The Raptor and the Mourning Dove

When Smitty Wesson's mother died, leaving him in the hands of his Vietnam-War scarred father, he rebelled against the world until he enlisted in a unit en route to the battlefield. Smitty became a highly valued and effective military sniper, but is haunted by the realities of his carnage. Abby Arden, a combat medic, is his soul mate in battle. Smitty became Abby's guardian in dangerous situations; she sought to heal his heart. But Smitty was compelled to take drastic measures in the wake of a calamity that devastated Abby on the eve of a precarious mission. Then in an ambush Smitty becomes critically wounded rescuing a friend. Abby steps in as his savior. Their healing processes are separate—pregnant Abby at home in Georgia, Smitty in Walter Reed and a Veterans hospital. Abby finds support from Smitty's father, the battle-damaged Butch Wesson; Smitty needs help from a nurse, a chaplain, an army psychologist, and a quadruple amputee in grappling with his ghosts. Yet putting their lives back together is a torturous path threatening Smitty's goals of becoming a street-cop and Abby becoming a surgeon. When Smitty's release from the hospital arrives, questions still loom—will the terrors of his past release him? Will Abby still love him? Can he mend his relationship with his father? Can he become a father himself? Can he accept reliance on others? Is Abby's goal of saving lives still possible? And the eternal question still hangs—can anyone who has gone to war ever come home again?