Genre : Romance/Hurt/Comfort
Casualties were piled up from the army trucks passing by the paved roads of each district. The sun has started to hide beneath the horizon. Along the cold breeze of the approaching night was the rising smoke of burning residences, screams and weeping of survivors whose minds were trapped in the horror of war, and busy soldiers attending to their duties.
And watching the parade of trucks loaded with corpses of both soldiers and civilians broke her heart even more. She was all messed up – covered in bloodstains, dirt, scrapes and bruises from cruel, unexpected circumstances. During the war, all she could think about was to prolong the lives of both soldiers and civilians in the bloody ground. She chose to live the oath she swore as both a physician and a citizen of the country.
She remained standing alone on the side of the road as the last truck passed by. She was left there all by herself. Her fellows have gone to find their loved ones in the evacuation and rehabilitation camps set by the government. The thought of reality pressed her to a downward spiral of guilt, self-loathing and self-pity. She lost her family and her home; she wasn’t able to save her father from dying when he was shot at the back to protect her. And it seemed that no painkillers or any type of drugs could easily help her recover from the pain of yesterdays.
Her silent tears fell on the ground like raindrops from the dark sky. She was grieving for everything as if the tears welling up from her eyes was endless, not until a soldier offered her a white handkerchief. She looked up at him with agonizing eyes. It was the soldier from the ridge who saved her when an enemy troupe kidnapped her from the army station hospital, killing three of her fellows in the process. She took the white handkerchief he offered, not even bothering to think twice of staining it with tears and bloodstains on her face.
“War strikes both the guilty and innocent. It doesn’t care about who would suffer.” said the soldier impassively without looking at her. He remained standing beside her while staring at the dimming horizon ahead.
She started to sob again. “I lost my family.”
He removed his military vest and rested it on her shoulders to keep her warm from the approaching cold breeze of the night. She was surprised when she felt the warm fabric embraced her, prompting her to look at him.
“I lost everyone.” He said. His silver orbs were glinting with hints of regret from the things he had to sacrifice.
“I’m sorry.” whispered Petra and looked to where he was looking at – darkness swallowing the entire sky.
As they remained still for a moment, letting the comfortable silence embrace them, he seemed to be contemplating. Somehow she thought that he might be grieving more than her, that he must be dying inside. But unlike her, he wasn’t shedding a single tear. He was strong to endure every pain and agony.
She looked at him with gratefulness painted on her amber orbs. “I didn’t have the chance to thank you when we’re in the ridge.” she said, “Thank you for saving me.”
“It’s the decision I won’t regret, at least in this lifetime.” He replied, not even bothering to shoot her a brief glance.
She gave him a faint smile. They didn’t move a muscle as they remained standing side by side facing the horizon, until silence hovered over the surface of everything it touched.
On the first night of the aftermath of war, between the silence and the grieving hearts, she introduced herself to him. “By the way, I’m Petra Ral.”
He was prompted to look at her, quite amused when realization struck him unexpectedly, leaving him searching for words to say.
“What’s your name, Captain?” she asked after seeing the details in his military uniform.
The creases between his eyebrows ceased when he looked at her and replied, “Levi.”
The war has ended along with the winter season, and so was the beginning of spring and a new chapter of their lives.
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