166 Days: My Journey Through The Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page A

phone calls, which were free, but they were limited to only fifteen minutes a call and we could only use them twice a week. Fortunately, they also had a café with wireless internet and phones where people could pay a small fee to use if they chose.
    We decided to go for a run and workout to kill some more time. After we finished the workout we were walking around the base and as I looked up I saw a very familiar appearing face in a crowd of people. It was Dwight, a friend of mine from when I was enlisted; we had gone to technical school together when I was learning how to be a medic nearly eight years prior and hadn’t seen each other since. “Oh my gosh! Dwight! I can’t believe it’s you! Of all places to have a reunion!”
    “Wow, Jenn, How are you?” he said.
    “Doing awesome, I’m a PA now, and en route to Bagram. What about you?”
    “A PA? Wow that’s great! I’m so happy for you. I am actually stationed here for another three months. I’m working in the acute care clinic,” he said. We stood around and chatted, catching up on each other’s lives. He was newly married and permanently stationed in California. I had heard the expression “It’s a small Air Force” for years, and that moment was my first experience when that statement was made true. We agreed to meet up later that evening at a place called “Pete’s,” a hangout spot where we could actually have up to two alcoholic drinks in a 24 hour period….that is, as long as you were not in the Army, and as luck would have it…I was in the Air Force, so a drink I would have!
    After dinner we got issued our C-Bags, which were filled with our nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) gear and our Individual Body Armor. The bag was the heaviest thing I had ever lifted, so heavy in fact; I couldn’t walk more than five steps with it before I had to rest. It quite possibly weighed at least, if not more, than what I did.
    “Jenn, are you ok? Do you need some help with that?” Tony asked.
    “No!” I insisted. “I’ve got it. I just need to stop here and there for a break.”
    He looked at me and shook his head. “Stubborn!” he said as he stood waiting as I insistently struggled with my bag. He was right, the last thing I needed was someone to do it for me, even though I secretly would have loved to hand it over. After what seemed like miles of carrying the bag, and my pride, I was thankful to drop it off at the terminal and head on to Pete’s. We all sat around talking for a while and I continued to catch up with Dwight about what was happening in our lives. It was nice to see an old friend, but the whole time we were there I was constantly checking my watch; waiting for a reasonable time to call Greg. After what felt like an eternity it was finally a decent time back home so I hurried to the phone and waited in line to talk to him. I waited for what seemed hours but in reality it was only a few minutes. I got to my booth and dialed his number. The first time I heard his voice the tears instantly welled up in my eyes and a huge lump formed in my throat.
    “Hi,” was all I could manage initially.
    “Hi sweetie! How are you?” he asked. “It already seems like you have been gone for so long! How was the flight? Where are you?”
    I told him the story about my uniform fiasco at the airport, and he laughed. “What did I tell you, Nej?” was all he could manage to say in between bouts of laughter.
    I missed him so much already and my deployment was just getting started. We talked for about fifteen minutes and then we had to hang up. There was so much I wanted to say to him, but didn’t have the chance. As I walked back to my room I smiled as I remembered the story of how we met.
     
    April 18, 2003 I went to a country music bar on the strip in Las Vegas. I absolutely did not want to go out that night. I had every intention of cuddling up on my couch in my pajamas with a big bowl of popcorn and watching movies all night with my cat. My