Stupidity At Its Finest [Stephen]

[Niamh Dunlevy]

Country: France. The setting is on an Allied base, in the medical area.
Time: 15:02
Weather Conditions: Overcast, breezy, and with a hint of rain.

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Morphine was such a joy. Her head was heavy and she felt like giggling all the time, but at least her arm wasn't killing her anymore. Not to mention, the pretty colours on the far wall were nice to look at. Yes, pretty, pretty colours...at least, until the morphine wore off and she felt sore again, in which all she wanted to do was sleep. Or cry. Preferably the first thing, but crying was good. Well, most of the time.

On the table beside her, flowers and "GET WELL NIVVY" cards were well into the dozens. Her large family had heard of her near-death by the Germans, and they had been visiting and sending gifts as often as they could. The chrysanths looked nice by the window; their yellow petals were a nice substitute for the pretty colours on the wall. The fact they were real and that they smelled nice were an added bonus too. They also matched the yellow blanket the other volunteers had knitted for her, which had been flung over the standard hospital sheets by a kindly nurse.

This had to be the worst situation she had ever been in. Her hand might never heal properly, with everything almost broken one way or another. She was facing court-martial for disobeying orders, and her paycheque would most likely be cut due to all those supplies she had lost. Even worse, Rakey-Jake, bless his soul, was now lying dead on the side of a French road. If it wasn't for her pride, the horse would've still been grazing in a nearby field with Drummer, and the other draft horse, Winston. Fell had visited a day earlier, and Niamh had never seen the woman so angry before.

And what about her father and mother? Her mother was most likely having a heart attack, and her father was probably fighting through every barrier between England and France to come and see her. The boys would probably be updating him every hour about her, and it was most likely one of the Lieutenants in the family was pressing for a transfer so they could keep an eye on her. It was annoying, being considered such a baby amongst the Dunlevys; Brian, Cillian's fourth-youngest brother and considered a baby himself, probably went through the same thing whenever he got injured.

There was a knock on the door, and Niamh Dunlevy weakly turned her head toward the sound. A nurse peaked her head in, saying, "You have a visitor, Miss Dunlevy." Niamh nodded, figuring it was another cousin coming to see her, most likely bringing gifts and/or some sort of lecture. Oh well; she had been getting varying numbers of both the past week or so.

[Stephen Colly]

He knew this would happen…why couldn’t she just keep out of trouble? War was not a place for a woman and especially an ambitious one like Niamh.

Stephen had arrived back the day before; he had stumbled into the Allied base in a total wreck, covered in blood and mud. Little did anyone know that the blood wasn’t from some “German bastard” but from a French farmer who had lived on a farm a few miles across the Allied border. Stephen had met a great friend, that great friend had been Edward McMillan and Stephen was yet to tell anyone and maybe he wouldn’t tell anyone until Liam Brentwood heard it himself about the discovery of the presumed dead Staff Sergeant McMillan.

The Devonshire lad had been scrubbing boots when he had heard from Livington about Niamh. It had only been that morning in fact:

”Stephen, hey, don’t you have a friend called Niamh Dunlevy?”
”Yeah, why?”
”She’s in hospital, heard from the lads early this morning, had a run in with the Germans.”
Silence.
”Stephen?”

Stephen had stopped his scrubbing and had starred off into the distance; horrifying images appeared in his mind of Niamh lying there like that French farmer’s daughter.

”Stephen?” his shoulder was shook by Livington who was staring into the pale boy’s face with worriment, ”You alright?”
Stephen blinked a few times and stood up, dropping the brush on to the floor, ”Which hospital?” he asked drily, his mouth very dry all of a sudden.
”Medical one, over there, by B Company.” Livington jerked his head and thumb back where he had just come from. ”She was admitted about a week ago but as you haven’t been around…well, I’d thought I’d tell you.” but Stephen hadn’t been listening, he was sprinting across the muddy ground towards the big Red Cross building that appeared over the mass of green uniformed men and trucks, it stood out clear against the dying sun.

