After the surgery, Noa had been brought up to the fourth floor, as he was now stable. His mother and brother had stayed with him, while his father had been called out for an urgent military meeting.
Noa slept in a simple wheely bed. There were more lined up next to his in a row, heads to the wall. It was the same on the opposite wall. There were no curtains thought, as they had all been taken for the war effort. David wished they hadn't been. He could see all the other sick people, holding on to life. It was a miserable place to be.
~~~
Scarlett had woken up late, she had been up deep into the night, thinking.
Her father knocked. "Scarlett, time to go," he called gruffly.
She rolled her eyes and began to get ready. Her father hadn't always been so... well, brute, simple. She understood. it was just the pressure, but he didn't have to go in this alone. She was his daughter for God's sake! Didn't he think she felt terrible too? Like, she understood he was a guy, but still. She finished getting ready by putting her colorful scarf on, it was cold outside.
***
She watched as Stepan softly spoke to her mother. It was hard to have a private conversation in the hospital. She tried to ignore all the other curious glances they were getting. One person even seemed shocked. It was a teenage boy. He sat near another patient in the next bed, an older boy, asleep, probably his brother. The boy glanced at her frequently, shocked, sad, and hateful.
She ignored them all, and repositioned her scarf stubbornly. Then she got up and decided to go to the cafeteria.
~~~
David couldn't believe it! An enemy, here! His mind raced with the thought. "And she's just walking around freely!"
He had had to go back home the night after his brother's operation, but had returned soon after with his mother.
Generations of pent-up belief and patriotism swelled up in him, causing him to suddenly jerk up, and follow the girl as she went down the stairs. She was easy to follow, as she wore a colorful scarf, with reds greens, and blues embroidered on it, traditional in her country. David would tell her exactly what she was.
~~~
"Great, another one," thought Scarlett irritatedly.
The boy who had been staring at her was now following her. She took a breath in, if war had taught her anything, it was that confrontation was the only way to make people listen.
She turned around and glared straight at him. She was satisfied at seeing his angry look falter for a moment as he abruptly stopped walking.
They stood facing a few meters away from each other in an empty corridor. Scarlett had her hands in fists.
"Why are you following me?" she asked. "Because if it's just to say how my people are all misguided savages -and I think it is- then it only shows how you can't even respect a person on fair ground, which is pathetic, I don't even want to be here!"
David tried regaining his confidence. "That's not true, in my country everyone is very respectful of all types of peoples!"
"Really, prove it to me then, what were you about to say to me?"
He gapped at her for a moment.
"Exactly." She turned and started walking away.
"Hey, Where are you going? I didn't even say anything!" he called, but it was an empty challenge, Scarlett knew he had no idea what to say.
~~~
Days went by, and David tried to forget his failed confrontation, which was hard, considering the girl was sitting at the bed besides Noa's.
A sort of rhythm set in for David. He saw as visitors came and went in the hospital, talking with loved ones, sometimes crying. Patients would get quietly pulled out if they died, relatives moaning behind them, if they had relatives. "All very depressing."
A shiver ran through David as he sat at his brother's side, that wouldn't happen to Noa. David looked around again, his mother sat near him, holding his brother's limp hand. he still hadn't woken up, his mother looked worried.
"Hey," reassured David, and her other hand in his. "It's gunna be fine." He smiled at her, she smiled back.
"Everything will go back to normal."
~~~
Scarlett woke up. She looked around trying to remember where she was. Then she saw her mother, and remembered how she got here, the War.
"And what a war," she thought groggily. Why had she woken up anyway?
She looked around the quite hall. Everyone was asleep, and only a few patients snored. She glanced at her father, he was still asleep, resting his head against his wife's bed. The policemen's car had broken down, so they had to stay the night.
"And a good thing too," she daydreamed. Her mother had been acting more and more negative, it was best they with her really.
She had began falling back asleep, when the room was filled with the noises of metal beds squeaking. Her eyes were wide open again in confusion. Her heart plummeted as she realised, it was an earthquake.
