Live, Love, Lose - 48. Chapter 48

Shift to George's POV  this time  
 

“Let me through!”

George was currently racing through the hospital corridors that were quite busy with injured people and caregivers.

“Let me through I said!”

He wasn’t even sure himself why he was acting this way, but did it even matter? He was in too much haste to think.

“Get out of the way!”

It seemed it took him forever to finally get to the room he was heading for. He burst into it without even bothering to knock and approached the bed. His heart skipped a beat as he laid eyes on him, and his throat became stuck with a heavy lump in it. He was unconscious, carefully tucked in. He could only wait for him to wake up now. He sat down on a chair that he put against the wall next to the only window of the room.

But what would he say to him once he woke up?

Had he even thought about this? Of course not.

What was he even waiting for? I might as well just leave and come back later…

But what would he do? He didn’t know. He didn’t seem to know anything any longer.

It could have been worse…he couldn’t help thinking. He could have died…

Like Nathan.

His stomach ached at the mere mention of his name. He should stop thinking about him before he completely broke down. He tried hard, but it was no use. It was too late. He waited while his suffering was slowly taking over him once again.

After a long while, he heard Carl speak in a low voice. He listened carefully but couldn’t understand a thing. He supposed it was Danish. Of course, what other language could it be?

He continued speaking without interruption. The words were coming out of his mouth faster and faster, and he was stirring slightly.

It wasn’t normal. George stood up from his seat to get closer to him. He looked like he was in pain. He put his hand on his cheek since his forehead was covered. He was burning up. George’s heart started beating faster as he removed it. He noticed he was sweating as well. And now he was writhing. The mere sight made his whole body shiver. He looked like he was possessed by the Devil himself.

There was nothing he could do like this. He hadn’t got the necessary equipment. He ran out of the room and stopped in the middle of the corridor.

“A doctor, please! Or a nurse, whatever!”

But everybody seemed to be too busy to even hear his cry for help.

“Quick! He needs to be taken care of too!”

It didn’t seem to be that efficient, and it got on his nerves. He let out a long shout, hoping he would get someone’s attention.

“What’s going on for Christ’s sake?” Dr. Spencer rushed towards him, looking all alarmed.

“It’s Carl! He’s delirious with a high fever!”

He quickly went to take what he needed, George following close being him as he did, and soon enough they were by his side. Dr. Spencer injected him a dose of sedative that he deemed to be quite enough to make him calm down.

Rapidly all movement ceased, and George exhaled deeply. He looked peaceful.

“He should be alright now,” the Doctor spoke.

It was good news, but the sound of his voice didn’t match the meaning of his words. George remained glued in his spot, staring at him with sad eyes. He realised he couldn’t look away from him.

“I understand that you want to stay by his side, but there are so many people here that need treatment. We need you to help us. You still want to become a doctor, don’t you?”

George’s gaze was still fixed on the unconscious teen. He licked his dry lips as he was trying to make his shivering decline. He was feeling so useless. He glanced at the man with thoughtful eyes.

He knew why he had chosen to study medicine in the first place. But was he really made for this? He wasn’t so sure anymore.

“I…I don’t think I can become a good doctor…” He looked at him just after he finished saying the last word.

The man was staring at him with a look he couldn’t quite decipher.

“You know,” he spoke after a while, “I don’t think there is a good doctor who has never doubted at least once in his life.”

Well, it was easy for him to say that.

“Everyone makes mistakes; even the smartest people do. Nothing is easy, and nothing comes easy. And if you are ready to give up so easily, don’t waste your time trying to do anything else. It won’t be worth it.”

He wasn’t really sure whether it was for the shock of seeing Carl like he just had that wouldn’t dissipate or his words, or maybe both, but he was at a loss for words. If he remained like this doing nothing, he would end up losing his mind. So he might as well try to be really useful for once and help.

“Have you got a white coat left for me? Otherwise, people will never believe that I’m here to treat them.”

He was now staring at him as if he had just said some nonsense, but suddenly a smirk lit up his face.

“Follow me.”

All this suffering, all these people that had been wounded, some more severely than others, it was hard to put up with it for too long. But Dr. Spencer's words had been lingering in the back of his mind.

At least he was doing his best, even if he could do better. It’s said that practice makes perfect. He didn’t know what else he could do if he didn't do that. During these last few hours, it seemed that his life had been taking on its full meaning. And it felt good. A bit of sense in this hell of a world.

In the late afternoon, he went back to see Karl, but without surprise, he was still unconscious, but still looked peaceful. He sat back in the same chair as earlier and simply waited for a potential awakening. But the more he was waiting the more tired he was feeling. After a while, he felt his eyelids grow heavy. He struggled to keep his eyes open, but his attempts were bound to fail, for he slowly fell asleep, lulled by the silence of the room and darkness.

