I Shot JFK

by Jake Aaron

  “In that case, Harry, I’ll look forward to tomorrow.” Irving shifts gears only enough for Gunnar to notice. “Being at sea that long takes its toll. Good health, my man!”

  Heading back to his room, Gunnar’s pace is slowed by the IV stanchion he and Eileen pull together.

  “Harry, was the hour-long session too much? I want to make sure we’re not tiring you out.”

  “I’m good Eileen. I’m not sure why he’s so interested in a fisherman’s survival experience, but the free room and board is okay with me.”

  “Who does Irving work for? Department of Navy?” Eileen inquires with a casual but noticeable transition.

  Gunnar laughs as he rolls into bed, “He didn’t say. I’ll have to ask him next time. He was polite enough.”

  “Anything else we can do to make life better for you? Eileen asks tapping his foot — doubtlessly something taught to nurses and doctors.

  Gunnar conjures up mischief, “Yeah, can you get rid of the hospital odor. What is it eau de alcohol and ammonia?”

  “You surprise me. I would think the jungle would have had all sorts of bad smells from decaying fauna and flora. This should smell like the garden of Eden to you.” Eileen tests.

  “No, the smell of the open ocean was better. You must have me confused with another patient,” he corrects her.

  Eileen does not react. She taps his foot again, “I’ll be back to check on you.”

  *****

  The next morning, Gunnar wakes to the sweet smell of plumerias. He notices plumeria blossoms on his top sheet. The beautiful flowers are sprinkled on his nightstand, the floor, and even his slippers. The pink-yellow-white flower has a distinctly pleasing scent.

  Gunnar speaks gleefully, “This is a pleasant surprise! You know I really didn’t expect you to change the smell of the hospital. That’s like telling a skunk not to stink — well, bad choice of words. Anyway, it was the impossible, but you did it. Thank you. How did you do that?”

  “Magic!,” Eileen teases.

  “No, really,” Gunnar persists.

  “I might have some nurse friends who fly the air evac flight in from Hawaii.”

  “Well, I thank them as well as you. I am honored. It does smell like the Garden of Eden. Some say the aroma is an aphrodisiac.”

  Eileen’s smile shows how pleased she is with herself, maybe more. “Well, I’ll let you eat your breakfast and get ready for your morning session down the hall.”

  *****

  Irving has already cut a chocolate donut in ten pieces and has coffee poured for Gunnar.

  “Harry, what you told us yesterday has already got my people excited. If you can tell us verbatim what you said to your captors in Vietnamese and Russian, that would be very helpful. I know you can’t remember everything perfectly, of course, but as best you can. Pinning down a discrete set of must-know words for future captives and evaders is essential.

  “By the way, when the Viet Cong referred to a tiger tattoo on Russians, he pretty much met an outlier if he saw one. That is a criminal tattoo meaning the wearer has killed at least one other man. Common Soviet military tattoos vary as much as do American military tattoos, depending on combat experience and service units.

  “So now let’s work on the dialogue you remember during your capture and captivity …”

  The daily sessions continue.

  *****

  Walt and Cece fly into Manila International. They find a chauffeur holding up a sign: “Simmers.” They are driven 50 miles to Clark AB in a black Mercedes. They are struck by the large number of brightly colored, open-air jeepneys on the road. The kitschy, crowded vehicles are a legacy of World War II. As they enter the main gate, Walt notes, “In 1942, the Bataan Death March proceeded right behind where we just passed, heading northward.”

  Clark AB’s large size awes them. At the hospital, the facility commander greets them and ushers them to a briefing room on Gunnar’s fourth-floor ward. The Air Force full colonel doctor introduces them to a civilian. The civilian sits them in government standard gray metal chairs around a gray metal table. He offers them coffee and Danish pastries. The colonel excuses himself.

  Irving, the civilian, provides a broad context to Gunnar’s situation, with scant details. He explains that Gunnar is known in the hospital as Harry Winslow. He concludes, “I have a non-disclosure agreement for you to sign before you see Harry. I know you signed one back in New Mexico before we told you Harry is alive. This is a reminder. It says you can be legally prosecuted for disclosing his existence and details of his survival. I know this sounds harsh, but trust me … lives depend on it. The methods and means he used to survive can save the lives of our armed forces. His very existence may compromise anyone who helped him survive. We still do not know the complete details of his long ordeal. These are only a few of the reasons we require you to sign the confidentiality agreement.”

