I waited on that beach for three days and watched Fergus and Zayn pile onto an SS ship. Ten minutes later I watched that same ship explode and sink to the bottom of the ocean floor, along with all the men in it.
I assumed both Zayn and Fergus had drowned.
I didn't cry but I shook and trembled.
"Are you alright Miss?" A man in a uniform approached me.
I didn't reply.
I couldn't reply.
"Miss?" He brought his hand up to rest on my shoulder but I gently shrugged it away.
I then shut my eyes and lay my head on the sand.
"Leave her, she looks like she could be a little crazy." I heard another voice mutter.
"I'm not crazy!" I opened my eyes and screamed but the soldiers had already left.
I refused to believe that the love of my life was no longer alive and just a bag of bones. I refused to believe Harry was dead until I saw his limp and lifeless body with my own eyes.
I slept and cried on Dunkirk beach until the last boat came and I was forced to evacuate.
The ride back to England was long and tedious. The boat was small and crowded, no one said a word except for the captain.
"You're safe now." He grinned. "We're going home."
Home? I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to go back there and live a life without Harry or Esma.
When I stepped off the boat and onto land, I collapsed and woke up two days later. My eyes flickered open but I instantly shut them at the piercing brightness of the light. After several minutes of re-adjusting them, I scanned the room. I was in a hospital. The area was small, clean, white and crowded. The bedsheets were stiff and starched and the curtains were blue and long, several other beds sat beside me.
"You're awake, finally." A nurse cheered, walking towards me.
"Whe-" I croaked, cleared my throat and said. "Where am I?"
"London city hospital." She replied.
"No." I whimpered.
"You're dehydrated and malnourished." The nurse flicked the fluid bag to my right, I then noticed the catheter sitting in my arm.
"No." I whimpered again.
"When's the last time you ate or drank anything?" She asked but I just shook my head.
"I can't remember," I mumbled. I felt too sick to eat at Dunkirk beach, my stomach churned and curled whenever I thought of Harry, I couldn't bring myself to even think about food.
The nurse took a step back and began to walk away.
"Wait!" I called out. "Tell me, are their evacuees still coming in from Dunkirk." My brows furrowed as I searched the nurse's eyes for hope, for courage, for anything.
"All the boats have stopped. There's no more evacuation at Dunkirk beach." She sighed and left.
A wave of sadness swept through me, enveloping my whole entire body, leaving me with nothing but an aching pain of complete and utter grief.
I choked back a sob and gritted my teeth together.
A single tear fell down my cheek and onto the white sheets. My body remained calm compared to how crazy my mind felt.
He was gone.
They were all gone.
Harry.
Esma.
YOU ARE READING
AFFLICTION.
Romance'The most deadly and violent war in human history. Soldiers believed they were running towards their enemy when truly, they were running into the open arms of death. ' British/French combat nurse Lianna Beauchamp is thrown into a difficult situation...
