Trustworthy help

104. Call

'You're muscles are damaged. Some ripped a little. You'll need time to recover.' The nurse says. 'I'm alright though, a little stiff, but I'm good.' I say. 'We need you to take it easy. Wait off the last two days.' He says. 'Alright fine.' I say back. He helps me to my feet. I make my way to the tent with the phones and sit down at a desk. It's been three days since I last contacted corpse and I left in a hurry.

I dial his number and wait till he picks up.

'Hello?'

I ease up at his voice.

'Hey bub.'

I lean back into the chair, holding my hands over my ribs, feeling sore and exhausted still.

'Amelia! Are you okay? What happened?'
'The guys for cornered and had to get help. I'm sorry, I said I wouldn't go into the field anymore, but I did and I-'
'Are they okay?'

I stop my rambling at his question.

'Yes. We got them out.'
'So everyone is alive?'
'No, the medic died. Jackson, smithy and Williams got injured along with Marksen.'
'How are they doing?'
'Williams got his arm injured but is fine. Jackson's chest is a little blown up. Smithy survived, but isn't doing good. And I could have sworn Marksen was dead by the time I got him out.'
'Wait is he?'
'No. He's alive.'
'That's good to hear. How are you holding up?'

I tear up at his question.

'Honestly corpse...'

My voice trembles as I try to keep everything under control.

'Talk to me baby.'

I sniffle.

'I nearly failed, corpse. I.... I let them go and I nearly lost smithy, and... and Jackson could have been injured just a little worse. I told them I'd protect them.'

The first tear leaves my eye but I wipe it away quickly.

'You can't protect everyone from war, Amelia.'

I take a deep breath.

'It was because I wasn't with them.'
'Says who?'
'No one, but I have more experience and I may have been able to avoid the things that happened.'
'Don't blame this on yourself.'
'It's really hard not to.'
'You got them out, all of them are alive.'
'I know. I know that.'
'Then shut up and be happy about that.'
'Fine.'

I let out a breathy laugh.

'I'm coming home in three days, we'll leave in two.'
'Really?!'
'Mhm.'

I smile at how exited he sounds.

'I'll come and pick you up.'
'I hope so, I don't wanna walk back.'
'I'll be there.'
'Thank you.'

There falls a short silence before corpse says my name carefully.

'Yeah?'
'There's something I need to tell you.'
'What is it?'
'Uhm, remember how Eve said Leo had problems breathing?'
'Yes?'
'It started happening again two days ago. I brought him to the vet, but..... there was nothing they could do.'

I stare at the table as I take in his words.

'I'm sorry baby, but he's gone.'

I cover my mouth before my forehead.

'Are you okay?'

My eyes tear up again, but I hold the tears back seeing how there are more people around now.

'It's... I'm. Did you stay with him?'
'Yes, till the very last.'
'Thank you.'
'No need to thank me.'
'Corpse I'm going to hang up, I'll call you when I know more about my arrival.'
'Alright. Go get a hug from someone. I love you.'
'I love you too.'

I hang up and stand up, making my way to the medical area as fast as I can with my body aching. It gets harder and harder to hold back the tears. I walk in and make my way to the room. 'Evan.' I say as I stumble through. He looks up while laying in the hospital bed. 'Hey, what's going on?' He asks as I drop down into the chair and lay my head on his stomach, letting the tears fall. He gently pats my head with one hand as he holds my hand with the other. He quietly comforts me and waits till I stop crying.

When I do I move up and dry my tears.
He's seen me like this before, so it's okay. 'What happened?' He asks. 'Everything happened.' I say as I'm still wiping my face. 'You nearly died. My guys nearly died. I let them go into the field without me. My dog died. I...' I sigh. 'I'm exhausted.' He reaches for me and rubs my arm. 'You'll be okay. Your guys will be okay. And I will be okay. I'm sorry to hear about Leo.' He says. 'Corpse told me to get a hug from someone so I came here.' I say. He lets out a weak laugh before opening his arms. 'I need one to, so come here.' I stand up and lean down to give him a hug. I hold on for a little while and try to calm down. This makes me miss corpse even more.

'How are you feeling?' I ask. 'Like I've been run over a couple of times and the got attacked by a lawnmower of something.' He says. I chuckle 'a lawnmower?' I ask as I sit back down. 'Yeah, I'm not kidding.' He says. 'Oh I know that.' I say back. He seems tired and pale. 'I heard you talking the whole time.' he says as he looks down. 'I heard you telling me about our basic training. About the funny moment. I heard you tell me what you felt while you stood next to me at my mothers funeral. I also heard you say how messed up I get when drunk because my girlfriend broke up with me.' He says with a laugh. He flinches and looks up at me. 'Honestly, I was about to give up. I didn't want to feel the pain anymore. But you reminded me about how amazingly tragic life can be. And how much we rely on each other. So I tried with all I could to stay alive.' He says. I smile sadly at him and take his hand in mine.

We've been through a lot, him and I.
Though his isn't family, I couldn't have a better brother figure at my side.

'Keep C around for me will you. He seems to ease your pain.' He says. 'I'm really fucking trying.' I say. He chuckles weakly 'good. That's good.'