Blood Lies

Chapter Six - Moving To New Heights (unedited)

~~~Méndez~~~

"Lieutenant Mendez" The Doctor greets as he appears at my bedside, clipboard in hand. I don't reply and just stare at the ceiling complacently. The doctor sighs but doesn't go away. Why won't he just go away?

"Lucas look at me" He commands, referring to me by my first name, something I'm not used to hearing here in the military. I've not heard my first name in God knows how long...This takes me aback and I give in, turning to look the man in the eyes.

"What?" I ask, a hint of annoyance in my voice. The man's eyes narrow at the aggressiveness.

"I have spoken to your Captain and we both agree that you are ready to go back on active service. The wounds to your back were not severe but you will have to go easy on that leg, be careful not to pull out the stitches"

I say nothing.  I know I'm not ready to go back on active service but I understand the urgency of moving me on. Our army is becoming low on soldiers to fill the ranks and our government is becoming uneasy.

"Do you understand Lieutenant?" The doctor pipes up again.

I ignore him.

"My platoon is dead...and...and" I stumble over the last words and take in a gulp of air, suddenly feeling short of breath. I look down, not bearing to look the doctor in the eye once more. A fresh wave of guilt hitting me. The doctor sees my eyes darken at this sentence and a look of revived worriedness seeps into his facial expression. He looks down uncertainly at my medical notes, no doubt looking at my psychiatric reports. His frown deepens but says nothing, instead turning to face me once more.

"You will be assigned to a new platoon accordingly but you will demoted to Second Lieutenant pending your injuries, until further notice. For the moment you are to stay here to rest in bed until someone comes to speak to you about your debriefing".

I sigh, of course this would happen, what did I expect? I'm a liability walking around wounded.

"Wonderful" I reply.

The doctor decides not to reply to the sarcasm and blissfully leaves, knowing better than to test me.

Once he leaves I haul myself up into sitting position and stiffly swing my legs round to the side of the bed, my feet touching the cool white tiles of the military hospital ward floor. I sit on the edge of the bed and stare down at the floor in a daze, trying to compose myself. I haven't tried walking by myself in god knows how long I have been stuck in this goddamn hospital bed. I scowl at myself, I need to stop being a whiny little perra and get my shit together. I push my upper body off the bed and stand a little shakily to my feet, the sudden rush of standing up after so long causing a brief dizziness. I stumble towards the bathroom that adjoins my room and lock the door behind me. I lean over the sink and run my hands through my short black hair, taking in deep breaths. The journey from the bed had been more difficult than I had anticipated. I hit the side of the sink with my right hand in frustration, gritting my teeth. How do they expect me to go back out there killing those bastards in this state? I look up at myself in the bathroom mirror and see my reflection looking back at me with tired, dark ringed eyes. I seem to have lost a reasonably significant amount of weight since the explosion and I certainly don't look healthy and fit for service.

I turn on the taps of the sink and scoop up water to splash into my face. The water is refreshing but I know better than to trust the water enough to drink it. With a sigh I make the decision to defy the estúpido doctor's words and go off in search of some more suitable clothing so I can speak to the captain about my debriefing myself. Who needs to stay stuck in a hospital bed anyway? So much for being careful.