Remedy

04

The grounds of which all the regimented practising was to take part on were huge. Alice and Dot looked at each other with wide eyes before looking over the grounds. There was already men running through gunfire practises, and then there were others marching in time and not a step was out of synch.

"This all seems so surreal now." Alice said slowly and quietly so no one else would hear her. Peering out from the window beside her, Dot sat quietly yet slowly nodded agreeing with her. Before they had left both of them had received strict instructions from Margaret of what to do and what not to do when they all arrived.

A big what not to do according to Margaret was to interfere with the routines which were getting practised out on the grounds. At this Alice and Dot had exchanged a look and nodded simply. Dot didn't quite know how she was not meant to socialise with one of the uniformed men when they were related. Even more so considering she knew two more.

"Stop daydreaming girl and come on!" Margaret exclaimed at her, jumping out of the vehicle Dot landed on the slightly wet grass and looked at the mud which now caked her boots.

"How long are we going to be here for?"

"It's too late for you to turn back now." Margaret answered, Dot frowned and readjusted the grip on her case. Sensing the silence Margaret looked at the dark haired woman. "I am not sure." Dot nodded content with this answer.

In her mind she imagined being shipped out no sooner had they arrived. She then realised that that idea made her feel sick to her stomach. There were times in the journey over where she thought she was going to be sick. It was at the odd times when being on her own that Dot had time to dwell over her thoughts. She didn't quite like where her thoughts led her to.

Pushing some of her hair behind her ears Dot followed suit after Alice, all the while half listening to Margaret telling them to be prepared for possible injuries.

"How many do you think will fall off their horses in the first five minutes?" Alice asked while a childish smile appeared on her face.

"Oh, the faith you have in them." Dot shook her head and laughed lightly. Looking up, her green eyes scanned up and down the corridors of the building they had all walked into. The ceilings were high and there were portraits and other paintings adorning the walls. Dot's eyes briefly flicked over them before walking quickly into an unused annex.

"This shall be your temporary home. Don't get too comfortable because no sooner do you, we will most likely have to leave." Margaret said in her ever blunt tone, Alice and Dot yet again looked at each other and sat down on their temporary beds.

"I suppose we should get ready." Dot said while flinging her case from the floor and onto her bed next to her. The other nurses did the same and routed through their belongings to find their uniforms.

Much like everyone's, Dot's uniform was a light blue dress with long sleeves, the skirt of the dress itself stopped just above her ankles. Both the sleeves and the collar had white facings on them. Pulling the cloth which tied around her hair, Dot pulled a face. It was uncomfortable to wear, out of her uniform this was the part she hated the most.

----

Ten was the answer to Alice's earlier question. Ten men fell off their horses and another five injured themselves while trying to achieve and accomplish target practise.

Pinching the bridge of her nose Dot jumped when a voice spoke next to her. "You look troubled." Looking up at James she smiled lightly and shook her head. "You are also a rather bad liar." He deemed, frowning gently at her as a soft smile appeared on his face. He looked a little unrested too, she hadn't properly settled in here and it seemed she wasn't alone. The man beside her looked troubled over something, she just didn't know what.

"I think I deserve to have a moment, Captain. After all I've had to deal with ten of your men tumbling off of their horses and hurting themselves in numerous ways." Dot said in a matter of fact tone. Yet again much like their earlier meeting, her words were meant to be serious, but the small smile on her lips completely contradicted them. "Wait, what are you doing here, should you not be alongside them?" Dot questioned simply while nodding her head towards the numerous men trying to train their horses to become fit for the fighting which would come later on.

"Dorothy, are we looking at the same field?" James questioned while looking at her quickly and then at the field in front of them. "It is utter chaos out there." He stated, a wry smile on his face and his eyes slightly lit with humour. Everyone was trying their hardest, he could not take that away from them. But it was manic.

"So?" Dot just replied, looking a bit confused.

Rolling his blue eyes, James looked back at her. "I'll train Joey in peace."

"You're scared of getting trampled on if you fall off aren't you?" A smirk slowly spread across her lips as she leaned a little closer and rocked on her heels. She eyed him suspiciously, smirk still in place, as if that would throw him off.

"No." Came the simple response which she sighed over.

"It's all right, Captain. Your secret is safe with me." Dot nodded certainly and smiled widely. James just simply shook his head yet smiled lightly at her joking tone. "You are right though." Dot said while looking up at him quickly. "It certainly is chaotic isn't it?" Her voice had lost the joking tone, a quiet seriousness now lingering as she flicked her eyes from the scene before them, to him again.

"Everyone has to start somewhere. Give them time, they'll soon get the hang of it."

"Give them time," Dot repeated thoughtfully and crossed her arms over her white apron. "There isn't much time though really is there?" He looked at her thoughtfully and couldn't retort to her words because she had got called over to attend to someone who had a very ungraceful fall from their horse.

Despite having an apparent fear of the animal, Dot seemed to conquer it for the sake of helping the man. James watched from a distance as she and a blonde haired nurse talked to each other in a relaxed manner and took to examining the man. But, despite of this, he couldn't help but dwell over the fact that her words were prophetic and very true. They didn't have much time. Just how much time they had, even he didn't know. But the time spent here would go quickly, like sand slipping through his fingers.

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(Edited: 29/August/2019)