So here he was, standing, his uniform not as tidy as it had been nor not as dirty as it had been one day previous. He was standing in the waiting lobby, injured people going in and out around him. A nurse approached him and showed him the way to the room where Niamh was.

The nurse pushed the door open and spoke to the person in the bed who was obviously Niamh. The white-clad woman stepped back so Stephen could enter the room.

And there she was.
”Niamh? It’s me, Stephen. I didn’t realize you were here….a-are you alright?” he blinked back tears and pulled up a chair, sitting down close to her bedside. He had been thinking of shouting at her, blowing his top but looking at her now, so frail and suddenly very young looking…he just didn’t have the heart to say anything mean.

[Niamh Dunlevy]

So...it wasn't cousin number...something-or-other; she had lost count. It was Stephen Colly, a good friend and fellow lover of horses. She hadn't seen him for a while; she had been spending the last couple of weeks before the incident working in a American/Commonwealth base. It was mostly used as a resting spot for both sides, but lately, it had been the site of several deliveries and supplies for any other, more understocked bases. Apparently, with all of the Germans cleared out of the area, it linked up to several other "clean" areas, creating a good supply route. After her little fiasco, though, Niamh doubted she would be working there any longer.

Even though his face was a bit fuzzy, Niamh could still see Stephen's face was tight. He was probably worried sick about her; the two were especially close friends, since both had helped the other's horse in some way or another. Plus, Stephen was one of the few people to ever show her kindness since Niamh left home. The Pavee would have said a proper hello, but instead, she giggled, all thanks to the morphine in her system.

"Hee hee hee...hiiiiiiii Sthiff...Stheph...Stheph-eph...helllllllllllloooooooooo," slurred the girl with a stupid-looking grin. "Don't be saaaad...be haaapppppyyyyy...look at alllll the preththyyyyy cooooooooollllooooooourrrrrrsssssss...hee hee."

Splashes of pink and bright yellow were exploding all over Stephen's face, and he had begun to spin around and around like a circle. With glazed eyes, Niamh followed the motion, giggling louder as she did so. Oh, what fun! Such entertaining colours to fix the mood of the room straight away! They should've been hospital buddies, since Stephen would probably be on morphine from some sort of wound, and he could understand why she couldn't help but laugh at the pretty colours.

"How...how...how's da 'orrrrrrrrrssseeeeeeeeey?" the woman added. "Ja-Ja-Ja-Ja-Ja-Joeeeeeeeyyyyyyy...wheeeeee...riding him 'gain mussstttttthhhhhhh be fuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnn...wheeeeeeeeeeee...."

"You'll have to excuse her, Corporal," said a nurse peeking through the door, having stopped by the room when she heard Niamh's banter. "It's the morphine. She's on a fairly high dose due to a severely broken hand."

"Ittttttthhhhhh's not brrrrrrrooooooooken..." argued Niamh. "Ith's...ith's...SHIIINNNNNNNYYYYYY COLOOOOOOURRRRRRS, WHEEEEEE!!"

The woman then suddenly stopped, flinching, as she felt a little dizzy. She sank down into her bed, her body loosening a little. "Ow...headaaaaaaaaaache..." she said lowly, even though the painkillers were preventing her from feeling too much at all.

[Stephen Colly]

Stephen was not quiet ready for Niamh’s outburst. He could see she was high on morphine and couldn’t quiet understand what the hell she was saying. ”Yes, pretty colours.” he glanced around the door, it was an extremely dull room bar the flowers and gifts and cards at the end of Niamh’s bed, there seemed to be about 50 items of one thing or another there, Niamh had a lot of family by the looks of things.

She started to laugh and Stephen smiled softly, at least she wasn’t seriously hurt. Livington could have been a bit less anxious and worried about her, Stephen had literally thought she would be lying in a coma or something, but she wasn’t just high on morphine.

”Joey is well, haven’t seen him in a while, but he is well thank you, he’s at home you see.” Stephen said to Niamh but paused and turned round as a nurse peeked her head around the door, ”No, it’s fine Miss.” Stephen smiled at her, ”Do you know what exactly happened to her? I’ve been away the last few days so have no idea.” he stood up from the chair and away from the bed as the occupant of the bed started to argue.

