"Right, I think that's everything." Georgie nodded, straightening up and clearing the gauze and dressings that were now littered around the tent away. She was still a little bit surprised that Molly hadn't come out of the whole situation with more injuries. She'd got some cuts and scrapes, and some fairly extensive bruising, but all things considered it could've been a lot worse.
She pulled her gloves off and tossed them into the bin, turning around to face Molly who was still sitting motionless on the bed. She'd been silent ever since they'd started, lost in her own world. Georgie had asked her a few questions, and she'd given short one word answers, but any attempt to strike up a conversation Molly had ignored completely. She'd given up eventually, just getting on with her assessment silently, not wanting to force her to talk if she wasn't comfortable, but now she didn't know what to say.
"Knock knock." She heard Captain James outside the tent. "Can I come in?"
Georgie looked over at Molly to check with her, but she didn't even look as though she'd heard him. She was still staring at the same spot on the wall of the tent as he had been the entire time.
"Yeah, Come in Boss." She called back after a moment's hesitation, Molly still hadn't moved so she was assuming she didn't object.
"How are we doing in here?" He asked, looking back and forth between Molly and Georgie.
"We're all done." Georgie said slowly, looking over at Molly. She still hadn't moved or actually said anything. "Can I talk to you outside for a second Boss?" She was 90% sure that Molly was that out of it she wouldn't hear a word she said, but it still didn't feel right talking about her like she wasn't there.
Captain James nodded, ducking back out of the tent as Georgie followed after him. "What's wrong Lane?" He frowned.
"She hasn't moved or said a word the whole time boss." She sighed. "Physically she's fine… well maybe not fine… probably a couple of broken ribs, lots of bruising and some cuts and scrapes, but all things considered it could've been a lot worse. I'm just worried about the damage it might've done, mentally." She dropped her voice, just incase Molly could hear them.
"It's not your job Lane, you're not a psychiatrist." He reminded gently. "She's been through a lot, it's not something that she's going to forget about over night. It's also not our job."
"I know, Sir." She answered reluctantly, bracing herself for one of his 'don't get involved' lectures.
"Can you give me five minutes, I'll go and talk to her." He said, stepping back towards the entrance to the tent. "We need to start making arrangements for getting her home."
"Yes Boss." She nodded, wishing she could say no to him. Instead she just watched as he ducked back into the tent, straining her ears to hear what he was saying. She'd never say it to him, but she wasn't convinced that he was in the best frame of mind for a situation like this after everything with Rebecca.
He stood awkwardly in the doorway of the tent for a moment, watching Molly as she sat staring into space, her expression blank. He hadn't noticed when they'd originally found her in the compound- partly because his mind was on other things and also because she'd been covered in the blood of her attacker- the huge bruises that covered every visible inch of her skin. It made his stomach churn just thinking about what they might have done to her to cause those.
"Hi Molly, how are you doing?" He said slowly, trying to think of what to say. There hadn't been any training at Sandhurst for a situation like this.
For a moment he thought she was going to ignore him too, then she turned to face him with a look of confusion. "Sorry, did you say something?" She asked, she'd totally zoned out somewhere in the middle of Georgie talking to her by the looks of it.
He smiled at her kindly. "How are you doing Molly?" He asked, pulling up a chair and sitting opposite her.
"I'm fine." The words left her lips automatically.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You don't have to pretend you're okay, we'd all understand if you weren't."
"I don't know." She admitted quietly. "I feel like I should just be so relieved, but I'm just kind of…. numb."
He nodded. "That will be the shock."
"I know what shock is, I'm a doctor remember?" She shot back, and for a moment he had a glimpse of the woman who'd stared him down and ordered him out of her clinic.
"Right, sorry." He struggled to suppress the smile that was playing on the edge of his lips. "If it helps, Elvis does tend to have that effect on people." He joked.
"Elvis?" She frowned.
"The special forces guy we winched you up with." He explained.
"Oh right yeah." She nodded, the whole thing was a bit of a blur if she was honest. "He's a friend of yours then?"
"Something like that." He muttered, his tone had her wanting to ask more questions.
"I feel like there's a story there that you have to tell me sometime." She said, and there was the slightest hint of a smile on her lips. This was good, he could sit there and ramble on for a while if it was going to help.
"You can ask him yourself, you're going to be stuck on a plane with him all the way back to England." He smirked. "They're going to be flying back tomorrow, so they decided it made sense for you to go back with them too."
"Oh." Her face fell again, the frown lines appearing on her forehead again.
"Have you thought at all about where you're going to go when you get back?" He asked. "Have you got friends or family you can stay with?"
"I um… I haven't spoken to my parents since I told them I was going to university." She admitted, looking down at her hands. She could feel her cheeks turning red, it wasn't something she particularly enjoyed telling people.
"What happened?" He asked, the words coming out before he could stop them. He wasn't trying to pry, he was just curious- he was doing exactly what he'd just told Georgie not to and getting involved.
She shrugged, still not looking at him. "They didn't want me to go, thought I should carry on working in the nail bar so that I could give them my money and they could afford to pay the rent. Dad thought I was selfish for wanting to do something with my life rather than pay for his beer."
"But you went and did it anyway? That's amazing." He smiled.
She shrugged again. "They made it clear if I was going to do it then I wouldn't be welcome there anymore, so I packed my bags and left and I haven't spoken to them since. I guess I might have to go back there now though, for a little while at least. I'm going to need somewhere to stay until I get myself sorted."
He smiled sympathetically. "Have you got a number for them so you can call them and let them know you're okay? I'm fairly sure that someone will have gone to tell them what happened, but it might be better for them to hear it from you."
She shook her head. "I don't even know if they still live in the same place, I'm assuming they wouldn't have moved because then Dad would've had to leave his beloved bloody pub behind."
"Okay." He said slowly. "And there isn't anywhere else you can go and stay? And friends from uni or something like that?"
She shook her head. "I haven't spoken to any of them since I left to come out here, and I lost touch with all my friends from London when I left to go to Uni, so I'd better hope Mum and Dad are in a forgiving mood."
"What will you do, when you get home?" He asked.
She shrugged again. "Look for a job I suppose, then I can find somewhere to live and get my life sorted again. I've always known I can't stay out here forever, maybe this is what I needed to kick my ass into gear."
"I think there's probably easier ways to convince yourself to go home than getting kidnapped by terrorists." He muttered, shaking his head.
"I still can't believe that actually happened." Her voice dropped so it was barely a whisper. "It just seemed like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from."
He nodded slowly. "I can't imagine how awful it must have been. But you're safe now, you're going home and eventually, you'll get back to normal."
"I don't know how you can be so sure of that." She whispered. The idea of going back to London and trying to live some kind of normal life after all this just seemed ridiculous.
"Trust me." He nodded. "I've been doing this for years, but I'll never forget that first tour I did. Coming back from Afghanistan and then suddenly being back in Bath and trying to go about some kind of normal life, I couldn't wrap my head around it at first. Everything at home had stayed the same and I felt like a totally different person, but eventually you do get used to it. You just have to give yourself time."
She nodded slowly, forcing herself to look him in the eye. "Thank you… for everything."
"My pleasure." He smiled, standing up. "Now, if you're up for it, we need a referee for the final round of Two Sections Monopoly game?"
"They need a referee for monopoly?" She frowned.
He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, you haven't seen anything yet. Come on, you'll understand why as soon as you see them."
She hesitated for a second, then followed him out into the base where she could already hear them shouting and arguing with each other.