When Numra arrived at the school the next day, she sat down next to James and Jackie like she always did. Soon after she sat down, she seen the commander stand up and smile at the class. He set his file down, then took a deep breath.
"I have news that's gonna get you guys rowdy today!" The commander cheered. "Do you want to hear it?"
"Yes!" Everyone including Numra smiled.
"Guess who's going to the army in 2 days?" The commander cheered. "You are!"
In that instant, everyone jumped out of their seats and started going wild. They'd never been any happier. However Numra, Numra froze. As she got bumped around a little in the moshpit of men, she raised her hand through the crowd and glanced at him.
"Chief, how did you manage to get us in the army a month earlier?" Numra asked as she glanced at him.
"The highest commander of the navy came and checked out the recent grades of this classroom, and they declared us ready!" The commander smiled as he looked at everyone. "Pack as much of your things as you can, boys! We're leaving in 48 hours."
It took everything in Numra to not to drop down onto the floor and break down then and there. She only had 48 hours to spend with Christina and Chresanto before leaving for them for the next 4 years. Meanwhile, Dr. August drove up to the hospital to check up on Jayla and Roberto's condition. Roberto was still in critical condition, but Jayla was stable. The doctors told him that she was doing fine. They allowed him to visit her in her hospital room, but only for a short amount of time because she was going to need surgery to take the bullet out of her back.
When he walked inside, he seen Jayla laying in the bed with her eyes closed. She had on a breathing mask. As he pulled up a chair next to her bed, he watched Jayla creek her eyes open and glance at him. She could barely open them. When he glanced at her for a few more seconds, he watched her slowly reach up and take her breathing mask off. Her small mouth stated cracked open as she glanced at him, watching him crack a small smile.
"Rayan came............he visit me this morning..." Jayla said in a slow and raspy tone. Her voice was almost unrecognizable.
"How do you feel?" Dr. August asked.
"Like shit........." Jayla responded a few seconds as they both laughed. "My whole entire back hurts..."
Dr. August smiled and placed his hand on top of hers, looking at her. Her voice was so hoarse and raspy that it almost sounded like she was trying to whisper out loud. She was still weak from the bullet.
"I just wanted to thank you for taking a bullet for me. Again." Dr. August said. "But Jayla, you don't have to-"
"Aaah ahh ahh, Chres. I told you that i'd take as many bullets as I could for you." Jayla said in her hoarse voice, placing her hand up and squinting her eyes from the pain of moving her back a little. "I meant it, so there's no need to thank me. That's what a real friend is supposed to do.."
"Jayla, it's time for your surgery." Her lady nurse smiled as she walked in on their conversation.
"Oh. Well I uh.....I guess I better get out of here." Dr. August said as he stood up. "I hope you pull through, Jayla."
"I hope so too, asshole." Jayla winked, still keeping her eyes half open. "Get out of here..."
As Dr. August left the hopsital, he felt nothing but bad for Jayla. The fact that he wasn't giving anything to Jayla in return made it feel like he was using her of some sort. It didn't feel comfortable for her not to be mad or angry. It felt.........weird.
As Dr. August arrived home, he seen Numra sitting in the living room with no lights or tv on. Dr. August scrunched his eyebrows at her, then shut the door with his foot.
"You're home early." Dr. August said in a confused tone.
"I have to pack." Numra sighed. "Pack for the army..."
"Why?" Dr. August giggled. "You don't leave until next month."
"Actually, I don't." Numra said as she slowly turned to him. "We leave on Wednesday."
Dr. August paused. He mouth dropped open as he set everything down and walked over into the living room to sit next to her.
"W-what do you mean?" Dr. August stuttered.
"The commander changed the date to Wednesday because he was checked out by the head chief of the navy and he declared us ready to go." Numra said, staring blankly off at the wall. "We leave in 2 days."
Dr. August's heart immediately started to race. These next 48 hours would be the last time he would see her in 4 years. It wasn't like she was going away for a few days. He wouldn't be able to see her until he turned 29. He covered his mouth and glanced at the wall with her, staring off in a daze and pure shock.
"Wow. This is so............sudden..." Dr. August said, glancing off into space. "Have you told Christina?"
"No. She's in her room." Numra said, tearing up. "Can you tell her for me please? I don't think that I can."
"Of course." Dr. August said, sighing and quickly standing up. "I'll go tell her now, I guess."
Dr. August slowly walked into Christina's room, glancing at her lay frontwards on her bed while doing her homework. She looked up at him, then ignored him while continuing to do her work. He shut the door and grabbed her small pink furry stool, pulling it up to her bed and taking a deep breath.
"Look Christina, I need to talk to you about something serious." Dr. August said. "It's about your mother."
"About how you don't treat her right?" Christina said, continuing to do her work. "You're so mean to her."
Dr. August actually agreed with her. He looked off to the left, then looked back at Christina.
"Actually, you're right. I don't treat your mother right. I'm always accusing her of doing all of these things and doing wrong, when in reality she's only trying to help me. And for that, I apologize." Dr. August said in a serious tone. "But, that doesn't mean that I don't love her. I love your mother to death and I sometimes say things out of spite, but I wouldn't trade her for the world. Understand?"
Christina slowly looked up at him, giving him a bland but saddened look.
"Yeah." Christina mumbled.
"And the same thing goes for you, Chrissy. If you ever feel like you need to talk to me about something, then talk to me." Dr. August continued. "But no cursing, alright? It's rude and it's disrespectful to curse at your parents or any adult."
"I just thought that it was okay because I see you doing it all of the time." Christina said.
"Well then i'll stop, because it actually isn't okay." Dr. August said in a serious tone. "It's okay to express anger, but it's not okay to use cuss words. Alright?"
"Yeah....."
Dr. August sighed again, then kept his eyes on Christina.
"But what I really wanted to talk to you about was your mother." Dr. August said. "I have some......some shocking news."
"Yes?"
"Your mom is leaving for the army a little earlier than we expected." Dr. August said.
"She is?" Christina gasped as she lifted up and gave him a serious look. "How early?"
"2 days, sweety." Dr. August responded.
Christina's mouth opened wider as those words slipped out of his mouth. Tears formed in her eyes as she kept her mouth in the same position, unable to register it.
"W-why?" Christina gasped. "I......why does she want to leave earlier?"
"It wasn't her choice, sweety." Dr. August said. "It was up to her school."
As Christina shook her head and wiped her eyes, Dr. August grabbed both of her hands and cracked a small smile.
"Yesterday, you mentioned that you wanted to go back to Iraq." Dr. August said, unable to hold back tears himself. "Did you still want to go back and stay with your mother and other relatives?"
"If I can?" Christina cheered, sitting all the way up.
"Well, i'll let you decide yourself. I'll let you stay wherever you want to keep you happy." Dr. August said in a shaky and hurt tone. "If you want to stay with me, you can. If you want to leave with your mother, I will buy a ticket for you to fly to Iraq. But you have to let me know before tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay." Christina nodded.
Dr. August tucked his lips in and stood up out of her stool. He slowly walked out of her room, smiled at her, then shut her door. Christina could tell that Dr. August was hurt by her wanting to leave him, but she really wanted to go with her mother. However, seeing her dad hurt really was eating her alive. She didn't want him to be alone, but she also wanted to be somewhere with her mother.
Dr. August on the other hand, was crying silently in his room. Numra was leaving, but now his daughter didn't want to stay with him either. All he could think about was begging her to stay, but he was going to let her decide herself. Overall, he was afraid of the outcome and her answer.