Solider Forgets His Bride After Returning from the Army – Story of the Day

Emily rushes to the airport, excited to meet her fiancé. But her joy shatters when she doesn't find him there.

Emily's heart raced as the taxi sped through the city toward the airport. Clutching Adam's favorite flowers, she couldn't sit still, her eyes flickering between her phone and the arriving passengers.

"That's $40, ma'am!" the cabbie said as the taxi stopped.

Emily handed the fare and dashed into the airport. She imagined Adam sweeping her into a hug, but her joy turned to worry when she saw Danny, Adam's buddy. But Adam was nowhere to be seen.

"Danny!" she called out, rushing to him and his wife. "Where's Adam? Is he inside?"

"Emily? What are you talking about?" he asked. "He's been home for a month!"

"A month?"

"Yeah, I thought you knew. Anyway, I gotta rush somewhere. Take care, and see you later."

Danny left, leaving Emily stranded in shock. As she dialed Adam's number, the bouquet slipped from her hands. Adam's number was still off. Confused, she hailed a cab to Adam's house, only to find it locked.

Emily didn't understand where he could've gone. Suddenly, she recalled his granny's cottage and hailed a cab. Lost in thoughts of her first kiss with Adam behind the house, she didn't realize when she arrived at her address.

"Ma'am, we're here!" The cabbie's voice snapped her to the moment.

Hope flickered in Emily's eyes as she ran to the cottage. She banged on the door, her hand hurting, desperation evident in her voice.

"Adam, it's me! Open the door...I want to talk to you."

But silence was the only answer she received.

Emily wouldn't leave until she had her answers. She rushed to the living room window, only to find Adam closing it.

"Adam? What's wrong? Why aren't you answering my calls?"

"Go away, Emily! I don't want to talk to you!"

"What do you mean? Why are you doing this?"

"I DON'T WANT TO BE WITH YOU! Go find someone else. Just go away!"

"No, Adam, I won't! Why didn't you call me? I met Danny; he said you were back a month ago. Why are you shutting me out?" Emily's voice trembled.

"I don't have time for you. I've changed. Leave me alone!" Adam yelled.

"Adam, we've known each other for so long. Why now? Please let me in. We need to talk."

"I said go! I can't waste my time with you. Leave!" Adam's words broke Emily's heart.

"Adam, I love you. You promised never to leave. Please open the door. I want to talk to you."

"Time changes, people change. We're not meant to be together. Just go. I don't need you," Adam coldly declared.

Emily's eyes bulged in disbelief. "What did I do? Why are you doing this?"

"Because I don't want you," Adam snapped. "Find someone else. I'm fine without you. NOW, LEAVE!"

Stunned into silence, Emily froze. Adam's words echoed in her ears, delivering a crushing blow to her heart.

With a shattered heart and tears waiting to pour down her eyes, Emily clenched her teeth.

"I HATE YOU, ADAM! Do you hear me? I HATE YOU!"

Just as Emily stormed out of the gate, sniffling, she noticed a young woman approach in her direction. Emily turned around and noticed Adam didn't have any neighbors.

Who is she? What is she doing outside Adam's house? Emily anxiously thought. She turned around and noticed the woman open Adam's cottage door with a spare key.

Emily suspected the worst as she overheard the woman say, "Adam, I hope you're in the bedroom already! There won't be any mercy tonight!"

"Adam is seeing someone else? How could he betray me?" Emily whispered angrily, watching the woman disappear inside.

Anxiety gripped her as she crept back to the window and entered the house.

"Adam, you're such a good boy today!" the woman's voice seeped through Adam's ajar bedroom door, and Adam's soft moans followed.

Unable to bear it, Emily burst in, accusing Adam, "Couldn't even give it a few weeks before jumping into bed with someone else?"

But then, Emily froze, noticing Adam in a wheelchair. The woman, Clara, was his physiotherapist.

"Adam? What happened to you?" Emily asked, shocked.

"Miss, please wait outside. Mr. Collins can't be bothered right now," Clara sternly told Emily.

"It's fine, Clara. Please excuse us for a minute."

"Adam, how did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?" Emily asked as Clara left the room.

"Telling you I won't be able to walk again? That I was shot, and my leg had to be amputated? I should've died on the battlefield...with honor.

"Accept it or not, Emily, I'm a cripple! Nothing's gonna change that. I'm not that guy who used to run to your doorstep with roses," Adam wheeled across the room.

"I still love you with all my heart and soul. I love you, Adam...I really do," Emily declared.

But Adam, overwhelmed by his new reality, rejected her love.

"Things won't be the same forever, Emily. I'm not that hero who used to put on a brave smile before combating enemies on the battlefield. I know we planned to marry soon, but I'm yet to propose to you properly. How will you feel when you see me holding a proposal ring while sitting in my wheelchair instead of getting down on one knee?"

"Adam, please, nothing's gonna change. I promise. I love you," Emily pleaded, but Adam remained firm.

