Two Man's War

Two places at once

The base was bustling about, helping many patients. As we walked inside, many people have given their sign of respect to us, which we returned with a small smile and simple nod.

We both nervously made our way to the front desk.

"Hi. How may I help you?" The lady asked form behind the desk.

"We are here to get an update on the condition of patient Michaels." I responded.

"Okay, and how are you in relation to him?"

"We are his parents."

"Have a seat and a doctor will see you soon." We both made our way to the waiting room, sitting down.
A doctor had briskly walked up to us. We stood up, ready to hear any news that came our way.

"You two are here for Zane, correct?" He asked. He wore a white lab coat, black pants and shoes, and glasses as he looked down on his clipboard.

"Yes. How is he?" We asked.

"Well, we have a doctor looking after him every hour. He has a severe fever and a slight cough but should be coming back to normal in a few days." He said.

"Can we see him?"

"At the moment he is unavailable to see until his levels turn back to normal."

"Levels?" We asked.

"Yes, he has low sugar levels and we cannot allow anyone to see him for fear of him talking. If he talks too much he may not cooperate and refuse to eat his food. If he doesn't eat, his levels drop even more." The doctor explained. It seemed like a lame excuse, but we knew we shouldn't see him if he wasn't feeling well anyway.

"Okay, thank you. We will come back tomorrow then."

"Have a nice day." The doctor said and walked back towards a hospital wing.

Zane's POV

A nurse walked in the room. My eyes were half closed, not having much strength to open them all the way. I felt horrible. I was steaming hot like a hot tub and I never wanted to eat or drink anything.

"Okay, Zane. We are going to have you eat again." The nurse said, picking up an apple. "But we don't want you eating too much. So this is enough for now." She held the apple out to me. She wanted me to eat it so I could take medicine afterwards. I have been through this procedure a hundred times.

I took it and held it in my hands.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my heart and dropped the apple on the ground. The nurse looked at me, concerned. My hands began to shake uncontrollably and the shaking spread all around me. My unfocused eyes saw the nurse grab two more doctors before they rolled back into my head.

Chief's POV
Men raised their hand to their forehead, in a sign of respect to me. I walked the long road in my full uniform. I was being let go, or reviewed the pink slip, or simply just fired. The general and his men were going to take over until they found a new chief.

The ceremony for those who died was later tonight, but I was going to go.

"Sir," Henry came up behind me. I turned to face him.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Here. It's from the capital." He handed me a letter. I opened it and read it over.

"Change the plans for tonight." I replied.

Austin's POV
I knew I couldn't drive forever, so after a few hours I decided to turn around and go back to the base.

Once I got there, my dad rushed up to me.

"Austin! Where were you?" He hugged me. "I have some more news."

I listened to him. I'm sure it's more bad news.

"Was Zane your friend?" He asked. I nodded yes in confusion.

"We need to get to the hospital. His parents are there and want to see you. Word got out that Zane isn't doing so well."

As I drive to the hospital with my dad in the passengers seat, my phone began to ring.

"Hello?" I said as I held it up to my ear.

"Austin, where are you? Have you heard the newspaper? The ceremony has changed! It's in Washington D.C. Everyone is on the plane there besides you and those who are hurt." Cam said in a rush.

"Shit!" I mumbled under my breath. "Okay, okay. What time is it at?" I asked.

"9:30 tonight."

"Okay. I'll try to be there. I can't be in two places at once." I hung up the phone frustrated. The time was 4:30 and we were in Texas. But I knew Zane needed me. So I continued to drive to the hospital.

"Never said army was easy." My dad mumbled. I rolled my eyes at him, ignoring his comment.

Once we arrived at the hospital, we walked to the waiting room where Zane's parents texted us to meet at. As soon as I stepped foot in the room, Zane's mom rushed up to me and hugged me.

"I'm sorry for being so rude when you were told to say Zane was dead." She had tears in her eyes. My dad walked away, talking with Zane's dad.

"It's fine. I would've reacted the same way if I were you." It was kind of weird walking into a hospital with an army uniform on. Everyone seemed to stare at you like you were this superstar.

"How is Zane?" I asked.

"Well, we were about to leave when we got a call from the front desk saying he had a seizure. His fever was too high. I've heard nothing since."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Stay here. At least until we find out about Zane." She said.

We waited for at least two hours before a doctor walked up to us.

"How is he?" We asked.

"He is stable and recovered faster than we have ever seen. His heart had stopped but we got it back. I don't know how, but he is talking fine and everything is normal. It's a miracle." Zane's mom almost burst into tears of joy.

"That's great." I said. "When can he leave?"

"In two days. We need to make sure the virus is completely out of his body." Shoot, he will miss the ceremony.

A thought popped into my head. What if he doesn't miss the ceremony when he is in the hospital?