Through the Lense

Chapter 3: Explain

For an hour she sat by his side. Her hands had been washed, she changed her clothes, but worry remained on her face. "Wake up," she whispered softly while petting his ashy brown hair. The hall was quiet; not even the obese cat was making a sound. Only the labored wheezing of the injured soldier filled her ears.

He stirred a little, wincing in his sleep. This conformation that he was alive calmed Silvia's nerves if only for a second.

A faint rumbling near the front door drew her attention. It's most likely her parents but panic still filled her chest at the thought of soldiers coming to retrieve the boy. She hastily laid out a blanket under him and pulled his body, now wrapped in bandages, to her room. Blood smeared over the floor in streaks behind him.

When he was safely hidden in her room she took a towel and proceeded to scrub the fresh blood off the floor. She hoped her parents would believe the lie she would inevitably make up. The smell told her they probably wouldn't. It reeked of sweat, smoke and filth. The soldier surely needs a bath when he wakes.

"Silvia, we brought you leftovers from Mrs. Heinz," her mother called out from the front door. Just a few more steps into the house and they'd see the blood she failed to wiped from the floors.

The young woman scrubbed madly trying to get the stains up before throwing the towel behind the couch. There's no choice... she has to explain everything.

"Silvia?" Her mother crept forward at what felt like a snail's pace. When she saw her daughter, blood stained her hands and the noticeable pool on the floor made the older woman shriek. "Oh dear what happened?!" Her mother rushed to her side and grabbed her hands to examine them.

"Mom, calm down. I'll explain just calm down. Could you help me clean this?" Silvia did her best to keep her tone even and smooth, but inside she was shaking in fear. If they make her turn in the soldier, he'll surely die.

"Are you alright honey? What's all this blood on the floor? Do you need to go to the hospital? Silvia, what happened?"

"Calm down," the blonde instructed. "I'll answer you in a second. Just help me clean the blood before it stains."

"Why is there so much blood?!"

"It's not mine, Mom. It just needs to be cleaned." Silvia tried over and over to calm her mother but everything went to hell when her father came in. He shouted concern and pulled his daughter and wife away from the spot on the floor. He demanded an explanation now, and Silvia would be forced to give him one.

"What's going on Silvia?"

"Breathe Dad. I'm going to tell you everything. But first you need to calm down before you hyperventilate." She waited until both parents had calmed themselves. She sat them on the couch and began the entire story.

"I found a soldier in the fields. He was half dead and I knew I wouldn't be able to get him to a hospital in time so I called Amber over. We patched him up but he lost a lot of blood. That's why the floors are like this. He's currently stable and asleep in my room but he shouldn't be moved right now. He has burns and bullet wounds everywhere and if we move him we'll risk tearing his stitches. Please understand this is all my doing. Don't try to hurt him or kick him out. He doesn't even know what's going on. He hasn't woken up since I brought him here."

The two were silent on the couch, glaring at the blood staining the hands of their daughter. The kind girl always wanted to help people. When she was younger she was always the one to help the other kids when they fell on the playground. Silvia took care of the cat that visited her until it died. And a baby squirrel when she was 5. She always had these impulses to help others. This was nothing out of the ordinary for her personality.

"Okay, I think I understand... I just don't understand why you haven't called a hospital now. I'm sure they'll take care of him."

Silvia wanted to avoid telling her parents the crucial detail that he was a soldier for the enemy by any means necessary. The sweet blonde hated lying to her parents, but this seemed like an appropriate time to hold back the truth.

"He'd bleed out if they moved him. I already told you he's not ready to be moved."

"But shouldn't he be on an IV or getting a blood transfusion if he's that hurt. We can't do that for him here Silvia."

"No!"

Her dad crossed his arms, finding it suspicious that she was refusing her mother. Silvia has always been a good kid. But now it seemed to him that she wouldn't listen to reason. He pushed past her, stomping to her room.

"No! Don't wake him up!"

"I'm just going to see how bad his condition is," her father argued. Silvia bit at her lip as the two curiously crept into her room. On the other side of the bed, Arthur laid sleeping.

Her father was the first to enter the room. Silvia's heart pounded into her rib cage like a jackhammer.

"Dad, he's in really bad shape. I don't think you want to see him right now," she warned trying to keep her suspicious parents from venturing past her bed.

He remained silent and stepped around the corner. On the ground, still unconscious, a mangled soldier lies still on top of a blanket. Resting on top of the soldier was his burned jacket, sporting the flag of an enemy country.

All the color in her mother's face had drained away. Both parents were looking paler by the second. "Oh my word," her mother gasped before rushing to the bathroom. Retching echoed from the room across the hall.

"Silvia," her father finally spoke up. "I'm calling the hospital."

"No! Please don't! Amber says he'll bleed out before they could make it there."

"We are not keeping this man in our house!"

"Please Dad! Just until he wakes up?"

"You've never met this person Silvia! How could you think this is safe for the three of us? Why can't you put your family first and just call an ambulance?"

"Because if they get to him, they'll let him die," she sighed into her hands; forgetting they still has a thin layer of blood on them. "He doesn't fight for us."

The look on his face was pure terror and rage. Silvia knew a lecture was inevitable. In a deep growl, her father spoke very few words, but it was enough to make Silvia shiver. "Get him out of my house."

He stormed out, leaving the injured soldier with the blonde woman. She shed a tear for him, knowing that her plans were always going to end like this. There was nothing to be done. He would be thrown out and die not long after. His short life would end without even knowing what happened after whatever trauma caused him to be like this.

The girl kneeled beside him and pet his hair. "I'm sorry. I tried my best."

He let out a deep breath, almost as if he was replying to her apology and saying it's alright. Her tears fell into her lap as she whispered apologies to the young boy.

He coughed lightly in his sleep and moaned at the pain in his chest. His sudden noises and movement gave her hope that he might be fine without her. But the damage was done, and there was no way to fix it on her own.

Silvia stood and walked across the hall to fetch a rag from the bathroom. She soaked it in cool water and squeezed the cloth over the sink. Once back by his side, she ran the cold cloth over his face to cool him down and clean his face. He grumbled in his sleep again and squeezed his eyes shut tighter. He's in pain, she thought while staring at his burned cheek. Gentle touches caressed his face; almost soft enough to tickle him.

He stirred in his sleep but she didn't stop. Her small hands pushed aside Arthur's hair to reveal the side of his face that was burned up to his temple. Her fingers grazed over the burned skin that bled in some places. "What happened to you? What did we do?"

As she continued cleaning his wounds, he squeezed his eyes shut even tighter. Her hand instinctively drew back. Arthur's black eyelashes fluttered open revealing deep blue eyes filled with confusion and fear.