A Girl Out of Place

Chapter 3: Business As Usual

I pulled my last pair of surgical gloves from my hands depositing them in the bin and thoroughly washed my hands and arms in the cold soapy water. The night had been long. It didn't matter that only days ago I had almost been kidnapped. When the wounded arrived we drop everything to save as many young boys as possible.

And they always came.

By the jeep-full they came.

As I watched the water run over my hands I counted in my mind how many we lost today.

Private Johnson, 25 years old.

Private Ellis, 22 years old.

Private Tennison, 23 years old.

Private Smith was pulled back from deaths door when Captain Tarin performed an experimental heart massage procedure. It successfully restarted the intact muscle but I couldn't help wonder if there were another way to massage the heart into life. One that wouldn't require breaking open a perfectly solid chest cavity.

Smith will require extra time to heal but at least he's alive.

I turned off the water and checked my hands. My skin was raw from the many times I repeated this action but more importantly the aching in my feet encouraged me to sit down for the first time in eighteen hours. My stomach gargled demanding I find a place to sit that included food. No matter its quality. Research would have to wait.

The mess tent was occupied by very few as I entered, grabbing a tray I scrapped the bottom of the bean bowl and deposited its remains on it. A few potatoes and grits were left along the way and managed to make it onto my tray. Glancing around for a spot I saw her. Accompanied by the new nurse and two young privates, they sat at the far table. The three of them ate and chatted while the nameless young woman from that day, sat still. Her vacant expression situated straight ahead. An expression she had maintained for the past four weeks.

I took a seat across the way and watched from a distance. The young nurse scooped a small amount of grits and placed the spoon on the young girls lips. Slowly her pink lips parted and accepted the food. No chewing motion took place but swallowing was a definite voluntary action.

Medically speaking there was no explanation for her behavior. One moment she was completely vibrant, and alive the next it all slipped away.

I shook my head, taking another bite of my barely edible meal as I replayed that moment in my mind.

The jeep had pulled to a stop. Giving she and I a chance to glance behind and confirm what we had hoped. No one had followed us. The shooting was left far behind and we were safe.

Through the heavy breaths she looked down at her hands. Both covered in a mixture of dirt and blood, so much blood. I saw the tremors begin at her finger tips. Her expression panicked as her hands violently began to shake. Ignoring the blood, I grabbed her hands and pushed them into her lap, concealing the blood from view. Her eyes darted from side to side so I grabbed her by the cheeks and forced her to face me.

"Stay with me," I called to her. "Listen to my voice. What's your name? Did you hear me? No, No, NO! Listen to my voice. Stay with me."

Nothing worked. She managed one genuine glimpse into my eyes before her tremors stilled, her eyes lost focus and she was back to the state I had first met her. Frightened back into her shell and with no where else to go, she had become the unit mascot. The nurses love taking turns taking care of her. Shuffling her from one place to another. Each speculating who she was and what happened to her. They had even tied her hair up, showcasing the white strip of hair in a brilliant fan above her neck.

"Ma'am." My thoughts were interrupted by the Unit's secretarial sergeant. He stood over me his posture in polite attention. "Sorry to interrupt Ma'am but Officer Griffin wants me to bring you and the civilian."

"He received news on who she is?"

He unknowingly shook his head, "He said it was urgent."

* * *

Eyes closed I sat and listened to the world around me. My mind bounced around from shuffling shoes, muttering voices, jeeps moving around in the distance, and then to the tent flats whipping in the breeze. I was outside, sitting upright on something solid. It smelled of a mixture of dirt, oil and body odor, yet I couldn't flinch or plug my nose.

I tried.

I also couldn't cover my ears to shut out the noise. I even failed at closing my own eyes. Seeing the dust flying around as we walked, a very nice nurse had done it for me before leaving me alone in this spot.

What was wrong with me? I wanted to run. I wanted to move. I wanted to scream! Heck, I wanted to scratch my left arm just above the elbow, more than anything in the world! However, my body would not respond. I felt the steady rise and fall of my chest as I breathed the dirt filled air, but that was all.

I was alive.

My body was still working though my brain had no control. "I'M HERE!" I screamed, but nothing happened. I had no idea where I was. I had no idea how to fight.

Maybe this was it. Maybe it was time to give up and just let it all come to an end here.

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