The Tenth Night.
Rolls and rolls of bandages. They huddled within my arms as I carried them down the hall. The floor creaked as I stepped on an old panel of wood. This was a tired home. A tired town. But quiet. And calm. That's all that we really needed. For the time being.
Putting all of the dressings into one arm, I grasp the doorknob and push. Surprisingly, it makes no sound. The night's moonlight shines through the glass of the window but stops when it reaches the wooden floor. One of the bed sheets touches the ground.
A sigh fills the room. I didn't make that noise. I look up and see the man on the bed. Unconscious. Shuffling of feet, I go closer. Messy, yellow hair on a starched pillow. Sharp lines of a face glowing from the light outside. Such tension and sadness and fear and grief in his expression.
I sit down beside the man on the bed. His face was like that when we found him. On the mountain's edge. Passed out. A single hand covering the head of a blue haired devil. As if to hide the fact that it was he who put the bullet through that terrible man's brain.
He groans and I stop breathing. I wait for his groaning to stop and I exhale. It is not fair. Who decided to treat this man like this? No one deserves this hell. No one. Especially not him.
I look into his face. Eyes screwed shut. Brow furrowed. Suddenly his face goes blurry and I realize that I am crying. Grasp the rolls of bandages tight. Throat clenches. This is not the end. There is still one more battle to fight. And he must face it alone. I wonder if he is ready.
Creaking of bedsprings. I lean down over his head. I kiss his forehead. As I pull away, a few of my tears touch his cheeks. They shine there. Moonlight reflecting. In them I see happiness. A future without guns or bullets. Or maybe it is a past that never was. I see him smiling. At me. At the world. The goodness of everything.
Lightly, I wipe the tears away. He makes no sign of noticing. That good world is not real. It may never be real. Nothing may ever change.
But all I can do for now is change his bandages.