Chapter 7:
John was bored, not able to walk, and not allowed to get his plastered leg wet so he couldn’t swim either. He took to watching the soldiers at their regular PT and training sessions. One lot went in the morning, and another lot in the early afternoon. It seemed it was a routine part of what was expected of a soldier. There was to be a general soon to inspect, their drill had to be perfect, and the sergeant loudly berated the soldiers drawn up in their orderly ranks.
John watched from his wheelchair. Even with his leg in plaster, there were always at least two guards again, and Sergeant Davies was irritated when John interestedly asked Zack why the one in charge was being so rude to the others. John met his glare with a bland look, and when Zack answered with the statement that it was the custom, asked why. The closest men could hear, and were battling not to giggle.
Sergeant Davies stalked across to Zack and demanded that John be taken away as he was disturbing the men. Zack shrugged. Davies didn’t outrank him, and he was finding John’s amusements a little entertaining himself. John smiled at Davies, and told him helpfully that he thought the man second from the end had his fly undone. At this, there were a few chuckles, though when Davies furiously wheeled on them, silent impassive faces concealed their amusement.
Harassing the sergeant amused John, and there was nothing the sergeant could do to stop him. But then the general made his visit. John didn’t meet the general, though he watched from his wheelchair as a private opened the car door, and the bent, grey-haired man disappeared into the Administration Building. A younger man was with him, a Colonel, Bob told him.
The following morning, Zack roused him very early, begged him to behave and took him to Ward 3. “You have to stay here for a while,” Zack said, and put a film on for him to watch. John felt Zack’s anxiety and did as he was told, not even showing his resentment when he knew he was being studied from behind the see-through wall.
The following day, he was back watching Davies again, but this time, it wasn’t drill. They were doing an obstacle course, and the men were racing, four at a time. John was interested as the heats continued, pulling himself to his feet, hobbling to the fence to get closer, and holding onto it as he watched. The men were shouting on their favorites by the time it was the finals, and so was John, to the amusement of Davies as well as Zack and Bob.
Davies and the men started to expect him, but it was weeks before Davies suddenly realized that he was designing the training with a consideration to what might amuse John.
A recurrence of problems made an appearance, even while he was still using crutches. Several times in the next weeks, John collapsed, racked with that searing head pain. They knew it was best not to disturb him when that happened, even when it lasted hours and he was quite obviously in agony. Once, though, it happened outside, as he was watching another PT session. He tried to walk away when he felt the warning, hating to be seen by so many. But he only ever had a few seconds warning before he went down. Oddly, Sergeant Davies, who complained so often about his presence, was most concerned, and it was Davies who gently lifted him onto a stretcher, and took an end as he was carried back toward Ward 3, where they still took him whenever he was sick. It was too cold to have left him outside, but when he was lifted onto his bed, he started fitting, to the acute concern of Davies, still present.
Isaac glanced at him. “It’s not the first time,” he reassured. “He’s not a well man.”
As usual, the collapse, whether he fitted or not, was followed by hours of unconsciousness, the EEG monitor showing readings akin to coma. Isaac wanted another brain scan, but he didn’t want the scanner damaged again. And anyway, it never seemed to show any real difference.
John was up and about the day after, but when Zack asked him if he wanted to go and see the training, he first reddened, but then chuckled and looked at Zack with a wry amusement on his face. “I’m being ridiculous! I’m embarrassed just because I collapse in front of everyone, and yet there’s not a minute of the day when I’m not being watched or filmed or both.” He shook his head. “I might as well face them.”
Davies was feeling bleak that day, and was punishing the men with blistering attacks on their physical fitness, ordering star jumps, and having them continue until most were at the point of collapse, and then straightaway starting them on pushups. A mocking voice said, “Being a bit harsh on them, aren’t you, Rod?”
Davies spun around, a grin spreading all over his face. “Interfering again?”
John nodded, laughing. “I reckon you should make up for the lousy weather by giving them an early mark!”
But Davies wasn’t having this, and only started the men on short runs, quick stops, and back again. He was disappointed, though, when he looked around again and John was gone.
John was in the gymnasium. There didn’t seem much he could do with one bad leg, and one not so good, but there were a few things, and he needed to be strong, too. He wasn’t staying here forever!
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