A/Notes: Ok, shiefa dot akra had jokingly asked me if my chapters could be longer. In the interest of story flow, while editing tonight I ended up combining three chapters into two. So in a sense, this chapter is a bit longer than the last two. LOL. The good and the bad news is that this story now has only nine chapters.
These two chapters were the ones that gave me trouble. Pease let me know how I did.
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6. Getting on with life
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'Hi,' the young man said. 'Can I buy you a drink?'
'Boring.'
'Excuse me?'
'You are boring. Go away.'
...
'Hey, Corporal.'
'Hey, Second Lieutenant.'
'Mind if I join you?'
'Not at all.'
'Can I buy you a drink?'
She smiled at him, 'You certainly can. I'm Christine.'
'John. Have you been at Camp for long?'
'Three months so far. Hope to be on leave in a couple of months. You?'
'Just got here.'
'I would usually say "welcome aboard", but somehow that doesn't seem appropriate here.'
He chuckled.
...
'Hi handsome. Would you buy me a drink?
'Married. No, thank you.'
The woman looked at him astonished. 'You're married?'
'No, you are.'
She huffed and turned away, fighting the urge to slap him.
...
'Ah!'
'Shana, you are beautiful.'
'You're not - ah! - so bad - ah - yourself - ah - John!'
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Ah, another bi-curious man?
'Hello.'
The man looked at him and dropped his drink.
He sighed, turned around and left the pub. No one is quite the same.
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'When does your shift end, Jen?'
'In one hour. Why?'
'Would you like to have dinner with me?'
'You and one hundred and fifty other fellow soldiers? Sure.'
He laughed. 'I'm "buying".'
'Oh, so generous of you, John,' she giggled.
...
He looked at the syringe in his hand. Sex was no longer a fun hunting sport. It had been four months since O POS 28740774 WATSON, J CE. Four months of not finding one single person that could stir his appetite. The whole world was stupid and boring! There was absolutely nothing going on right now. This was not life, but merely existing in this waiting void. Without any other stimuli this empty wait was unbearable. This syringe's content was the only thing that would calm his brain right now.
...
John woke up with a start. He had a dream with Scott in it. In it they were just talking, laughing, walking. He still remembered his eyes and his smile. Such piercing eyes that saw everything.
He then thought of how Scott had approached him on the sofa, lightly touching his neck, then slowly inching into his personal space. That had been so exciting and seductive.
He turned in bed. He needed to stop thinking about him.
The only certainty was that Angela was definitely in the past now. It had been the right thing to do, for both of them, after all.
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'I'm not going!'
He had been able to keep it hidden for the past two months, but was finally caught.
'Oh yes you are. You won't be allowed to do your work until I know you're clean, dear brother. That should set your goals straight and keep you motivated into getting healthy.'
'You can't make me!'
'You're right, I can't. That's why I brought my agents.'
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'John?'
'Hey Bill.'
'How are you doing?'
'Fine.'
'Are you sure?'
John frowned.
'Yes, why?'
'I know you'll get a medal for it, but you ran straight into enemy fire yesterday. I thought you were nearly suicidal.'
'That soldier needed help. He was injured, I pulled him to safety.'
'There were bullets flying all around, some hit very close to you.' He shook his head. 'Listen John, many of the lads here end up with depression, some try to kill themselves. I just want to make sure you are okay.'
'Thanks Bill. But I am fine. I was just doing my job.'
...
As much as he hated the rehab centre he knew he had no choice. He was in a special section, where the patients were deemed a risk to themselves and/or to others, so it felt more like a prison than anything else. All his attempts to escape had been thwarted. His actions had only spurred punishments ("loss of privileges" they said), so his phone and internet access had been taken away from him. There was nothing but boredom left. To escape this sea of nothingness and boredom his only choice was to visit his mind palace. And stay there.
He discovered that his mind palace was also a very convenient place to create fantasies that felt almost real.
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'Sir, you told us to inform you if there were any changes with the patient.'
'Yes? Has something happened?'
'Em, yes. There has been a, ahem, he has been through a, eh, very - prolonged - state of - um - priapism today. After two hours we called in a specialist to examine him, but there are no visible issues that could explain it. While this uh, - state - lasted he had been mostly immobile, lying in bed. He never even touched himself.'
'Have you checked for smuggled drugs?'
'Yes, we have - although it's impossible for anyone to give him anything illicitly, given the surveillance. His blood work came back normal. This is mainly a report to keep you informed.'
'Very well. Thank you, Doctor.'
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'Sir? Em, this is just a call to let you know it has happened again.'
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John saluted.
'At ease, Second Lieutenant. Watson, we've known each other for quite some time now.'
'Yes, Sir.'
'I usually don't pry on my men's private lives, but I saw you volunteered to stay. You know you are entitled to go on leave.'
'Yes, Captain.'
'In fact, you are overdue for a leave. You can't possibly want to spend Christmas here. I think very highly of your work. It would be a terrible loss for us if you ended up having a nervous breakdown. Everybody needs a break. Is everything all right?'
