Dr. Alice Splinter thought she was going to see a patient. Little did she know, she'd be seeing her husband.
"It took a second for me to take it in. I honestly almost passed out. My knees got a little weak, but I was so happy to see him I just tried to hug him and stand there and take in the moment," Alice told InsideEdition.com.
Joshua Splinter, a family physician for the Texas Army National Guard reserve, spent the last five months deployed in the Port of Africa. During that time, Alice moved the family to another town and finished her residency.
"In the meantime while I was there deployed ... she was really just holding everything together while I was just out, you know, having fun."
When Joshua found out he was coming home earlier than expected, he knew he had to do something special.
With the help of a friend, he planned to show up at Alice's job.
To keep the jig up, he fibbed about where he was by pretending he was still in a different time zone.
“I'm talking to her on the phone and I'm having to say, 'Alright, I have to go to bed,' but really it's the same time. Otherwise, this is all gonna give it away," Joshua admitted.
Even though he is not scheduled to be deployed in the near future, the question now is — can Joshua outdo himself next time around?
“No, this was a great surprise, I'm happy to have him home," Alice said with a laugh.
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