AFFLICTION.

Chapter 17

I ran back to my quarters in a sprint. I was too restless to sleep; all my mind could focus on was Harry. His body against mine. His hand on my braid. His dimples. His lips. His eyes.

The next morning, I woke up to Esma shaking me gently.

"Lianna, wake up girl." She whispered, arms folded across the edge of my bed, legs resting on the ladder.

I jolted up from my sleeping position, startled by her sudden appearance. I looked around the room to see empty bunks. Shit. Everyone was already at the hospital.

"What time is it?" I asked in a panic, jumping down from my bunk and running to the bathroom to scrub my face and teeth.

"Time to get a move on." Esma laughed. "I'll meet you at the hospital." She called from the bedroom.

I quickly styled my hair in its usual braid, dressed in my uniform and scoffed down a banana to settle my stomachs grumbling. By the time, I got to the hospital it was 8 am. I didn't see Esma till lunch as we worked in separate hospital wings. The day was slow and tedious. Not many injuries were treated, except for a few broken noses and sprained limbs.

"I wish you would just let me bleach your hair blonde!" Daisy pleaded, running her hand across my braid. Daisy and I were placed in the same hospital wing, meaning we treated the sick and wounded as a pair. Being around her so often was beginning to become frustrating and tiresome.

I shrugged her off and shook my head. "I like my hair the way it is," I replied, softly smiling.

After four o'clock the hospital wing was empty with no patients to treat or care for. One of the nurses in my hospital wing whose name was Valerie asked me to play a game of cards. I happily obliged. Valerie was short, plump and had brown skin, she had round eyes that conveyed everything she felt and had ringlet like hair. We played for an hour which served as a useful way to entertain ourselves. 

"Ha! I win again." Valerie cheered winning for the fourth time.

"You're too good." I smiled at her, clasping my hands together.

I shuffled the cards in my hand, too occupied by what I was doing to notice Valerie's eyes widen with surprise.

"Who is that soldier?" She stood up, her eyes wide with delight. I chuckled at her enthusiasm and turned my head to see Harry approaching.

"He's coming this way," Valerie said loudly, sitting back down in her chair.

"Harry." I got up, to greet him. "What are you doing here?" I asked with surprise.

"I had a thirty-minute break." He grinned and nodded his head towards a wide-eyed Valerie.

My heart leaped at the mere sight of him. I smiled shyly and played with the end of my braid, extremely flattered that Harry had come to see me. "Oh, this is Valerie." I turned around and he shook her hand.

We stood in silence for a few moments. "Do you want to play with us?" I asked, a hint of excitement laced in my voice.

"Depends," He smirked. "What are you playing?"

"Gin rummy!" Replied Valerie.

Harry pulled up a chair and we began to play. This time Harry won and Valerie huffed in defeat.

"Okay, it's official, I'm terrible at cards!" I admitted to Harry. "I haven't won a game all afternoon."

He laughed and pressed his arm into mine.

"I had a really nice time last night." He whispered eyes fixated on mine. I sucked in a shaky breath a grinned.

"Harry!" A voice squealed from behind and Daisy began to approach our small table.