He had no idea for how long he slept, but when he woke up Carl was wide awake. His stomach became upset, and both his mouth and throat were dry. He licked his lips again and swallowed heavily. His heart skipped a beat as Carl’s eyes met his.

“Hey…” was all he could come up with.

But Carl didn’t reply, didn’t smile. He didn’t react at all. Of course, there was the trauma. So already before there was the trauma this kind of thing could happen, so of course it would now.

“Where is she?” George was taken aback by his words. “Where is Rosemary…?”

Both his stomach and heart dropped.

His voice was weak and hoarse probably for being too dry.

But who was that Rosemary? And how the hell was he supposed to know where she was?

“Is she alright…?”

His heart ached, but he tried to push that feeling away. How come he had never heard of her before? If he knew some girl, he should know about it.

“Who’s Rosemary?”

Carl looked like he was surprised by his question.

“That girl! Rosemary! Who is she?”

He was looking completely stunned as if he couldn’t understand any of the words that came out of his mouth.

“The little girl…” he replied after a while, “We nid to find her parents…”

He felt a pang of remorse this time. He realised how stupid he was.

“I…I don’t know…”

He couldn’t remember having seen a little girl who could have met Carl. But since he didn’t know what she looked like it would be rather complicated to find her…. He didn’t even have a last name, and he supposed Carl didn’t know it.

“But I’ll ask around here if anyone has seen her. If you’re here, logically she should be here as well.”

Unless she was…no, he shouldn’t be thinking about the worst. If Carl had survived, she must have survived too.

Karl didn’t reply anything and only glanced away.

It was silent for a long while, for so long, so much so that it seemed to last forever. George simply didn’t know what to say. He didn't like it at all when it got awkward like this.

Perhaps he should leave.

“Well, I’m gonna go and chat now about the little girl, Rosemary. I shouldn’t be waiting for too long. If I don’t do it, no one else will.”

But this didn’t even trigger any kind of reaction in him.

“You need to rest anyway. I’ll come back to see you once I know more about what happened to her, okay?”

He didn’t like at all the look he was staring at him with either. Assuming, he would probably never react, he ended up standing up and heading for the door.

“Thank you.”

A shiver ran down his spine.

He wasn’t sure whether it was for the little girl or for coming to see him, but at least he reacted. And it was rather positive. He could feel the corners of his lips turn up slightly.

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

With that being said and one last look at the Danish bloke he left, closing the room behind him.

He caught sight of Paul who was treading in his direction as he started walking away. He must have come to see Carl too. Their eyes met, and he instinctively recoiled as he saw the look on his face. It meant he would be in trouble. He didn’t think anymore, he started running away.

But before he knew it, Paul was next to him, gripping his left arm firmly.

“Where do you think you’re going like that?”

He forced him to look at him. Next thing he knew, he was dragging him outside, in a spot where they could have some privacy.

“You’re having a fucking affair with him!!!”

His heart skipped a beat. How…

“How do you know that?”

“Who cares how I know?! No one does!”

He started shaking him a bit.

“You’re fucking insane!!! You know what you both risk, you fucking idiot!!!”

George was overwhelmed by this oppressive feeling that was slowly driving him mad.

“It’s nothing serious!” He shouted back, that feeling becoming more and more unbearable. “It’s just a fling, for fun, an experiment! I need it! I need to get laid! It’s not my fault I’m deviant!”

His shouting left him breathless, and his throat was aching. He could feel his eyes becoming wet.

Paul looked like he was utterly shocked by his words; all the anger he had been feeling left his face.

“Once he can go back home, we’ll both forget about it. We’ll never see each other again,” George had calmed down by the time he spoke those words.

Paul had an earnest look plastered on his face that made him still look somewhat stern.

“What if it becomes more than that? This war is not ready to be over anytime soon. Many things can happen meanwhile. It doesn’t take that much to fall in love, you know.”

To him, these words were just nonsense.

“I won’t fall in love with him. I won’t fall in love with anyone ever again. That’s not a thing for me. True love doesn’t exist anyway. That’s just bullshit! Something that you always see in fairy tales. But we’re not living in a fairy tale. This is the real world!”

Paul looked like he was at a loss for words. And it was good that way. He didn’t want to talk about that any longer anyway.

“True love does exist. It’s what my father and mother have been having for many years. And I don’t see why it couldn’t happen to you.”

“Because I’m not your father and he’s not your mother, and we’ll never be. I’m just accepting what I have to hand and making the best use of it.”

With a mere look, he knew that Paul knew what he was referring to.

“While it lasts.”

Again, Paul looked at a loss for words. This was enough to make him satisfied.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have much more important business to deal with.”

He turned away and went back into the hospital, not looking back at him even once.

He felt the day was far from being over.

Hey!  
So here's another chapter  

I just can't get over how George is in sheer denial and slowly catching feelings for Karl without even realising it ^^😗

Well, have a good day/evening/night!

Stay safe and take care 💕