The Songbird and the Soldier (16 page)

“Of course you have. Is there anything I can do?”

“Do you think you could babysit Humph for the night? He’ll be no trouble and I’ll bring you back some yummy cookies from the little kiosk I discovered in New Street Station.”

“Okay, Sure. I can throw up anywhere. Can Spike stay?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. Nighttime sex, what a treat. I’ll give him a ring.”

Sam rolled her eyes. She waited while Kate spoke with Spike and then Kate closed up her phone and looked at Sam. “Spike’s going to drive you up. He’s been wanting to go and see some of the guys up there anyway. He can take you up and bring you back all in the same day. I don’t suppose we can have your house for the night anyway?”

Sam gave her a look.

“No, okay, maybe not.”

Sam thanked her and raced home to get ready.

At half past eleven Spike arrived outside her house to take Sam back up to Birmingham and she emerged, deep in thought, but ready.

The journey up to Birmingham was awkward, to say the least. For the most part the two of them sat in silence, listening to the radio, but every so often one of them would make a comment, or ask a question. Sam discovered that Andy had probably been in the group of casualties admitted on the day that she was last there. She asked Spike why, if he had known about Andy, he hadn’t let her know? But he said he had asked Kate to find out from her how Andy was getting on and Kate had told him that she was getting back together with Dean and Sam knew Spike was a guy of few words at the best of times.

Outside the ward, Sam waited for Spike to bring her some news. Time ticked past as she awaited her fate. What was she going to say? Would she even get the chance to speak? Andy might not be fit enough to see her, or maybe he wouldn’t want to? Andy had been hurt far worse than Dean and yet in his hour of need she had abandoned him. Sam felt lower than the heel of her shoe.

At last a nurse came out to meet Sam and they sat together and spoke. “So you’re the elusive Sam,” she said. “We’ve waited a long time to see you.” Sam had not thought it was possible to feel any worse. She hung her head. “Sergeant Garrington has been calling for you ever since he arrived, but nobody knew who ‘Sam’ was. We thought at first it was one of the other lads, or a brother or someone, but his family and the other men from his regiment who were here at the time didn’t know anyone called Sam. But now the mystery is solved.” Her face became serious. “I have to warn you, if you haven’t seen him in some time, he may look a lot different from before. He’s lost a lot of weight. He’s been battling a series of infections ever since he arrived. His right side is scarred with the injuries from the blast and I’m afraid he lost his right leg below the knee, but he was protected from the worst of the blast by the soldier he was carrying. It may be all a bit of a shock, especially as Corporal Drury tells me you’ve only just heard about all this. He’s pretty sleepy on the whole but he’s awake at the moment. Would you like to go in?” Sam took a deep breath and nodded.

The nurse led Sam through the ward, past the room where Dean had been. She paused as she passed it and the nurse turned and looked at Sam’s face. “You know I thought I recognised your face. You were here a couple of months ago visiting the lad in there, weren’t you?”

“Dean.”

“Yes. Left leg bullet wound, wasn’t it? How’s he doing?”

“Fine,” Sam said, her chest tightening as she spoke.

On they went to a room that was far more high tech and expansive than the other one. They used the hand gel as they quietly entered the room. Another nurse was already in there.

“This is Sam,” the first nurse announced softly.

“
The
Sam?” the other asked.

Sam nodded, staring over at the patient in the bed. “I think so.”

A groan emanated from the sleeping figure and everyone turned to look. The first nurse took Sam over to the bedside and touched Andy on his good arm.

“Sergeant Garrington, you’ve got a visitor here to see you.”

Sam looked at the pale thin man before her, pink scars healing down the right side of his head and chest and a right arm enclosed in bandages. His hair, which had been shaved around the wounds on his head, was growing back again now. He had lost part of his ear and his right cheek held a dent where a chunk of flesh was obviously missing. He opened his eyes and looked at her. At first there was nothing, but after a moment or two his features seemed to come to life. Inky blue eyes focussed in on her and Sam was devastated. Until that moment it had all seemed so unreal that none of it had quite sunk in. Slowly his lips formed a single word. “Sam.”

Sam stepped closer and placed her hand on the bed beside him. “I’m here, Andy. I’m here now.”

The nurses across the room were smiling back at her and nodding their encouragement.

