“Dad,” a distant voice droned. “Dad!” the voice continued. “Dad, snap out of it!” Suddenly pulling him out of the distant world that his mind had wandered to, Bob found his son, Tommy standing next to him.
“Oh, sorry son,” Bob smiled wistfully. He sat at his desk, staring at the small medal he held between his fingers.
“It’s alright,” his son, Tommy chuckled lightly. “Just don’t let yourself get too lost.”
Tommy dumped himself into the chair next to the desk and faced his father. Tommy very much resembled his dad. He had strong features that made one think of etched marble with his dark hair cut short to match his professional attire.
“Still getting used to things, I suppose.” The ache of recent experiences was etched onto Bob’s face. His life had taken an unexpected turn five months prior, and Bob still found himself dejected about the outcome.
“I know it’s been tough,” said Tommy, “but we still love you the same even if you are a national hero now.” Bob looked up at his son and smiled.
“I appreciate that Tommy.” He really did appreciate his son trying to help him through his existential mess. “You just visiting today?” He was wondering why his son had randomly decided to visit.
“Just wanted to check up on you. I was on this side of town for a business meeting,” Tommy noted. “It’s your birthday soon, y’know, Dad,” as Tommy smiled and tossed a pamphlet onto his father’s desk.
“What’s this?” as Bob began randomly thumbing through the pamphlet, feigning interest.
“I know it’s not exactly up your alley, but one of our subsidiary companies has just finished their development and testing of a new way to play video games. It’s known as Full Immersion.” Bob looked at his son confused.
“What does that mean?” The confusion on his face made Tommy chuckle.
“Don’t worry about it too much now. There’s a new video game that is part of the gift and I’m pretty confident you’ll really like it.”
“If you say so, but you know I’m not very good at these video game things.”
“Oh, I do. Just trust me on this.” Tommy got out of his chair and began to walk to the door. “I’ll call you when it’s delivered and help you get everything started, okay?”
“Okay.” He said to his son. “Thanks for stopping by.” He heard the door close and looked back to the small medal in his hands. The blue ribbon draped down his fingers as the bright gold ‘V’ reflected the light from his desk. This small Medal of Valor had cost him so much.
Everyone now called him a hero, but he didn’t feel like one. He’d managed to save many lives in the explosion that shook several city blocks, but what had it cost him? His legs, his livelihood, and maybe his sanity? Many more had died, and while Bob understood that he could not have saved them all, he still wished that he could have done more. But hero? No, he was simply doing his job to serve and to protect those he’d sworn to. There wasn’t anything special about his actions at least that’s what he thought.
“You’d be telling me to get off my ass, wouldn’t you Mary?” he thought out loud as he gazed over at the small picture on his desk of his family. His wife Mary had died a few years earlier to cancer, but the panic and shock of the aftermath of the explosion may have done her in too. She was an incredibly strong and inspiring woman taken well before her time, yet you never heard her complain or worry. If Bob could label anyone a hero, it would have been Mary for she truly had it in her.
Putting the medal aside, Bob looked at his calendar. He’d have return to work soon, back to the force. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He knew everyone would be nice and understanding, but he knew everything would be different. Previously working as a patrol officer, he knew that since he’d now been saddled to a wheelchair, he’d be stuck behind a desk until his retirement. He didn’t want that. He wanted to patrol the city, meet people, and to continue to serve and protect.
Mary definitely would have told him to stop being so sad and to see it as a new challenge. Bob smiled fondly thinking about the verbal thrashing Mary probably would have given him. Even still, Bob was unsure about his future. He didn’t want to get bored, he didn’t want to be boring, and that’s the only outcome he saw. Everything was changing, and Bob was not a fan. As much as he wanted things to go back to normal, he knew they wouldn’t return to that.
Bob looked at the clock that sat on his desk, sighed loudly, and rolled himself away from his desk in search of dinner, leaving the pamphlet for the new gaming device behind on his desk, already forgotten.
----------
“Welcome back, Bob!” A modest party had been thrown to welcome him back to work and many of Bob’s coworkers stood around waiting to shake his hand. Bob had been worried about being the center of attention, but relaxed and appreciated that the party wasn’t too eccentric or jovial, it was just enough.
“We got you some plain ol’ vanilla cake, your favorite,” one of the older ladies who worked in the records department declared. Bob smiled and thanked her and eagerly took a piece that was handed to him. He knew that many people were genuinely glad to see him, but he wasn’t sure if he was glad to see them. Yes, they were his old coworkers and work buddies, but things would now be different and he knew they all saw him differently now. He wasn’t just Officer Robert Kipp. Now he was “hero” too, whatever that really meant.
“Alright everyone,” a loud voice boomed. “I know everyone is very excited to have Bob back, but that doesn’t mean we can slack off. Let’s please get back to work.” The partygoers all complied and slowly began to shuffle off back to their desks. “It’s good to have you back, Bob.” Bob wheeled around and saw his Captain Henry McDonough standing behind him. He was a tall, well-aged man, who seethed discipline and rigidity.
“Ah, thank you Captain. It’s uh… good to be back…” he said as his voice trailed off. The Captain noticed his reserved mood.
“Don’t worry Bob. I do recall that you’re not a huge fan of change. Your desk is where you left it, the way you left it.” A small smile emerged from Bob’s face at this news.
“Thanks, Cap.”
“Of course,” the Captain smiled. “You may find yourself behind your desk more often now, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be any less useful. You’ve got a mind full of experience I plan to utilize that as much as possible.” The Captain shook Bob’s hand and walked back to his office.
Bob decided to go find his desk and get it set up for the coming days. It felt weird rolling up to the desk, instead of sitting down at it, but it was exactly the way he had left it, aside from the small stack of envelopes on his keyboard. A small note was stuck to the top of the stack. ‘These are some letters from fans, but mostly from the families you helped during the explosion. I hope they help you. - C’ It looked like his old partner had left them for him. His old partner, Catherine Mobley had been reassigned, barring his change in position, he was still happy to see the note from her.
Bob spent the next few hours reading the letters and writing letters of his own in response. Reading all the letters had opened his eyes to the fact that he really had helped these people. Many of them thanked him and told him about the family they were still able to be with. Some of them even told him they would name children after him. One letter in particular really hit home with him. It was from a small girl named Lacey, whom he’d personally carried out of danger. She had lost everything; her home, her pets, and even one of her parents, but her letter was still bright and full of hope.
Lacey wrote about how even though she’d lost everything, her life now was just a new adventure, and though her Mom had not survived, she was still thankful that at least one parent had lived. She also wrote about how she was sad sometimes, but the fact that Bob had saved her changed the way she looked at things, and because of that, she wanted to use her life for something important. She didn’t know what yet, but she knew it would be something good. She also wrote hoping that Bob was doing okay and that she was thinking about him and praying for him all the time.
Bob wrote his response to Lacey thanking her for her kind words and her letter, and that he would always take what she said to heart. Bob decided to keep this letter from Lacey on his desk at all times as a reminder of the good he had done, and like her, he decided he would do what he could with this new chapter in his life.
