The Reawakening of Major Michael F. Lukas

It felt like a shot put had been hurled into his chest. Major Michael F. Lukas fell backward onto the ground and stared into the distance as cold droplets of rain pelted his face.

“It’s not fair”. He thought to himself.

The warm blood pouring from his chest was sickeningly refreshing. The noise of shouting men belting orders slowly faded from his awareness and the only thing he could focus on was the rain. A man’s face obstructed Lukas’ view and started snapping his fingers and slapping Lukas’ face. He wanted him to go away so he could die in peace.

“What is his name again?’ The major wondered

Lukas had worked with him almost every day since he was deployed here, but couldn’t remember his name. Everything began to go out of focus. The violent twitch in his legs subsided, and Lukas realized that he could no longer move them. He coughed up the taste of copper.

“Am I really dying?”

The features on the face of the man in front of him became indistinguishable and Lukas’ breaths became quick, short, and excruciating. Even with his labored breathing, air was no longer satisfying. He felt submerged, with a river’s reed as his only source of air. Anxiety tightened its cold iron grip around his gut and he wanted to run away, but he was shivering violently from hemorrhagic shock. Everything became white.

Lukas found himself in a vast and seemingly unending jungle. It was always raining and completely silent. He would walk through the brush, between the vines, and over the fallen limbs, but no matter how hard he tried, he could find no signs of life. The trees were alive, but were always static. Even if the wind blew, which it often did in strong gusts, the trees would remain still and silent. The rain would always hit Lukas’ face. He constantly heard voices and felt eyes on him. They were voices of loved ones and voices of strangers. The last thing Lukas expected was to wake up.

The lights burned Lukas’ eyes so the only thing he could do was squint. The strangely familiar sound of the EKG beeped at a steady rhythm. Lukas felt something in his throat and noticed there was a machine breathing for him. He wanted to scream but he could barely speak because of the device in his throat. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he recognized the man asleep in a chair in against the wall. Lieutenant Machado was one of his best officers. If success hinged on the proper execution of a mission, Lukas always relied on the Lieutenant to execute it properly. His presence was comforting.

The rhythm of the EKG began to increase and the Lieutenant jumped awake. He looked around and rubbed his eyes before noticing Lukas’ Consciousness.

“Major?!” He let out an excited laugh “He’s awake!”

The pace of the EKG quickened once again and a panicked look washed over Lieutenant Machado.

“Nurse! It’s happening again!” The lieutenant announced as he rushed out of the room.

A doctor poked his head into the room and the EKG continued to quicken. He issued some rapid fire commands to the nurse and checked various instruments before Lukas lost consciousness again.

A strong gust blasted rain into Lukas’ face. He sat on the knotted root of a large canopy tree. A woman stood several feet in front of him giving him a comforting smile. The woman was his mother. Not the frail sickly mother he had said goodbye to six years ago, but the young and vibrant mother he knew as a child.

“Michael, what are you doing up there? Come down from there!”

“Yes mama” He said and fell to his feet from the branch.

The fall was longer than he had calculated and he stumbled almost losing his balance. He noticed that his hands were not the calloused and worked hands of a Major in the global police force, but the small and soft hands of a young boy.

“Look at you Michael, you got mud on your new shoes! What am I going to do with you?”

“Mama,” Lukas looked up at his mother choking back tears. “I’m scared…” He looked down at the muddy ground and couldn’t tell the rain apart from his tears. “I’m dying mama. I don’t wanna die. I’m not ready to die.”

“Come here.” His mother gently beckoned.

Lukas wrapped his arms around his mother’s legs, buried his face, and sobbed hard. His mother reached down and gently stroked his head.

“It’s not so bad, Michael. I’m sure you will pull through. You are a strong and handsome boy.”

“No mama, it’s really bad. You don’t understand.”

“Look at me Michael.” His mother commanded

Lukas pulled his face from his mother’s leg and looked up at her with a red and puffy snot-nosed face.

“You are not going to die, do you hear me? You are going to pull through and take this as an opportunity to look at your life differently. You have to be a strong man and take the challenges life presents you head on and with a confident smile on your face. Crying into my leg will only serve the purpose of making my pants wet, but standing up strong in the face of adversity will be an inspiration to everybody that looks up to you. You’ve worked too hard to get to this point in your life just to let go and die.”

Lukas was silent for a moment and took several steps backward. He sniffled and rubbed the snot off on his arm. When he looked up his mother had disappeared from the cold rainy jungle floor. He panicked and looked around for her, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Be strong.” He told himself and looked up at the torrential rain. It turned into a gentle sprinkle. The sound of water droplets hitting the large leaves of the jungle floor surrounded him.