Marine Corps Stories: Good Health

“All I wanted was a Marine on top of the cake. That’s all I said.”

He glanced at his bride.

“And all I wanted was for you to carry me across that threshold. We see that that didn’t happen.”

Her eyes sparkled like diamonds, set off by her bronze skin and blonde hair.

His skin looked like a cedarwood.

“We got married in Hawaii, baby,” she said.

“My deployment schedule matched up perfectly. You can’t get any better than that.”

Sergeant Lyden Pace and his wife Helia Pace were making the most of their honeymoon before his return to active duty in Arizona. He had only a short time to spend with Helia, so they kept the conversation to a minimum.

She kissed him passionately on the mouth letting him know what she’d rather be doing. He caressed her tanned body, and they made love. When they were finished, they vaped.

“Back to talking,” Helia said as she passed the vapor stick to her husband.

“That’s right. We’ll be communicating via the Internet for another six months before I make it back to Delaware with you.” Helia handed the stick back to Pace.

“Well, Mrs. Pace,” he started and took a drag. “I do believe that we have some planning to do. We’ve got the house. I’m not re-upping so we can live in it together. I don’t have to be away. In fact I’ll work from home. I’ll be a customer care technician for one of the banks in Wilmington.”

“That sounds like it will work.”

“Yes, I’m already getting TAP support. I’m just about done with everything I need to do to—”

“To make sure you bring your ass home.”

Pace looked at Helia. He enjoyed her playful jousting. She wasn’t a Marine herself, she was a nurse in fact, with no military experience. But she knew how to throw a verbal punch like a Devil Dog. She was an honorary Leatherneck because she was married to one. She would have to field questions from friends and family members about Pace’s whereabouts. She would bear the brunt of telling her future children what happened to their daddy if something went wrong. What? A training exercise goes haywire...anything. She prepared herself for it all.

Pace dressed. “I’m going to get some ice,” he said.

“You fool. You don’t put ice in champagne!” Helia said.

“Silly you. No, it’s for this headache I have.”

“Come here. I think I can make it go away.”

“Babe, I believe you, but I’d rather get the ice. Save that treatment for your patients. Okay?”

Helia blew a puff of vapor at him and got dressed, too.

“Don’t think that you’re wasting your bachelor’s degree on the likes of me,” Pace said.

He walked down the hallway coughing. Uncontrollable coughs soon seized him and he hit the deck. The coughing continued and drew the attention of a nearby Marine staff sergeant. Staff Sergeant George Cena did his best to ease the coughing by opening Pace’s buttoned shirt.

“You’re going to be alright, Lyden,” Cena said.

When Pace didn’t return right away, Helia grew worried and left the hotel room. She saw a small crowd forming. She ran over to where Pace lay.

“What happened, George?”

“He just started coughing a lot and stretched out on the deck. I tried to get him to start breathing again,” Cena said he thumbed at the crowd. “Somebody wants to call 9-1-1 but I know with your background....”

“Right. No need for that. I can handle this,” she said. Helia knelt down to clear Pace’s mouth of any debris. Her fresh, new wedding ring sparkled like her eyes in the nearby light. She administered CPR, and revived him. The crowd applauded.

Tears streaked Helia’s face.

Through a few coughs Pace said, “It’s good to have a nurse as a wife.” He then looked up at the staff sergeant. “What did George do?”

“He kept you stable,” Helia said.

The couple retrieved the ice and returned to their room.

“I take it you don’t want to vape anymore,” Pace said.

“I’m pretty sure that that’s what caused the episode out there so we’re no longer vaping,” Helia said.

They kissed as Helia dumped the vaporizer and paraphernalia into the garbage. She giggled and kept kissing him while trashing the stuff. Helia held his face and drew him close. She knocked the last vaporizer in the bin like it was poison. She then held up her ring one last time to remind him of their bond, and to keep himself in good health.