I am beyond exhausted. Evelyn and I have had our work cut out for us. It was our turn to check inventory at the hospital. We had already been at this for five hours. By now we were both only runnin' on the little energy we had left from our last cup of coffee.
"Alright, Eve. Can we please have another coffee break?" I whine. She just gives me a stern look.
"Come on, Carol. We are so close to finishing. All we have left are the vaccines." She counters. I groan as I collapse on one of the many unused patients' beds.
"You're killin' me, Eve," I mutter. Suddenly we both hear footsteps. I shoot up into a sitting position and look in the direction the sound of the footsteps are coming from. A man stepped into the ward wearing a naval uniform. His dark skin glowed against the pale light of the ward. I could clearly see the large cut above his eyebrow.
"Excuse me, ma'ams. Um, would it be too much trouble of one of you were to stitch me up?" He asked hesitantly.
"Of course not." Evelyn smiles. I stood up and looked at Evelyn.
"I'll do it. It beats doin' inventory." I muttered. Evelyn gives me a dirty look before going back to writing on her spreadsheet. I turn back towards the man and smile.
"Come with me," I instruct. I lead him to a small patient table where I begin to stitch him up. I must admit, I was rather curious about how he got the small head wound.
"How did you cut yourself?" I question.
"Boxing, ma'am." He responds.
"Boxing? Why were you fighting?" I ask.
"For respect, ma'am." He informs.
"Respect? That's it? No reward?" I asked surprised.
"Um, no ma'am. Respect is the reward. If I win the match, everyone doesn't see me as a degenerate. Instead, I am an equal, ma'am." He explains.
"Well, I still don't understand why you would think you're a degenerate. You appear to me to be a respectful young soldier who is brave enough to serve his country." I comment a matter of factly.
"Pardon me, ma'am, but I believe the rest of the country would disagree. I have been serving for 3 years now and I haven't been able to even pick up a weapon, better yet shoot one. Instead, I am pushed aside to cook and clean for the other soldiers." He rants. I pause. I am unsure of what to say. I always knew America's black population was always treated differently. Yet, my daddy always taught me to never treat another human being a way that I wouldn't wanna be treated. It makes me sad to see that a lot of other people don't have that same philosophy.
"I am sorry. I hope one-day people will see that they are wrong and fix this then." I sympathize. I finish stitching the cut closed and place a cloth bandage over the stitches.
"There ya go. Good as new." I exclaim.
"Thank you, ma'am." He says with a smile as he turns to leave. He is already outside before I see he has forgotten his sailor's hat. I pick it up and run after him. I throw open the heavy hospital doors, revealing the bright sunny day. The young man hasn't walked very far when I finally catch up to him.
"Excuse me, but you forgot this," I say, grabbing his attention.
"Thank you once again, ma'am. You've saved me twice today." He mumbles.
"That's my job," I respond. As he walks away again, I see a car slowly pull up to the far side of the street before it stops completely. I tilt my head in curiosity. I then see Danny step out in his full official uniform. That's odd. Our date isn't for a couple more hours.
"Hey, Carol!?! Where are you?" Evelyn called from inside. She is opening the doors and walking out on to the small white porch before I can even respond. Danny then removes his hat as his eyes find Evelyn.
"Danny?" I ask as I begin to approach him. I can see tears forming in his eyes, but he must be fighting to not let them fall.
"Danny, what's wrong?" I ask once again. He still doesn't respond. Evelyn is now standing beside me.
"I think I know." Evelyn chokes out. I turn towards her and I can see tears streaming down her face as she silently begins to sob. Danny goes to comfort her as I am still processing the unspoken news. I expect the tears to come, but they never do. Instead, I begin to feel all the air get sucked out of my lungs. I can't breathe. I can't think. I am having a panic attack. The last time I had a panic attack was over 2 years ago when my father passed away. The grief was too much for me. Growing up I would occasionally get them when something big happened. As I begin to hyperventilate, Danny looks at me with wide eyes that were filled with concern, alarm, and worry. I quickly turn away from his gaze. My mind was scattered and I wasn't thinking rationally. So, naturally, I did the only thing I could do. The only thing I always have done when everything was too much for me. I ran.
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A/N
HEYOOOO! IM BACK BITTIES. So yes I know this was a very short and unexciting chapter but I can assure you next chapter will be a little better. I think I have already come up with the ending of this book btw. Y'all are gonna hate me so much, but love me at the same time. Alrighty please vote and comment!!!! Love y'all and thanks for reading!!!!!