"Once we get together, everything will change," he said painfully. "You'll be ashamed of me, and the moment you see me as a burden, I will completely break down."

"Adam, please. Don't say such things. It hurts," Emily pleaded.

"I can't do anything on my own. Life's playing a wicked joke on me, and I don't want people laughing at me," Adam expressed his anguish.

"Adam, please listen—"

"No, you please listen to me. I feel betrayed and let down. I don't want you to struggle with me. Find someone better and move on," Adam insisted.

Tears welled up in Emily's eyes. "Adam, I still love you, no matter what. We'll get through this. I'll help you get through this."

"We'll get through this?" Adam was furious and rose from his wheelchair to emphasize his disability. "Look at me! People used to look up to me. Now, everybody's gonna look down on me."

Emily knelt beside him as he fell back into the wheelchair and moaned in pain. "What about me, Adam? What about my feelings?"

"Emily, you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met. You don't deserve a life like this."

"No, no, please, you're overthinking. Things will be better than that, I promise," Emily assured him.

"I'm talking about life from a broader perspective. You deserve a normal family...a normal husband who can walk. I don't envision myself in that beautiful picture, Emily," Adam explained.

"Adam...please..." Emily choked on her words.

"My life is already over. You still have a long way ahead. Don't ruin your life, Emily. Go! Just leave me and go!" Adam pushed her away.

"I can't. I love you," Emily declared.

"Stop! Just stop! There's no us anymore, do you understand?"

Adam turned around, wheeled into his bedroom, and locked himself in.

"Adam, come out. Adam?" Emily begged, banging on the door. Adam refused to open it.

"Please, Emily. If you really loved me and wished me happiness...the door is that way. Leave and never come back!"

Tears streamed down Emily's face as she stood outside his bedroom door, heartbroken. "You still don't understand, Adam," she whispered and left.

Later, Emily faced her concerned parents. "Adam returned a month ago. He's in a wheelchair. But, Dad, Mom, I love him. I still want to marry him."

Emily's parents were skeptical. "This is a huge decision. Have you thought about how it will change your life?" her father asked.

"I love Adam for who he is...not for what he can or can't do," Emily asserted.

Her parents were still concerned. "Marriage is not a joke. It's a commitment for a lifetime," Mr. Pitts warned. Her parents didn't want Emily to marry a disabled man. But Emily was adamant about returning to Adam.

"Emily, think with a clear head. You need to consider the challenges you'll have to face if you marry him. Did you forget how Aunt Marla divorced her disabled husband because she couldn't care for him alongside their three children?" her mother warned.

But Emily didn't listen to anyone. She knew her love for Adam was pure and true, so without hesitation, she left her parents' house to get the love of her life back.

"I'm going to Adam because I don't think he would've left my side if I lost a hand or leg in an accident," she said before walking away.

***

Outside Adam's house, Emily waited anxiously for Nurse Clara, hoping she could help.

"Clara!" she called out, making the woman flinch. "I need your help. Only you can help me," Emily pleaded.

"Listen, Emily, Adam is finding it difficult to cope. We must give him the time he needs," Clara explained.

"I can't afford to lose him and let this disability get between us. Please."

"In my fifteen years of service, I've seen families break apart over a spouse's disability. Love is beautiful until you realize the person is disabled," Clara shared, tearing up.

"I don't care about disabilities. Love is what I care about. Adam needs me...he needs my love," Emily declared.

Clara sighed. "Alright," she said after a pause, "what do you want me to do?"

Adam, engrossed in reading, heard the doorknob click an hour earlier than his physiotherapy session.

"Clara? Why are you here early?" Adam asked, irritated.

But to his surprise, the familiar fragrance of Emily's rose perfume filled the air.

"Emily?"

"Before you say anything, I want you to recall the time I had chicken pox," Emily began as she approached him. She described how Adam cared for her tirelessly, emphasizing his words about true love. "You're the one who'd said that if you truly love someone, you'd never leave them, no matter what!"

Touched, Adam struggled to hold back tears. "Emily, there are wonderful men out there, men with legs who can carry you around, who can—"

"Even if those so-called 'perfect' men have ten legs, they're still not you! They can never be my ADAM!"

With that, Emily got down on one knee and pulled out a ring from her pocket.

"Lieutenant Adam, will you make me the happiest person alive and accept this ring? Will you be my husband?"

Adam just couldn't hold himself back any longer.

"Yes, Captain!" he replied with a salute, and they shared a heartfelt moment.

Two weeks later, they married, and seven months later, Emily was pregnant with twins.

As Adam wheeled himself to the dinner table one night, Emily rose from her seat to serve him lemonade. He gently pulled her close and kissed her belly. Suddenly, he felt the babies' kicks.

"Our two little warriors are getting stronger day by day!"

"Like Daddy, like sons!" Emily chuckled, the room filled with laughter and the cozy warmth of the crackling fireplace.

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