The Fire Within a Ninjago Soldier

Chapter 54 - Conversations

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hi! I wish to offer a bit of explanation regarding the chapter below. It's made up of a series of conversations between various characters, starting where Chapter 46 left off with Sam getting shot, and ending in mid-February, when the Third Division of the Purple Army has just been told to leave its winter camp at Garmadon Ranch and prepare for battle with the United States...

Chapter 54 - Conversations

Monday, January 2nd, 2:30 in the morning...

Sam's eyes fluttered open as she became conscious of throbbing pain in her leg.

The first thing that registered in her foggy mind was the window in her line of sight. Though it was covered with frost, it revealed the darkness of nighttime.

Flickering flames from the fireplace told her she was lying in her bed in her cottage, and the bed had been moved to the parlor room to take advantage of the warmth of the hearth. This was a furniture arrangement she and Kai had temporarily made during the cold months of last winter, so it felt familiar to her.

What was unfamiliar was the thin balding man with wire rimmed glasses, bustling about in rolled-up shirt sleeves. He was rummaging through a black bag which sat open on the small table a few feet away.

In her semi-daze, she watched the man for several seconds before she got a whiff of a chemical scent which reminded her of Doc Julien. Is this man a doctor, too?

A sudden wind gust from the cold blue norther blowing outside suddenly rattled the window glass. It sounded like a gunshot.

Gunshot!

Her last memories came flooding back to her.

The struggle with General Chen...the loud pop of the gun...the searing pain in her leg...

She moaned at the recall of the agony.

At her outcry, the man stopped what he was doing and strode to her bedside.

"Good evening, miss. I see you are awake," he greeted her without cracking a smile. He began to check her pulse. "I am Dr. Mills, a physician with the Second Battalion," he stated, introducing himself in a businesslike tone.

Gesturing toward the other side of Sam, he continued. "This is Nurse Evans, also with the Second."

Sam had not realized there was a third person in the room. She drowsily turned her head to look in the direction indicated by Dr. Mills. An older woman, wearing a nurse uniform with her graying hair severely pulled back in a bun, stood next to the bed, drawn to that spot by Sam's moan.

The physician grasped his stethoscope from around his neck and listened to her chest in silence before placing it in his black bag. Then he began to untie his bloody surgical apron from around his waist. It dawned on Sam that the blood was hers.

Dr. Mills noticed that she was staring at the apron. "I am happy to report that your gunshot wound was not life threatening, but you will need a few weeks of recuperation."

So the gunshot wound was not life threatening...to me. Fear suddenly gripped Sam's heart. Had the shooting caused her baby to be injured...or worse? Did the doctor even know she was carrying a child? "Wh-what about my baby?" she managed to croak, despite her extremely parched throat. She tensed up, awaiting his answer.

"Rest assured, your baby is fine as well," the physician responded as he began to roll down his left shirt sleeve. "Major Clouse alerted Nurse Evans and myself that you are carrying his child."