Andy’s hand moved and Sam reached out and took it. He squeezed tightly and tears sprang up into Sam’s eyes. She fought them away and smiled back at him. Sadly she reached deep inside herself but could find nothing of worth to say. “How have you been?” Hell, was that all she could come up with? Her face fell.

Andy attempted a smile. “I’ve… been… better.”

“Does it hurt?” she asked.

“Not too bad. Still got ten and ten.”

Sam looked over at the nurses, concerned. She recognised this expression.

One of the nurses walked over and put a gentle hand on Andy’s shoulder. “Andy. You lost your right foot, remember?”

Andy rolled his eyes and nodded. “Fifteen out of twenty’s not bad.”

Sam smiled. “It’ll do for starters.”

“How’s Dean?” he asked. “And Smithy?”

Sam fiddled absentmindedly with her ring. “Fine; both of them, I believe.”

“I’m sorry,” Andy said.

“What for?”

“I promised you, before we left.” His eyes closed.

“Promised what, Andy?” Sam asked. Things were getting hazy now. What she thought she understood was starting to make no sense at all.

His dark blue eyes opened again. “Promised to keep him safe. I’m sorry.”

Sam dredged back through her memory. Surely he wasn’t talking about the promise he made that night after bowling. That was just a throwaway comment, nothing really. Had Andy taken his promise so seriously? It seemed he must have felt responsible when Dean had got shot.

The nurse who had been hovering nearby walked over to them. “It must be a huge relief to have your fiancée back again, Sergeant? I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help noticing the lovely ring.” She beamed at Sam.

Sam felt her world implode. It turned upside down and she was left alone in the middle of it. It was too late to slip the ring off now. He had heard it. His hand gripped tighter. The nurse, obviously realising she had made a horrible mistake, withdrew to a safe distance.

In silent plea Sam looked back at Andy and his eyes tore her apart. “Andy… I… If I’d have known you were in here you couldn’t have kept me away. I didn’t know. Nobody told me. I had no idea. You have to believe me.”

Andy turned his face away. His eyes closed, but his hand would not release its grip. After a moment or two he turned back toward her. “I don’t believe you.”

“It’s the truth, honestly.”

“And you missed me so much… you… shacked-up with somebody else? Who is it?”

Sam could not bring herself to say his name. His hand squeezed a little tighter.

“Dean.”

Andy’s face turned away and his hand let go. Sam pulled her own hand free and rubbed it with her fingers. She apologised again, but her words fell on deaf ears. Andy said nothing. Sam stood beside him, not knowing what to do. She asked him if he wanted her to leave, but still he said nothing, so she moved around the bed to the side nearest the door and glanced at the one nurse still able to look her in the eye. “I think I’d better go,” she said.

Then he spoke again. “Better off with him now anyway,” he said. “Not a lot of use like this.”

Sam looked across at the saddest eyes she had ever seen. And then they closed. She hovered, not knowing which way to turn. He turned his face back away from her again. Sam approached the bed. “Don’t say that. I’m sorry Andy.” She was too afraid to touch his damaged side, so she walked back round. “Andy. Please. Don’t push me away.”

He closed his eyes without looking at her once and turned his face away. His croaky voice strained to call out, “Nurse.” One of the nurses walked across the room. “No more visitors.”

Sam was escorted through the ward to the corridor outside. The nurse apologised for the other nurse’s lack of discretion and Sam reassured her that she didn’t blame her. It had been bound to come out in the end. She led Sam into a quiet room and sat her down, and there Sam let go of her tears.

In the conversation that followed it came to light that Dean definitely had been there at the time Andy had been brought in and had been one of the ones asked about the name Sam. He had denied all knowledge. Andy was also thought to be something of a hero. The nurse didn’t know all the details, but she believed he had saved several lives and was trying to save one more when he got caught in another blast.

The nurse offered Sam a cup of tea, but Sam thanked her for her time and understanding, dried her eyes with some of the tissues in the room and then made her way back to the entrance where she had arranged to meet back up with Spike.

If Spike noticed Sam had been crying, he didn’t say a thing. Most of the journey back was passed in silence, Sam’s head replaying every agonising second of the day over and over again.

When Spike dropped her off at the end of the journey that evening, she leaned back in through the window of the passenger seat. “You will let me know how he’s doing, won’t you? I know I messed up, Spike. I know.”

Spike looked at her for a moment and then nodded.

