9/5 Transcript

Credit goes to TV Megasite again. I retrieved it from The Beth Ehlers Board.

Jake: I came from a war zone. Obviously, I didn't fight in it the way you did, but I know what its like to have images and pictures in your head, and you them out, and you want to forget about them, but they play over and over and over again.

Taylor: You saw a lot in Africa, did you, doc?

Jake: The worst part of it, I think, was the children getting their lives snuffed out for no good reason. It made me just want to --

Jake and Taylor: Scream.

Jake: Yeah.

Taylor: Run. Hide.

Jake: Yeah, and I did all of that. None of it works.

Taylor: What did?

Jake: Talking. Talking about it. I know what you're thinking. "He's not going to understand." And you know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe I wouldn't understand. But I find that if you get it out, get it out of your body, it helps stop the nightmares.

Taylor: Nightmares?

Jake: That night in the apartment, you were thrashing around. You were yelling in your sleep.

Taylor: I'm sorry if I kept you awake.

Jake: No, it's quite all right. Do you remember your dreams?

Taylor: Oh, yeah. I've got them memorized.

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Taylor: It was a Tuesday. I remember that. It was, uh, pretty quiet, you know, for the most part. It was hot. God, it was hot. You know, when the heat is just coming off in waves?

Jake: Where were you?

Taylor: South of Baghdad. In a convoy.

Taylor: Six vehicles, 34 troops, moving forward, setting up a tactical communications post.

Jake: What's your specialty?

Taylor: I'm an F.O.

Josh: What's that?

Taylor: Forward observer. I direct artillery fire and aircraft onto enemy positions. I'm the -- I'm the eyes when the target's out of sight. It used to be binoculars, now it's laptops.

Jake: So all of your unit, you're moving forward?

Taylor: Moving forward, and we hit a checkpoint. Pretty routine, and out of nowhere, this beat-up car fishtails into one of our Humvees.

Jake: Yours?

Taylor: No, I was bringing up the rear. This huge, orange flash and a massive explosion. And then silence. You know, you're kind of deaf after that, you know? And I felt like it went on forever, but it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. All hell broke loose, you know, mortars and AKs and maybe 50 hajis. They were all over us. They didn't care what they hit as long as they hit someone or something. It was only after that I learned four of my guys, they died instantly in that explosion.

Jake: You don't have to do this, if you don't want to do it, ok?

Taylor: Yeah. Yeah, I do.

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Taylor: We couldn't move forward. So I drew our guys back into a -- a house maybe, I don't know, 100 yards away.

Jake: And you're still under fire this whole time?

Taylor: Oh, yeah, the whole time. But once we got to the house, we started pouring it back, and this one guy, Brot, Brot Monroe, he was going out of his mind. He took his 50-cal off the turret of his Humvee, and he -- and he perched it on top of a wall, and he had hub with him, right there.

Jake: Frankie?

Taylor: Frankie, and Frankie was feeding him, you know? And Brot is just spraying fire everywhere, and he is -- he's screaming at the top of his lungs. He just thought he was untouchable, you know?

Jake: Where are you?

Taylor: I ducked inside the house to secure the equipment, you know, to make sure it was safe, but I came right back out, and that's when it happened. The shell went off right in front of him. Frankie and the guys, they got thrown to the side, but Brot, it was bad. It was really bad.

Jake: Frankie was ok?

Taylor: Frankie was ok, and he looked at me, and he said, "L.T., I'll fix him. You go worry about everybody else." So I did. There wasn't time, you know? There wasn't time to do anything, to think, so I just -- I just kept going, until I got snagged from behind.

Jake: More gunfire?

Taylor: No, he didn't have a gun, or maybe his gun jammed, I don't know, but he grabbed me, and it was over before it started. I just -- I spun on him, and I-- I broke his neck.

Jake: And the Brot guy?

Taylor: He died a week later in Germany.

Jake: I'm sorry. I'm sorry about your friend.

Taylor: Oh, he was more than my friend. Once we got out of that hellhole, we were going to get married.

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Jake: I don't know what to say.

Taylor: There's nothing to say. The only thing that'll make it easier is when I get to go back to do my job, to be with my troops. I don't belong here anymore. I'm not doing anything here. In Iraq -- you don't understand.

Jake: You're making a difference.

[Knock on door]

Amanda: Hello.

[Door closes]

Jake: Hi.

Amanda: Oh, my God. What a night. Hey. Are you ok?

Taylor: Yeah, I had a drink. It helped.

Jake: So how was the rest of the party?

Amanda: Well, I wouldn't so much call it a party as a full-blown media frenzy, but I worked those reporters like you wouldn't believe.

Jake: Oh, I believe it.

[Amanda laughs]

Amanda: Well, long story short, I saved Bella's ass.

Jake: See, I never knew perfume had an ass. I knew it had a body, but not an ass.

Amanda: Stick with me. You'll learn something new every day.

Taylor: I'm going to take off.

Amanda: To the -- to the yacht? Because I think Greenlee's already there, and the light should already be on.

Taylor: Thank you. Hey, you were great.

Amanda: Thanks.

Taylor: Tonight, you really helped her. Thank you, uh, for the talk.

Jake: Sure.

Taylor: Good night.

Amanda: Bye.

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Taylor: How's she doing?

Frankie: Hanging in there? How are you doing?

Taylor: I'm fine.

Frankie: Good. Ah.

Taylor: Don't you --

Frankie: Ooh. Hey, listen, Fletcher, he was as low as they come.

Taylor: I know. Thanks. I'm just glad he didn't hurt her.

Frankie: Yeah, you and me both.

Taylor: Did she just go down?

Frankie: Yeah, I told her I would stay until she fell asleep.

Taylor: Well, mission accomplished. You can go. I'll make sure she's ok.

Frankie: You're positive? Because she's really fragile right now, and after what happened tonight, I know it shook her.

Taylor: I know. This may shock you, but I can actually relate to females. I'll even make her tea in the morning and a snack.

Frankie: Wow, what? You? Tea?

Taylor: So refined for such a tough girl, right?

Frankie: Yeah, well, we both know that you're not that tough. But you're one hell of a friend.