Welcome to chapter 2
BTW if you see CSM it means Command Sergeant Major.. when I wrote this out I knew I was not going to be writing this out in full.
Enjoy!
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Back on the train ~ January 12th, 1917 – Private Danny Murillo's point of view
"That is all I can remember from that day," I tell them both. Dylan knows from the attack part to me leaving the café. Jorel knows nothing about what happened that day, but he knows some of the aftermath. "You were out of it for the whole of yesterday, your mother panicked quite a bit until you woke up really late in the evening," Jorel says. That makes sense to me, I don't really remember anything from yesterday. Dylan squeezes my shoulder for comfort, it is good to know he cares about me too and they are more at ease now I seem to be doing fine. "Yeah, my father thought that he had killed me. I just did not respond to anything at all," I tell them. It was a weird day yesterday for sure, mother didn't even really want me to get on the train earlier, but Jorel assured her enough that I was going to be looked after.
No one else on the train has heard my café story which is good for me. I don't really want everyone on the train to know my father has beaten me up and that he does it quite regularly. The guys I have just made friends with might not even know for a while. "I went over yesterday like I said because your mother freak out and you just stayed unconscious on the cot bed all day. Nothing could have woken you up. I do remember you had a high fever that day too," Jorel tells me, I remember that I woke up briefly a couple of times and felt all clammy and stuff. "That's probably because he got me with his belt on my back and they might get infected," I tell him. I have no doubt he puts stuff on his belt when he wants to hit me with it. He loves causing me pain.
Rigo's gonna look after you when we get there and help you I am sure of it," Jorel tells me. I have no doubt when Rigo finds out what happened that he would be looking after me. We should really go back to sleep. Rigo told me that travelling to the camp takes at least two days and we are only on day one right now from what I know. We had lunch, but not dinner or breakfast which leads me to believe that we are still on day one. I yawn, I'm very tired even though I slept for most of the day yesterday. "We should get some more sleep, we have another day of travelling left before we get there," I tell them, and I rest my head on Jorel's shoulder. I love cuddling up with Jorel before falling asleep on him.
"Another day? How will we cope like this?" Dylan says, being a little bit over dramatic which I have come to learn that is his personality. I chuckle and so does Jorel. "We will be fine Dylan, we will be fed and given water while we are travel," I tell him. When I look to my friend Jorel a few minutes later and my older friend is now fast asleep, but he is holding me protectively. It didn't take long after our conversation ends for Dylan to fall asleep, leaving me the only who is awake on the train who is not one of the officers at the end of the carriage to keep an eye on us. I don't mind being the only one awake out of the group of friends that we have. I am used to being, the insomniac out of the group too.
Jordon woke up about two minutes after Dylan has fallen asleep. Well, I assumed that a couple of minutes have passed. He notices that I am the only one awake out of our friends. "Danny, have you been awake the entire time?" Jordon asks me, I think he is quite concerned for me. Jorel has rested his head against mine in his sleep but I am still comfortable enough to fall asleep on my own. "Yeah, well I had a couple of minutes of sleep earlier, but that was it really," I tell him before yawning again. I want sleep so bad, but at the same time I don't want to have a nightmare, wake the whole train up and be embarrassed. "You should get some sleep Danny," Jordon tells me. I am not taking my own advice here that's for sure.
I think about it for another few minutes, there really is not anything that I can do on the train by myself. Sure, Jordon is up right now, but he might want to go back to sleep himself. "I guess I should, I'm just worried if I start having a nightmare that someone should wake me up before I scream or something," I tell him. I hope he takes a hint and if he is awake when I have a nightmare that he would be able to help me out. He gives me a sympathetic smile. "Sure thing, I will wake you if you start. Just one thing I wanna know first, is there anything going on between you and Jorel?" he asks me. I smile at him before shaking my head. "We are just really good friends, we have known each other since we were babies," I tell him. I am bi-sexual, but people believe it is wrong to like both men and women. I should just like women.
He seemed to have either run out of things to say or he saw me struggling to keep my eyes open as I get more exhausted. I am going to use this as my opportunity to get some rest now while the train is quiet and everything. "Night Jordon," I mumble, even though I know it might not actually be the night time right now. Nobody can really tell whether it is day or night. They have kinda of modified some cattle trucks to transport the soldiers from wherever they come from to the base camp. "Night Danny," Jordon replies. I drift off to sleep moments later. Hopefully I can sleep without having any nightmares.
