The Girl Who Fell Out of the Ocean (The Ghostly Saga Book 1) -Editing

The Disillusion of War Part 40

Author Note:This is a first draft and is yet to be edited.

Since May's turbulent arrival at Charlie's cottage it had stopped feeling like his own house but more like a prison. He was lucky he supposed that it was only May and February that were here he could be surrounded by all nine of his brothers and sisters.

Charlie mused at the thought, it had been so long since they had all been together, it wasn't right that the responsibility to take care of his younger siblings had fallen on May's small shoulders and it was one of his biggest regrets.

But with his mother and older sister June dead and February and Charlie both going to medical school and then Charlie's marriage to Alice they had sort of left May to just get on with it. Both February and Charlie knew they had trapped her into mothering their younger siblings and he was sure it was partly the reason why May was so prickly with him now.

The other reason was that was just May, a prickly little porcupine. Charlie sighed at all he had left behind and a familiar tug on his heart strings resurfaced the same one that would wake him in the dead of night when he was married to Alice the same one that troubled him still.

It wasn't just that he felt guilty for leaving May to raise eight children it was that he felt sad, sad that he was missing their lives, sad that he wasn't part of it, whatever it was. 

His youngest brother August had Skyped him when he lost his first tooth and that familiar pang had it him again, February wasn't like him, it was all out of sight out of mind with Feb, which worked for February but didn't work so well for Charlie.

Charlie strode into the kitchen trying to look like he had any kind of grasp of what was going on, May wasn't stupid, she knew when he had his chin in the air like that it was all bullshit. Charlie sat down pretending the whole fully clothed shower insistent hadn't happened.

"Look March," she started not waiting for an invitation or any kind of hint that it was okay to go ahead and talk.

Charlie's eyes shot up and met hers.

"From what Feb's been telling me you've been behaving like a fucking lunatic,"

February shrugged his shoulders and tried to play the innocent.

"Traitor," said Charlie shooting is brother a wicked glare.

May slammed her hand down on the kitchen table letting her brothers know she was both judge and jury right now.

"Besides," she said slowly guilt spreading over her face.

"Besides what May?"

Charlie sat up, his eye brows were raised he knew something was coming, there was always something coming when May was involved.

"Okay, so Feb told me what he knew about you and that red head and what he knew wasn't much if I'm honest," she said glaring again in February's direction.

Charlie went to talk and May put her hand in front of his face stopping him from speaking.

"When I say look after your grieving brother," she started to February.

"I bloody mean it okay?"

February looked guilty "noted," he said.

May just nodded.

"Besides..." May started again.

"I may have done some digging of my own, I mean really March the girl thinks she's a reincarnated aristocrat, what the bloody hell were you thinking going off with her like that?"

Charlie's mouth gaped open like a goldfish and he just gawked at May, how did she always know everything?

"See May," said February nudging his younger sister.

"I told you he had gone nuts."

Field Hospital- France – Late October- 1915

The wounded men from Jimmy's regiment had been seen by the doctors, Will included although, I think Will had avoided seeing Jimmy seeing as their last meeting hadn't been all that pleasant.

The soldiers were resting; it had been deemed by all those who met them that they were a group of very fortunate men. All with non-deadly wounds and all needed no more than to be patched up, bandaged, fed, watered and a good night's rest. Meaning the following morning the soldiers, Jimmy included would all be given a medical to check they were still fit for service and then would be sent back to the front.

I hadn't left Jimmy's side since he had been brought to the field hospital, he had a badly bruised arm and had taken a knock to the head but other than that was okay.

From the moment he had arrived I hadn't taken my eyes off him I had treated his arm and head myself and now he was tightly bound and sleeping, there was nothing more I could do except to wait for him to open his eyes.

At some point due in the night I laid on the bed with him, unable to leave him, at first I convinced myself it was just to make sure he was okay but as the night went on I found I couldn't leave him at all and so I didn't and it was morning when I woke at my brothers side with his face smiling down at me.

"I thought I'd let you sleep," Jimmy said.

I sat up letting the new day hit, I beamed up at him, "You're the patient unless you've forgotten," I said.

Jimmy smiled at me and for the first time since he arrived I looked at him and I mean really looked at him, he was so much thinner and pale with deep dark rings beneath his dark eyes. 

The light seemed to be dimming in eyes and there was something dancing at the back of them, a mixture a sorrow and knowing I thought. I grabbed onto his arm and looked deep into my brother's eyes for the first time, "Jim, you know you can tell me anything," I said.

The smile disappeared from Jimmy's face and I knew in that moment he had painted it there just for me. 

"I can't Doll, not this," he slid back into the bed as if he could disappear under the sheets and hide from the world, like there was a giant blanket keeping him safe from what was coming next.

"Look at me Jimmy," I said shaking his shoulders a little, it was only then I realised that his eyes were filled with tears.

"I have seen so much," he said a gentle sob in his voice.

I pushed his ashy hair away from his eyes trying to comfort him, but how could I ever comfort him? How could I ever understand the horrors that he had seen? 

I had seen the mangled men's bodies come to the hospital from the field, I had seen the result of war but not the war it's self. 

Jimmy had seen those horrors he had been so close to them I was watching his eyes burn from the sight of it all. I had followed my brother to war so I could be as close as I could be to him, to help him if I could but I would never understand, this was the one thing we could not share.

"I have watched my friends die Doll,"

The tears continued to fall from his eyes.

"Killed men, boys, oh God," he cried.

I took my brother in my arms and held him and let him cry, I knew he was trying to wash away all that he had seen. 

I rocked him back and forth until he was asleep once more, what had this war done to my bright and shining brother, the beautiful young man who wanted nothing more than to be a priest?

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