The soldiers are marching again, with the heavy sound of drums quick to follow.
Everyone in the town who knows what is coming stays silent and tries to hide, praying that they won't stop here, in Woodson.
And it's every week now that they pick a new...
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A day and a half later nothing changes, and nothing gets better.
A pain still exists in my heart making it hard to breathe, but I've managed to control my panic attacks so the nurses don't come running after me.
They're bothersome, the nurses. Really.
Constantly checking my vitals and signs of the living, yet completely missing the capacity to check for one's will to live.
"How are we feeling?" The head nurse wants to know.
A woman in her mid-fifties wearing a clean white suit similar to the one I've worn while serving, yet she pulls it off much more sophisticatedly.
"Fine, thank you."
Kade and Andres sit beside me nodding at everything the woman doctor says, not knowing that I'm not paying attention. They're happy that I've decided to start talking this morning, if only one word answers to get them off my back.
"Headaches?"
Yes.
"No."
"Nausea?"
Yes.
"No."
"Difficulty breathing?"
I maintain my straight, sour face. "No."
"Well then dear, just a few more days of bed rest and you should be good as new."
The lady clicks her tongue, writes a note or two on her clipboard, and then moves to walk away.
I don't even think she knows my name.
They're scared that my twisted wrist and banged up knees won't heal right if I get on my feet right away, so I'm stuck here at the hospital until they're completely sure it's nothing - just some scratches and a little head trauma concussion from being so close to an explosion.
Things are going to have to get back to normal soon, so might as well start acting like it, Adeline.
"Your breakfast, milady."
Kade brings me eggs and toast this morning for the second time, and this time I manage to nibble the crust of the bread before feeling full again.
"Wait," I say to the head nurse, just when she was about to leave.
I need to get up out of bed and stop wallowing in guilt here. I need to help people like Andres and Kade.
"Yes, Miss?"
She taps her pen on her clipboard impatiently, needing to make more rounds around the hospital tent.