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A few hours later – Private Danny Murillo's point of view
Jordon is shaking my shoulder as I wake up. I felt someone shaking me in my dream and it must have been him. "You were having a nightmare Danny," Jordon says, I felt so glad that he did decide to wake me up. I can remember bits and pieces of the dream and it was not pleasant to say the least. "Thanks for waking me up Jordon," I tell him, while I am rubbing my eyes. Jorel and the others are still fast asleep which is good. They need their rest. I didn't want to wake Jorel up for comfort, he needs to sleep. "How long was I asleep for?" I ask, wondering if it was for the same brief time as earlier. I felt a bit better rested, so I doubt it. He just shrugs at me. "I think it was longer than earlier," he tells me. I forgot for a brief moment that we have no way of knowing what the time is.
"Do you need any more sleep at the moment?" I ask him, no point saying his name because he is the only one I am speaking to. "I will be okay, I think we have a while left of traveling so I might sleep again. We have time to sleep when we get there too," Jordon replies. He was not privy to the conversation I had with Jorel and Dylan about the travel earlier, but if he wants to know I will tell him we arrive sometime tomorrow, and the officers have watches on them, so we could always ask if we need to. "Yeah, from what Rigo has told me we start training the morning after we arrive," I tell him. Since they know about my brother they know that I am a bit more knowledgeable on what the training is. "Your brother will want to see you when we get there won't he?" Jordon asks, and I nod at him.
"He will, he might be a little angry with me though," I tell him. He looked a little shocked by that. We have only known each other a few hours and I am not quite willing to tell him my life story, but I will tell him anything about my life that I am comfortable with sharing. "Why would he be angry at you? Shouldn't he be happy that he gets to see you again?" Jordon asks me. I let out a little sigh, why did my family life have to be so damn complicated? "He doesn't like how things are at home. He also didn't really want me to sign up for this. He would have preferred it if I could stay at home where everything was safer because I am the youngest," I tell him. I hope that Jordon won't ask further about how things are at home.
He will probably learn eventually what my father is really like. They all will, it is inevitable that he will do something that will bring the abuse to the spotlight. Since I don't really know Jordon right now, I don't really want him to know too much information about my personal life right now. I am sure he feels the same way about his personal life. I am quite surprised that I have not said anything in my sleep about the abuse. All though, I have been known to speak in weird sort of fragmented sentences in my sleep where you can only hear one word clearly. Mother has said that she has heard me talking in my sleep after a stressful day, but I don't really make much sense.
"Don't worry Danny, I do not wish to pry on your personal life," he tells me. I smile, I am liking this guy a lot already. I like him, Matt and Dylan already. They have been so nice from the moment we met, but I am being a little cautious in case they decide to be nasty later on. "Thanks Jordon, I am sure you will find out more in time," I tell him. He also smiles at me. I am beginning to trust him a lot more now although I am not sure if I can fully trust him right now. "You're welcome Danny. You can always change your mine later if you don't want to tell me," he says. At least there is no pressure on me to tell him. He is right, I could always change my mind at a later date if I suddenly think that it is too risky for me to say that I have been abused by my father since I was a year old. That was about twenty years ago now.
"I feel like everyone will find out eventually though," I tell him. There are a couple of possible ways of them finding out. My brother might make a report to the police on what our so -called father has done to the three sons he has. Then me might just suddenly show up one day, discover that I am here and not dead like he suspects me to be and all hell might break loose. "Don't worry Danny, we will all be here for you," he tells me. It is weird that someone who I barely know will look after me like they have known me for years, but it is a good kind of weird. "Thanks Jordon, I appreciate that," I tell him, being one hundred percent honest with the older guy. He gets up to squeeze my shoulder and then sits down again. "No worries Danny, you are a nice, kind and caring person and you at least deserve this if not more," Jordon tells him, that is really nice of him to say. No one other than Jorel and the staff at the café have been that nice.
"I have always been that way, sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't. It all depends on the type of person you are dealing with. I need to make some new friends who I can trust both on and off the battlefield. We will get there eventually, it is just a question of when, we need America to declare war on Germany first then we will be deployed. I know that I can use my knowledge of the army life to help other people out who might struggle. I also know that being the son of a captain and the younger brother of two high ranking officers can bring me some trouble that I don't really want right now. They will want to try and take advantage of me and see what they can get away with in terms of how much trouble they can cause.
