I'd lost track of how long I'd been in here, I could hear the commotion
outside, but I couldn't see how much longer we'd have wait. The faces
opposite me were starting to blur and I was finding it hard to keep my eyes
open, I don't know if they had stopped moaning and groaning or if I'd just
gotten used to it. All I could think of now was how much I wanted a drink
of water, my mouth was dry and I could feel the dust layered in my throat.
Then the tank lurched forward, causing everyone to be pushed into each
other, the floor started to vibrate and the rumble of the engine filled my
ears. Finally we were moving.
The vibrations were making my wound hurt more; I became restless trying to find a comfortable way to sit. Every time we went down a rut in the round, the pain that hit me was excruciating, on top of that my RBA (ranger body armor) pressed down from above.
Zooey would be 10 now; I realized that I hadn't thought of her since early that morning, it seemed like an age ago now. I supposed she'd of had a few friends round, eaten her cake, I bet she'll write me a long letter informing me of all that went on. 10, I can't believe she's so old now! I'm going to have to spoil her rotten when I get back, Twombly will probably come with me and we'll...... Twombly, we've left Twombly behind, I've got to go back and get him. I tried to stand up but my legs seemed to of stopped working...... No, there's somebody lying on them. I try lamely to push them off, why can't they see that I've got to go get Twombly? The ground jolted, and I cried out quietly, I was still trying to stand, but now somebody was pulling me back. I couldn't make out the face, I couldn't make out the words, I couldn't do anything as I slipped unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**********~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I could hear voices faintly, but they were just too far away to make out what was being said. I'd been awake for a few minutes, but I didn't want to open my eyes, then there was the sound of shoes squeaking as someone walked down the corridor, somebody coughed. How long had I been out of it? And where was I? I should really open my eyes, but I'm scared. I listened to the sound of somebody else rolling over, the whoosh of a door as it closed. I then noticed that I wasn't in pain anymore, the realization made me open my eyes with a start. It took me a second or two to get use to the brightness, but I knew I was in the hospital next to my dorm. I was a surprise to see each and every bed filled with Rangers; just yesterday each bed was empty... If it was yesterday, I had no idea what day it was.
I looked at IV sticking into my arm, and then suspiciously lifted the blanket to look down as my gunshot; I could just see the dressing..... "Glad to see your finally awake Specialist Kaiser." I pulled my head out and dropped the blanket quickly. A tall man with graying hair and moustache stood next to my bed, a slight smile on his lips. "I'm Dr. Morris."
"Oh."
"You were very lucky."
"Really?"
"Yes, a nice clean hole missed all your organs, very lucky."
"Oh."
"You were dehydrated too," He looked at my file. "Just keeping an eye out for any sign of infection." He wrote something and then smiled that pleasant smile at me again. "Any questions?"
"What day is it?"
"Tuesday morning."
"Oh."
"Anything else?" I shook my head. "Good, well, try not to move about too much, I don't want your stitches coming out. I'll be round later to check up on you." And he turned and walked off. I chewed my lip slightly, thinking about nothing and everything, I signed and closed my eyes again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*********~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ell, hey Ell." The cat's eyes bore into me as he spoke. "Ell, wake up."
"I am awake." I told the cat.
"Open your eyes, Ell." The cat blinked, a slow, deliberate blink.
"Wwwwwhat?" The cat turned and flicked its tail in my face, then slowly swaggered along the wall.
"Ell, come on Ell." I was being shaken gently, I was dreaming, there was no cat and he sure as hell wasn't talking. I opened my eyes and Twombly's face came into focus.
"Twombly!" I suddenly sat up.
"SHHHHHH! Not so loud." It was dark. I could hear the deep, contented breathing of sleeping bodies.
"What you doing here?"
"Sneaking about, making sure you're OK." I smiled. "Man, it's chaos out there." He glanced backwards. "So you're OK, right?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm all fixed now."
"Yeah? That's good, man, you had me worried."
"You needn't worry about me. What happened with you?"
"Not much, though they wanted us to ride back on the roof!"
"The roof?"
"Yeah, the roof. I said : 'I ain't getting' on no fuckin' roof.' So we had to run back."
"Jesus." I half laughed.
"Nelson's hearing's coming back."
"Cool."
"He says 'hi'."
"Say 'hi' back."
"Yeah. So you're alright, Ell?"
"Yeah, you asked me that already."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"I'd better go."
"Oh."
"When they let you out?"
"Sooner rather than later, they need the bed."
"That's cool. See you later then." He gave me a funny look and lent forward and kissed my forehead. As his lips touched my skin I closed my eyes and lifted my hand up and stroked his cheek, he pulled back and looked at me again, his hazel eyes studied my face. "You sure you're OK?"
