Author's note: The game that Minty and Eve are playing in the end was inspired by the game Maritza and Flaca played in Orange is the New Black.

Chapter 6

I was behind the nursing station, quietly humming to myself.

- You seem happy – I heard Red. I looked up at him and I realized that he was much closer than I thought.

- Yeah, my best friend is coming in a week. But you do not look that happy at all.

- New mission. I just came to get Doc.

- When are you coming back? – I blurted out.

- In 2 days – he said smiling.

- Ohh okay. Try not to explode yourself. I am good at suturing wounds, but I am not that good – he laughed. I started to feel something in my stomach at the thought of him being deployed. Worry?

- Yeah, will try– I saw Doc approaching.

- Take care.

- You too Minty.

Just as Red said, they were back in 2 days. I was in the hospital when I saw him coming in with Lake whose lower leg was bleeding.

- Take him to the clinic room – I instructed him. I cut up Lake's trousers so I can have a look at the wound. It was not too bad.

- Is everything alright? – I heard Siobhan coming in and that is when I realized that Red was still in the room.

- Let me have a look at you to make sure you are okay – she went up to Red. If I could have rolled my eyes they would have been at the back of my head.

- I am fine thank you ma'am – said Red, politely declining the offer. Hah in your face bitch. Siobhan was standing there for a second looking defeated and left.

- I will wait outside – He said and left me with Lake. I was quite quick fixing him up, but we were chatting while I was working. He was a really nice guy and we hit it off straight away. I actually got to know all the guys on the team through Doc and by tending to their wounds several times. I really liked them all and I was regularly having my meals with them.

My best friend in this whole world was arriving today! I was so excited. Especially since my friendship with Siobhan ended. I heard a helicopter arriving and I ran outside. When I saw her getting off, we ran towards each other screaming. Like two high school girls. I hugged her tight.

- I am so happy you are here – I was almost jumping up and down.

- Me too – we were both squealing.

- Come on let me show you around - I gave her a tour of the mission and introduced her to the hospital staff.

- This is my friend Eve. She is also a nurse and will be working with us – I told Doc.

- Pleasure – he shook her hand – Minty we are having some drinks with the guys tonight. You should come and join with Eve. You are off tomorrow, right?

- Yeah…

- We gonna be there – Eve said. I gave her a look after Doc left.

- What? You need to relax a bit with your bestie. For old times' sake.

- Fine – I have to admit I needed some fun. We went back to my room and were catching up until nightfall. We got ready together like two teenagers who were allowed to go to their first party.

The whole team was sitting outside, joking and drinking beer. They have not been assigned any missions, so they had time to relax.

- Oh, there they are – said Doc and started to wave.

- Who? – asked Red and turned around to see Minty and another nurse coming whom he assumed was Eve. His heart skipped a beat, but he put on a straight face.

- You are welcome – grinned Doc. Before Red could say anything Minty and her friend arrived.

- Hello ladies. Care to join? – asked Zee. They all liked Minty, and they got to know her quite well as she often had to patch them up.

We arrived and I saw Doc waving. There were other soldiers outside, but they sat separately in their own group. They were an extremely close-knit team, like brothers.

- Hey guys. This is my best friend, Eve. Just arrived today – all the guys greeted her. I could tell Eve looked at Red for a bit longer when he said hi to her as if assessing if he was worth the drama between me and Siobhan.

- Don't worry you will get to know us quickly. We have to be patched up quite a lot. At least Minty will have some help – said Slo.

- Thank God. You guys are seriously burning me out – I scoffed.

- Well then you deserve a beer. For the best nurse the team could wish for – said Zee and handed us a beer each.

- Ohh you gonna make me cry – I said jokingly.

- Would never dare. I would be in a lot of trouble – he grinned and gave Red a quick glance who was sitting opposite me. For a while we were drinking and laughing, and the beer was getting to my head. I felt slightly tipsy.

- So how do you guys know each other? – Lake asked.

- Nursing school – I replied.

- Yeah, first day. To be honest when I first met Minty, I thought she was a total bitch – Eve was giggling, and the guys were laughing with her.

- The fuck Eve? – I turned to her.

- No offence babe.

- Gee I wonder how that would have sounded if you meant any offence.

We were drinking and chatting for a while. I didn't get the chance to talk to Red one on one, but I could feel his eyes on me. Finally, we all retired, and I was walking back with Eve.

- They are really nice – she said.

- Yeah, I really like them.

- Yeah, I can tell one of them really likes you too.

- Who? – I asked innocently

- You know exactly who. Red, James. I mean no wonder Siobhan got her eyes on him as well. He is hot, you should totally bang him.

- Eve! Do I need to keep an eye on you for Pete around all these man in uniforms? - Of course, I knew she would never cheat on Pete. They have been together for two years and got engaged recently. They were perfect for each other. Theirs was the kind of relationship I always wanted for myself.

- Hey, I am faithful not blind. But seriously Minty. You are surrounded by hot men in uniforms and one of them clearly likes you. I mean have you seen the arms on that man? I bet you could have sex with him without your feet even touching the ground.