I need to be smart at all times, I can not let people bully me into helping them. I do not stand for bullies and I will not let the get away with what they want with me. My family are very smart and cunning people and I need to show that I am the same as them. Jorel wakes up while there was a silence in mine and Jordon's conversation. He knows I am awake and he is worried. "Don't worry Jorel, he has slept for a while," Jordon says, it's okay for him to fill my best friend in on what happened while he was asleep. Jorel rubs my shoulder before he rubs his eyes. "Thanks for keeping an eye on him Jordon," Jorel tells our new friend. He would have stayed up and kept an eye on me if he was not so tired himself.
"It is fine Jorel, I stopped him from having a nightmare too," he replies. Jorel looks to me, to figure out if the other male is telling the truth or not. "It's true, the nightmare didn't get as bad as it usually does," I tell him. Jorel smiles at Jordon. I think it gave him peace of mind that I will be looked after while he sleeps. "I am sure Danny has said this already but, thank you Jordon. We are going to need friends is we are to survive this war," Jorel says. Jordon does seem to be very shocked by Jorel's statement. However, Jorel and I both know we will end up joining my older brother Kyle on the frontlines. It is inevitable, the allies will need our help and there is only so long a country can avoid being dragged into the biggest war ever known to man. The Great war is one horrible war and the government has been trying to stay out of it for as long as they possibly can. I can't see it lasting much longer though.
"Do you really think that we will go on the frontlines?" Jordon asks me. I will admit that it is a bit of a scary subject to talk about at first. I shrug at Jordon, since we haven't declared war I don't really know. "I have heard the allies are doing quite well, we might be back up if they need it. I don't think we will though," I tell him. I don't want the morale to be low this early on no matter how much I know about the from what my brothers have said and the stories which have been coming from the frontlines, so far. Kyle has some interesting stories to tell, he's even been learning French which is quite interesting to learn. He's even been teaching me some basic words, I love learning new languages and more about cultures from different countries.
"Danny's right, we have to trust the allies and what they are capable of doing. They will have our backs if we have theirs," Jorel says. We don't say anything else about the war after that. "Why did you join the army then Jordon?" Jorel asks. We are probably going to share a wooden billet during training, so we need to be friends and get along or else this isn't going to end well. Well, I am assuming that they will group us together based on where we stand when the briefing happens. I would like to know why the others have joined up. They know why I have joined so it is only fair that I learn why they want to join they arm and fight in the war.
"I want to fight for my country. My grandfather kept saying that it is the best thing a young man can do for his country. He also said that if he was young enough to sign up then he would be he knows that he is old now," Jordon tells me. I guess a lot of people are going to give us the same reason that Jordon has. It also makes sense that people would do it for that reason, more people have respect for you when they know you were a soldier who fought a great battle like the great war. Even if you don't come home the respect is still there. "Fair enough, you do gain more respect if you do it. I know no matter what happens that your grandfather would be proud of you," Jorel says, making Jordon smile. I wish I had a grandfather to talk to, he died when I was one I believe. I was obviously too young to know him properly.
The officers walk around and hand everyone who is awake their rations of food and water for a meal. Those who are still sleeping will get theirs when they wake up. It is part of the officers duty to look after us while we are on this train. Jorel puts two pills into my hand when the officer isn't looking. "Those should help with the pain," he whispers to me. I quickly take them and wash them down with some water. The officer didn't suspect a thing which was great for me. Not that anything would happen once I explained it was pain medication because I got in an incident before I got on the train. They didn't need to know the full story, just enough of one to justify the need for me to take medication.
One of the things I know I want to do while I am at the training camp is spend more time with Rigo, my older brother. Preferably I would like some one on one time with him, but I will accept any time. I suppose we will have time during the breaks. There is a possibility though that they find out about my injuries and then send me home. I don't want to go back home though. If I go back then I am going back to the countless daily beatings. To me, going home is like signing a warrant for my own death. No doubt if I get any time alone with my dad then he will kill me. No on would be able to stop him in time or save my life when that happens. He will want to kill me, so he can keep me silent. No one will know what happened once I'm dead.
