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His crippling PTSD.
One minute the fireworks were going off and the next he was crouched down on the ground beside me shaking and grunting. I thought he was having a seizure and considering he had a solid hundred pounds of muscle on me, there was no way I was going to get him upright without help and without at least half the people here noticing.
“David. David. Hey.” I crouched down in front of him as best I could blocking out the flashes of exploding rockets. His eyes were blank and his face felt ice cold under my palms.
“Yo, buddy you okay?” Evan leaned down beside me and gave me a smile that said things would be alright. I believed him. I had to.
“The blasts.” He started to rock back and forth and I put a hand on his shoulder sliding it down to his back.
“Is it okay? Can I touch you?” I was about to pull my hand back when I realized I didn’t know if I should be touching him at all. Was I helping or making it worse?
“You can do what you’re doing. It feels good.” He said between gritted teeth and attempts to hold himself still with each bang that echoed off the mountains.
“I didn’t think, I’m sorry. Landon does this every year and no one has said anything.”
“Not his fault.” David squeezed his eyes shut and Evan moved behind him.
“How about we get you upright big guy and move toward the cars. I have some chairs set up by my truck and we can ride this out or go home.”
“I gotta work through this.” David said as Evan lifted his arm over his shoulder. I propped up his other side as best I could without losing my balance.
“Sure you do, but not today.” Evan patted his side and we helped David walk over and sit between the vehicles which obscured some of the fireworks.
“I didn’t expect to go down like a brick house. That’s embarrassing.” He chuckled running his hands over his shaved head.
“Hey, it’s all good.” I said doing my best to reassure him. I wasn’t an expert on combat PTSD, but I cared about him. Deeply.
He patted his lap winking. “It would be better if you climbed up on my lap here.”
Evan snorted. “My work is done, back in a few.” Evan left us on our own and I moved to stand next to David’s chair.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea right now.”
“It’s the best idea I’ve had all afternoon next to figuring out how to get your panties off without your brother, uncle, and cousins catching me.”
“Now that would be embarrassing. You know they all report back to my parents and the aunts.” I muttered letting David maneuver me over his lap.
“I hope Evan realizes my two-fifty body might spit this chair in half sending us rolling back down the hill toward those damn firecrackers.”
“My weight isn’t going to help this cause, you realize that don’t you?”
“I don’t particularly care. If I can get my shit together we can leave discretely and you can administer some first aid to my frazzled nerves.”
My heart constricted thinking how difficult this was for him.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about how half my unit was ambushed and blown up? Not particularly.” He grunted. I was shocked by the swath of information dump he’d given me.
“I meant with how you’re dealing with this.” There I was sticking my foot in my mouth.
“I’m sorry. I’m being an asshole and it’s not you. Outside my treatment at the VA clinic and here at the rehab center I haven’t given much thought on how to deal with this in a practical situation.”
“Any behavioral techniques?”
“At first it was all meds. Popping pills that didn’t work. Then for a month I tried exposure therapy, but all that did was make me sweat through everything I wore.”
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked.
