Dr Miller's unconditional love : Who is mine?

Samantha sat in the bathroom, warm water pouring down her head. She couldn't sleep again last night.

She has been hearing voices of people asking for help, dead people everywhere, grenades going off, soldiers without legs, arms, some heads, she had seen the anatomy of a human, the horror, the stench of blood was still in her nose.

It's been two days since she came back home from the army, she was deployed in Afghanistan but came back home for her father's funeral.

There was a knock on the door, it scared her because it sounded like a bomb going off. She quickly got her rob and a towel for her wet hair and went to the door.

"What is it?" she asked before opening the door.

"Sam, it's mom"

She opens the door and her mother comes in. She is wearing the same black dress she had on at the cemetery this afternoon, her hair is pushed back and tied at the back with a rubber band.

"Honey, how long, are you staying this time?" she asks. Her face showing both a trace of years gone so fast and grief."

"A week at most mom"... Samantha replied.

Her mother looked at her, she wanted to say something but she didn't know how to tell her daughter.

"I was thinking that maybe" she said after a long silence.

" Maybe you should..... come..... come back and help take care of your father's company and his shares in St Clara hospital now that Dad isn't here....I can't alone Sam, I don't want to live alone here."

she started to cry, drying her tears with a handkerchief, she continued.

" I don't want to lose you too" just saying that terrified her, "I don't know where your brother is, it's been 8 years since he's​ been missing".

Samantha looks at her Fifty two years old mother, Grace Wilton, sitting on her bed.

"There is no way  to  simply quit the Army once you are on active duty, mom. Am contractually, and perhaps morally, obligated to see my commitment through because am physically and psychologically able..... to perform my Army duties."

She paused as she thought about her psychological well-being.

"So i have to wait for your flag then, is that it?" she asked and started crying again.

"Oh don't be a drama queen mom...I don't even go to the battle front yet" she lied.

"Who goes to Afghanistan to just sit Sam, am not stupid"

"Mom....I can't deal with you right now, please leave me alone"

"You need to come live home now"

"Ok, please leave..." She opened the door and her mother walked out slowly.

Grace looked back as Samantha slams the door in her face...

She goes back to the bathroom splashes water on her face and stares at her reflection...She sees them, demons from the past, demons in the war zone...She wipes her face and sits on her bed staring at the window. A memory of Dustin came to mind, the last time she spoke to him.

"I'll pick you up from school today after my internship" Dustin had told her.

Dustin was studying medicine and primarily majored in Aphthalmology.

" Am too old to be picked from school Dusie."

" Am taking you out for a movie, I'll even buy you that Fendi make-up kit, you've always wanted."

His sister was a teenager and he knew exactly what she wanted at 15 years.

" I'll wait at the gate for you." Samantha said with a grin.

"What are we watching anyway?"

" Avengers: End game, is out."He looked at her excitedly, He knew she liked marvel movies and was a tomboy, thanks to him.

"See you in the evening Sam, love you."

Samantha looked at Dustin shyly.

" That's too cheesy Dusie."

He looked at her and smiled.

" I'll wait for you just don't be late again"

That evening after school at 5.p.m, she had waited at the school gate but Dustin didn't show, he's probably held up at the hospital, he does that all the time".

Everyone of her classmates had been picked and​ left, but she stayed until her father came to pick her up.

"honey, Dustin is not coming, don't be scared when you see a lot of policemen at home, they are helping us find him".

In truth Dustin and his best friend Nigel had been Kidnapped but no one had called for a ransom. Days turned into weeks, months and years... eight years now.

" I should have said i loved him too, if he is alive, he should be 31 years old now."

Tears streamed down her face. She missed Dustin so much.

" Come back home you fool, your disappearance stopped being a joke a long time ago."

There is a knock bringing her back to reality, it's her mother again.

"Here is a snack for you" Grace looks at her daughter and hands her a try with a slice of apple pie and a glass of orange juice on it.

"Thanks mom".

Samantha looks at her mother embarrassed to look her in the eyes,

" You want to come in?" Grace nodded and stepped into the room.

Samantha diverts her eyes to a glass of juice and takes a generous sip... The juice smells funny but taste the same as her mom always makes it.

" Mom, am sorry about my reaction to our conversation this afternoon, I just have a lot on my mind, i didn't mean to be rude".

"It's ok Sam, mom understands"

After ten minutes of good conversation, the glass was empty. They had a small chat before Samantha started feeling sleepy, she couldn't keep her eyes open, her mother's face became blurry...

"what....what​ ....did... you give me mom?...she fell on the bed.She tried to stand but she couldn't.