Rigo might convince them to let me stay at the training camp. I might even get some time off training to recover properly, something which I have never been able to do usually. I just suffer through the pain and get on with it. He knows just how dangerous it would be for me if I was to go home for whatever reason. It would be obvious to him that I joined the army even if I changed out of my uniform. I am not in Los Angeles anymore, I am not sure where we are or where the exact location of the camp is. The only conclusion he can make other than me dying from the beating two or three days ago is that I have snuck off to join the army. He won't like that one bit, I can feel it deep within my bones.
My father was not around when I woke up later the next day. He could think that I am dead now, my mother and sister are good actresses and they could pull it off successfully. Regardless, all those scenarios can only happen if they were all to find out about the beating I had. Mother could have phoned Rigo, to tell him what has been going on since he left home. They have phoned each other pretty much every week at least once if I remember correctly. We are still on the train for a little while longer, that means I can be paranoid about it now and worry properly about it later, when we actually get there.
I think we might have possibly entered the next day. I know it was late afternoon on the twelfth when we got onto the train, so the meal we had must have been dinner. This seems more like breakfast food, so I think it is the thirteenth now. The only way I could know for sure is if I asked an officer what the day was. I don't think I want to do that right now. The food isn't great, it's obviously cold because we have no way of heating it up. I think there was something that vaguely resembled an egg in the sandwich we were given, and the biscuits were nice though. I barely notice Jorel wrapping his arm around me and squeezing my shoulder. I'm lost in my thoughts again, I think he knows it because he was being gentle.
"So, have you lived in Los Angeles all your life then?" Jordon asks Jorel and I. It made me jump since I wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. I am wondering what they were talking about before they asked me. "I definitely have, I am not sure about Danny though. I can't really speak to him," Jorel tells me. Then Jorel gently nudges me which also caused me to jump. "I've lived in Los Angeles for my whole life as well, I have been on holiday to see family in Costa Rica a few times," I reply. Jordon seemed to notice that I had zoned out before the question was asked. I hope I haven't worried anyone with what happens. Sometimes I don't realise that I zone out quite frequently until someone tells me about it.
"What were you thinking about?" Jordon asks me. They already know a little bit about how bad things are at home just because I mentioned it earlier that things are bad at home. Jordon does know that I am not willing to share too much information with him yet. "Just kind of how much I don't want to be home right now," I reply, being honest with the slightly older male. Jorel holds me tighter, still being mindful of the injuries I told him about earlier. He knows how bad it is back at home, but he has never heard me say that I don't want to go back home before now. "I don't see any reason why you would be sent home Danny," Jordon tells me. He said it with a bit of confusion in his tone. He still does not know what went on, so he will be confused.
I will probably tell him, Dylan and Matt what really went on when we get to the camp and we know each other a bit better. It would be in a more private setting as well which would be a bonus for me. "I'll explain later, now is not really the best time or place to do it," I tell him, and he accepts it. I am going to keep to my word. He trusts me, and I do not want to destroy the trust and bond that has formed between the two of us. I think that Matt and Dylan trust me too. Well I know I basically owe Dylan my life for what he did in the café for me. I like that the trust between us is not forced and it has been naturally gained. We will be good friends in no time I am sure of it.
Dylan was the next one to wake up and when the officer noticed, he was given his food rations for this morning. Dylan smiled at me and the others as a way of a greeting before he started tucking into his food. We all have quite a bit of water left even though we know we will be given some more later on in the day. "Did you manage to get any sleep at all Danny? Dylan asks me, and I give him a small smile. "I managed to get a few hours of sleep before a nightmare started," I tell him, being honest with the younger guy. I know now they are going to help me through this and I am going to be okay by the end of my time with them. They have accepted me with all the baggage that I have attached to me which is unusual, but I was going to accept it.
"Don't worry Danny, we will help you get through this I promise," Dylan tells me. I am glad that the other people on the train don't pay attention to the other conversations going on around them. I don't want them to know all over my conversations that I have. I was wondering about how my brothers are doing. I know very soon I will be able to see Rigo. I also know what he has been up to because he is at the camp we are going to. My other brother Kyle, who is also older than I am is working in the army, but I don't know where exactly he has been deployed to. I can't wait until I can see my brothers again, even though it might a while with Kyle. I might never see Kyle again, I just don't know these things.
"Do you think that Rigo will know where Kyle is based?" I ask Jorel, after I finally accept the support from the new friends that I have made. "Yeah, he knows that you are coming here so I am sure that he will know where they sent Kyle to," Jorel tells me. I just hope that my brothers are feeling better than I am right now. Dylan squeezes my shoulder and Jordon hugs me after Dylan was done. These guys are already helping me out so much and we have barely known each other. I feel happy right now, I know this is the support that I have been missing in my life. I always had the support from Jake and Jorel, but other than them I didn't really have any friends I could rely upon in times of need.