'Yes, Sir. I know I'm up for leave. But-' he sighed, looking down briefly. 'My sister and I don't really get along. I have no other family to visit and I'm currently not in a relationship. I'd rather let the other lads have an opportunity to visit their loved ones.'
'Very well.'
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'Sir?'
He sighed.
'How long this time?'
'Over six hours.'
'Doctor, I really appreciate your calls. But knowing my brother, he simply found a way to keep himself entertained. I believe this is how he'll spend his time at the centre until he's released. Call me if there are any other changes. And do keep checking his blood work, just in case.'
'Yes, sir.'
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'It's been two months! My body is clean, but my mind is rotting. Let me out!'
His brother stared at him for a few seconds, evaluating the pros and cons of letting him leave the centre.
'I want you to know that if you relapse, I'll make sure they know. You won't get any more work if you take any drugs again, understood?'
He loathed his brother. But he knew he had not choice but to comply. He took a deep calming breath, closing his eyes. He only opened his eyes again when he felt ready to reply in a not-so-angry voice.
'Understood.'
...
'To Christmas.'
John raised his glass. Captain Sholto had invited him to his office for a drink before the Christmas supper with the others. He was sitting stiffly on the hard small sofa. He liked Captain Sholto but he still felt a bit intimidated by the man.
'Merry Christmas, Sir.'
'Since it's Christmas, please do me a favour. Call me by my name when we're not in an official capacity.'
'Yes, Si- James.'
'Like you, I also have no family left back at home. To hear my own name again is a treat. It seems like the higher the rank the lonelier it gets.'
'I know what you mean. You can call me John. I still have friends here that call me by my first name, but it seems like the numbers have dwindled considerably in this past year here.'
'Yes. Too many men. That's the hardest thing about being in command. I am responsible for my men and I want all of them to go home in one piece. But such things are beyond my control.' He sipped his drink. 'Ach, pay no attention to my ramblings. It's Christmas Eve, time for hope and happiness. If anything, to celebrate that we're still alive.'
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Scott grinned. He was back. As he ran he felt vibrantly alive, this is what he lived for. This challenge, this chase, this adrenaline rush. To be right, to see things that nobody else did, to understand with such clarity what had happened and how. To be able to foresee and anticipate. To go after the beasts that hunted and preyed on others, so now they were his prey. His heart rate accelerated as he leapt over the gap between the roofs of two buildings.
He felt as if he were the ultimate predator.
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John saluted.
'At ease, John. This is not an official capacity.'
'What's going on, James?'
'I just needed someone to talk to today.'
'The suicide bomber?'
'Yes. Four men killed.'
John placed a hand on James shoulder.
'Not your fault, James.'
...
He was restless. He had just finished his work and had crashed on his bed, sleeping for ten hours straight. Now that he was awake there was nothing to do - again. His latest experiment was finished, he had already played his violin, had smoked, had done research online. He sighed staring at his computer screen.
He cast his mind back to the time he had spent in rehab, when he really had nothing to occupy his brain. He typed John Watson into the search engine.
He was pleasantly surprised. There was a three-month old article about soldiers who had received medals. Scrolling down there were short sentences describing what each individual had done, with a photo. He scrolled faster, searching, his heart pumping. There he was. Second Lieutenant John Watson.
That was a good picture of him. Just as he remembered John. The boyish smile. He looked tanned, his hair a bit blonder. Then he examined the background. This ceremony was here, in England. John had been back, right around the time he had been at the rehab centre. He stood up, grabbed the closest thing to his hand and threw it across the room. I could have seen him, had I known!
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'I can't believe you are on first name basis with Captain Sholto! The man is scary!'
'He can be a bit intimidating because he's always so serious, but he's a nice bloke once you get to know him.'
'How did you do that? Get to know him?'
'He's been my commander ever since I finished training. We've been through a lot here, and last Christmas both of us had no family to visit, so we skipped leave and bonded over that.'
'Speaking of bonding, we've been working together for almost a year now. How come you've never invited me for a drink?'
He smiled at her.
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He found himself checking for lists of deceased and injured soldiers every day. It had started one day between jobs, but soon it became a daily task. He was always relieved for not finding his name on the lists.
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'Shut up, Bill.'
'Congrats TC, Claire is hot!'
'Bill, do shut up.'
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His name still had not shown up on the lists but he couldn't help wondering whether or not John would ever come back to England again.
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'Liz, why don't you go get some rest? You've been working for ten hours straight.'
'So have you, John. You need my help.'
'I do, but we're of no use to anybody if both of us are exhausted. Get a few hours of sleep and then you can come back and relieve me.'
'Don't make me pull rank, John. You should go first.'
'Why should I?'
'Because you're a man.'
John looked at her frowning, then saw her mischievous smile. He returned her smile.
'I'm still a gentleman. Ladies first.'
She smiled, then became serious again.
'John, you need rest more than I do. You were there and if it weren't for you there would've been a lot more casualties today. Everybody is in stable condition now. Go on, get some rest.'
They argued some more, but in the end John relented. He was really tired.
...
'Good Lord, TC. Lieutenant Liz too?'
'Bill, stop calling me TC, would you? And do shut up.'