Hours passed before Claire was woken up.
It became a regular occurrence in recent times for Claire to be startled awake. It was because of the bombs that were dropped nearby.
Opening her eye, she was greeted by light to her left. It was Danielle with her flashlight and a page in front of her.
She was scribing something.
Upon a closer look, Claire realised it was a letter.
Danielle stopped her actions before turning towards Claire. A small, sheepish smile evolved on her lips. "Did the bombs wake you up too?".
Plopping herself back down onto her pillow, Claire nodded to her words. "Yeah...".
"I am surprised the one before didn't wake you up...". With that comment made, Danielle returned to writing her letter. "It was loud too, louder than this one..." Danielle added seconds later.
Then silence descended upon them both.
"Who are you writing to?" Claire's words rushed out before she could stop them. But by the time she noticed, what more, went on to correct herself, Danielle began speaking.
"My parents... my mom more specifically, but I hope my dad will see it too," she replied, gazing at the page, before looking up to Claire. Another sheepish smile grew on her lips. "I promised myself I'd be writing to them often...". A pause. "Can't remember the last time I wrote her anything. Wrote them anything...".
Danielle's words caused Claire to pause for a bit. She looked down at the ground before raising her gaze back to the nylon covering them.
Danielle didn't expect Claire to say anything in return.
"I don't think there is anyone who doesn't write home here
A yawn caught Claire. Yawning, she gently cleared her throat. Taking in a deep breath. "How's the weather now?" She worded to Danielle.
"I don't know, haven't checked, nor have I heard anything. I'd assume it's snowing. Certainly feels that way, the cold.". A pause. "Go to sleep, we have a long day ahead of us.". Another pause followed. "I know the Captain would have said the same if he was here with us right now," Danielle added.
Upon the mentioning of him, Gabriel, Claire felt something in her chest. A swirl of something familiar, yet, she couldn't quite put her finger upon it.
Swallowing whatever was in her mouth, she did as Danielle told her. She turned around, her back facing Danielle.
"Good night..." Claire spoke softly.
"Good night," she replied.
"Make sure you finish up soon too. I don't want you slagging on me tomorrow," Claire teased her.
"I won't, I won't," Danielle laughed. "Besides, I am almost done anyway.".
A small smile made its way on Claire's lips. "Okay...".
With that, she closed her eyes and allowed herself that bit more of rest before she had to get up.
---
A few more hours passed before Claire and Danielle were woken up. It was time for their 'shift'.
Over the last few days, though still audible, the sounds of shooting and the noise of the planes flying from above grew quieter.
They were putting pressure upon the enemies. Slowly driving them back from where they came from.
Both Claire and Danielle met each other by their bench.
"What do you think will happen today?" Claire asked.
At first, Danielle shrugged. "I-I don't know...". She took a brief break before looking out towards the nylon that draped down, acting like some sort of a door. "But imagine this... someone might run into the tent and shout that we are winning... Like maybe that the enemies surrendered to us...".
Claire couldn't help but laugh ever so slightly at what she heard.
"What?" Danielle asked, damning herself for smiling along too.
"It seems highly unlikely... I mean, listen, they are still fighting. And I feel like there is only more to come...". A slight pause followed. "But what you said, it sounds more than welcoming right now...".
Before anything else could have been said, the roaring of a vehicle was heard. A truck.
Just like over the last few days, the injured soldiers, aided by their colleagues made it into the tents. Slowly, the empty tables became occupied by the injured ones, and, once again, shouts and screams of agony filled the space within the nylon barriers.
A young man was laid down on Danielle's and Claire's table.
Claire looked at his face and froze for a brief second. She saw the way he furrowed his brows, the way his tears left a trail down his face and then the paleness his complexion held.
What really set her off guard was how similar he looked to one of the guys she met last year. But she knew, for a fact, that it wasn't him. 'A large scar on his cheek, that's what he is missing...' Claire thought to herself.
Upon opening his eyes ever so slightly, she glanced at them. His grey orbs.
It was obvious he tried to hold back his tears, but the pain he must have felt made him do the opposite.
Immediately, Claire and Danielle got to work.
Neither had to ask what happened, they saw all the blood that was emitted from his body. And the flow had no intention of stopping.
"I-I don't want to... I don't want to..." the young man's voice was trembling. Strained.
He didn't manage to finish his sentence, but Claire knew the continuation of what he wanted to say. And it caused a wave of pain in her chest.
Swallowing whatever was in her mouth, she gritted her teeth. "You won't..." Claire began. "You won't..." she repeated. "We will do our very best. Stay with us!".
Quickly, they undressed his blood-drenched top only to find bullet shots and knife stabs all patterning his abdomen.
