Take me Home

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Mr Taylor stood there in shock staring at the woman before him. He had met Jade once before they went on the tour and seeing her now sitting in front of him; he didn't know what to say or feel. He had all these questions that needed answering, but he couldn't think of a single thing to say aside from staring at the woman before him who was meant to assure that his son made it home safe.

"If this is a bad time, I am sorry. This was a mistake." Jade said when Mr Taylor said nothing. She went to go wheel herself away when he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, seeing you was a shock. I had last heard you were still in a coma. Sorry please come in." He gestured towards herself and Jade didn't think about how she would get in. The house was a small simple house, but the four small dreadful stairs that led to the porch would be an issue.

"If you come through the back, there aren't any stairs." Mr Taylor suggested, and Jade nodded as he opened the side gate that she pushed herself through. The backyard was a beautiful backyard with a garden patch and a rose bed, but Jade didn't get time to really look when there was a smash like glass hitting the floor coming from inside the house.

Jade looked to the window and saw Mrs Taylor standing there watching Jade with her hands covering her mouth. Jade could see the grief in her eyes and tears started to run down her face, and it was then she knew this was a terrible idea to come here.

She wanted nothing more than to wheel herself around the side gate and back into the car that was waiting outside for her. Instead, Jade steeled herself and pushed herself inside the house where Taylor once lived. 

"I am sorry for stopping by unannounced," Jade said softly once Mr Taylor directed them to the lounge room and asked if anyone wanted a drink.

"Water will be fine for me." Jade watched as Mr Taylor gently pat his wife's shoulder and left to get her and Jade a cup of water. With the silence that followed Jade looked around and saw pictures of Taylor throughout his life hanging around the room. There were pictures of his first day and school and pictures of him in his uniform for the first time.

"He was such a beautiful boy." Mrs Taylor said when she noticed Jade looking at the last photo that was ever taken of him. Jade didn't know what to say, so she just nodded her head and waited for Mr Taylor to come back.

"Thank you." She said when he returned with her glass of water. Jade wasn't thirsty, but the glass gave her something to occupy her hands with while she said what she needed to say.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, and I am sorry I wasn't there at the funeral." She looked down at her glass unable to handle the pain and grief in both their faces.

"Corporal Mass explained why you weren't there." Mr Taylor said, and Jade nodded her head.

"What happened to our son?" Mrs Taylor all, but cried and Jade looked up with tears in her own eyes.

"When I woke up from my coma 2 months ago, I remembered nothing from the tour. Slowly my memory has been coming back to me, but a lot is still fuzzy." Jade took a deep breath and tried not to show how upset and how much guilt she felt for the next thing that she would say would not be pleasant for anyone.

"Your son is dead because of me. I won't go into details because some of it is still foggy, but the mission went wrong. I was separated from everyone and when they found me a few days later I was in bad shape. The two teams tried to rescue me, but again it went wrong, and they surrounded us. I gave myself up to save everyone, I walked into the heavy fire without a second thought, but the next thing I knew I was thrown to the ground. I remember losing consciousness and when I came around, I realised your son had used his body to protect mine. He gave up his life to save me. So, it is my fault, I couldn't save him." Jade felt tears run down her face as she gripped the glass in her hands.