They finally landed at Brize Norton. At this point, Molly was in one of several sleeps she has had during the journey. The medics lifted the stretcher and carried Molly out of the back end of the plane and into the ambulance which was called after the plane landed.
Molly was carried safely into the ambulance with James and he held onto her hand throughout the hour and a half journey. This journey was the longest sleep she has taken, nearly reaching up to 5 hours; a lot more than the other naps she's had. James spoke to the paramedic which was still doing Molly's blood pressure tests, "This is the longest sleep she's had since the journey from Afghan. Surely she should be waking up? She hasn't done this before?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know you're name?"
"Captain Charles James."
"Okay Charles. There are many reasons why she isn't waking up. One of them could be that she wants a long rest to try and forget what's happening."
"Ah okay, so it's nothing major then?"
"No, no worry to us at all Captain. When we get to Queen Elizabeth though, she will be sent straight for a CT scan to check for any internal bleedings and injuries not discovered yet. Depending on her condition, she will either be on a private ward or the HDU department we have. Our HDU department is possibly one of the bests in the country. Ever been to a HDU ward before?"
"Uh no I haven't."
"Well HDU means High Dependancy Unit. We have 24 hour staff care with 3 nurses to each patient. Sometimes, when the patients have just came out of an emergency or major operation, like this young lady here, I'm sorry, I don't know her name either."
"Oh, it's Molly Dawes."
"Ah okay, thank you. So carrying on, Molly will have someone sat at the end of her room near the door incase anything happens so there is always someone to watch out."
"Ahhh, okay. Thank you for that."
"It's just part of the job!" She smiled and looked up to the Captain.
After the journey, Molly was rolled out of the ambulance on a bed and taken to the CT scan room. Charles was asked to stay in the waiting room whilst Molly was having her scan. About 30 minutes later, she was wheeled to the exit and a nurse came to get Charles so they could get Molly into her room.
"Captain Charles James?" The nurse called his name to tell him the news.
"Yes." He stood with his back straight just like he did in the army.
"Hi. My name is Vicky and I'm one of the nurses here at Queen Elizabeth." Charles greeted her with a gentle handshake and a nod, "as you know, Molly has had an emergency CT scan. The results came back within 20 minutes. My team and I have discussed the results and we have found something unusual about them. From the evidence, we have diagnosed her with Brain Trauma and it seems your concerns were right. She has been unconscious and that is why she hasn't woken up."
"I knew there was something wrong with her. Is it serious?"
"Well at the moment she is on a ventilator in the HDU department to secure her breathing because she has suffered from it badly, luckily we haven't had to operate on her brain yet. The reason she kept falling asleep and waking up is because when you have Traumatic Brain Injury -TBI- you struggle to stay awake and talk for long periods of time. It can be serious as it can lead to a build-up of pressure on the brain, blood clots or a build-up of fluid which can lead to brain damage. It can also cause complications such as an infection to the skull or post-concussion syndrome."
"Right. Any statistics?"
"Yes. 1 in 2000 people die from a head injury in A&E. So it's a very low risk."
"Great. Thanks. Am I able to see her yet?"
"Uh no, sorry Captain. There will be no visitors allowed 10 hours from now because they will need to get the patient settled and finish off tests to check for anymore complications. But for now Captain, I reckon you should get some rest and inform her family if you haven't already."
"That's if I can get any sleep, and I will."
"Ok. I might see you later then Captain."
"Yes. Thank you." Charles walked through the double doors and towards the exit of Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
He called a taxi and gave him the address for Molly's house, which her parents gave it to him to say he can come round any time he wants, which was near the Boleyn Ground and was a 2h 30m drive and a lot of money. Before he got into the taxi, he got some money out of the bank to pay the driver.
After a long journey, he arrived outside the block of flats where Molly lived. He was instructed by Molly's mum to walk up the stairs at their flat was the one on the end with an England flag hanging out of the window. He knocked 3 times on the glass window of the door and it opened almost immediately, "Can I help you?"
"Err yes, I'm Captain Charles James. I was Molly's Commanding Officer in Afghanistan. I rang you to inform you about Molly."
"Oh yes. I remember now, you're still in your army clothing? Oh no, please tell me it's not true! These always happen in movies. The Captain or whoever comes and knocks on your door and announces that your family member is dead. Go on, just say it!" Tears were appearing in Belinda's eyes.
"No no no. It's nothing like that. I've just got back from the hospital as your daughter requested me to come back with her. And seeming you gave me your address, I thought I would come and inform you about her and take you to see her within the next few hours."
"Aww, you're such a gentleman!" What he just said wiped away many fears Belinda had, "Come in, can I get you anything to drink?"
"Can I have a glass of water please, Mrs Dawes."
"Water bleedin' water?! And call me Belinda love!"
Charles let out a half-laugh, "yes a glass of water. Is there anything wrong with that?"
"Nah nuffin'. Just thought you'd want a cuppa tea or summin'."
"I'm not a tea drinker. Coffee is my type."
"I seriously don't know what is wrong with you love."
"As far as I'm aware of, there is nothing wrong with me."
"Well that's good then. Oi Dave, Charles the posh bloke is 'ere. He's came to tell us about our Molls.."
"I'll be down in a sec, just changing Martin."
5 minutes later..
"Well, how's our Molls then?" Belinda and Dave were becoming more intrigued by the second.
"Well. I came straight from the hospital after landing at Brize to inform you about her. On the plane from Bastion to Brize, she kept taking little rests and her longest one was 5 hours and it's probably still going on now. Molly was sent down for a CT scan and I was told by one of the nurses that she had Brain Trauma."
"Is it serious?" Dave cared a lot more about Molly when she came back for R&R.
"That was exactly my question. I'll give you a brief overview now and then I'll try and answer your questions. It can be serious as it can lead to a build-up of pressure on the brain, blood clots and a build-up of fluid and brain damage. When I left the hospital, they were finishing off tests in the HDU department and they said no visitors for the next 10 hours. It took me 2 hours and a half for the journey here, so it'll be a 2 hours and a half journey back which is 5 hours. So it leaves 5 hours spare and I thought I'll spend it here."
"Aw, well it's sweet of ya to do this Charles. And I don't think there are any questions to be honest with ya! Oh actually, is there a high risk of her dying?" Belinda couldn't see properly as tears were forming on her eyes.
"Oh no, no, no." Charles shook his head, "about 1 in 2000 people die from head injuries every year. But she's a fighter, so she'll get through it."
"Charles, I'm sorry if this sounds rude mate. We are truly grateful for you doing this but apart from being our Molls' captain, why did she want you to come back with her? Why not Smurf or someone else?" Dave was trying to be as polite as possible to Charles as he had done a lot for Molly, including helping save her life.
"Well, Molly and I declared our feelings for each other during the tour however it was against Army Regulations. I went with her on the MERT, which stands for Medical Emergency Response Team, to Camp Bastion then, after speaking to a medic, he said if Molly wanted me to go back to Birmingham with her, I could. And she wanted me to go with her, so I went with her. I didn't force any of this upon her Mr Dawes."
"Call me Dave! Well that's good then. You really are a posh bloke ain't ya?" Charles half-laughed.
5 hours later...
"Right, Belinda and Dave, I believe we should be heading off to Queen Elizabeth now then. I'll call us a taxi."
"Cor blimey! Getting us a taxi to Birmingham is well expensive! Let us pay for it Charles, you've done enough already."
"It's fine Belinda, I can pay for it." Charles knew that they wouldn't be able to pay for it as it costed over £250, and they weren't the wealthiest of families.