  Walt and Cece nodded. “We’re are used to this where we work. We understand completely. How do we know what we should or should not ask him?”

  “We’re sensitive to your family needing time together,” the man replied. “Harry has been briefed on what he can tell you as well. He is in remarkable condition — considering. Keep in mind, he still could be emotionally fragile at this point. Many survivors exhibit hypervigilance, an adaptation that has kept them alive under threat. When the threat has passed, they remain overly alert. His doctor says he’s improving physically. The doctor also counsels to avoid tiring him out too much and to encourage him not to consume large amounts of food or beverage.

  “We want you to have a pleasant reunion with Harry. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to make that happen. And on a personal note, thank you for your work as scientists. I appreciate your family’s sacrifice of personal freedom for our country.”

  *****

  Cece hugs Gunnar for minutes and won’t let go. Walt starts laughing with Gunnar at the scene. Gunnar sees Walt’s frustration at not getting in his hug. Eileen, who escorted Walt and Cece in, smiles as she leaves. She closes the door.

  After Walt finally gets in a bear hug, Gunnar asks, “So Uncle Walt, how’s the Chicken Place?” That sets Walt off in laughter. Walt and Gunnar are now laughing uncontrollably in reaction to the emotional reunion and the inside joke. Cece follows in laughter.

  “How you doin’, big guy?” Walt inquires.

  By now both men feel the toll on their abdominal muscles. Gunnar answers, “Good, except for the hernia operation.” He guardedly covers his lower stomach area.

  “My god,” Cece explodes, “did you have hernia surgery, too?” That sets off another round of guy laughter.

  As the uproar subsides, Gunnar offers, “Thank you so much for coming. It is so great to see you! … I’m betting Alex can’t get time off from medical school. I totally get it.”

  “Gunnar, I let her know you were alive. Just know she would be here if she could.” Cece vows to get a better feel for Gunnar’s emotional health before adding to his burden. She knows Alex’s situation would set him off.”

  Gunnar senses a subtext that he will pursue later.

  *****

  Walt and Cece see Gunnar each morning an hour after his debriefing. They visit an hour at a time. They return in the afternoon and evening. Eileen and two other shift nurses jealously guard their patient. Gunnar’s favorite activity is to refer the pictures in Life magazines that span the period of history he missed. Walt and Cece enjoy giving their commentary and recounting what they were doing when Gunnar asks about specific events.

  The November 29, 1963, issue strikes Gunnar right off. “Aunt Cece, what were you doing when you heard President Kennedy had been shot?”

  “I was at a Friday staff meeting. We could not believe our ears. Being surrounded by the Air Force, it was very noticeable when the security level went up all over Holloman. For minutes, no one spoke. A big meeting was cancelled. No one could concentrate. Several officers speculated that we would soon be engaged in a nuclear war
. Others thought we were experiencing a coup. I, personally, did not know what to think. I called Walt after a few minutes to see what he thought. Oh yes, I had to call five times because the phone lines were jammed up by the volume of calls like mine.”

  Walt joined in, “Cece got me after I attempted to brief our commander on the status of my project. That was cut short by the news. I was in shock, terrified, and angry — at the same time. I was furious that anyone would assassinate a sitting president of our country. That does not happen in my country! I asked myself whether we were becoming as lawless as the rest of the world. Of course, you had no knowledge of JFK’s death, did you?”

  “Not a clue,” Uncle Walt, “when Eileen gave me a stack of Life and Time magazines, I learned. I’m pulling a sheet and blanket over me now because it literally leaves me cold — again — just to think about it. I am astonished that anyone would kill our president.”

  “A very sad day then,” Walt remarks.

  “I am saddened every time I think about it,” Gunnar adds.

  Cece piles on, “If I could have got a hold of that Oswald, well, I’d …”

  “So Oswald was shot two days later, and the Warren Commission said he was the one and only assassin. Is that right?” Gunnar asks.

