Slugtectives 2 - Day 34 : 529 words

“You okay?” she asked as she tilted her head slightly to the side.
His eyes snapped back from the window to her and he quickly said, “yeah, sorry. I just get caught in my thoughts a lot now that this is all coming back to me. I get what you’re saying, I really should take this a bit slower.”
Vivian smiled and her shoulders softened then she said, “good, I’m glad you understand. It’s important to keep yourself healthy, both mentally and psychically. Doesn’t the VA tell you the same thing?”
“You’re funny, the VA doesn’t do shit for veterans. You should know this by now with how much you work with us. They are just a pill factory and a training ground for all the assholes in the medical field that only push pharmaceuticals. I’ve had my fill of their bullshit,” Dru said as the disgust oozed from him and the corners of his mouth turned down sharply.
“You’re not the first I’ve heard that from so it isn’t really surprising. I’ve had some shitty times trying to get information and legally required documents out of them for vets I’ve helped. It’s devolved into a cesspool over the years,” Vivian agreed.
“It’s garbage, there’s only so many groups that will help vets and most of them are just bullshit. I’ve tried them all and they all fell far short.”
Vivian stared into the space between them for a moment then looked back at Dru and said, “it all seems planned to me. There is a consistent degradation of the VA system, it has gotten worse as time has gone by, as the country has become more jaded. It’s all well and good when there is a fresh tragedy like nine eleven but the stoke soon falls away and the reality of the world hit people and they just turn away. Likely to try and protect their fragile mental state.”
Dru’s eyebrow was raised as high as it could go as he listened. She was speaking his language and he felt a growing kinship to her. “You’re one of the few non-vets that I have met who have any sense of how jacked the system is.”
“Believe me, I’ve seen some horrendous stuff happen in the system and I can only imagine what it must be like while on active,” she said with a shake of her head.
“There were so many ‘students’ every time I went in, it’s really enraging having to repeat myself so many times. Why do they get to learn on the vets, why can’t they be in all the civilian hospitals? Let them learn on the ones who haven’t signed over their lives to serve and protect the country that allows them the opportunity to learn. We could be a Taliban state and they wouldn’t have any rights,” Dru’s voice held the tone of deep memories.
“This is all part of why we try to do as much as we can for the vets. We’ve seen how much they have gotten left out in the cold. Just look at the number of homeless vets there are, it’s unconscionable,” Vivian’s head shook as she talked.