War Spirit - Lead Leopard

#4 - Recovery

CHAPTER 4

July 5th, 2018
Valley of Death, Afghanistan

"What... where am I?" Rocky wondered to himself. It was dark, the only thing visible was the ground, cold hard gravel. An eery groan caught his attention from behind. He made it out to be a skeleton that had reanimated, attempting to grasp onto him. He jumped up, backing away while keeping his eyes on the skeleton. It suddenly began bolting towards him. Rocky sprinted in the opposite direction. He wasn't able to outrun it, the skeleton caught him, stabbing him with a stake in his left arm.

Rocky's eyes sprung wide open as he gasped awake, feeling something small and sharp enter his left arm. To his left was Corporal Kelly, the base's medic jabbing a needle that led to an IV bag, as well as a blood bag.

"You're awake, Jekai." He noted,

"What happened?" Rocky mumbled, finding himself lying down on a bed, kept warm by a bedsheet.

"You passed out from blood loss." He informed him. Rocky had been undressed, only in his undershirt and underwear. As he put his arms out to stretch, before a sharp pain in his left hip prevented him.

"We had to undress you to look for any other wounds." He stated.

"What the..." He glanced at his lower left abdomen that was bandaged up,

"Careful. You'll re-open your wound. Strain yourself from moving too much." He warned.

"Fuck. How long will it take to heal?" Rocky asked,

"You'll need about five days of proper rest, then you can move around. Even then, only minimal activity." He advised.

"What? That's too long." Rocky said with a sigh,

"Relax. You've already done enough." Kelly assured.

"Where are the others? Where's Qasim?" Rocky asked, concerned.

"He's locked up in a hut being guarded at all times. The others are having lunch. I'm guessing you must be starving, I'll bring you something to eat." He uttered, and with that he walked out from the medical tent. Zidar, Alice and Chevy entered the tent, having been informed by Kelly of his awakening. They surrounded him at his bed.

"How are you bro?" Zidar greeted, patting Rocky on his leg.

"I'm fine. What did I miss?" Rocky asked,

"Nothing much, really." Chevy stated.

"How long have I been out for?" Rocky asked. Zidar pulled up his sleeve to look at his watch.

"Six hours. You were briefly conscious, then you remained asleep." Zidar recalled. Then he remembered what had happened. His eyes widened, turning to look at Zidar.

"Is Sergeant Davidson?..." he paused, hoping for the slight chance that watching him die in his arms was a dream. He didn't want to believe that his Sergeant was truly dead.

"He's gone." Zidar answered in a low tone, shaking his head. Rocky covered his face with both hands. The men knew that Rocky was especially close with Sergeant Davidson, he was like an older brother to him. This was the first time that a death had truly affected Rocky. No one said anything, letting him take the information in. Kelly returned, accompanied by Miller, who brought him an MRE and a canteen of water.

"How's our hero?" Miller smiled,

"I'm doing just fine." He replied sarcastically.

"Great job on the field today Jekai," Miller congratulated,

"It's because of you that we were able to capture him. I owe you for that." He smiled.

"I'm just doing my job," He replied, then looked at Chevy and Zidar,