The daughter of a soldier

Hospital of nightmares

Jade slowly opened the door into her daughters room. She was still wearing her uniform from yesterday, not bothering to change. When jade landed in Heathrow airport, she was escorted to an armoured convoy, and was then taken straight to the hospital treating Amelia. Jade closed the door behind her, then turned to face the bed. What she saw made her feel sick.

Amelia was lying on the bed, tubes running down her throat, monitors beeping away, drips in her arm. Through the room the only sounds were the heart monitor and the breathing machine. Jade walked to Amelia's free side, the side with no tubes or wires, and sat down. She grabbed her hand, intertwining her fingers with her daughters, and cried.
"Please Amelia, wake up baby." She whispered to her, looking at her through her tears.

Some time later, jade was asleep in the chair beside Amelia's bed, still holding her hand. A nurse entered the room, waking jade abruptly. The nurse briefed jade as she worked, changing hoses and replacing empty bottles.
"She's been placed in a coma to ease the pressure on her lungs, as they were damaged by the bullet. She should be awake in two or three days. It looks serious but it's really only a precaution, we can't risk any more swelling within the lungs. She's realistically going to be ok." The nurse finishes and leaves, plunging the room into the resounding silence of the beeping monitors again. Jade eventually gets up and kisses Amelia on the forehead, then leaves, heading for her hotel room. As jade closes the door behind her, Amelia's hand twitches, moving towards the door, as if reaching for her mum.

Inside Amelia's head, unknown to everyone else, she is still at war. Images flash through her head, images of war and destruction. Images of death and decay. At times, when everything inside her head stops, she thinks she can hear the quiet beeping of a machine or someone talking nearby. But she just can't open her eyes. She slips back into the nightmares of war, machine gun fire and explosions. Finally, she slowly opens her eyes, observing the hospital room she is in, and how empty it is. Then Amelia begins choking on all the tubes down her throat, and a nurse comes running.

At 2:25 in the morning, five days after Amelia was admitted to hospital, jades phone rings, waking her from her uncomfortable sleep.
"Yes!?" Jade snaps down the phone.
"Group Captain Barrington, Pilot Officer Barrington is awake now, she woke up about twenty minutes ago." The person on the other end said.
"I'll be there." Jade snaps, before a wave of relief rushes through her. She turns off her phone, and drags out her DPCUs. She leaves her room and almost runs downstairs, and walks the short distance to the hospital. When she reaches Amelia's room, she takes a breath and enters.

Amelia is laying in bed still, but she's kicked off the sheets and is lying there in just her gown. When the door opens, she looks across and sobs.
"Mum!" She chokes as tears start falling. Jade rushes over, encasing Amelia's hand in hers.
"Sshhhh, it's ok, I'm here. Your alright." Jade soothes, calming Amelia. Once Amelia is calm, jade gives her some news.
"Your being promoted Amelia, to flight Lieutenant. Your skipping flying Officer. Its for your actions in recapturing Homs." Jade says, watching Amelia's reaction. Amelia looks at her mum and says,
"I don't want to go back mum." Jade doesn't look surprised, but she still asks why.
"I'm not as braves as dad. I never will be. I can't do all the things he did. I'll never be the soldier he was." Amelia says, beginning to cry again.
"Amelia, he trained himself to be brave. He was super scared in that North Korean prison he was in. He thought he'd never see us again. He just learnt to push his fear down inside him. You can do the same baby." Jade soothes.
"I don't know mum." Amelia says.
Outside in the corridor, the girls heard someone running down the hallway, and shortly after, a siren went off through the hospital, with a warning.
"All hospital patrons, all hospital patrons, take cover, take cover, this is not a drill, this is not a drill, take cover, take cover."
"Mum, what the fuck is going on?" Amelia says, beginning to panic.
"I don't know baby, you'll be ok here. I'll go find out." Jade says, keeping cool. She kisses Amelia on the head as the warning sounds again, and walks out of the room.
"Please come back." Amelia whispers after her.