Come Back To Us - 36. Chapter 36

He’s not dead! He’s still breathing.

Look at his uniform! He’s from the Royal Air Force! He’s not an enemy.

***

He felt like a dead weight as he regained consciousness. It took him time to adjust his vision. He wanted to speak but his lips were glued to each other. He could only make a weak, strangled sound. He didn’t know where he was. All he could see was white. And weird.

“Finally. You’re awake.”

Who had just talked to him ? It could only identify it as a male’s voice. But it sounded weird.

He had to strain to turn his head, even hardly. He saw a boy. Must have been around his age. Brown hair. Piercing green eyes. Wearing a nice uniform similar to his.

“I was right to insist on rescuing you. Hadn’t it been for me, you would've died. Not that I mean to boast about it. You don’t owe me anything.”

He couldn’t understand the words that left his mouth. Yet, he could understand English… ‘Musta been the shock… He tried to speak again but still couldn’t…

“Look. I got some water for you. You should drink even though you had enough water already before getting here.”

He could only wonder… Who was that boy?

“Can you sit up?”

He could only make a weak and strangled sound as a response.

“Here, let me help you up.”

He grabbed him by his shoulder and arm and propped him up slowly, trying to be gentle while doing so. He shivered at the mere contact, and not long afterwards he realised he wasn’t wearing his uniform anymore. He kept holding his back once he was sitting on what he guessed was a bed. He was feeling dizzy. He brought a cup to his mouth But Karl couldn’t open it.

“Part your lips.”

Wasn’t he speaking a strange kind of English? Or was it only his imagination after whatever had happened to him? He couldn’t remember for now.
“Here, let me dampen your lips. They’re dry as hell.”

Next thing he knew, the boy put his fingers on his lips. He started. He didn’t like the sensation it created. It only tickled. He turned his head unexpectedly, making his fingers slide on his jaw.

“Hey, cool your jets. I didn’t use my own saliva. I only used some water. You won’t be able to drink otherwise.”

Karl would like to know what had happened but couldn’t even ask…

He felt something touch his lips, but it didn’t feel like it did a few instants ago. It was the cup again. He managed to open his mouth after a few seconds, though not without a bit of struggling… And his eyes closed mechanically as he felt the sweet sensation of that precious liquid going down his throat.

“Easy, don’t drink too fast. You may choke on it.”

He opened his eyes once he didn’t feel thirsty anymore. He wasn’t feeling so dizzy now. He waited for a little while before he attempted to speak again.

“Who are you?” He paused for a few seconds. “Where am I?”

The boy gave him a look that he couldn’t quite decipher. Was it surprise?

“You’re def’ not English! I had a doubt about it! I mean you look like one of them with the freckles and blue eyes, so it’s not easy to tell before you hear people speak. It’s true that there aren’t only English people anymore in the RAF. But you’re from a Nordic country, yeah? Scandinavia! I mean Sweden, Norway, Denmark?”

He wasn’t answering his questions. And he was definitely not in the mood to talk about himself right now. Nothing against him, but he needed answers.

He didn’t repeat his question. He only stared at him.

“Hm… You ain’t really the chatty type, hey?”

He looked like he was trying to be light and joke to make him relax, but this wasn’t really the appropriate time for that. He cleared his throat as he was now looking worried.

“Don’t stare at me like that. You’re creeping me out.”

He glanced away as he started to stand up but changed his mind. Then he sighed.

“Can you remember what happened before I saved you. Can you remember your name? Where you’re from. Your family, how you got to England? Stuff like that?”

Karl was still waiting for his answers.

“What year are we in?”

He couldn’t get a clue.

“Who are you?”

Maybe one question at a time would be easier for him. He was looking resigned now. He sighed again.

“My name’s Aiden. And you are on a submarine from the United States Navy.”

A what….?

“It’s like a boat, except that it can go underwater, unlike a classic boat. That’s how we could spot you.”

Spot him?

He could understand more clearly what he was saying now.

“What happened?”

He was looking worried again.

“So you don’t remember? You were lying at the bottom of the ocean when we saw you. We even thought you had already died. I had to insist so I could go get’cha. And thank God I did. I don’t know how long you remained like that but you were lucky.”

He couldn’t realise. He couldn’t clear his thoughts. He could only sit there like an idiot.

“Your plane must have been shot down by some fucking Boches and you crashed in the water. You know, on a mission.”

He was feeling empty. There was a long moment of silence. He wasn’t paying anymore attention to what was surrounding him. His stomach growled but he ignored it.

“You should get some more rest. The sun hasn’t risen yet. I’ll get’cha some food in the morning.”

He didn’t even listen to what he said. He could remember after a while. How he could have died. Growing into the ocean. How the enemy had tried to shoot him in the water. How all the other planes going with his and were shot down. How he had tried to run away. His shoulders tensed and he stiffened. He remembered seeing Kristian before he left. Tried to imagine how he could have never seen him again. Never seen Paul or Emma again. Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins. Home, his siblings, his parents.

