Ad Astra Per Aspera [2] - Band of Brothers

4 | little bird

" May my heart always be open to little birds who are the secrets of living."

- E. E. Cummings

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Hazel blinked herself awake and pain immediately consumed her entire being again. The nightmare last night hadn't been as bad as the night before, but it was fresh in her mind. She hated that it was that fresh in her mind. Hazel grimaced as she sat up and her hand went to her wound, which had bandage changes every few hours. 

It was a stark reminder of the war and of the horrors that Bastogne held. But today was the day she had been promised a hot shower, an actual hot shower, where the water was warm and there was soap and she could feel some sort of warmth for a moment or two. Hazel looked towards her bedside table and saw water and a pill sitting there. 

Amelia. 

Amelia Beckett had been one of the nurses to really help Hazel these first few days, making sure she ate and drank and remained clean as she could before her shower and that her wound didn't worsen. Hazel slowly pulled her feet over the edge of the bed and let her cold feet touch the ground. A shiver was sent up her spin. She looked towards the bed beside her. 

A man had come in the other day, unconscious, with wounds that looked worse than Hazel's and Hazel learned he had extreme blood loss. His skin was pale and his body was all curled into itself and freezing. He had woken up yesterday, but he barely spoke, barely ate and Hazel had seen Amelia try plenty of times to get him to swallow food but he refused. 

It was like he wished he had died.

Hazel let out a shaky sigh and then reached over and grabbed his cup of water and the pill before taking it quickly. 

Her hands went to her side, and pulled back only the crimson red blood that flowed from the wound. 

Hazel swallowed the pill softly, her eyes staring straight forward, gaze compromised. 

The blood was bright red - fresh. And it stung. It stung horribly. She remembered the sight through blurry eyes. 

Hazel slowly glanced down towards where the wound was and lifted up the soft shirt she had been provided because the ODs were too constricting for the wound. 

It pulsed, the entire wound and it ached. She remembered getting a paper cut as a kid. She never thought pain could amount to this. 

Hazel stared at the bandage that covered her entire chest, wrapped gently around, covering where the wound lay underneath. She gently touched the wound and pulled her hand back quicker than her hand touching a hot pot. 

Her tears were salty, streaming down her face as if they were to fall into a sea, watering the dark fills of land all over the world. 

Hazel's heart raced as she stared at the wound, her breathing rate picking up as a bead of sweat formed along her forehead.