Oh man, you’ve been hit. Are you OK? How bad is it?

Hey, don’t shut down, tell me how bad it is. Tell me what’cher thinkin’…

Tell me what’cher feelin’…

Stay alert. Talk to me.

Don’t just give up and bleed out. I can help you, I’ve been trained. I’ve been wounded. I’ve been where you are.

My name? Call me “Doc.” I’m a medic, sent out here to this hell they call “war” to help ya. Your wound don’t scare me none, I’ve seen worse, believe me.

Let me try and fix ya up a bit, and then we’ll wait for the cavalry.

“I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.”

That’s from Philippians 4:13. Not sure if it helps the pain, but ya know that sinking feelin’ in your gut? The one that tells you there’s no hope, that you ain’t gotta chance of survivin’ this war? Yeah, it should help THAT.

I whisper it to myself a LOT. Gives me hope.

Hey…HEY…stay with me, ok? Don’t go quittin’ on me, ya hear? All ya gotta do is hang on, help is comin’. Those Eastern skies are gonna open up, the clouds are gonna part, and then you’ll see ’em.

See, from what I hear, the whole of the King’s Army is comin’ after us. This will all be over soon. There’s not much time left.

Can you hang on that long? What am I saying, of course you can. I can see it in your eyes, you got the gumption to see this thing through. Ain’t nobody gonna take YOU down. Some may have fallen in battle, but not you.

Not this day.

What, you thought we were alone in this war? No way. We got help comin’, and I’m on a mission directly from the King, with specific orders to tell ya that! We ain’t got much longer to hold out.

Why, we ain’t nothing but a wisp of fog, catchin’ a brief bit of sun before disappearin’. That’s from the Bible. James, chapter four, if memory serves.

In the grand scheme of things, we’re nothin’ but a beautiful sunrise, here for a spell and then gone. You can hold out THAT long, can’cha?

We gotta stick together in this. You and me, until they come for us. Until it’s OVER.

I know, it’s freezin’ out here. I know you’re hurtin’, I can see the blood. But that wound ain’t gonna kill ya, hear me? It can only GETCHA if you let it.

Yup, pretty soon we’ll have hot showers, icy cold drinks and silk sheets. Ain’t gonna be long now. Things’re gettin’ rough out here, but we ain’t got long now. We just gotta hold on a bit longer.

You can do that, right? Yeah, I know you can. I can see the GRIT in your eyes. I’ve ran across thousands of soldiers, but they’re not all strong like you. They’re not all brave like you.

What, you’re wonderin’ how I know you’re strong? How I know you’re brave?

Well, shoot, you’re here, ain’cha? Whole armies have been devoured by the dark, by that devil of an enemy, who wants nothin’ more than to kill ya, but you’ve made it this far. Some took a hit so bad, they went runnin’ the other direction. Others died. Just flat-out gave up and DIED.

Yeah, that enemy, he don’t play. But one thing the King taught me:

Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is ready to pounce, and would like nothin’ better than to catch us nappin’. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only one stuck in these hard times. It’s the same all over the world. The way I figure, we gotta keep a firm grip on the faith. The sufferin’ won’t last forever, my friend. It won’t be long before God will have you put together and on your feet again. 

Yeah, took that one from the King’s book, too. Peter wrote it. He served with the King Himself, but he had, uh, ISSUES, I guess you could say. He was like me, or rather, I guess I’m like him. I don’t know when to keep my mouth shut sometimes, but he learned. He made it.

The King believes in us. Why, we’re like family to Him, didn’t you know that? We’re not just slave labor. We’re not just soldiers, we’re like His children. The way He explained it to me, it’s like the King adopted us. We’re family.

So just hold on a little longer, ok? Don’t give up. You promise? You swear?

I face this hell every day, same as you. Just ‘cuz He chose me to be a medic don’t mean I don’t hurt like you. Worse, some days, I figure, but I ain’t givin’ up.

And neither can you. We gotta stick together in this. We’re family. We’re soldiers. We fight.

That’s what we do.