He crossed towards the nurse and stood beside her, Niamh had sunk into the bed as a dose of sudden headaches happened inside her, ”She will be okay I guess?” Stephen glanced at the nurse and then back at the woman in the bed.

[Niamh Dunlevy]

"...She will be fine, yes," the nurse began, glancing at the high Pavee, "but we're concerned about her right hand and wrist. Almost every bone in her hand has been broken, somehow, and the wrist has been badly dislocated. One of the soldiers who retrieved her said there was a knife near her hand at the scene; it was most likely that her hand was badly injured in an attempt to disarm her. We managed to fix a few things up in the first surgery, but severe injuries such as hers always have a catch in the end."

A voice down the hall called out, asking for a nurse in one of the nearby rooms. To Stephen, the nurse then said, "Please excuse me, sir," and hurried away from the room. Niamh, now over her brief dizzy spell, was grinning stupidly at Stephen once more.

"IIIIII liiiiiikeeeeeeeeee cooooooloooooourrrrrssss..." she said in a dreamy voice. "Thissss place is sooooooooo duuuuuuulllllll...I wannaaaaaaa beeeeee riidddddiiiiiinnnnnn' Daaaahhhhhh...Daaaaaahhhhh...Daaaaaahhhhhhrummmmer...."

Letting out a melodramatic sigh, Niamh stared pointlessly at the ceiling for a moment, trying to see if the pretty colours would follow her eyes from the wall. Unfortunately, they were all faded when they did, and she looked at Stephen again, frowning.

"Don'ttthhh yyyooouuu wonnnder why t'e Germsss...Germoss...Jerrrmans.... Don'thhh ya wonder why t'eeey would beaaathhhh up a giiiiiirrrrllllll...?" the young woman asked. "Nexxxxthhh t'ing you knoow, t'eyyyy'll be beatthhhiiiinnn' up a faaamillllly...riiiiighhhttttthhhh?"

Niamh sneezed, then blinked, then blew air out of her lips like a child. "IIIIII wonnnnndeeeeerrrrrr whaaaathhhh I'll do wiiiiithhhh all t'ese preththyyyyyy colours afther t'e waaaaaar..." said Niamh. "I'mmmm...I'mmmmm hhhhhopin'...hopin' I can sthiiiilllll visithhhh ya, Stiff...Stheph...Sthethoscope. Yeah, Sthethoscope, riiiiiiiigggghhhttttt? Sthephesssscope...and Joooooeeeyyyyy...we can ride outttthhh...outtth in t'e fielllllds...."

And then, she burst out into another fit of giggles. Riding with Stethoscope, what fun! They could race around his farm! They could juggle on horseback! She could teach him how to leap off a fence onto a moving steed! Yes...such good things to do after the horrible war was over.

[Stephen Colly]

Poor Niamh.

He listened to the nurse speak about Niamh’s wrist and hand, nearly every bone in her hand was broken! And her wrist dislocated? What had she got herself into?

”Will she not be able – “ he was cut off by a shout down the hall, a doctor needed the nurse for other duties, she excused herself and rushed along down the corridor. How Stephen admired those nurses, they were the driving force behind the medical side of things in the war.

Niamh suddenly shouted from behind him and he jumped slightly, she was staring around, her eyes wide and going on about colours…he glanced around the room, frowning as he saw no colours. He looked back at her, she was staring at the ceiling and her eyes suddenly turned upon him and he blinked as she spoke about Germans beating up girls and then…

"Nexxxxthhh t'ing you knoow, t'eyyyy'll be beatthhhiiiinnn' up a faaamillllly...riiiiighhhttttthhhh?"

Beat up a family…Stephen swallowed hard as he remembered the bodies of the children and the wife and her husband on the floor of the farmhouse. He understood why Edward had killed the father but didn’t get it why he had killed the children and the wife…Tears filled his eyes and he looked away from Niamh and down at the floor.