I really hope that my father does not hurt my sister now that I am not there. I know father has told everyone that he is not going to hit her. I am not sure that he will keep that promise now. He could have just said it to make everyone feel better. All of his sons are not around to hit now, so there is no one he could take his anger out on. The temptation to take his anger out on the first person he sees will be too strong. As far as I know we have no punching the bags in the house. Then again he could have bought one and hidden it somewhere. He could have even used one of the potato sacks and filled it with sand from the beach if he became that desperate. We don't live too far away from a beach, so he could do it.
This makes me feel incredibly guilty about leaving home. I had to do it for my own safety, but at the same time I am putting the life of my sister at risk. I really don't want my sister to go through the same hell I have gone through these last twenty years. I bite my lip to stop myself from breaking down in tears in front of all these people. I felt Jorel tap a beat on my leg, it works to calm me down sometimes. "Your sister is going to be fine, I know she will be," Dylan whispers to me. It takes me a minute to remember that he knows a lot more about the situation I am in than Matt or Jordon do. "How did you?" I ask him, still struggling to understand how exactly he knew. "Your father beats you, I knew that one of the things that would come into your mind is if he would go for her while you are gone and not there to take the beating for her," he whispers. That actually makes a lot of sense to me. Jorel knows I have this fear as well. It also applies to my mother, but when I think of her I see her hitting him with her pan.
"Your father will end up in prison or jail before the end of this war. Rigo will report him, or someone else will," Jorel tells me quietly. It did reassure me a little bit, I am still going to worry about my sister and my mother for a while. I will be fine once I know for sure that they are fine and they my father has never laid a finger on them in the way that he has done with me and my brothers. I want them to be okay and to be out of harm's way for as long as possible. The only way that they could ever be free of him is if he goes on the frontlines, but he doesn't deserve to die with dignity after everything that he has done. I lean against Jorel, I am feeling exhausted at the moment. I know the beating I went through is going to take a while to heal from.
I am also still struggling with the cold, so I was using my energy to stay as warm as possible and see if Jorel could be my human heater. "Are you still cold Danny?" Jorel asks me. I have started shivering again, but I know it was not as violent as I was shivering earlier. "A little bit yeah," I tell him, and he starts rubbing my arm to use friction to warm me up. "Maybe putting a little bit of weight on might help you with the cold," Jorel tells me. He's right, it would be a good idea to put some weight on, I am a bit on the skinny side. "I know, I just don't think I will be able to do it right away," I tell him. Matt was the last one to wake up and he was given his food and water for the morning. He gave us a good morning wave before he started eating his food.
Jordon was watching me fight against another nap while Jorel was hugging me. The two days of travel are technically sleep now because it's going to be busy when we get there, and you will need that rest. I want to sleep like the rest of them, but the nightmares will always haunt me. "Danny, we will keep an eye on you. If you do have a nightmare then you will be woken up before it gets too bad," Jorel says, I know when he makes a promise like that he will keep it. He also hugs me quite tightly. I don't mind it when he hugs me, even though it did nothing to lull me into sleep. I know I am exhausted, but maybe I can get to know my new friends a bit more before I do get some more rest. The shivering is slowly getting back to where it was when I first met Jordon and Matt.
Jordon gets his bag from underneath the bench which is our seating arrangement. He opens the bag, well aware that everyone is watching him with curiosity. He takes one of his spare coats out of it and passes it to Jorel. "Put this on Danny, it should help you warm up a little more," he tells me. It was very generous of him to make the offer. I was about to politely decline the coat, but then Jorel puts it on me whether I liked it or now and then lets me keep resting against him. "Thanks Jordon, I will give it back to you when we get there," I tell him. I honestly wanted to give him the coat back there and then.
Soon I start feeling nice and warm and Jordon was smirking at me. I was still debating in my head whether or not I should take it off and give it back to him. Then after having a mini argument in my head for a minute I realised that he was just going to hand it back to Jorel and then he would do the same thing and it would go in a circle. I am feeling really comfy with Jorel's arms around me. I feel safe and secure for the first time in my life. Nothing can get me here, I am well protected. Jorel wants to keep me safe too.