His heart caught in his throat as he thought about the last person that came to his mind

George.

His stomach ached.

“You should lie back down. I’ll be back in a while. If you need me, just call for me. Don’t hesitate to shout my name. It’s alright if you wake up the other men. You almost died. They’ll understand. See ya, man.”

He was quick to leave. But Karl didn’t even lie back down. He knew he couldn’t get a wink of sleep. He just waited for the next day to come. Even if it felt like long agonizing hours. He was patient. His neck ached and his head felt heavy like a weight he could never get rid of.

He needed water again.

“Hey, are you feeling better now?”

The taste in his mouth was awful. He didn’t know what it was, but he hated it. It wasn’t like blood or anything similar.

“I’m gonna take that as a ‘yes’. At last you ain’t unconscious anymore. Look, I gotcha some more water and some food with it. It ain’t that great for a meal but we’re at war.”

War.

He never wanted to hear that word again.

He ate and drank without any envy or enthusiasm. But it was needed to survive. He wouldn’t let himself die after he almost had.

He heard him sighing.

“I know it must be a terrible experience. But you’re safe now with us.”

His words did nothing to soothe the ache in his heart and the heavy sensation in his head. He only spoke after a long while of staying still, staring at the wall in front of him.

“Are we going back to England?"

“It’s heavy under negotiation. That’s not what we had planned in the first place. This ain’t our destination. But we can’t keep you with us as if you were one of us. You’re all planes and we’re all about boats,” he shrugged as he went silent.

He didn’t want to stay with them anyway.

“I don’t care this is not what you had planned. Where is your leader ? I want to talk to him.”

“Hey, you don’t get to talk to the leader like that. He’ll be the one to summon you if he wants to tell you something. But for now he says you still need to rest.”

“I don’t care.”

He tried to stand up to leave that room, but the boy wouldn’t let him. He tried to hold him back, but Karl wouldn’t let him either.

“Stay still and keep your mouth shut. You’re a stranger here.”

He yelped as he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder when the boy grabbed it, pressing on it a little bit too tight.

“Hey, are you okay? I didn’t do anything? I hardly touched you!”

He glanced at his right shoulder. There was a hole in it. He didn’t like that…

“Hey, wait! I didn’t notice that before.” He examined his shoulder carefully before he looked at him with wide eyes and his mouth agape. “You’re wounded!”

He couldn’t remember anything about that. It must have been the Boches with their planes that hit him while he was underwater.

“Let me treat it! I’ll be right back!”

He was out of sight in mere seconds. He could only wait for him to come back. But as soon as he did, he wished he hadn’t left. He was holding a blade in his hand. He tensed as his jaw clenched. Was that how he planned to treat it?

Their eyes met. He froze. What was on his mind?

He flinched as he approached him, knife still in hand. He wouldn’t let him touch him.

“Don’t freak out. It’s just to remove the bullet. I know what I’m doin’.”

He wasn’t so sure about it…

He flinched again until he was pressed against the wall.

“Don’t freak out, I said. You can’t remain like that with a bullet in your arm.”

He would have preferred to see a real doctor…

“It’s alright. It don’t hurt.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’ve been stayin’ still for the last few hours, but you won’t stay still forever. It’s only gon’ take a few instants, so keep staying still for now.”

He had a bad feeling.

“It might hurt a lil’ bit dough”

He sighed in defeat. He guessed he had no other choice but to let him remove it…

“Alrighty. Leggo.”

He cried out in pain as the blade went through his skin.

“Jus’ breathe in an’ out deeply. Dis will last but a second.”

But it didn’t last only a few seconds. For him, it seemed to be lasting forever… he couldn’t seem to find that bloody bullet.

“Fuckin’ Huns! They didn’t miss you…”

He was struggling to get it out. He just hoped he wasn’t going to make things worse for him than they already were. Without his self-control, he would have already pushed him away.

“Sorry, mate. This is taking a bit longer than expected.”

In fact, he wished he hadn’t woken up.

“Got it!” He shouted after a little while and he winced in pain, crying a bit.

The bullet made a small noise as it fell on the floor and his shoulders relaxed a bit as he removed the blade from his flesh. He glanced at the wound. It was bleeding…

His stomach flipped.

“Wait! I got some kind of bandage to put on it!”

He was feeling all light-headed once again. He didn’t pay attention to what happened next. He just felt the sharp pain as he tightened that thing around his arm.

“The bleedin’ should stop. Just lie down again. Imma stay next to you. I wouldn’t like you to faint again.”

He let the boy have him lay down. He had been doing his best to help him, but he wished George could have been the one by his side, to treat him, to comfort him, to hold him. He just wanted to be held and feel his warm breath on his skin.

He cursed the fact that it could only happen in his dreams now, cursed himself for being so stubborn, cursed the Boches for that bloody war. Yet, without that, he could have never met George, he should always remind himself. He had chosen to end up here, so he could only blame himself for this mess. He could have just waited for the war to end. His eyes were starting to close and he couldn’t struggle against it. He let the darkness and void overwhelm him.