Niamh was now pronouncing his name wrong and laughing hysterically, this was not going well. ”No, my names Stephen…never mind.” he came back to the chair he had sat on and stared at her.

[Niamh Dunlevy]

Was it something she had said? Why was Stephescope - no, Stephen, as he had said - so upset? Was it because of her? Maybe. She wouldn't press the issue. She still remembered the look of terror on his face that night, not too long ago, because of the shell shock. Well...Niamh didn't remember it too well at the moment, because of the drugs. He might have still be suffering from it, though.

For several minutes - twenty, really - Niamh remained quiet, raising her eyebrows when the pretty colours began to fade on the opposite wall. The slight stiffness she felt around her injuries turned into a sort of dull ache. Blinking, Niamh wondered what was going on, but as a bit of fog lifted from her brain, she realized what was happening. The morphine had begun to wear off - her last dose had been a while ago.

Slowly turning her head to face him, she said, "Dooon'th...don'th look so ssssad...I didn'th mean tho...tho bring sooooomet'ing ba-ba-ba...baaaad up...laddie...."

Inhaling deeply, Niamh let the air fly out from between her lips, sounding like a sighing horse. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel guilty about the whole supply debacle. If she had just waited until morning, then there would've been less of a chance of getting caught by the Germans, and her hand would still be in one piece. Well...it was, but not the bones inside of it. The doctor had been very clear on how much of a mess it was in.

"You know..." she said quietly, "I...I juuuusth...was 'pseth, ya knnnnoowwwww? I meaaaaan...I was wiiiit' t'e 3...3ID a while back. T'ey threaaaated me liike...like s%******&. I wass...wasn'th haaaappy. T'ey say..say woooomen don'th haaave a plaaaace 'ere...buth I do. I...I mean, m'faaaaamily is playin' a biiiiig rrrrrooooolllllle. I...I kinda felth...lefffth ouuuuth, 'specially wiiithhh...t'e whole...'Gyyyypsssy' t'ing."

She then sneezed, blinking rapidly afterwards. For some reason, the forceful motion made her feel a little dizzy. "'Sccccuse me," she muttered, letting out a normal sigh that time.

[Stephen Colly]

Niamh was silent for...for a long time and Stephen had nothing else to say. He kept glancing at his watch, 20 minutes had gone by until she spoke up, turning to face him. He looked up at her, staring into her eyes.

"Dooon'th...don'th look so ssssad...I didn'th mean tho...tho bring sooooomet'ing ba-ba-ba...baaaad up...laddie...."

Stephen chuckled, shaking his head, ”Nah, don’t you worry about it, you didn’t upset me, how can you ever upset me?” he asked, smiling at her. She inhaled deeply and sounded like a horse…he chuckled again.

He was about to ask what had happened to her or if she could even remember what had happened when she spoke quietly and he had to lean in a bit closer to hear what she was saying.

"You know…I...I juuuusth...was 'pseth, ya knnnnoowwwww? I meaaaaan...I was wiiiit' t'e 3...3ID a while back. T'ey threaaaated me liike...like s%******&. I wass...wasn'th haaaappy. T'ey say..say woooomen don'th haaave a plaaaace 'ere...buth I do. I...I mean, m'faaaaamily is playin' a biiiiig rrrrrooooolllllle. I...I kinda felth...lefffth ouuuuth, 'specially wiiithhh...t'e whole...'Gyyyypsssy' t'ing."

He sat back and looked at her, ”Yeah, well I was a bit “off” with you when you said you had joined but now I have realized that women do have a place in this mess.” he nodded, and rubbed the back of his neck.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when she suddenly sneezed, ”Jesus…no worries Niamh, no worries.” he smiled softly, over his little fright. Glancing at his watch he bit his lip and glanced at her.

”I’m going to have to go soon Niamh, got a patrol to go on very soon.” he stood up as he said this and looked down at her, ”You’ll be safe here, it’s a good place.” he waited in case she would say anything else.

[Daniel Brennan]

Mod Post

Everyone is always better when they are high!

CP:
Stephen Colly: 9CP

Niamh Dunlevy: 9CP


~Dan