Love and War

Chapter 9

The rotors stop. My body is lifted onto a stretcher. People shout things at me. I'm in a white room. People start attaching things to me.

"Kimberly"

"Kimberly"

The world finally comes back to me. Jason is next to me, his hands shaking my consciousness awake. Apparently, I'm in the emergency room back at our school.

I don't remember the helicopter ride from D.C back home.

"Kimberly?"

I lift myself up from the bed but my body and gravity send me back down.

"Don't do that. They have you on medication."

All of a sudden, my heart explodes in my chest. My breathing come out of my nose straggled and uneasy.

Dad. Mission. Backup. Head. Bullet. Gone. Forever. Mom. Dad.

"Nurses!" Jason screams.

A group of nurses run in the room, and quickly get to work on me.

"Jason"

His hands is in mine in an instant.

"Yes?"

"Please don't leave. Please."

He stares into my eyes, "I don't plan on it."

In a few seconds, my heartbeat gets back to normal and the pain that enveloped my body a moment ago disappears. The nurses calmly leave me and Jason alone again.

All I see is my dad getting shot over and over again in my head.

Jason's hand around my arm tightens. I look up at a very devastated face on the verge of tears.

"Kimberly, please forgive me."

"You couldn't do anything. It was all me."

Right there and then, I burst out into tears. It surprises both of us as Jason is taken aback a bit. A few seconds ago, I seemed fine. Jason just hugs me. There is nothing he could say right now that would make me feel better.

"Why am I here?"

"Because the doctors want you under supervision, you went into shock on the helicopter and passed out."

That's why I can't remember what happened.

"How's the rest of the squad?" I ask him, trying my hardest to distract myself from the last few hours.

"Kimberly, everyone is worried about you. Don't try to make this about anyone else."

Getting my mind off of this is going to keep me from spilling over. I just arrived here. I don't want anyone to think that I'm not as strong as I say I am.

At that moment, the doctor comes along with some nurses who flank him.

"Alright, we need to do some test on you before we let you go."

Jason finally lets go of my hand and sits in the seat next to the bed. The doctor grabs a small flashlight from the counter and a stethoscope. He points the flashlight at my eyes. I'm guessing to check my responses. Next he takes the stethoscope and places it softly on my back.

"Breathe"

I take a deep breath.

The doctors does it a couple more times and then the test are over.

"Your vitals should be okay. The paperwork has already been done so you are free to leave."

He walks out of the room, leaving me and Jason to ourselves.