Paradise Lost

Chapter 4

Heyy sorry that I have been quiet when it comes to writing stories lately. I got super busy with work, so I decided to take some time off to get through until the summer break.. Now I am back!!

15th of January 1917 – Private Jorel's Point of view

I wake up to Dylan shaking my shoulder. I guess it is now time to get up and go for breakfast. I look to my left and I notice that Danny is lying on his side curled up like a little hedgehog and is fast asleep. Danny always sleeps like this where possible as I think it's his defence mechanism. "I will wake Danny up in a second. Just let me put my boots on," I tell Dylan. I know Dylan was looking from me to Danny and back again. "Okay Jay, we haven't been able to wake him up yet, so we are a little nervous," Dylan tells me. Danny is quite a jumpy person after everything that has happened to him, so he is going to trust me a little more than he will trust the others. "Yeah, he can be a deep sleeper at times. He'll be okay," I tell him.

I know his recent injuries have made everyone, including me more worried about him than we usually would be. I know he will recover from his injuries after a week or two. I notice that as I go to wake Danny up he has a little bit of a fever. To me though it is not unusual for Danny to have a fever when he first wakes up and after a beating. "Danny, wake up bud. We have to go to breakfast," I tell Danny, who slowly opens his eyes. There is a small amount of panic, but when he sees me he calms down instantly which is good. "Morning Jay," he tells me, and he gives me a small smile. I am glad that Danny seems to be happy now. He's going to thrive here I am sure of it. I am going to see a new side of Danny here.

"Good morning, how do you feel this morning Danny?" I ask my best friend. I help him sit up in bed, so I could help him put his boots on. I don't want him to get light-headed again like he did last night. "A little rough if I am being honest with you, but I should be okay in a little while," he tells me. I hugged him tightly. He looked like he was white as a sheet if I was being honest. I don't think he is okay, but he is going to be resting all day, so there isn't much else he can do really in terms of helping himself along in his recovery. "Okay Danny, I don't know if an officer will come and check on you, but I will when I have free time," I tell him. I want to keep up the feeling and confidence Danny is getting by being here and away from his father.

I have a feeling that Danny will not be able to make it through today without an incident happening. He looks so unwell at the moment I am a little more worried than I was before he woke up. "Hey Jorel, are you going to walk with me to breakfast?" Danny asks me, as he pulls his jacket around himself to keep warm since he had two blankets around himself last night. It might also be why he could be feverish as he's not really used to sleeping with two blankets. "Of course I will dude, I will even help you walk over there if you want," I tell him. Danny felt less anxious now I have said that I will help him out a little bit. The others have already left. They left for breakfast when I was helping Danny put his boots on. I decide that it is time for Danny I to leave for breakfast so that we are not going to end up being late and getting in trouble on our first day.

I know that since it is our first day the camp the officers are going to be more lenient with us. Especially after what happened to Danny which the officers are a little bit aware of. We don't want to get into a bad habit so soon. I was surprised Rigo wasn't hanging around to make sure his baby brother is okay. Then again, he has the officer duties that none of us Privates have, so he has to do those before he gets to spend time with his brother. He's got to be briefed on what he is going to be doing throughout the day. Rigo told us that he will be teaching some of the subjects, but we don't know what lessons he will teach us just yet. I have a feeling he could be a fieldcraft teacher because I remember as a child, he was the best at hide and seek.