The young man remained motionless. The myriad of emotions swirling in his captivating eyes gradually faded away leaving them void.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
After what felt like eternity, a series of beeping sounds finally shattered the silence inthe room.
Fixing his gaze to the side, he saw 6:00am glowing on the digital alarm clock near the bedside lamp.
With a sigh, he moved the blanket aside. The dim light of the bedside lamp illuminating his body down to the two stumps where his knees should have been.
Reaching beside the bed, he pulled a wheelchair closer. Then using his arms, easily placed himself on it.
He spun the wheelchair around, wheeled himself towards the wall and turned on the room lights.
Bright light from the ceiling fluorescent flooded the room, driving away the remaining darkness.
The interior of the room was simply furnished with a bed, drawer and desk at the appropriate places.
A simple but clean space.
And the figure of the young man on his way to the bathroom was fully revealed.
Lean sculpted muscles rolled beneath the olive skin of his scar-covered shirtless body, as he wheeled himself into the bathroom to do his morning business.
After washing his hands and splashing water on his face, he looked into the wall mirror, which had been lowered along with the sink for this specific purpose.
A young man in his late twenties with lusterless black hair styled in a lowcut stared back.
The lack of expression on his face further emphasized his high cheekbones and sharp jawline.
The light reflecting from the dog tag on his bare chest pulling his captivating crimson eyes to them.
[McCreed
Jason A.
SF-40-130407
O Neg
No Pref]
Gazing at the identity he was once proud of, Jason quietly turned and left the bathroom.
Slowly wheeling around, he quietly made his bed, arranged his footwears and clothes as well as other necessary tidying. After which he went ahead to freshen up.
At 7:00am, Jason exited the room putting on a military green t-shirt and camo shorts covering the stumps of his missing legs.
"Well if it isn't young Jason, up early as usual I see." As soon as he shut the door, a familiar voice sounded from behind.
"Morning Major Lazer." Jason turned around, greeting the newcomer.
Behind him on a wheelchair being wheeled by a female military nurse, a carefree middle-aged man with a muscular stature and lowcut hair sat smiling.
But apart from the smile on his face, the rest of his body remained completely motionless.
"A fine morning to you as well Jason. Heading to the cafeteria?" Major Lazer asked to which Jason just nodded.
"In that case let's go together then." He smiled.
"Do march his pace, will you my dear." He said, his head still locked in one position.
"Sure Major." The nurse behind him replied with a smile as well.
Together, they headed for the cafeteria. Major Lazer merrily whistled a tone along the way.
Jason briefly glanced at the familiar sight of another middle aged man staring out the window before continuing on his way.
Gradually more people also joined them heading in the same direction. They greeted Major Lazer and Jason. But while the former responded cheerfully, the latter just nodded in reply.
A few turns later, they arrived at the cafeteria and everyone went to receive their own serving of breakfast.
Jason soon got his tray, moved to a quiet corner and sat alone. His eyes observing the whole room while he ate.
The one armed middle aged man sitting and chatting with major Lazer.
The young man in his front with trembling hands struggling to eat his soup admist cautious words from his nurse.
The old guy with a blank expression being fed some distance away.
He calmly took it all in.
The cafeteria was filled up with different people.
Yet they alll shared one thing in common. They were all broken, either physically, mentally or even both.
Eating quickly but neatly, Jason emptied his plate in no time. Quietly returning the tray, he wheeled himself out of the cafeteria.
The eyes of many trailing his exit.
"Jason is still as cold as ever huh?" The one armed man eating with Major Lazer sighed, his eyes trailing the retreating wheelchair.
"Well Lieutenant, to put it crudely, the kid's shut himself down after whatever happened to him."
"He's just operating on auto-pilot mode as it is. He's gonna need a strong stimulation to restart him again." Major Lazer replied while being fed by his nurse.
"Well I sure hope he finds that stimulation soon." the Lieutenant replied returning his attention back to his food.
*****
Meanwhile, the subject of their conversation soon came to a halt before another door.
Glancing at the watch on his wrist, he lifted his knuckles.
Thud! Thud!
"Come on in please." A charming feminine voice echoed from the other side.
Jason opened the door and centered the room.
"Good morning."
"Ah! Good morning Jason." A black haired bespectacled lady, sitting behind a desk responded in surprise.
Checking the wall clock which displayed 7:30am, she smiled wryly.
"Jason, our session is scheduled for 8:00am today. You are thirty minutes early." The lady who looked to be in her early thirties said.
Hanging around her neck and resting on her ample bosom was an ID card with the name
Psychologist
Dr Helen Pierce
"Being early is better than being late, miss Helen." Jason gave a short reply.
"Haah! Fine since you're already here I guess we can begin early." With a sigh, she stood up revealing her alluring figure and headed towards a side room with Jason following in tow.
Settling on a couch in the lounge-like room, Miss Helen motioned Jason to an opposite couch. Patiently watching as he wheeled closer and transfered himself to the couch.
As his psychologist, she was well aware that one of the things Jason hated the most was people helping him out with everyday activities. Even refusing the nurse assigned to take care of him.
"Now then, lets begin by asking how you are feeling?" After Jason settled down, Miss Helen began their session.
"I feel fine in every way. but the nightmares still plague me." Jason replied in his slightly deep voice.
"How often have you been having those nightmares recently?"
"Every night I close my eyes, it's the same. Sometimes I wake up and I don't even know where I am." He answered.
"Well do you feel like sharing the events of the nightmares with me?" She asked politely.
But Jason quietly shook his head negatively.
Giving him a reassuring smile she replied, "Don't worry about it, whenever you're ready, you share them with me okay?"
Jason just gave a small nod in response.
The following one hour thirty minutes of therapy time were spent in calm questions and answers along with advices.
"One more thing before you go Jason." As Jason returned to his wheelchair ready to leave at the end of the session, Miss Helen called out.
Seeing as she has his attention, she continued speaking.
"Try getting yourself something interesting and engaging to help take your mind off things. I'd recommend the new VR game War Online that launched last year. Some of the older men are playing it lately and it seems to be doing their mindset a lot of good."
"War Online huh? War ain't a pretty sight Miss Helen, even for a game." He replied and quietly left.
'I can't begin to imagine what happened to him to make him like this.' Miss Helen sighed as she fixed her gaze on his retreating figure.