Doubt Thou Stars Are Fire

Chapter Ten

I couldn't remember much after our few steps into the woods. A bird flew in front of my face wildly before a banging noise rang through our ears. The last thing I remember is a hot, stinging pain run up my body. I remember Benjamin dropping to the ground and holding my face, and from then on it all faded. Everything felt lighter, I then let go of all consciousness. 

My name was called out to me, I breathed the ocean air in deeply. Waves crashed into the shore just behind me. I looked down at the sand and heard my name called again. A lonely figure stood a few feet from me, facing the deep blue waves. The greyness of the sky darkened the scenery. "hello?" I called to the figure.  I stepped closer and noticed the blue and gold lining his jacket and my heart leaped. I ran towards him and embraced him, but when I saw his face, I immediately let go. Jack's face peered between the blonde locks framing his face, I stumbled back on the ground and erupted with a terrified scream.

"Winifred!" I was being woke up by a terrified Benjamin. His eyes were wide and bloodshot. Dark and discolored eyebags pulled at the bottom of his eyes. His grip on my shoulders was tightened to the point that it almost hurt. I gasped out his name. A hot sting still burned through my body, not allowing me to sit up. 

"What happened?" I asked, my eyes half-lidded out of tiredness and pain. I tried propping myself up on my elbows, but that hurt even more. I noticed the sky was now dark and clouded. 

"Stop, please just lay down." He kneeled next to my bed. "You...you were out for hours, I...we thought you had died." Ben's face looked whiter than snow in the candlelight. Other figures came into focus around the room. Florence sat on the chair with a relieved expression. Her curled hair was tied back behind her and she wore an apron with dried blood appearing on the front. A nurse stood next to her, not moving her eyes up from the ground. 

"Yes, but what happened? Flo? What happened?" 

"Winifred, you were shot." Florence stood up and walked over, putting a hand on Benjamin's shoulder. 

"I...I what?" Confusion easily enveloped me. Shot? Shot by who?. "Who was I shot by?" I managed to groan out. 

"We aren't sure, but we'll figure it out," Benjamin said, holding my hand in his. He rubbed his thumb over the back of his hand and I only focused on that for the time being. I wasn't well enough to solve my own possible death. The motion of holding hands and one person running their thumb over the back of the other's is an underrated feeling. I smiled softly at Benjamin, who still had a worried look painted upon his face. 

I smiled so softly. He looked so beautiful when there was some emotion on his face. I tried to lift myself from the cot, I was me with unbearable pain produced by my shoulder. I cried out and fell back onto the bed, squeezing Ben's hand with the force of a few men. 

"Please, stay down," he said softly, running a hand through my mass of hair upon my head. He was right, I should keep still. I of all people should know that. I couldn't let myself lay down and let the camp run itself into shambles. I assume Ben noticed the pained worry on my face. "Calm down, Florence is running the camp smoothly now, you're allowed to relax for at least a moment, Winnie." 

"No, Benjamin, I have to-" 

"Winifred, you need to rest, you were shot literally moments ago, anything you do would do that isn't lying down and getting rest could be detrimental to your health," Ben said, running his thumb over the back of my hand. 

"Ben, please." I furrowed my brows and began to tear up. I knew I couldn't try to get up anymore without excruciating pain following, so I laid still and held onto his sleeve. "I don't want to rest, please, there has to be some other way I can-" 

"Winnie, you're hysterical, please calm down." Florence dipped down next to my bed and ran her hand through my hair. "It's going to be okay, the world will still turn." She managed a faint smile and brushed my hair away from my face. "Ben, will you be staying?" 

"If she allows me, yes." He said, looking from me to her. I nodded slowly in defeat. I wasn't prepared for restlessness, I wanted to get up and continue, and not stay in this tent. I sighed and looked to Ben. 

"Why couldn't he have just killed me, I'd rather be dead than stay in here to recover. This isn't my place." 

"Don't say that, please." Ben's eyes showed growing concern,"I can't have that happen."

"Of course not. Did you see anything in the woods? Was there even a person there?" I asked, loosening my grip on his shirt sleeve. 

"I saw movement in the trees to the north, but I assumed it was nothing more than a plain deer, or...just some sort of animal." He said, shaking his head,"we shouldn't have gone in there, I should have protected you." 

"No, Ben you can't blame yourself. Look, I'm not dead. I'm still here, still breathing." I smiled faintly at him. 

"But still..." then, suddenly, it looked like a candle was lit in his eyes. An expression of worry popped again, but this time it was frantic. "What if they're surrounding the barracks? The British?"

"Ben, we have men looking out-" 

"I know, but still." He stood up and began pacing, running a free hand through his hair every few moments. "What if they weren't...what if..." His vibrant blue eyes met questions inside his mind. "What if we aren't looking hard enough for them? We're coming to our wit's end with this war, and..." he began to pacing again. 

I watched him as he thought out loud to himself. 

"We're at our wit's end with this war," he repeated," and winter is coming upon us quickly and we...we haven't had a solid victory...They know we're weakening." He rubbed his temples. He sat down in the chair and stared into the single candle flame that was burning on the desk. 

Suddenly, there was a distant scream that rang throughout the camp that. The sound make my blood turn cold. What if Ben was right? What if they were choosing to attack now?