Purple Heart | Demi Lovato

19

Demi

Instantly, every muscle in my body froze, and I let out a noise that sounded like a strangled squeak.

"Don't scream." A voice whispered in my ear, then slowly the hand was taken away. "I'm here about your husband."

"He's not here." I whispered. "He's..."

"I know. We have him."

"We?"

"Turn around."

I did, and found myself face to face with Matthew Pierce, the same man who had informed me that Wilmer had been shot for the first time just a little over a year ago. I blinked a few times, then shook my head. "What are you..."

"Your husband is one of the finest soldiers we've ever had. He is a patriot, and both his and our actions were to protect this country." Matthew took a deep breath. "When you called the police, they notified the Marine Corp who notified us."

"You're not the Marine Corp?"

"We're... a specialized division, I can't tell you much more than that. Once we heard Wilmer was missing and knew the situation- that his PTSD was acting up again, we sent a team to do our own search and rescue because we knew the police would never find him on their own."

"And?"

"And he's in Matheson Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit." My hand came up to my mouth and I felt the hollow ache return to my chest. "His PTSD has been getting worse over the last couple of months, he's been talking to his therapist about it."

"He's alive? How do you know that?" I asked sharply. "Wilmer was doing better, not worse."

"His therapist is one of ours, we can't have him slipping up on National Security issues. He was doing worse, Demi. He wasn't getting better, he just didn't want you to leave him because of it."

"I wouldn't-"

"I'm not here to talk about the in's and out's of your marriage. I'm here to tell you he's alive, but under very delicate circumstances."

"Delicate?" I rubbed my hand over my stomach. "I'm having his baby, Matthew. I'm past delicate."

"He's currently going through a psychotic break. He doesn't recognize anyone that he wasn't in combat with, including me, even though I hand chose him and trained him myself."

I rubbed my hand over my face and shook my head. "He can't not remember anything, how is that even possible? He won't remember me?"

"That's why I'm here. We're trying to figure out how deep this mental block goes. The doctors know he'll get through it eventually but until he does... it's kind of up in the air."

"Take me to him." I looked up at the man. "Now."

Two hours and a very awkward car ride later, Matthew led me into the hospital. We walked through various wings, and passed the I.C.U. as well as the Psych Unit, then Matthew took out a key card and we walked through a set of doors. The waiting room was full of men in suits- some in their military dress blues, and others in simple black and white. They all went silent when I walked in, but Matthew strode past them and I followed him to another door.

"They have him under mild sedation to keep him calm and so he won't hurt the doctors." He informed me.

"Hurt them? He's being violent?"

"When he comes out of it, he's very confused. He refuses to answer any of their questions because he believes they're the enemy. He won't let them touch him... he's broken through several attempts at restraint."