  “That’s what happened. There’s still a lot of speculation about multiple shooters and conspiracies that involve Big Oil, the Mafia, Cuba, and the CIA,” Cece responds.

  “I think Oswald got what he deserved,” Gunnar comments.

  Walt: “It took a particularly despicable human being to fire the bullet that killed our president.”

  Then Gunnar tries to elevate the mood, “Who’s going to the Super Bowl this year?”

  *****

  After the third week of hospitalization, Gunnar gets to go with Walt, Cece,and Eileen to an afternoon movie on base. A staff car takes them. Gunnar is very excited about seeing James Bond in Goldfinger. He had seen Dr. No in 1962. As they are driven back to the hospital, Gunnar says he really enjoyed the movie. Since Gunnar had missed From Russia With Love, Walt promises to buy the book for him. During the movie, however, Cece can tell that the old Gunnar is not back completely. Jungle survivor Gunnar jumps at the sound of gunfire in the movie and is edgy during the film’s torture scenes. No, she decides, she will not give Gunnar the details of where Alex is and why she is there.

  Leaving Gunnar to rest, the three compare notes outside his hospital room. Eileen notes, “It has been a long day for him: debriefing, visiting hours, and a long movie. The movie was a trial. We shouldn’t do that every day. You two are a welcome elixir to speed his healing.”

  Several days later, Walt and Cece leave to get back to their work stateside.

  Eileen counters Gunnar’s sadness at their departure with a transistor radio she gives him. He can’t get enough of Roy Orbison’s singing “Oh, Pretty Woman” or the Supreme’s belting out “Baby Love.”

  “You know, Eileen, sometimes I miss the serenity of the open sea,” Gunnar remarks.

  “Really?” Eileen asks in disbelief. The unflappable nurse looks befuddled.

  “No!” Gunnar laughs. “Thanks again for the transistor!”

  *****

  That evening Eileen comes into Gunnar’s room to check on him. Gunnar looks up from his Time magazine, “Pulling a double shift?”

  “I am, sort of. Peggy wants to see Goldfinger, so I’m covering the first four hours of her shift.” She touches Gunnar’s shoulder, “How would you like a back rub, or will that cut into your reading time?”

  Gunnar puts down the magazine and matter-of-factly states, “Well, if you need the practice …” Without waiting for a reaction, he rolls on his stomach.

  Click. Gunnar senses a shift in Eileen’s demeanor.

  Eileen sends up a trial balloon, “You jet jocks normally demand a back rub. You did eject over the ocean, didn’t you?” Her behavior was normal except for the almost imperceptible shift in voice tone and equally small movement in her facial expression.

  “Eileen, again, you must have me confused with someone on another floor. I’m the fisherman who survived my ship sinking at sea.” Gunnar grins with his head to one side, “And here I was thinking I was your favorite patient.”

  Click. Gunnar senses a shift back to normal Eileen.

  Eileen tries to recover, “I guess you just have that cocky fighter-pilot look about you. Is your head comfortable on its side? Harry, I’m warming the lotion in my hands before I touch you. I’ll start in a few seconds.”

  Eileen unties the back of Gunnar’s hospital gown. At first the symmetric movement of Eileen’s hands makes all of Gunnar’s senses heighten. Eventually though, the rhythm of the deep-tissue massage becomes more and more soothing. He feels as if his whole body is being hypnotized. Soon, Gunnar is nearly asleep. Eileen slowly stops the back rub. “I’m going to put a warm, wet towel on your back now.”

  Gunnar floats in a twilight between consciousness and sleep.

  In time, Eileen removes the room-temperature towel. “Okay, you can roll over. How was that? Anything you need?” She moves her hand slowly to his cheek.

  Gunnar sighs. He holds her hand on his cheek. They stare into each other’s eyes. Neither changes expression. Gunnar squeezes the hand on his cheek.

  Eileen says, “I’ll be right back,” and leaves for a minute to jam the door with a chair. She returns and sits down to take off her shoes. Slowly she takes off her green scrubs and her bra. She rises and wiggles out of her panties. She pulls off Gunnar’s hospital gown and crawls into the hospital bed with Gunnar.

