Disclaimer: I do not own Call of Duty which belongs to Activision, Infinity Ward, and Treyarch.
Chapter 10
"Sooooo HUNGRYYYY," Burden thought as she made her way to the buffet line. The mess was busy since it was nearing sundown so she had to take her place in the back of the long line. Glancing back at the tent's entrance to see if Ronny had followed her, Burden saw the man from the range walk in. He put his sunglasses on the collar of his shirt and scanned the room. Feeling her face heat up, she quickly faced front and glowered at the back of the person's head in front of her. "This can't be happening so soon. I won't let it," she thought unnervingly. Curiosity getting the better of her, she slowly turned her head around to see where he went and found herself staring at a broad male chest, inches from her nose. Looking up, she saw that the man was frowning down at her.
"Ahh, umm. Is something wrong?" she asked, stammering slightly. Instead of responding, he gave her a once over, slowly looking her up and down. Burden felt herself start to panic. "STOP THAT!" she shouted. The man's dark blue eyes flicked up and met hers.
"I'm just wondering why I ran here to see you," he replied in an observant tone.
"You ran in here. To see me." she said, incredulous.
He said almost to himself, "You're not the most attractive woman here and yet I find myself drawn to you. Why is that?" he asked accusingly.
"Oh, I don't know!" she replied irritably and threw up her hands while turning back around. Seeing that the line was long gone, she quickly walked over to the buffet table, grabbed a plate and fork, then brutally stabbed a large piece of chicken and put it on her plate. She then walked over to the mashed potatoes and got a huge scoop, slapping it on top of the chicken. Burden turned around and scanned the room for an empty seat. Seeing one in the center, near the entrance of the tent, she made her way to it. She set her plate down on the table, sat, and began shoveling the mashed potatoes into her mouth with her fork. The man sat across from her a moment later.
Feeling him staring at her, she asked tiredly after she swallowed, "What do you want?"
"No idea," he responded.
She looked up, stared back at him, then sighed and said, "Well, we might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Corporal Lindsey Lovat. And you are…?"
"Lieutenant Simon Riley. You can call me Ghost."
"Ghost, huh?" she said between mouthfuls of mashed potatoes.
"Yeah," he said starting to eat his pasta.
"So what is this about you following me in here?" she asked, then took a bite out of her chicken.
Ghost chewed for a while, swallowed, and said, "I was rude before when I said you were unattractive."
Burden frowned, pointed her fork at him, and said, "You didn't say that. You said I'm 'not the most attractive woman here' which I completely agree with. But, if you're now saying that I'm unattractive, well, that I don't agree with. Look. Look at these cheekbones," she said while tilting her head up at an angle. "Friends have told me they would die to have such a facial structure."
Ghost smiled at her response and watched as Burden went back to shoveling mashed potatoes into her mouth.
"Don't think I've forgotten you haven't answered my question, Ghost. I-" Burden stopped, put her fork down, and frowned.
"Something wrong?" Ghost asked, studying her. Burden looked at him, got up, then sprinted out of the mess tent while clutching her stomach. She reached outside, went to the side of the tent, doubled over, and violently threw up on the ground. Still doubled over, she felt someone hold her hair back. Burden was going to thank them when another wave of nausea hit her. When her stomach was completely emptied of the food she ingested, she wiped her mouth, closed her eyes, and said, "Thanks, Ghost."
"Who the hell is Ghost?"
Burden's eyes flew open as she slowly straightened up, then turned around to see Ronny.
"Ronny?" Burden said, surprised.
"Yeah, Ronny," the corpsman replied. "So I see that your concussion didn't like that you were up and about either," Ronny said while looking pointedly at the throw up. "Or the mashed potatoes, for that matter." Looking back at Burden, she asked, "So how do your ribs feel after that vomit-fest?"
Burden winced and said, "Like shit."
"Good," Ronny said, looking satisfied. "Maybe now you'll listen to me when I tell you you're not invincible. Back to bed." Burden was only too happy to comply, feeling all her strength had been sapped.
"I'm just glad Ghost didn't witness that disgusting debacle," she thought with a touch of relief, then made her way with Ronny to the medical tent. Once inside, she found her bed and slowly eased herself onto it, still feeling a little woozy. Lying back, she closed her eyes and promptly went to sleep.