There are roughly eighteen months between Jorel and I being born, however we have never acted like we were born that far apart. We have always acted like we have been twins right from when I was about a year old according to my mother. She always said how Jorel would make sure I was included in almost everything he did when we were together growing up. It's the same now, if he is going out then he will include me, so I could get a couple of hours respite from the hell at home. We have been joined at the hip for as long as I can remember. People would always say if they saw either one of us out in public then they knew the other one was not too far behind.
I do not wish to be rude to Jordon when he has been so nice to me since we met a day or so ago. It is really freaking difficult to gauge how much time has passed. Dylan has also been nice to me since we met in the alleyway on the day the café closed. Matt also seems to be very nice, but I need to get to know him a little more first since he is quiet and shy like I am. "So, you have a big family then Danny?" Matt asks me, he knows about my three siblings from the conversations we have had on the train so far. I know families that are a lot bigger than mine. Jorel has more siblings then I have for sure. I don't think they know that yet. Jorel doesn't really talk a lot about his family because he is away from them so often.
"I guess so, I mean I am the youngest of four children and then there is my mother or father. I am sure that there are bigger families out there," I tell him, keeping Jorel's family info private because I remember how uncomfortable he was when his family was mentioned in the past. It was a little weird to admit and have it said again that I am the youngest in my family. All these guys that I have met seem like they are either the eldest child or an only child. "That is alright then, I have one younger sister at home," Matt tells me. I know Jorel is a middle child. I think Dylan is an only child and Jordon might be the same. I am not sure though, I am just guessing at this point. I do feel a bit too nervous to ask them.
I was enjoying the conversation after that. I prefer these kinds of conversations instead of the ones about the war. We decided to change the topic to talk about times that they have been drunk and what they get up to while they have been drunk. Since I have only recently turned twenty-one I have no stories to tell anyone. I have never been drunk once in my life and nor do I plan on getting drunk anytime soon. My father has put me off for life. Luckily for me, the others have plenty to tell about their times since they are all older. I knew most of Jorel's stories since I have always met up with him either during the night or the morning after and he tells me what he is able to remember. If he doesn't remember then we fill in the blanks with the first thing that we could come up with. It usually ends up being hilarious.
Dylan has a few good stories to tell me and the others. He spoke of how he once ended up on a train to Mexico while he was on a night out. He had no idea how he got the money to get there, but the train driver was kind enough to get him back home. All it cost Dylan in the end was a mega hangover and a smack off his mother. It was an amazing story and it was hilarious. I knew Dylan could get away with this sort of thing since he is the richest one out of the five of us and he does have the money to burn if he so choses. I still can't get over how he managed to get onto the train as drunk as he was on that night. It does kinda make me a bit more nervous about having alcoholic drinks myself, but I don't know what the future brings.
Dylan said that he had spent most of his money on booze. Jordon said he once ended up with two men and two women in bed during a night out. He wasn't keen on saying that he was in bed with a man out loud in case someone was eavesdropping on us. A fivesome though is not something to ignore no matter who it was with. It shows that you are capable of getting laid even if you are tipsy or smashed when it happens. I do believe Jordon mentioned he was smashed when this whole thing went down. It was again another funny story, Matt doesn't have many stories to tell because he says he is not much of a drinker. I think I am going to be a bit like Matt when it comes to drinking alcohol.
I told them that I had only recently turned twenty-one, so I told them that I have no stories to tell about any adventures that could have happened when I was drunk, and I have never drunk alcohol in my life. Thy were fine with that and said that when we get home they would take me out on a night out and we are going to have the time of our lives. I'm not sure when we will be able to do it though. Who knows how life is going to be when the war is finally over, most countries involved have been struggling through these last three years of a war. Who knows how many more years we will all be involved in this. I have forgotten what the cause was, something to do with one country murdering someone from a nearby country or something like that.
Jorel gives me a new drunk story, one I haven't heard before. It was from the night that my "father" attacked me. I am fully aware that the most likely place my father would have been after he hurt me was a pub or a bar. What I didn't know until now was that he got himself so drunk that he had started hitting on Jorel and flirting with him. Jorel decided to have some fun and flirt back with my father. My father didn't recognize Jorel at all during this which made it a little more hilarious to me. Well, I only started to see the funny side after I had gotten over the initial shock of the whole thing. If only I had the relationship with my father to have fun with it.
