Captain Sally Willis smiled broadly at Katz as she walked over to the garden seat where he sat in the sun reading an English-language newspaper.
“I hope you’re okay for a visitor.”
Katz looked up and instantly his eyes moistened and bottom lip started to tremble. He fumbled for his walking stick but the woman leaned over and kissed him gently on his good cheek. She too began to cry.
“I was going to be strong for you. Now look at us.”
Katz reached for her hand, drew it to his lips and kissed it. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“I know. Losing you was like losing a part of myself. I love you, Pete, you believe that, don’t you?”
“And I love you too, Sal. I know I never said that enough.”
Katz realized that now, in front of the person he had always tried so hard to impress, he looked anything but the hero the media was portraying him as. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.
“So, you’re a captain now. Well done. Still counselling?”
“Actually, that’s why I’m here … well, apart from wanting to see you and give you the biggest kiss in the world. Even though I’m not assigned to your regiment I’ve got special approval. I’m officially your counsellor.”
“Counsellor! What do I need a counsellor for? I’ve been in a hole in a mountain in a desert for two years. What could possibly be wrong with me?”
Willis knew Katz was only half joking. He was strong-willed, one of the strongest men she knew, but the trauma would still be there, however deep, and would reveal itself slowly but surely over time. And she wanted to be there to help.
“You know I’m the last person in the world you can fool. But maybe you are one of the lucky ones and nothing’s wrong with you. So let’s just look at it as an opportunity to make up for lost time. And if you need to talk about anything, I’m being paid to listen. So accept it. For the next three months we will be inseparable. Consider me your shadow.”