A Soldier's Life

Chapter 20 - Chicken Soup

Y/n's POV:

This last week had flown by. Ava had not stopped talking about her birthday party and her friends at school were very jealous of her birthday with the Marvel cast, though most of them just assumed it was people playing the Avenger characters and not the actual actors.

Work for me was getting pretty hectic but I was still able to manage my time, making sure I was there for Ava. My days often consisted of me picking Ava up, cooking her dinner, spending time with her in the evening and then working in my office once she was in bed.

We were having some issues with one of the units out in Afghanistan who were working with the Afghan Army. There were misunderstandings, disagreements and infighting which was building the tensions between the two. The last thing we wanted was a green on blue attack.

As a result, we were working tirelessly to resolve the issues and providing the relevant support over online sessions or phone calls, which was not ideal with connectivity issues and the difference in time zones. It was a stressful time, if we couldn't resolve the issues there would certainly be risk to life and that was the last thing any of us wanted.

The weekend was a welcomed break. Thankfully, my nightmares had slowly been getting better, which meant that I was starting to get better sleep. The difference I felt was great. I had far more energy, even when I'd been at work all day. On Saturday, I took Ava to the park and we took our bikes to go on a ride together. I also took a picnic for us to eat whilst in the park, making the most of the day outside in the sun.

By the evening, Ava was being uncharacteristically quiet, so I decided we'd just have a quiet evening. After dinner she snuggled up to me whilst we watched Frozen. Usually she would be singing along, pretty much re-enacting the whole movie in front of me, but tonight she stayed snuggled into my side.

"Are you ok bug?" I asked, slightly concerned. She turned to look at me, her eyes full of tiredness. "I feel tired." She responded. I picked her up and placed her on my lap. "Would you like to go to bed?" I asked. She nodded and I carried her into her room. I picked out some pyjamas and helped her change.

I tucked her up in bed and she quickly turned around holding on tight to Mr Snuggles. Before I even had a chance to start our goodnight ritual, I could hear tiny snores coming from her. I quietly said my goodnights and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Watching her for a while, concerned that she wasn't well.

In the middle of the night, I heard my door open. In my sleepy state I looked at my phone to see it was 2am. I then turned around to see Ava stood in the doorway, slightly sniffling. I quickly jump out of bed and kneel down in from of her. "What's wrong bug?" I ask her, wiping the tears from her face. "I don't feel well." She mumbled. My heart dropped a little at how sad her voice was.

I pulled her into a hug and stood up, making my way back to my bed. I sat her on my lap and felt her head. She was starting to burn up. "Ok bug, I'm going to grab a few things can you sit here and wait for me just a minute." I requested, rubbing my hand up and down her back. She nodded in response.

Not wanting to be too long, I rushed around the apartment getting everything I needed. From the kitchen I grabbed a fresh bottle of water and an empty bucket just in case she needed to be sick. I placed them in my room before going into the bathroom to get some medicine, the thermometer and a wet flannel.

As I got back into my room she was still sat with tears in her eyes. I sat next to her and first of all opened the bottle of water and handed it to her to drink. She gratefully took it and started taking sips whilst I got the medicine ready. I placed it on the spoon and put it towards her mouth. She took the medicine and her face scrunched up at the taste. "Drink some water and it'll help with the taste." I instructed Ava, which she followed.