"Wait, so my father flirted with you the other night? I ask, showing how much, I didn't believe him at that moment. Dylan nearly fell off the bench because he was laughing so hard. I was still very exhausted, but I had to know more about what went on between my father and my best friend. "Yeah, I think he didn't recognise me because I had just cut my hair and it was kinda dark. If he had realised it was me then maybe it would have gone differently," Jorel says. He wasn't phased by all the new people who were listening to his story now. I would feel a bit humiliated if everyone on the train knew who my father is and what he has done, but I know most of the people don't know my father. No one other than Jorel and Dylan know what he has done who are on the train.
Soon Jorel's story is over and he looked at me. I saw how concerned he is for me when he was looking at me. "Are you feeling okay Danny? You have gone really pale?" he asks me. I give him a weak smile, it's the best smile that I can do now. "I'm feeling okay now, just feeling a little light headed that's all," I tell him, being honest with Jorel. He knows when I have lied to him, so there is no need to lie to him. I decide to drink a bit more of my water to see if that would help me feel a little better. Jorel decided that he needs to keep a very close eye on me from now on just in case I feel any worse during the day. He puts his hand on my forehead to see if I have a fever and I love the comfort he is giving me right now.
"You have not got a fever right now, so I don't think that the jacket needs to come of just yet," Jorel tells me. The people who listening to Jorel's drunken story before were now talking to other people. I let Jorel play with my hair for a bit, which has also calmed me down a little bit. "Maybe Danny should try and sleep for a little bit. He might feel a bit better once he has slept a little more," Matt suggests. That is a good suggestion for me right now. Dylan hands me one of his ration pack biscuits that he was currently eating. "Eat this first Danny, it might also help you feel better," Dylan tells me, and I eat it straight away. I ate my biscuits before Dylan woke up and I now think that I should have saved mine, so I could eat them now.
I didn't really feel any better, but I feel happy that I have someone looking out for me. The biscuit tasted a lot better than mine which is weird. I am pretty sure they were the same ones that Dylan had. Maybe I am starting to go a little crazy. Maybe they did taste the same as the ones I had. I thanked him for the biscuit then he gave me a hug as if to say you're welcome. Matt also offered me a biscuit which Jorel encouraged me to accept. Maybe my pack of biscuits tasted weird to me because of the fever or something. At this point I really don't have an idea what's going on with me at the moment. That beating has really taken its toll on my body. I wish this feeling would stop and I could feel like normal, like everyone else would feel.
"Do you feel any better Danny?" Jorel asks me, it has been a few minutes after I finished the biscuits. I was leaning against him while I try and get rid of this light-headed feeling that doesn't seem to want to leave. "To be honest with you I don't really feel any better," I answer. Jorel frowns and holds me a little tighter than he did before. "Maybe you're feeling this way because of the nasty fall you had the day before yesterday," Dylan says, when he started talking, I almost held my breath. I was so happy that he came up with something that covered up what really happened to me. the other two don't suspect a thing and seem to buy my story. I don't currently want them to know what happened. It is a bit embarrassing.
"You never told us you had a fall Danny," Jordon tells me. All of my new friends look at me. Matt and Jordon wanted to know for sure, Dylan and Jorel already knew the true story. I am sure they will help with the fake one though. "I was involved in a minor accident before we left for camp, I think it was two days before," I tell them. They seem to be a little shocked. I know I have left a lot of details out, but I can pretend my memory is quite fuzzy from that day. "We didn't think it was going to bother him this much. I do think he has hit his head quite hard too," Dylan tells them. Jorel carries on playing with my hair which was sort of putting me to sleep. I wanted to stay awake, but I knew if I said anything then it would be overruled by Jorel.
My father hit my head when he attacked me, so I am bound to be suffering a head injury of some sort. "I don't think Danny has a concussion though, I wouldn't have let him sleep for long if he did," Jorel tells Matt. Matt was making me follow his finger with my eyes to check for one. "True, I just wanted to double check, can never be too careful with these types of things," Matt replies. He was right though, you could never be too careful when it comes to head injuries. If they didn't do those checks on me and I did have a concussion, then it would be bad and have bad consequences for me. I know that I will be fine in a few days when I recover from what my father has done. Its just the first few days which are the worst.
