Ups! Gambar ini tidak mengikuti Pedoman Konten kami. Untuk melanjutkan publikasi, hapuslah gambar ini atau unggah gambar lain.
Not long after all the parachutes had dropped with the long needed supplies, the jeeps filled with soldiers were entering the small town of Bastogne. The medics that were pointed to a battalion, ran in front of the group and descended as first down the stairs. There they would meet with Riley, who handed out the boxes and checked off everything that was given away on her paper. She didn't know many of the men in the church, but recognized the familiar face of Eugene immediately.
"Here, I kept this one for you." She placed the crate on top the one he was already holding and as Eugene was crawling through the supplies, he found three chocolate bars hidden underneath the packages of morphine.
"It's to share with everyone," Riley whispered to him. The medic wanted to thank her with a short hug or just a simple word, but his attention got abruptly interrupted by men screaming for help. Riley nodded at Eugene, telling him with her movements that he could go to help and that she would look out for the boxes he was carrying. He was much more skilled for aiding the wounded soldier, Renee and Anna needed him more than they needed her.
"Do you know what's going on?"
"Don't worry about it, Irene. Eugene is with them."
"You sure that they'll be alright?"
"I'm never sure but I know that he's great at his job."
Irene smiled up at Riley, took her between her arms and together they walked away from the busy space. There was no reason for them to be there and since both of them hadn't had a break in a couple of days, Irene believed that it might be better for them to go outside and catch a breath. So, she took Riley's cold hands and together they went up the stairs and through the large door.
There were bodies piled up around the parked cars, the bombing off lines were heard in the close distance. The sky was as grey as how everyone felt inside, the sun was in too much pain to show its beautiful rays. Mother Earth was mourning the loss of her woods, of her people. She was morning with the hearts of the grieving soldiers. Riley always saw nature as a person, a graceful, happy person who danced in the fields and climbed up the trees. Every place that nature set its feet, that's were rivers would stream or flowers would bloom. But now, Riley couldn't even imagine Nature to be happy. It was sad, just like everyone else.
The young girl rested her head on Irene's shoulder and sighed loudly. Her hands were fidgeting in the pockets of her jackets, playing with the engraved lids of her tin boxes. Her mind was screaming again, desperate for it to be shut up by the medicine inside the pills that would calm it down. The nails of her fingers scratched over the opening of the box, but didn't dare to open it and take whatever was sitting inside. Irene would wonder too much, Riley would have to lie again and she wasn't comfortable with doing that.
"I'm scared."
"You would be stupid not to be."
Irene repositioned the braid on the back of Riley's head. She took it out, brushed through her long brown locks and instead made a lose bun that suited her face so much more. Irene understood the importance of feeling better in this war and she thought that making someone feel more beautiful could help with their inside struggles.
"Come on, Riles. Don't lose hope just yet," she started, still busy with the hairstyle she was creating. "It will be sooner over than you think. And when it does, then you can live your life just how you want it to be.. No more dying soldier whispering their last words to you. No more of the wounded soldier being one of your friends. Home is great and I miss it too, but we first have to fight, win and then we can return."
"But why do we always have to fight for that? Why do we have to kill for peace? I'm so tired of losing people, of always having to say goodbye to someone, 'cus we never know if they're coming back. My friends are death, I can't handle someone else that I care about dying as well." And with that being said, finally off Riley's shoulders, she stood up from the chair and parted away from Irene. She needed to be alone, the nurse knew that and allowed it. Irene stayed where she sat and took out a bar of chocolate out of her apron, melting the sweet away on her tongue.
Eugene bumped into Riley while he was making his way back towards Easy's jeep. The loud scattering noise of a tin box falling on the marble floor and many pills rolling out their compartment echoed through the large and old building. He noticed the soft whimper coming from Riley's mouth as she fell down on her knees and tried her best to pick the medicine up and place them back where they belonged. But her shaking hands were unable to be so precise, as she kept on grabbing right next to it or lose it from between her fingers. So, Eugene stopped her and picked them up himself, more effectively and much faster. He closed the lid again and put it in the pocket of the jacket she was wearing.
"Riley, what are those?"
"Nothing special, Gene."
"You wouldn't carry it with you everywhere you go if it wasn't special."
Riley couldn't force herself to look up from her hands who were resting on her lap. She didn't want to look in his eyes and say things she would later regret. She didn't want to admit anything to him, to herself. For so long, she had been relying on those pills, but Riley convinced herself that whenever the worst would be over, she would stop. But the worst never went by and she was now locked inside a cage made by the same material as the boxes in her possession.
"I've seen you taking them before, Riley. I just need to know why." Eugene placed his hand on her shoulder, but kept a good amount of distance between him and her broken posture. Space where in she was free to breath, free to think.
"They're Barbiturates, Gene."
"Sleeping pills?"
"I know, it's ridiculous. But, I use them to concentrate. I have such a loud, strong and aggressive mind. It always shows me the worst things, memories or what could be the future. It screams every single thing that makes me scared, sometimes it feels like it wants to kill me from the inside out. The only way to stop my mind is by bringing it in a sleepy state, just enough so that I can do my work as a medic or a strategist. Just enough so that I can be a normal human," her whispers were so silent, so breakable. They were held back by Riley, she fears them. Just like she fears her mind, which Eugene really understood that she did. The small puzzle pieces he had collected in his memory, finally fell in place. Riley's shaking body, her constant lip chewing or picking her skin with her nails, her bad habit to pull her hair when she's stressed out. They all where a sign of her having almost no control over herself, except for when she took her large dose of pills and let them take the control.
