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Chapter Three: All the Time in the World

"Hold still." He half heard the sound of Ellie's voice, commanding so that she could apply the medical alcohol.

How she had managed to stay in one piece, he wasn't sure, but she had been here, patching him up and making sure that he was set to heal. He cried and cried, mourning his daughter and begging God not to let her be dead. Although, he wasn't even sure she could be dead. She was quite the little trooper. She would be alright. She had to be alright.

    He passed out again, mostly from the severe pain of the burns that he was under, and the next time he managed to open his eyes, he was staring right at the face of Ellie, with red, puffy eyes and tear streaks down her face, like she had when she was having her panic attacks.

    "Honey." He said, staring up at her. "What-what happened?"

    She sniffled, then jabbed at him with an alcohol wipe, causing pain to explode throughout him. He yelled out in pain, recoiling, and she grabbed him, before planting her lips right on his, and crying her eyes out.

    "Thank God you're okay!" She cried. "But Hannah! Hannah is outside!"

    "I know." He said. "We have to go look for her. Give me the shotgun, I'll go."

    "You can't." She said miserably. "First of all, you're in no condition to be going out there, second of all, the fallout is settling on the ground right now. Within a week or two we can go look for her. And that's if we can get out of here."

    "What do you mean?" He slurred, his speech not coming out the way that he wanted.

    "Something fell on the hatch. We can probably move it if there's two of us, but you're in no position to help."

    "I don't care. That's our daughter out there, Ellie. I can't just leave her out there!"

    She went quiet. "I know." She whispered. "I really wish there was something we could do about it. But there's nothing we can do about it. Not yet anyway. Please, honey. Please heal up, and I promise the first thing we're doing when you're healed is looking for her."

    She looked down at the ground, crying all the while, and soon she was full on bawling.

    "I don't want to lose her!!" She cried. "We can't lose her!"

    "I know honey!" He said, grabbing her and hugging her, even though it sent horrible shockwaves of pain through his arms. "It's gonna be alright. She's a really tough cookie. It'll take more than a nuke to kill her."

    He wasn't so sure that he believed even his own words, but that was good enough. He put on the bravest voice that he could for her, helping to calm her down. He looked around at the rest of the room, and it looked like she had been trying desperately to get out of the shelter.

    "Honey, its gonna be alright." He said. "Trust me. It'll be alright. We'll get out of here, we'll find her, and we'll get to safety."

    She sniffled, okay with that at the very least, and she laid her hand on his chest gently.

    "Lay down." She said. "Just let me do this. Please. You need your strength."

    He laid down, and she began to dress and redress his wounds and burns, humming and singing all the while. Her voice was still breaking, but it was soothing to the ears, and it helped him to relax a little bit, even as a few of her tears dropped onto his burns and caused more and more pain. She wrapped his burns in gauze, then wrapped his head in a bandage, and he fell back asleep.

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    When he next awoke, he was in a lot less pain. Instead, he actually felt a whole lot better. Ellie was over at the other side of the shelter, trying her hardest to fiddle with the radio, and he groaned, getting her attention.