'How did he manage to stay alive for this long with such severe injuries?' Claire thought to herself before she applied pressure to the wounds to stop them from bleeding.
Just then, did his hand fall limp right beside Claire's legs. Then she heard Danielle's voice.
"Sir?...". A pause. "Sir? Can you hear me?".
Claire looked back up at his face. His head was tilted to one side.
Fear accumulated in her stomach. They didn't even have the chance to try to save him.
Although it seemed obvious, Claire looked at Danielle. "Did we lose him??".
At first, Danielle shrugged, her eyes growing that bit bigger. "I don't know... I-I...". She couldn't help but tremble. "Check his wrist for a pulse. I'll check his neck.".
Claire did just that. She caught his cold hand into her grip before trying to navigate the beating of his heart. But she felt nothing.
"N-no... no..." Claire muttered under her breath, her voice shaking, as she tried to look for his pulse once more.
Again, nothing.
Swallowing down the lump that began to form in her throat, she looked up at Danielle. She saw that Danielle too contained an expression very similar to Claire's. Terror, fear. Surprise.
"We lost him..." Danielle spoke softly, a lump also growing in her throat.
Seconds passed before his body was carried out, making their table vacant once more, just like it was minutes ago.
But his presence occupied their minds.
"He was so young..." was all Claire managed to mutter out.
Danielle nodded at her words, pursing her lips in an attempt to stop the further sadness and tears from building up within her.
And just as fast as they got the young man's body out of the tent, a new body was placed on their table. This time it was an older man.
One of the soldiers, a soldier Claire hadn't seen before, who brought him inside turned to her. "A bullet or two managed to hit him. But apart from that, he isn't suffering from anything else.".
He was just about to leave when Claire's voice stopped him. "How's it out there?".
He furrowed his brows. "What do you mean, Miss?".
"Is it bad out there with all the shootings?" She reinterpreted the question.
He looked at her for a second before taking in a deep breath. "With all due respect, Miss, I do think there are other things which should be of a greater priority to you, rather than asking me 'how it is' on the battlefield...". With that, he turned around on his heels and began walking.
"But I just want to know if he is okay.".
The soldier stopped once more. But now, instead of turning fully around, he only turned his head, having his chin come close to aligning with his left shoulder.
"This is a war, Miss," he began. "Whoever it is you are talking about, he may be okay now. But just know, it won't last for long...".
Leaving her with these words to dwell on her mind, the soldier continued to where he was headed. Out of the tent.
Though Danielle heard everything that was said, and though she wanted to know more, when Claire came back, she quickly decided that it was better against asking her who this 'he'. Who this man was that she cared that much about. 'Maybe... maybe it's her brother she was talking about?'.
With that thought, she looked back down at the man who was at their table. 'I shouldn't let myself get distracted by stuff like this...'. She paused in her thoughts. 'We have greater priorities to tend to, just like he said...'.
---
Claire turned and walked off, away from Danielle's and her table. She was headed towards a large, white room, which mostly consisted of glass, that was built a few days ago.
She knew what it was she needed to find, so upon her entry into the room, she quickly scanned all the bottles upon bottles of medicine. Some could have been orally ingested, while others needed to be injected into the body by a needle.
Managing to find what she was looking for, she grabbed it and began her way back.
Just as she exited the room, she heard planes from above fly over the camp. Her eyes steered up towards the nylon ceiling, only for them to go back down seconds later when nothing could be seen.
Steps later, she reached Danielle, and with that, she placed down the medicine on a tray.
Looking at Danielle, she saw that she had already begun to clear the area where the bullet wounds were.
"Did you bring an anaesthetic?" Danielle asked, raising her gaze to Claire.
Kneeling for a brief second, she looked through all the name tags on the four small bottles she brought from the room. She cursed herself when she realised it was that she forgot to take.
"I'll be back, I forgot the get that," with that, she jumped up and went back towards the room.
Reaching it and entering it, she looked for the anaesthetic, managing to find it seconds later.
Claire bent down and was about to get it when another wave of the buzzing of the planes was heard. Seconds passed before bombs were heard exploding.
They were dropped at such a proximity that a small, seismic shock hit the tents. A small earthquake occurred as the lights above them all began to sway and flicker.
As the small shaking from the ground came about, the clattering of all the medicine echoed throughout the room.
Seconds later, before anyone could have comprehended anything else, a few bombs were dropped on the tents. Such action resulted in explosions.
The blast from the explosion caused the small storage room to turn and fall onto one of its sides, in turn causing the glass to burst inward.
Leaving Claire, inside of the four walls, unconscious.