Still - h.s (au)

Chapter 3

Grace

"What happened to him?" Ben asks after a while. We have been by bed number four for half an hour now, and none of us dared to speak during this time. I was so confused, what were the odds that his friend was my mysterious patient? But I was happy to finally know that this man had a name and that he was brave. He put his life at risk to save his colleagues, and I was going to do everything to save his life now.

"I'm assuming he was near when a bomb hit the ground... Maybe some fragments of the bombs and other debris of things hit him and I think he was buried underground for a while. His wounds had dirt and glass inside them, so that's a possibility." It was hard to figure out what happened exactly just by examining his injuries. We would only know the real story when he wakes up.

If he ever wakes up.

"You're such an idiot Harry... You should have just left when you had the chance." I could tell by his voice and the way he was speaking that he felt guilty. But he shouldn't be feeling like this, his friend made the decision to help others, and Ben had nothing to do with it. Harry probably saved many other lives and in return, he was ready to sacrifice his own life.

It was an altruistic act and even heroic.

"We are doing everything to save him." I reassure Ben. I will personally ensure that he survives this because he didn't risk his life to save all these people to die like this. I would not let him. "Now you should go back to your bed. If my superior sees you in here I could get in trouble." Ben was still recovering so he shouldn't have left his bed in the first place.

He sighs. "I am feeling fine, really." I could tell by the way he was holding his casted arm that he was in pain.

"You are not. I will put you back to bed and I will give you something for the pain." I don't let him fight me and push his chair back to his bed on the other side of this room.

"How do you know I am in pain?" He asks.

"You broke your elbow, you should be in pain." Luckily I had never broken a bone in my life, but I can imagine how painful it must be. Besides, when I examined his file it said that he took some pain killers hours ago, and he needed to take them again soon because the effect should be wearing out.

It was a challenge to put him back to bed again, but I managed to do it with his help. He was not particularly heavy which made the job much easier. Ben had the body of a young boy of eighteen, and even though he was muscular due to the constant physical effort they had to do, he was malnourished. At least during the time he was going to be here in the hospital he was going to be very well fed. We didn't have much food due to the rationing but we had enough to make nutritious and filling meals. And that was the most important.

He looks visibly tired when he finally rests his head on the pillow and I leave him just to fetch a clean glass of water and some pills to ease the pain. I get back in less than two minutes and he looks surprised to see me. Probably thought that I had left without saying a word.

I hand him the glass of water and the pills waiting for him to swallow them. "The pain should get better soon." I tell him placing the half-empty glass on the table next to him. "I will come back soon to check on you."

I inform him, but before I could leave he calls me. "Miss..."

"Yes?"

"Will you take care of him?" I could see the worry in his eyes, but my answer was already decided a long time ago.

"I will do everything I can to keep him alive. I promise." One of the first things they teach us during training is to never make promises we don't know if we will be able to keep. But I meant this one. I was not going to give up on this soldier, and I would make sure he survived to tell this story to his children. "Do you know if he has any family that we should contact?"