Paradise Lost

Chapter 4

Then again just because I knew he was good at hide and seek as a child does not mean he would be as good now. I am just making assumptions now. We will have to see what he will teach us. I can't wait to be in a class with Rigo. I learned a lot from him when I was younger. He was a great teacher and I know that he will ask me to look after Danny when they are not together. It was a thing he made me swear a year and a half ago or whenever he left to come to this camp himself for the first time. He does worry a lot about Danny, and it is natural because of how close they are as brothers. They would have been twins if it was not for the ten-year age gap between the older and the younger brothers. They often don't act like there is that age gap because Danny has grown up way too quickly for everyone's liking.

Rigo looked really worried when he saw me helping Danny walk into the mess hall. He has two plates of breakfast, one for each of us in our spots by the time we got there. We are not late to breakfast which is a relief. "I will be staying with you this morning Danny. I don't have to teach any groups or anything," Rigo says, after he gives Danny some pain relief. It will be relief for Danny to have the comfort of his brother for his first morning. I think we have exercise this morning. "Okay Rigo, I do not think I want to be alone," Danny says. I had a mouthful of food, so I could not contribute to the conversation. My heart hurts for my best friend, he should not be afraid to be alone at this age. "Yeah, don't worry though. Everything will work out fine," I tell him.

"It will. Danny gets to miss all of the physical training you guys have this morning," George adds, something which earned him a small smile off Danny. Jordon did not seem to be too thrilled at the thought of doing exercise. I know that we have to be really fit to be successful in the army and we will eventually be doing two physical training sessions a day. Danny can easily run miles when he is feeling one hundred percent. He can't run as fast while he is injured like he is right now. He seems to be more with it now than he did when he first woke up this morning which is good. His dad really got him good this time which worries me as I've never had to deal with Danny this injured before. It worries me more that Rigo hasn't seen Danny this injured either.

I had time before training to help Danny walk back to the billet. We are running laps this morning with a few other tests to asses our general fitness. I notice Danny was leaning on me less on the way back then he did on the way to the mess hall. He also seems to be in a brighter mood than the one he was in yesterday. I think he's finally realised that he is safe here. For the first time since his first birthday he doesn't have to worry about everything he does being seen as wrong. His father is not around to hurt him in anyway. "Rigo, do you think Danny will be okay?" I ask, after we get my best friend back into his bed. It felt like I was kinda talking about Danny behind his back like this, but I am sure he can hear us.

"Honestly, I think he will be okay. I do agree that this beating has been the worse he has suffered so far," Rigo tells me, I have told him about how I personally feel about Danny's beating. "I will be okay Jorel. I know am just feeling a bit rougher this time around. I am sure I will be okay in a few days," Danny tells me, which does little to reassure me. Maybe I will feel more comfortable about this when Danny gets to join us for training. He will recover sometime in the next two weeks I am sure of it. He'll have a lot more peace this time around to just rest and get over the injuries then he would at home. I remember one time I was staying over at Danny's house and his father took him to another room. When Danny came back he told me that his father had beaten him a second time that week and if his father knew he told me then he'd get a third one.

The memory makes me reach out to comfort Danny even though he was awake and just relaxing on the bed. He still seems to have a fever which is not that good. I don't think the pain medications he has been given have fully worked yet. It might take a little while longer before the pain medications finally kicks in and gets to work for his fever to go down. That would be the best for him right now. He needs all the rest he can get, and I know that all of the people sharing this billet with us will make sure that Danny can recover. I hope that Danny doesn't need to rely on rest for a while. I know that he is itching to get as stuck into training as much as he can but the officers who have higher power than us have basically forced him into resting.