The following nights passed in torment as Sam tried to make sense of what she had learned. Her days stretched out, towering before her like a mountain that had to be climbed and she was approaching it on her own. Dean wasn’t free and that was okay by Sam. On Sunday night she rang Kate to tell her what she had found out. Kate was very understanding and agreed to dig around and see what she could discover by any means at her disposal.

The nurse had told her there was an officer in the camp who dealt with personal and family matters and who may be able to help her. With Kate on her side, Sam managed to get hold of Tina’s number and rang her to see if she thought it might be of any use. Tina arranged an appointment for her with the Family Liaison Officer up at the barracks on Friday afternoon and wished her luck with it.

The kids got away with murder for the rest of that week, as Sam’s distracted mind wandered at every opportunity. By Friday morning, she could no longer eat. In her head she knew that everything was wrong, but what she was actually going to say to some huge scary officer was less secure. ‘My boyfriend lied to me. Please make everything better?’ No, that wasn’t going to cut any ice. Everything she could come up with sounded either petty or bitter. In fact it was only her desperate need to know the truth that kept her from turning round at the gate and running as fast as she could in the opposite direction.

She left school at lunchtime for her ‘dentist’s appointment’ and rode her bike out to the army barracks on the outskirts of town. She arrived at the main gate and gave her name to the guard. First hurdle over; at least she was expected, but now there really was no going back. The guard directed her to where she needed to go and Sam parked her bike and walked into the building. Inside, Sam found a long corridor. She walked along to her right, but then her memory went blank. Fortunately a passing soldier kindly escorted her the short distance further to the FLO’s room and left her there.

Sam knocked on the door and a man opened it and shook her hand. He was fortyish, Sam suspected, immaculately dressed in his khaki uniform and had a kind face. That Sam had not expected. He had a quiet way about him that helped to put Sam at her ease and he had already been informed of the names of the two soldiers who were concerned in the matter. He had a file on each out on his desk in front of him. Sam felt like she was ten again. It was like she had been in trouble in the playground and had been sent in to see the headmaster. She looked about her nervously. The walls were clear except for photographs of different collections of military men. Behind the officer, on the wall, was a big time planner, and his desk was clear except for the files of the two men.

First, the officer took her name and contact details and then he looked at her expectantly. After a moment or two he must have sensed Sam’s discomfort and got the ball rolling. As Sam tried to get across what she believed had been going on that summer, the officer listened patiently. From his expression Sam began to realise that she was not making much sense.

“Miss Litton, I’m sure there is some fundamental problem at the heart of all this. Why don’t you just start at the beginning and tell me what’s been happening. Don’t worry, I am very difficult to shock or annoy.”

Sam had little dignity left to lose, so she took a deep breath and began again. When she had told him everything she thought relevant, Sam sat back and braced herself for his scathing response. The officer had been taking notes on the way through and he perused them silently as Sam became more and more anxious.

“Miss Litton I have something I think I had better read to you. It concerns Sergeant Garrington and you may find it answers a lot of your questions.” He pulled out a piece of paper and cleared his throat. “This is a copy of a letter of recommendation regarding Sergeant Garrington’s actions on the day he was injured. I think you will find it rather illuminating.”

“Sergeant Andrew Garrington of B Company, 9 Rifles is an extremely capable and natural soldier and he has led his men with the utmost skill and dedication while on operations in Afghanistan.

On the 18th July 2010, Sergeant Garrington was part of a patrol sent out to secure the route east of the base in Southern Helmand when his team came under fire. Rifleman Smith, the point man for this operation, was injured, as was Corporal Fletcher. Sergeant Garrington quickly moved the rest of the men under cover and ordered a fast evac. He then organised and executed an ambitious counter-attack and with his men now in a better position to return fire, he ran back into open ground, under enemy fire, to personally extract the wounded men.

On 23rd of July 2010, Sergeant Garrington’s section came under fire once again in an ambush just outside a compound they were investigating for reported Taliban activity. The section was driven back to the west of the compound where they took casualties from two IED explosions. Lieutenant Durbin was injured in the explosion and radio communication was temporarily lost, leaving Sergeant Garrington to lead the assault. He calmly took control and rapidly secured a safer position for his men. Then, without thought for his own safety, he ran each injured man from the line of fire back to cover and organised their field medical attention until a medical evac could be established.