As nurses cut away the clothing of an injured American soldier named Will, he finds himself feeling good, looking forward to going home after having gotten shot in the leg. A medic approaches Will to ask for his information, and Will tells him to ensure that no one is contacted about his injury. Then, another man is set down next to Will, and he realizes it is Bart, another soldier from his unit who Will had tried to help but could not. Bart wails with discomfort and asks Will to look at his leg; Will sees that only a few pieces of Bart’s leg remain, but he tells him he will surely be alright. Nurses soon return to prepare Bart for surgery, poking him with a needle that makes him unconscious. A man on the other side of Will — who was there prior to Will’s arrival — begins to make choking sounds, and Will realizes he is dying. Even so, the medic tells Will there is nothing they can do.  The excitement Will felt is now gone, and he becomes upset that he is not receiving any special treatment or attention from the nurses. He is taken to get an x-ray of his leg taken and finds the doctor arrogant as the doctor coldly asks if he needs help getting out of his wheelchair. As the doctor leaves, Will thinks to himself that all he wants is to go home.  A nurse comes by to clean Will’s wound, and the physical contact comforts him. The nurse promises that the doctor will return soon; he is simply busy because of how many injured soldiers there are.  When the doctor finally arrives and numbs Will’s leg as he drifts in and out of sleep, Will is shocked at a sudden sawing sensation as the doctor digs around to find the piece of shrapnel lodged in his leg. The doctor says that since the piece is so deep in the leg, he may do more harm trying to remove it, and he tells Will that all he needs to do is come back in four days for another check-up. Will realizes he is not being sent home like he hoped but can’t bring himself to ask the doctor to send him home.  The nurse comes by again to check on him, but when she leaves, Will begins to cry, his pent-up emotions finally coming to the surface.