"Yeah. Now get outta here." When he'd gone, I buried myself under the covers and cried. I didn't want him to see me cry then, I didn't know why I was crying or maybe I was crying for Jamie or myself or.... I just didn't know.
The vibrations were making my wound hurt more; I became restless trying to find a comfortable way to sit. Every time we went down a rut in the round, the pain that hit me was excruciating, on top of that my RBA (ranger body armor) pressed down from above.
Zooey would be 10 now; I realized that I hadn't thought of her since early that morning, it seemed like an age ago now. I supposed she'd of had a few friends round, eaten her cake, I bet she'll write me a long letter informing me of all that went on. 10, I can't believe she's so old now! I'm going to have to spoil her rotten when I get back, Twombly will probably come with me and we'll...... Twombly, we've left Twombly behind, I've got to go back and get him. I tried to stand up but my legs seemed to of stopped working...... No, there's somebody lying on them. I try lamely to push them off, why can't they see that I've got to go get Twombly? The ground jolted, and I cried out quietly, I was still trying to stand, but now somebody was pulling me back. I couldn't make out the face, I couldn't make out the words, I couldn't do anything as I slipped unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**********~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I could hear voices faintly, but they were just too far away to make out what was being said. I'd been awake for a few minutes, but I didn't want to open my eyes, then there was the sound of shoes squeaking as someone walked down the corridor, somebody coughed. How long had I been out of it? And where was I? I should really open my eyes, but I'm scared. I listened to the sound of somebody else rolling over, the whoosh of a door as it closed. I then noticed that I wasn't in pain anymore, the realization made me open my eyes with a start. It took me a second or two to get use to the brightness, but I knew I was in the hospital next to my dorm. I was a surprise to see each and every bed filled with Rangers; just yesterday each bed was empty... If it was yesterday, I had no idea what day it was.
I looked at IV sticking into my arm, and then suspiciously lifted the blanket to look down as my gunshot; I could just see the dressing..... "Glad to see your finally awake Specialist Kaiser." I pulled my head out and dropped the blanket quickly. A tall man with graying hair and moustache stood next to my bed, a slight smile on his lips. "I'm Dr. Morris."
"Oh."
"You were very lucky."
"Really?"
"Yes, a nice clean hole missed all your organs, very lucky."
"Oh."
"You were dehydrated too," He looked at my file. "Just keeping an eye out for any sign of infection." He wrote something and then smiled that pleasant smile at me again. "Any questions?"
"What day is it?"
"Tuesday morning."
"Oh."
"Anything else?" I shook my head. "Good, well, try not to move about too much, I don't want your stitches coming out. I'll be round later to check up on you." And he turned and walked off. I chewed my lip slightly, thinking about nothing and everything, I signed and closed my eyes again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*********~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ell, hey Ell." The cat's eyes bore into me as he spoke. "Ell, wake up."
"I am awake." I told the cat.
"Open your eyes, Ell." The cat blinked, a slow, deliberate blink.
"Wwwwwhat?" The cat turned and flicked its tail in my face, then slowly swaggered along the wall.
"Ell, come on Ell." I was being shaken gently, I was dreaming, there was no cat and he sure as hell wasn't talking. I opened my eyes and Twombly's face came into focus.
"Twombly!" I suddenly sat up.
"SHHHHHH! Not so loud." It was dark. I could hear the deep, contented breathing of sleeping bodies.
"What you doing here?"
"Sneaking about, making sure you're OK." I smiled. "Man, it's chaos out there." He glanced backwards. "So you're OK, right?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm all fixed now."
"Yeah? That's good, man, you had me worried."
"You needn't worry about me. What happened with you?"
"Not much, though they wanted us to ride back on the roof!"
"The roof?"
"Yeah, the roof. I said : 'I ain't getting' on no fuckin' roof.' So we had to run back."
"Jesus." I half laughed.
"Nelson's hearing's coming back."
"Cool."
"He says 'hi'."
"Say 'hi' back."
"Yeah. So you're alright, Ell?"
"Yeah, you asked me that already."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"I'd better go."
"Oh."
"When they let you out?"
"Sooner rather than later, they need the bed."
"That's cool. See you later then." He gave me a funny look and lent forward and kissed my forehead. As his lips touched my skin I closed my eyes and lifted my hand up and stroked his cheek, he pulled back and looked at me again, his hazel eyes studied my face. "You sure you're OK?"
"Yeah. Now get outta here." When he'd gone, I buried myself under the covers and cried. I didn't want him to see me cry then, I didn't know why I was crying or maybe I was crying for Jamie or myself or.... I just didn't know.