  “One thing,” Gunnar protests, “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

  “It’s all right, Harry. I told the guard to let absolutely no one in — and I’ve got the chair in place blocking the door. You just relax.”

  Eileen lays on top of him. They kiss for half an hour. “Shall I go?” she teases.

  Gunnar answers with a soft lip-lock. “This is almost as good as Goldfinger — almost,” he teases back.

  “Sorry my breasts aren’t gold-coated,” she jests.

  “I prefer the skin tones, myself, Miss Galore,” he kids. “In fact, I would say yours are ideal.”

  Lack of female contact has left Gunnar impatient. He overcompensates by deliberately taking his time. He slowly and gently touches Eileen’s breasts lightly with his fingertips. Her nipples are erect. He shares her enthusiasm. He controls himself by concentrating on slowing his rapid breathing. He rubs her back and her neck. His fingers caress her lower abdomen.

  Eileen shivers at his touch. She is flushed and breathing hard. She straddles him.

  Gunnar reaches for a clear plastic cover from a bedside glass for protection. She blocks him and produces a condom from underneath his pillow. Her logistics are well thought out.

  Gunnar is inside her. They enjoy the moment in a long kiss with no other movement. Slowly they dance atop the sheets. Both relish the sense of timelessness and crashing of barriers. The present is ageless and eternal. Neither could be more aware. They simultaneously climax, reaching peak satisfaction. Eileen collapses into his shoulder and runs her fingers through his hair.

  As Gunnar starts to doze off, Eileen reaches under the bed. She pulls up an ice bucket and champagne. Pow! Gunnar pops the cork on the Korbel and hits the overhead fluorescent light fixture. They laugh together. They drink from hospital glass tumblers. They toast Gunnar’s health, James Bond, Peggy, and life. Everything is a reason for joy.

  “The Korbel was wonderful. I will repay you with the same at the Manila Hilton when I get out of the hospital,” Gunnar promises.

  “Harry, that’s … Wow! Time got away from me. Peggy will be here soon.” She rolls back out bed. Back into panties, bra, and scrubs. Click. “Did you have to kill anyone to escape?”

  “Eileen, will you marry me?” Gunnar deflects in a teasing tone.

  Click. The regular Eileen is back. She ignores his question as he ignored hers. “Good news on your blood work. Your liver an
d kidney functions are back to normal. B & B for you tomorrow, kid. Beer and bananas.”

  *****

  The debriefing sessions in the morning lengthen to two hours. Just when Gunnar thinks he has nothing more to remember, Irving comes at his memory from another angle. When there is a sticking point, Irving offers coffee. With the longer session, Irving routinely has an attendant warm up lumpia for a snack at the one-hour point. The Filipino delicacy is a tasty spring roll. Lumpia is shredded pork, cabbage, and assorted chopped vegetables wrapped in a paper-thin pastry. Gunnar favors the hot mustard dipping sauce. Irving likes the sweet and sour.

  Later in the day wearing gym clothes, Gunnar goes on extended walks on base with Eileen. The temperature is usually a muggy 88 degrees Fahrenheit with no breeze. Half of the time, they get soaked by short tropical showers. A couple out for a stroll in the middle of the week is not out of place on the large military installation with a lot of shift work.

  The walk becomes part of Gunnar’s and Eileen’s routine. She regularly takes part of Peggy’s shift to give him a “back rub.” Often they discuss current events, the weather, and the many flowers on the base. Now and then, they parry. Gunnar continually perceives the soundless pronounced click. Eileen probes; Gunnar sticks to his legend; click, then real Eileen is back. Gunnar elects not to confront her on this. He keeps down the number of her probes by not asking too much about her past. They live in the moment.

  *****

  One morning Eileen does not show up. Instead, Peggy brings a breakfast of tacos, tomatoes, lettuce, and mango. Irving bought this for you. He apologizes for not having authentic salsa.”

  “This is fantastic. What a treat! Tobasco is underrated, you know. It will do just fine,” Gunnar is impressed to know Irving delivers even on small promises.