got hurt. He was ambushed. They think he has a head injury. They don’t have a lot of information.”
Mrs. Lulu grabbed Hope even more tightly, and held her close. “Oh, Hope. Oh, Hope.”
Hope continued to cry, and she cried until she saw Harper walk out of Isabella’s room, her face torn and conflicted, having sensed something wasn’t right, she had grabbed Ace and Isabella and took them to Isabella’s room.. Mrs. Lulu stepped back and switched places with Harper, moving into Isabella’s room, where Harper had placed the children.
“What is it? What happened?” Harper was frantic as she held her sister’s face, kneeling in front of her.
“It’s Chad; he’s hurt. They think it may be a head injury.” Hope was attempting to compose herself, trying to gain some level of logical thinking.
“What? Is he going to be okay?” Harper was searching Hope’s face for any answers. “What can we do? Where do we need to go?” Harper asked, gathering Hope up into a hug.
“I have to wait for another call, to tell me how stable he is. He’s being taken to Germany,” Hope responded, only rising to her feet so she could gain her bearings once again. “Oh God, Chad!” She doubled over, crying once more, the information overwhelming any logical sense.
Harper helped Hope into her room, so she could sit on the bed. It had only been just a few days since she gave birth. Hope was recovering, and now she was given one of the worst pieces of news a military wife could receive. Harper curled up with her, hoping to provide some degree of comfort. They stayed in her room for three hours, waiting for the phone call, waiting for news that Chad was or wasn’t going to be okay.
Harper and Mrs. Lulu went into emergency mode. Hope and Harper’s dad set aside all his conference responsibilities, and he was flying into Norfolk on the next flight available. They helped change Ace’s diapers, and brought him to Hope when he needed to be nursed, but otherwise allowed Hope to cope in whatever way she needed.
Isabella was aware that her mom was not feeling well, and as a result, resorted to playing quietly in her room with either Harper or Mrs. Lulu. The house was still. That is, until the phone call came. Everyone could hear the ring, even all the way from Hope’s room, and paused, with their breaths held.
“Hello? This is Hope Buchard.” Her voice was barely audible and nearly broken. “Please tell me my husband is okay,” she blurted out, desperate for news.
“Hello? Baby? Is that you?” Chad’s voice came over the line, and Hope let out a cry of relief.
“Chad! Chad are you okay? We got a call that you were hurt.” Hope was relieved, but concerned etched every word. Harper appeared in the doorway, looking for confirmation that she really was talking to Chad. Hope waved her hand and nodded frantically that it was him. Harper squealed quietly before escaping the room to give Hope privacy, and inform Mrs. Lulu.
“Yes, I got hit, but I wasn’t hurt bad. I’ll be okay, I promise. We got ambushed on our way to north base. I was coming to call you, to see how you were doing with the baby.” His voice was weary, and strained; it was clear he was in pain.
“I’m okay, the baby is okay. Chad. What happened? How badly are you hurt?” Hope, hungry for information, wanting to know for sure he was going to be alright.
“They say I have a concussion, and something to do with my ear. I have scrapes, burns, and cuts, but I am okay. There are so many that aren’t, Hope. It was bad. It was so bad,” Chad recounted, his voice quivering. Clearly, he was still processing the event in his own head.
Hope reassured him, “It’s going to be okay, hon. It is going to be okay.” There weren’t words to comfort a Marine, a Marine who’d just witnessed what he had. But they were words from a wife, a concerned wife who loved her Marine.
Ben, Hope and Harper’s father, arrived late into the evening. Hope had fallen asleep, with Ace in his co-sleeper by her bed. She was exhausted, the day’s events taking a toll on her recovering body. She felt his paternal energy when he leaned over and pressed a kiss on her forehead, moving strands of her hair out of her face. “It is going to be okay, doll.” Her father’s affectionate tone was not lost on her slumbering form.
She stirred in her sleep, reaching up to her dad before he turned to leave her room. “Dad. Oh, Dad!” She quickly sat up to greet him, the tears appearing once again, for what seemed like the hundredth time today.
He turned to her once again, and wrapped his large arms around her, rocking her in a prolonged embrace. “Hey, baby girl. I am so sorry about what’s going on,” Ben soothed her.
“I can’t lose him, Dad. I can’t.” She beckoned her dad, as if he had a hand in the final decision.
“Harper told me you guys talked. That has to be all good, right? If he is able to call you,” he continued to assure her.
“Yes, he sounded so broken, and I know he was hurting. I don’t know where he is, and if they’re sending him here, or where he will go. I have to call the Lieutenant Colonel tomorrow.” Hope sounded helpless, as she leaned into her father; the comfort she craved, the comfort she sought, she found in her dad. And all he could provide was the silent embrace. There weren’t words or anything he could do to take the hurt away; he just needed to be present.
After a few minutes, Hope smiled up at her father. “Oh, Dad, you need to meet someone. I can’t believe I haven’t introduced you yet.”
Her father looked down at her, and then his eyes gazed over at the sleeper next to Hope’s bed. His face beamed at his grandson, named after him. “Is that my Ace Benjamin?” he said softly, as he leaned over the sleeper and stroked the back of his hand over the infant’s stomach.
“Yes, Ace Benjamin. We are calling him Ace, since we have a Ben already.” She grinned up at her dad as she shifted over and wrapped the infant up into a blanket, then handed over the sleeping newborn to her father.
Ben’s eyes welled up. Hope, only seeing the reflection of his glassy eyes, started to cry as well. “He is beautiful, doll; he is gorgeous.” Her father’s description of the child only added more emotion to the already emotionally-driven air.
Harper peered into the room, dressed in her flannel unicorn-covered pajamas. She moved inside after seeing their dad holding little Ace. She wrapped her arms around her dad and pressed a kiss on his cheek. “Isn’t he so cute?”
“He is; he is perfect. Chad is going to weep when he sees him.” Ben reached over to Hope, patting her on the arm. “Soon; you’ll see him soon, and all of this will be okay, I can feel it.”
“I hope you’re right, Dad. I so hope you’re right,” Hope sighed, laying back down on her side to face her midnight visitors. She was tired and emotionally drained.
Ben, recognizing the need for his daughter to rest, gingerly placed his grandson back in the co-sleeper, and reached over Hope, pressing a kiss on her forehead. “Sleep well, darling. We will talk in the morning, okay?”
“Thanks, Dad. Thank you for coming so quickly.” Hope squeezed her dad’s hand.
“I would do anything for you and Harper. Anything. You are all I have.” Ben’s voice was quiet, as he patted her on the hip tenderly.
“I love you, Dad,” Hope said sleepily, only to burst into a bunch of laughter, feeling Harper curl up next to her on Chad’s side of the bed. “What are you doing, goofball?” Hope turned to face Harper.
“Dad is sleeping in the guest room, so I’m sleeping here with you. I can help you with Ace when he wakes up too,” Harper chimed in happily as she tucked herself in.
“Well, that's great. If there is a night I will need you, it’s tonight.” Hope squeezed her sister’s hand under the covers.
“Okay, girls, behave yourselves, and we’ll regroup with Mrs. Lulu in the morning, okay?
Ben leaned over each of them to press another kiss on their heads, and then added one to Ace’s head.
“Good night, Dad.” Harper waved at him from under the covers.
“Night, Dad. I love you.” Hope laid her head on the pillow once more, watching her dad walk out of the room.