- How can you be so thirsty? You just arrived!

- How can you not? Answer me this. When was the last time you had proper, really good sex? – I didn't say anything.

- Come on Minty it's me. You can tell me.

- I know. I am just trying to remember – we both laughed although, to be fair, it was actually quite sad.

- But seriously, in this place you see people then after you leave you never see them again. What is the point? If I have sex with him, it is just going to be awkward. Plus, you know me and relationships.

- Yeah, I have a feeling this one might be able to change that – In a way I agreed with her. James was sexy, clever, caring and funny. All the things you would want in a man. Perfect husband and father material if I could choose one for myself. But I would never be a good wife for someone like him.

- What makes you say so?

- Just a feeling. And the way you guys are looking at each other.

- I don't look in any way. Just how I look at anyone else – bullshit obviously. Even I was aware that I had googly eyes when I looked at his body. And face. The whole man basically.

- Have it your way. But I still say that you should go for it. If I am wrong at least you had great sex. Like seriously, that guy looks like he knows a thing or two about a thing or two.

- You know what? I will fuck him just so you shut up.

- Yay – she clapped her hands.

- On another note, I sneaked some beer into my room earlier – we grinned at each other.

I woke up with a banging headache. When I opened my eyes, the whole room was spinning, and every single part of my body was hurting. Me and Eve continued to drink until the early hours of the morning.

- Fuck me – I groaned. I looked at my watch and saw it was breakfast time. Food was the last thing I wanted but I knew that eating and drinking would help. I showered quickly and brushed my teeth. I put on some baby blue jersey shorts, a white tank top and trainers. I tried to brush my hair but it was all over the place so I put it in a messy bun.

- Interesting – I said looking in the mirror. I stumbled down to the mess.

- Hohohoho good morning sunshine – Red laughed. Him, Slo, Zee and Silk were sitting together eating breakfast with Eve.

- Heard you guys had a few more beers after – Zee said.

- Ughh can we please stop talking about beer? – They all laughed. I looked over at Eve. She looked just as shit as I felt.

- Why is it so bright? – I said.

- It happens in the morning – Red replied still grinning at my misery. I put my elbows on the table and covered my face in my hands. Then I realized something.

- Where is my makeup? I was wearing makeup last night.

- You took it off – Eve said in that typical hangover voice.

- Oh yeah – It was good to know that smashed me still had a good face care routine. Eve started to retch slightly.

- Eve, you need to swallow it back girl. Just swallow – all the boys seemed to have a great time watching us.

- I am defo hungover – she said.

- I am pretty sure I am still drunk – I replied and looked down at my food with disgust.

- You should eat something – Red said.

- You should eat something – I replied like a petulant child. He raised his eyebrows.

- Okay fine – I said and put a piece of toast in my mouth.

- Happy? – I asked, intentionally chewing loud.

- Classy. But yes – he grinned.

- Minty – I heard someone say and Siobhan came up to our table. – Morning gentlemen – she said looking at them and taking an extra few seconds to look at Red. I rolled my eyes.

- How are you today? – she asked me.

- Never been better – I forced a smile.

- Are you sure? Seems like your old form is coming back – She looked me up and down with pretend concern and left.

- Die in a fire – I mumbled under my breath as I brought my coffee to my lips. It must have been louder than I thought because everyone was looking at me.

- Is everything okay between the two of you? – asked Red.

- Yeah, all is fine – I smiled innocently.

- So that was Siobhan – Eve asked on our way back.

- The one and only.

- Well unlucky for her, James doesn't seem to be interested at all. And lucky for you, I am here, and I have your back.

- Thanks babe – I hugged her. We went back to her room and spent the whole day chatting shit, laying on her bed.

At night me and Eve were sitting outside the staff accommodation. We were playing 'would you rather'. It was something we did to pass time during night shifts. It was her turn.

- Okay. Would you rather never have sex for the rest of your life or see your parents have sex and join in? Gun to your head.

- Oh my God girl what the fuck? You have serious issues. But I choose not to have sex ever again.

- I saw this on a bachelorette card game thing*. But come on! No way!

- Ahh way! There is not enough therapy in the world for the other option. And it is disgusting.

- What if you could forget about it after?

- Still no you sicko. Okay my turn. Would you rather have a tarantula crawl on you for 15 minutes or swim in a tank with sharks? Gun to your head.

- You know I am deadly scared of both!

- I know, that is why I asked – I grinned.

- Okay, I guess I would take my chance with the spider. Now would you rather….

- Evening ladies – we jumped a bit and turned to the source of the sound. It was Terwase with a smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes. He was one of the government soldiers, and I never liked him. He made the hair on my back stand up.

- Interesting game you are playing. I was not aware it included guns tho. But I guess it puts a more interesting twist in it – He had a creepy grin. For a few seconds neither of us said anything.

- I guess – I finally replied. He grinned again and left.

- Let's go inside – I said. I knew Terwase made a lot of the female staff uncomfortable, and I swear to God I kept seeing him everywhere I went.

*I did not come up with this. I did actually see this in a bachelorette card game.