Purple Heart

Matt has returned to Meaghan’s office for his afternoon appointment, and she tells him about soldiers who experience “posttraumatic amnesia” (85).Matt determines that he has retrograde amnesia because he can’t remember what happened before he was injured. Matt, now realizing he could spend 20 years in jail for killing Ali, is reluctant to continue exploring the incident, and Meaghan hints that she can “forget a lot of what [she] hear[s]” (86)in the office rather than writing it in her report. Matt tells Meaghan about seeing the dog that Justin didn’t; the only explanation is that Justin left him in the alley alone, but Justin “wouldn’t do that” (88).

Their appointment is interrupted by the office door shaking, “as startling” to Matt “as a burst of machine-gun fire” (89). The next appointment has arrived. Meaghan assures Matt that for soldiers, normal sounds can “trigger the body to go into its fight-or-flight mode” (89). She sends Matt back to the ward, telling him to keep track of memories and triggers in his notebook but to keep it “on the DL” (90).

Dr. Kwong examines Matt again, and Matt attempts to hide both his mental and physical impairments, hoping to get back to his squad.