Angelique came into the hot tub greenhouse. She was worn out and hadn’t thought about the hot tub. It was a great idea and she knew it could help her sleep. The part she was confused by was Heidi wanting her to join her in the tub. She knew in many ways Heidi was a fairly private person.
“Come on in, the water’s great and you damn sure earned it!” Heidi said from the water.
“I appreciate you reminding me of this, but….” Angelique said as she quickly slipped into the water. The heat took her breath away and melted some of the fatigue from her bones.
“I wanted to talk to you away from everyone. You just did something and went through something that in many ways will be a benchmark others will try to define you with. Part of this is because you just did something damn near impossible for anyone else here.”
Angelique hadn’t thought of it like that. She also hadn’t heard this tone from Heidi before. It was sad.
“Bullshit! You could have done it! Kara could have done it!” Angelique shot back.
“Could I have carried Zed that far? Yeah, I probably could, and left a trail big enough to lead two blind guys right to the pick-up point. Kara, maybe, but she wouldn’t have let you try to lead them away like she could. Either way, it would have led to at least ten people being killed. You saved at least ten lives last night with what you did.”
Angelique didn’t know what to say. Heidi continued.
“Unless all of us die tonight, what you did will become a story and a legend that will follow you for most of your adult life. This is in addition to your whole long solo hike a couple of months ago at the outset of your ordeal.”
Heidi paused while she took a sip from the glass in her hand.
“Your father is very proud of you. He was before you went on this mission, and now he is so proud he could pop. Part of what you did was what he has dedicated his life to, going into the wilderness and rescuing the wounded. He doesn’t realize all the rest of what you did. I do. This wasn’t a rescue, this was combat survival.“
“You are now invincible, ten feet tall and bulletproof to Emilia, who idolized you before and now, it’s off the scale.”
“Idolize me? Why?” This didn’t make sense to Angelique.
“She wants to be like you like you idolize Kara and Allyson. She doesn’t understand what you went through to do what you did. I’m not going to ask you how you did it. I know you don’t know how you did it. I didn’t when I did some of the things I’ve done.”
Heidi handed the second glass to Angelique. Half full of a brown liquid, Angelique took a tentative sip as Heidi kept talking.
“I was about your age when I did something that people used to define me with for years, hell even to this day, then, about five years later, I did something else, more in line with what you did. That second thing? I spent almost four hours doing CPR in the back of a moving HMMWV under fire. I didn’t know how long I did it. People had to tell me later. Like you when you picked up Zed to carry him, once I started, I knew I just couldn’t stop.”
Heidi took another sip of the Scotch. So did Angelique.
“You didn’t brag about what you did. That is good. Bragging about it cheapens it. People will always ask you about it when they hear about what you did. Be prepared for it. Also be prepared for them to not understand.”
Heidi drained the last of her scotch.
“My daughter looks up to you. Others do too. That can be a heavy burden. I know some of what you are going to have to carry. If you ever need someone to talk to about it, or anything else, I’m here for you.”
Heidi stood up and stepped over the side of the tub. Angelique was shocked at the sight. Heidi’s angel wings tattoo glistened as the water cascaded down her muscular back. Heidi heard the gasp and saw the stare when she turned and looked.
“I got them when I was about your age. They were the first event I was talking about. I’ve been trying to live up to them ever since. If I had a way to give you a pair though, I would give them to you. You damn well earned them. Just remember, they are a hell of a burden to live with. That’s why we have to stick together.”
Heidi dried off and wrapped up. She left the room, leaving Angelique with the small bottle of scotch and her thoughts.