The light-headed feeling starts to get a lot worse. I know that we don't have too much longer to wait before we can get off the train because we will have arrived by then. Then I can have my reunion with Rigo that I have been waiting so long for. I can't wait, I have been counting the days since he left, I thought he was going to come home first, but that's just not the way its gone. My vision goes white for a moment and it was one of the scariest moment of my life. I fell forwards, but Jorel quickly caught me and held me upright. If he was worried before, then he was going to be extremely worried for me now. The white vision slowly started to fade now which had made me feel a little bit better now even though I am still really unwell.
"Are you sure you feel okay Danny? Jorel asks when it finally stops being white. "Yeah, I am fine," I tell him. I know I am lying to him and it is going to bite me in the ass in a little while. Having said that, despite the light-headed feeling I did feel okay otherwise at that moment in time. I rest my head on Jorel's shoulder again and let him rub my chest a little bit to see if that would help me. It didn't really help with any of my symptoms expect for my anxiety. I feel calm whenever Jorel comforts me which is something I hope continues. "I'm glad you're comfy there Danny," Jorel comments after a couple of minutes. "You make a good cushion that's why," I tell him, being cheeky in hopes to reassure him that I am okay.
It worked for as long as I was on this good health stretch. It didn't last for too long though. I was feeling worse, but I wanted to keep it from Jorel. I know it's a rapid decline in my health, but I hate worrying him. He has been there for me from every beating I have ever suffered at the hands of my father and for once I wanted to give him the night off. Let him make new friends so when my father eventually kills me then he could have some new people who will love and cherish his company as I have done since day one. I really want to tell Jorel how I am getting worse with the way I am feeling right now, but no words are coming out. I'm not going to panic though because that would make Jorel worse. Just after I think that it all goes dark.
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Private Jorel Decker's point of view
Just a couple of minutes ago Danny told me he was fine. I stupidly believed him because now my best friend's eyes have just rolled into the back of his head and he fell forward. I think he has fainted or something. Jordon has good reflexes as he helps me catch Danny before he hits the cold floor of the train carriage. I work with Jordon to get the spare jacket off Danny's small frame to get him a little cooler despite how cold the train is already. He could have gotten too warm and that's why he passed out. One of the officers saw what happened and quickly walked over. I believe it is Command Sergeant Major Ragan. "What happened?" CSM Ragan asks us. Jordon looked to me, he was too nervous to speak to the officer. "Private Murillo fainted sir," I answer, praying that Danny's tips have paid off. I got it right, he was high enough rank to need to be called sir and I have to call Danny by his rank now.
He checked Danny's pulse and breathing. Thankfully it was one of those moments where everyone, including Matt were asleep. I know Jordon and Dylan along with CSM Ragan would keep this private. This is the last thing Danny needs right now. "His pulse is steady, and his breathing is good. Just have to keep an eye on him for the rest of the journey," CSM Ragan says, then helps Jordon get Danny laying across mine and Dylan's laps so he isn't on the floor anymore. CSM Ragan instructed me to keep an eye on Danny's breathing by putting my ear to my friend's mouth every now and then to feel his breath on my ear and to call for him if anything should change. The only thing he didn't say was if they were going to send Danny home because of this or not.
They want the fittest people to join the army and right now Danny is not showing that he is in a fit state. I run my fingers through Danny's messy golden brown hair. He didn't respond to anything, it was like the other day when I was at his house and his mom was explaining what the bastard did to him. "I doubt Rigo is going to let them send his brother home Jorel. Not with what we know is going on," CSM Ragan says. I have to think for a minute how the fuck he would know that much. Then I realise he is George Ragan, a good friend of Danny and I. He went to high school with Rigo and they are close. "I know, but this is the worst I have ever seen him George, it scares me," I quietly admit. Now that Danny's somewhat out of danger Jordon fell asleep with Matt. Danny is still quite deeply unconscious at this moment and it worries me a lot. George touches Danny's forehead in a caring way.
We finally start getting a response after he does that for a couple of minutes. Danny moved his head to the side to try and get away from George's cold hand. It was barely any movement, but it was better than no movement at all. Maybe Danny will be awake in a minute or two and he will bee feeling a little better and we can help him get through the rest of the train journey before we arrive at camp where I have no about he will be making the first of many trips to medical. "It's going to be okay Danny," I tell him. I want him to feel comfortable and calm when he wakes up, unlike he did back at home. I was always going to help him whenever he needs me to.
Come one Danny, wake up buddy. I need you to wake up now.