We enter the infirmary and Ghost sets me down on a bed. Archer immediately goes to work on my leg. He examines it, "Well lucky for you, the knife just missed severing your femoral artery." He said, grabbing a wad of gauze and pressing it against the wound, "Keep pressure on this till I come back." Before I can comment, he skates away on a wheelie chair. I sigh, applying pressure to my wound. This escalates the pain in my leg and causes me to scrunch my face up in pain. Archer comes back with more gauze and disinfectant. My eyes widen as I stare at the solution
"That's not going to hurt, is it?" I ask sheepishly. Archer looks at it then at me, smiling, "Course." He answers back confidently. I shrink back, my face flushing. Archer sees I believed him and answers quickly, "I hope you know I'm kidding!" I heave a heavy sigh of relief as a smile finds it way to my face through the pain. We both share a laugh. Out of all the guys, Archer was the one I was most close too. Just to be clear, there's no love connection between us. Because, Archer's a homosexual. Except no one knows this, besides me, because of the armed forces strict 'don't ask, don't tell policy.' Because of this fact, I was comfortable with him working on my leg. But having Ghost watch, eh, not so comforting. Hey, don't get me wrong. I know Ghost isn't that kinda guy but it still felt weird even if he's my second best guy friend. By now, the blood has started clotting and Archer is wrapping my leg up. Ghost finally speaks from where he leans against the wall.
"You know, you didn't cry when you got stabbed. I mean, that looked like it hurt, a lot." He commented. I simply look at him and shrug, "Well, it was more of a shock than hurt at first. And besides, I've given up on crying for pointless things that can be fixed or solved." I answer back.
Ghost raises an eyebrow. "Really and how is that?" he asked, thoroughly interested in the backstory.
I frown and look him straight in the eyes. "Because I learned a long time ago that crying over spilled milk isn't going to reverse what happened. But I can tell you want a deeper reason, so I'll tell you. When I was young, I lost my favorite uncle unexpectedly. It hit me hard-real hard. I became an emotional wreck and cried at every little bad thing that happened. Death was new to me, it scared me. I wondered what happened after death, did you go to heaven or did you just….die? My friends deserted me……or did I desert them? Either way, I drifted away from everyone I ever loved because I didn't want to feel the pain of losing someone I loved. Finally, I was done with being sad and emotional about every little thing. So I pledged I won't cry over anything except the death of some one I care about dearly. And that's only a small group of people!" I said, shrugging lightly, "Simply, I don't cry because why should I? Death comes naturally….everyone dies. But that small group, my closest friends, it'll be hard to see them go." I think to my friends and family back in the states, my heart aches.
Ghost smirks, "So are we in that group?" he asks, referring to the group of people I'd actually cry for.
I look up at him and Archer, smiling, "Yes, of course! Whether that is a good thing in this line of work, I don't know. But I certainly wouldn't have it any other way!" I chime, happiness bubbling inside of me and filling up the space of sadness I had when I was talking before. Archer finishes wrapping my leg and hands me a pill bottle.
"Alright you're all patched up. I don't want you stressing the stitches, so you're gonna have to take it easy for a while. It may hurt a little when you walk on it so take one of these if that happens." He informed me and I nod accordingly. I nod and stand up, wincing as a jolt of numb pain hits me. Ignoring it, I limp out the door painfully.
