Miss General

chapter 13

Officer Russell’s POV

            I came into the infirmary room. Connor was in the bed, unconscious. He was finally stable but hasn’t woken up for the past few days. I see that Alex is here. The boys have been switching off every few hours. Connor hasn’t been alone since he’s been stable. I go over to Alex and sit down next to him. Alex looks at me with a pleading look but doesn’t say anything. I put my hand on his leg for comfort before taking it back. Alex gives me a small smile before looking back over at Connor.

            “How you holding up, kid?” I ask.

            “Honestly, I don’t know. Connor’s in a coma. Anna isn’t talking to anyone. The whole camp is in chaos.” Alex looks back at me. “What do we do?” He whispers.

            I sigh and stand up.

            “We take it a step at a time. While we’re waiting for Connor to wake up, why don’t we try and get through to Anna.” I say.

            Alex nods and gets up.

            “Aren’t you going to stay with Connor?” I ask.

            Alex shakes his head. “No, I want to help you with Anna and I don’t think Connor will mind.”

            “I don’t know about that. You are competition.” I smirk.

            Alex’s face turns bright red. I laugh at him while escorting him out of the room. We walk over to the other side of the infirmary and I knock lightly on the closed door. After a seconds pause, I let myself in, knowing no one was going to reply.

            When I get in, I stop in my tracks as I see Tristan is also in the room. He’s sitting in one of the chairs as Anna is sitting up on her bed, looking out the window. Tristan looks up and gives me a desperate look. I sigh as I go over to Anna’s side and sit down next to her bed. I see a cup of water and grab it.

            “Hey Anna, would you like some water?” I ask lightly.

            Anna doesn’t respond. I put the cup back down and notice that she hasn’t eaten her breakfast yet.

            “You know you should really eat. You have to keep up your strength.” I say.

            Again, she does nothing. She just keeps staring out the window. I turn to Tristan and he looks desperate, not knowing what to do either. Alex goes to the other side of Anna and blocks her view of the window. He kneels down in front of her.

            “Hey Anna. Do you remember when we went on a mission together and you lead the team? Remember when we’re hacking the computers and that other General was picking on me?” Alex pauses and looks at Anna. She doesn’t say anything, just staring past him. He continues, “Remember when you stuck up for me and even said how I was a great person for doing this for my country? How no one could compare to my computer abilities? You had so much confidence in me. It was the first time someone truly believed in me. From there I knew that you were special. I knew you were a strong and proud woman. I couldn’t look away from you. You showed me that everyone has their weaknesses and strengths. I showed you mine but you never showed me yours. I knew you were strong but I also knew you had weaknesses. I tried to figure you out to help you but you always just brushed it off and kept everything bottled up.” Alex grabs Anna’s hand and he gasped as he saw her react. She looked down at her hand in his. “Please Anna, let me in. I want to support you even with your weaknesses. I want to help the woman I love.”