Numbered

Chapter 11 - Losses

Zeke let out a groan as he picked himself up off the floor for the third time that morning. He could not go to sleep last night because he had been assigned to keeping an eye on his friends. Jake had suffered nothing more than a puncture wound, as Zeke had suspected, but his body went into shock when they reached the hospital. The doctors managed to restore his normal body conditions, but they were unsure if it might go into shock again. Angelica, on the other hand, suffered a mild concussion with the possibility of slipping into a coma. Naturally, he had to invent ways to keep her awake; the more startling the better. Although, a few of them he regretted as soon as he had done them.

It was one thing to simply say boo while shaking the person a little violently. It was an entirely different matter to creep out from under the bed and scream. As a consequence, he received a sharp blow to the stomach and a whack over the head with a metal object. On the bright side, she remained awake for a couple hours and it was a good laugh. The other not so brilliant idea almost cost him his manhood. It seemed like an innocent practical joke at the time, but given her state, he should have thought better of it. Angelica had just started to doze off, so she was not paying attention to anything. All he did was strip off his shirt and crawled into her bed. She still had not noticed until he laid his head next to hers. Her eyes snapped open and darted to the corners, intent on determining who was intruding. Upon seeing Zeke, she screamed at the top of her lungs. Quick as a flash, she flipped around and kneed him in the groin, followed by tossing him out of the bed. He remained on the ground, groaning in agony as his stomach twisted and turned from the pain. After that, he simply resorted to shaking her whenever she started to go to sleep.

It was about mid-morning when a doctor entered the room. He stood in the doorway for a few minutes, looking from the patient files to them repeatedly. He finally set to work performing routine examinations one would receive at an annual check-up. He was finished within minutes and left without a word, only to be replaced with another doctor. This one focused specifically on Angelica, the obvious worry being the possibility of a coma. It took only five minutes for the doctor to declare she was safely out of the woods. This one left and was replaced by a third doctor. Zeke tipped his head to one side, wondering why the hell they needed so many doctors. Wasn't one capable of examining them all? This third doctor performed a complete examination of Jake, and, thankfully, ruled him off as a good bill of health. This doctor left and stopped right outside the door, nodding to someone else standing out there. Jake's and Zeke's mouths dropped open when the general and the two soldiers from last night walked in.

"Good morning kids," the general greeted warmly. "Did we all have a nice evening?"

"It could have been better," Angelica replied evenly before raising her voice. "If someone wasn't trying to stick it to me."

"I told you it was a harmless joke," Zeke countered. "Besides, my pants were on."

"I don't care. Just the mere gesture is appalling."

"Well sorry from trying to prevent you from slipping into a coma, your highness."

"There are other means."

"Kids," the general shouted. "That's enough. We did not come here to listen to you argue. What we want to know is about the airplane accident from yesterday. But first, I'm sure you all are starving."

The general clapped his hands twice, ushering the appearance of two nurses, each carrying three plates of food. Their breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, and waffles. The military personnel, on the other hand, were eating some sort of meat with a white-colored goop. Just looking at it made Zeke want to hurl. He would never, nor did he want to, understand how and why they ate that shit? Ignoring the urge to make a disgusted face, he ate his much more appealing breakfast. The waffles were buttermilk with just a hint of cocoa and cinnamon. The eggs were extra cheesy and the bacon seemed nice and chewy. His father hated it that way, so his mother always cooked it until it was crunchy. Just thinking about them, Zeke pushed the bacon off to the side. He had always eaten it with them as part of the Sunday morning breakfast. Eating it without them did not feel right and he was not going to start now.