The bullet hit my left leg, causing me to fall on the rocky beach. In the process, I lost my weapon and helmet. The blood started flowing quickly into the sand, as I tried to take cover and scrambled to put a bandage and tourniquet below my knee. 

I just finished patching up the wound and crawled to retrieve my gun when the second shot pierced my hand, exploding my right palm, leaving a quarter-sized hole, and causing much more pain than the leg wound. As I fell backward, another bullet shattered my left wrist, leaving me unable to move quickly to get out of the line of fire.  

I was able to retrieve my Sig Sauer P229 from my holster and painfully grip it to protect myself. It was hard to hold from both the blood making it slippery, and the loss of power in my hand because of the gaping hole. 

I had no choice but to crawl to try to hide myself behind some rocks and driftwood on the beach. I heard my team taking heavy fire about thirty yards away. I knew I had to try to reach them no matter how painful it would be. I sat for a minute and finally forced myself to get up. I hobbled about ten yards and saw my Assault Rifle lying in the sand, remembering it was thrown forward when I fell. 

Retrieving it, I heard the gunfire intensify down the beach. Sucking up my pain, I increased my pace to get to my team. When I caught up to them, I realized we were completely outnumbered and without any cover. Two of the five of us were down, with the enemy advancing. I stood up to draw fire away from the two who were down and emptied my clip. Quickly reloading, I emptied another. 

The enemy responded with a volley of bullets, hitting the other two team members. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a SEAWOLF gunship appear and watched as its M60 machine guns eliminated the enemy threat. 

Feeling relieved, but at the same time, that something was not right, I fell to the ground. When I awakened, a Navy Corpsman was stabilizing my wounds and getting me ready for transport. I could hear him talking to me but did not understand. I lost consciousness again.  

I felt like I was going to die. My thoughts left the battlefield, and I found myself dreaming about my wife, my beautiful wife. What would she do without me? I promised her I would always come home. I promised we would always be together, especially now, since she told me we were going to have a baby.  

I felt someone shaking me. Opening my eyes, I thought I was still dreaming. There before me was my beautiful Melinda.  

“Master Chief Nolan, you better not break your promise to me! I am here to make sure you do not.” 

Tears fell from my eyes. “Yes, Ma’am.”