A Day Like Today
Ruth sits alone in a pale green room, a broken clock on the wall, a volume-less television in the corner. No real sounds, except for the rather muffled tones of a busy London casualty, though only outside the door, it seems a great distance away. She sits back on the bed , staring at the wall, counting and recounting the bricks, irritatingly coming up with a different number each time. It's excruciating, but really anything will do once it takes her mind off the pain. Her once plain purple blouse, is now decorated with spots of dried blood. Her blood. Perhaps she might bill Oliver Mace for her dry cleaning expenses, a thought that brings a rare smile, the first of the day. It disappears as quickly as it came though, the pain overwhelming her. Her face burns , almost as if on fire. She has been assured that it will settle down once the painkillers have kicked in. They haven't yet.
She is not sure how long she has been here, but she has noticed that several silent programmes have begun and ended on the television, so probably a while. She is anxious to get home, the cat needs to be fed. She knows well that cats are resourceful and can generally find food, but still.
Shifting slightly, putting every effort to ignore her aching face, she begins to wonder which is worse, the pain, or the stark confirmation of she has already known: she is not cut out for field work. A romantic notion of being a true spy well and truly dashed. Today had certainly not been her fault, quite the opposite in fact. She just doesn't want to go through this again. She doesn't want to be back here , alone, counting bricks. The desk forever beckons, she knows this , she has always known this, now she knows for sure.
The door opens. A slight twinge of disappointment at the sight of an alarmingly young doctor. She's not sure who she expected it to be, or rather, who she wanted it to be. One particular name is pushed to the back of her mind. A pointless thought, given that she can pretty much guess the chaos that they must have experienced back at Thames House on a day like today.
Her mind drifts back to the child masquerading as a doctor in front of her. She can his ID badge, " Kyle". It doesn't inspire that much confidence. He allows her to go home, assuring her that she will be fine. For some reason , this news doesn't cheer her up like she thought it would. He leaves to get the necessary paperwork to discharge her, promising to be back in 5 minutes. She's not holding her breath. Once again, ruth is left alone, counting and recounting the bricks.