"Down…down the hall, next left. They're in the castle, Commander…but the kids are back, too. Good thing. We've lost…a lot of people." Jack rested his head against the stone wall, trying to focus his eyes on his Commander. It wasn't working very well.
"Sinead, go right" was the last thing he heard Neville say before Jack was left alone in the hallway.
The voices around him that had been so clear had become muffled. His head felt as though he was under water and he closed his eyes. The excruciating pain in his leg seemed to go away. Behind his closed eyes, shadows moved, silent except for the strange throbbing sound that he'd never heard before, somehow knowing that it was all he was allowed to hear.
A small figure came closer. He had never seen her like this, but he knew her. He smiled at her and she smiled at him as his own eyes stared back at him. He went to cover what was left of his leg so as not to frighten the little girl, but it was already done.
This was impossible, he thought. She was barely a year old and this child was at least five. Her long hair was tied in ribbons that matched her dress. Violet. He knew that this was her favorite color. She handed him a book and with a quick turn, she was sitting in his lap, her head snuggled against his chest.
"Read to me, Daddy," she beckoned.
And he read. Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. Goodnight light, and when all of the goodnights were finished, he leaned his head on his little girl's shoulder and closed his eyes, the throbbing beginning to slow as she began the book again in her tiny sing-song voice.
Goodnight room. Goodnight moon.