WHAT DO THE STARS SAY?
Chapter Five

Jack woke from a long sleep. He looked around the room. He didn’t like being in the hospital. He had a bad headache. He grabbed his head and realized that it was wrapped in bandages. His arm started to hurt, as well. He had a cast on it. Jack started to look at himself to see exactly what had happened to him. His ribs also hurt, and his hip was hurting, as well. He had a few scrapes on his other arm. He realized he couldn’t move his left leg. Jack tried hard to move it; he had barely moved it a centimeter when he cried out in pain. A nurse quickly rushed into the room.

"Mr. Dawson? Are you all right?" she asked.

"What happened to my leg? I know I didn’t lose it, because I can see it. But it hurts a whole lot, and I can’t move it much," he said.

"Well, according to your file, you got your patella, which is your kneecap, messed up. A bullet was the reason. You are lucky it didn’t take your leg off," she said, smiling. He did not think her smiling was necessary. He was in a very bad mood. After she fixed his pillows and helped him eat a little, she started to leave. Jack stopped her.

"Nurse? I was wondering if you knew something about my brother. His name is Peter Dawson," he said, worried. He already knew the answer.

"I’m sorry. His name was on the casualty list. He is no longer with us. I’m truly sorry," she said, and left.

"No! No, you’re not!" Jack said, tears in his eyes.

*****

Over the next few months, Jack tried to walk on his left leg. The doctors helped him. Jack struggled at the beginning, but little by little he started to take steps. He walked sort of funny now, but he was glad he could walk again. His arm was well now, and Jack didn’t have much pain anymore. He had been shot four times and survived. He felt like a new man. He had a small scar on his forehead. Jack was told he could go home as soon he got well. The doctors checked once more and released him.

Jack was glad he would get to go home at last, after all these years. He smiled, thinking that he would get to see his mom again. He felt his heart skip a beat as he thought that he would also see Rose again.

He got dressed in some clothes the Army had sent him. He put on his Army uniform and walked through the airport, a suitcase in one hand and a cane in the other. He left the city to return to his peaceful hometown of Rocksprings, Texas.

*****

When he got there, he saw that it had changed a bit. It had changed like he had changed. He was bulkier and tougher. He no longer had a short haircut. Now he had longer hair and looked like he had not shaved in weeks. He was older now, no longer twenty. Now he was twenty-five, and not the same young dreamer.

As Jack walked through the streets of Rocksprings, the people of the town stopped and stared at him with hateful eyes. Some called him names, not loudly, but Jack could hear them.

"Baby killer!"

"Murderer."

Jack tried his best to hold in his anger and his tears. The people were being cruel and ignorant. As he walked down the street, he could feel their eyes on him.

"Jack?"

Jack turned around. It was his friend Chuck.

"Jack, are my eyes playing games with me? Is that really you?" Chuck asked, smiling.

"No. Your eyes aren’t playing games. It’s me. I’m back home," Jack said, and started to walk again.

"But…but everybody thinks…thinks you’re dead!"

"What? What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I mean…that Rick guy, he told us you were dead. That last time he saw you, you were on the ground, dead. We never got a letter saying it, but we started to think it was true," Chuck said.

Jack put his hands on his head, looking worried. "My mom…I have to tell her I’m not dead, but…Peter…oh, I have to go!"

"Jack, wait!" Chuck stopped him.

"There is something else you don’t know. A few weeks after your mom found out that you and Peter had died, she got very sick. The doctors tried to save her, but…" Jack’s eyes started to fill with tears. "She got so sick, Jack. We did what we could, but she died," Chuck finally said.

Jack put his head in his hands and let his cane fall to the ground. Chuck put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. Jack cried and cried.

Chuck took Jack to his mother’s grave. Jack took a dozen white roses to her grave; he laid them on the headstone. He had promised Peter that he would.

"I’m sorry, Mom, sorry I failed you. I didn’t bring Peter back with me alive. I’m so sorry!" Jack said, still crying.

*****

He returned to his old house. He had not seen it in five years; he felt like he had been gone forever. The house was dirty outside. No doubt nobody had lived in it for sometime, and no caring hand had touched it.

Jack sighed as he walked in. It felt empty; there was no one to greet him. He put his army bag on the couch. He walked around, checking the house. It still looked the same.

He walked past his brother’s room. Jack’s heart started to ache. He went inside it and saw Peter’s things, the same way they were last time he saw them. He saw a picture of Peter and him playing around; a tear fell from his eyes and splashed the picture.

"I’m sorry, Peter. I’m so sorry I failed you. I should have died, not you," Jack said, and put the picture back.

He walked out of his brother’s room. He walked slowly with his cane and entered his mom’s room. She had left everything neat and clean. He sat on her bed and hugged her pillow. He sat there for a while, thinking of what had become of his life.

He got up. He was feeling very tired. He walked to his room and saw that his bed was perfectly made. He took off his Army jacket and put his cane near the bed. He lay down and quickly fell asleep.

*****

Jack started to have nightmares. He was sweating but cold. He couldn’t forget about the day he had lost his brother. The memories of that day haunted him all the time.

Jack woke up and sat on the edge of his bed. He looked at the nightstand.

There was a picture, so he got up and grabbed it. It was a picture of Rose and him hugging and making funny faces.

He touched her image with his finger and kissed it. He still felt so much love for her. He started to wonder where she was and what she was doing. Yet again, that was what he thought about all the time.

*****

The next day, Jack went into town. He was wearing his old clothes. They barely fit. Jack had developed a lot of muscle while in the Army. He saw Chuck and started to walk over to him.

"Hey, Jack. What are you doing up so early?"

"Well, I missed this place, and I wanted to see it again. It’s grown. I also wanted to ask you something," Jack said.

"What is it?" Chuck asked.

"Do you know anything about Rose? I have not heard anything from her in years. Is she married? Does she have kids already? Does she also think I’m dead?" Jack asked.

"Well, you sure have a lot of questions, Jack. I have bad news. She also thinks you’re dead. She got so sad when they told her, she was always crying and depressed. She was always blaming herself. You should have seen her. But don’t go running to her house. She isn’t there. She and her mother moved to the big city with…" Chuck realized what he was going to say and stopped.

"With who?" Jack asked.

"Well…"

"With who, Chuck? Who did she move with?"

"You aren’t going to like this, but I guess you have to know. She moved to the big city with Rick," Chuck said.

Jack felt like dying. "I thought that they were over," he said.

"They were, but Rick convinced her to leave Rocksprings to forget about everything. They didn’t say to what big city."

Jack just nodded his head. It was clear to him; he had lost Rose, lost her forever.

Chapter Six
Stories