Lost Battles

Joel quickly turns the car around when Ralph said that. He then makes a detour back to the same road he was driving on. The two arrived at Joel's house around one in the morning and moved Ralph's belongings in the guest room. The next morning, Joel is awoken by the sound of the doorbell and he opens it with Frank entering.

“Ralph didn't show up last night.”

“He's upstairs.”

“I just joined the new center downtown. Maybe you two would like to join. Brandon’s there too.”

Joel thought about it for a second and within a hour, he and Frank drive to the vet center. They enter and see Maurice as the counselor.

“Welcome to the first meeting.” He said shaking their hands. They saw a group of veterans who were around their age and a few who were a little younger and one who in served in the two Gulf wars. As they sat down in chairs, one person spoke up.

“My name is Pete. I was stationed in Afghanistan for the past three years. The first thing I did after coming back was talking to my parents. I hated them and never wanted to speak to them again. But when I got injured, my father came to the hospital because he thought was going to die. He actually helped me recovered.”

“My name is Kirk. I went to Iraq after high school and drove a humvee. My best friend fought with me and when we came home, I lost him. Needles got to him. The last time I saw him was him being carried into a ambulance. One of the scariest moments of my life.”

Those stories got to Joel and Frank and they hear another voice from across the room.

“My name is Ralph. When I got married, I went into service. I got injured during a raid and some of my men survived. Then my wife found out I was spending time with a colleague and she might leave me and take our child with her. I realized I must find a way to fix this.”

The group all clapped their hands after hearing Ralph's story.

“Thank you for sharing with us, Ralph. Now you and your wife should talk to go to counseling together. I know this person I’ve been working with for years.” Maurice said to Ralph. It was Frank’s turn to speak.

“I had the honor to lead these guys into something that we did not know how the outcome would turn out. Years ago, I went to school with them and I’m proud to call them my friends and my team. Thank you.” The crowd applauded Frank’s short but nice speech. Ralph was amazed by what Frank had said. After the trio had left the meeting, they all went to Joel’s house to eat.

About a month later, Ralph walks back to his house seeing Catherine pull up in the driveway, with Jade in the backseat. He begin to talk to her about going to counseling.

“I feel that we should go together to work this out.”

“We have a lot to work out in the next few months. I don't want to leave you.” After Catherine said that, the Campbell family enter the house together for the first time. The two go to their first session, speaking about Ralph's lunch with the other woman. She looked disgusted at first, then realized how honest Ralph was with her and the counselor.

“I feel better now that you told me everything.” Catherine said to him.

They had soon reunited and go to Joel's house for a barbecue. He had cooked for his family and friends.