His Army Doctor

Chapter 4: Meeting General Matthews

`Delilah woke up in a warm bed with a cool rag on her forehead. It was the first time she had been warm in hours. She had almost forgotten what had happened, but the blood on her tank top reminded her of the night’s horrific events. She was relieved to see she still had her clothes on. Her bag of clothes and food was gone. It must have gotten left at the pub. She sat up on the side of the bed to look out the window. She was surprised to see the ocean outside her window with the waves calmly crashing on the dock right outside. It was dark and the moon was reflecting off the ocean. It must be the middle of the night by now. She walked out of the room to find a simple kitchen and living room. Simple, but clean. She quietly walked outside on the dock to find the soldier they called Tobias sitting with his feet hanging off the dock over the dark sea. Delilah cautiously approached, still unaware of if she should run or say thank you. He had saved her life and clearly hadn’t touched her inappropriately. As she walked up she saw him holding a bloody towel on his hand. The dock creaked under her bare feet as he turned to look at her and she stopped. His once handsome, but scary face was covered in blood and bruises. Delilah actually felt a little sorry. Had she left in the truck when he told her to, they wouldn’t have had that encounter with Marcus and his gang. 

“Uh, are you okay?” Delilah asked as she slowly walked up to Tobias. 

“I’m fine,” he quickly replied. 

“You don’t look fine,” said Delilah motioning toward the bloody towel. 

He looked at her up and down before replying “Have you seen yourself? You look worse than I do. Can you even move your arm?” 

Delilah looked down at her left arm and remembered the pain that she had been ignoring. It was aching terribly and was clearly broken. It was even twisted in a disfigured position. Great, now I have to find a way to cast it, she thought. The throbbing pain in her head might be the only thing worse than her arm. She rubbed her head as she remembered what happened. She had probably had a concussion given that she passed out. 

“Answer me” said Tobias, interrupting her from her thoughts. “I asked if you could move your arm,” he said as he gritted his teeth.

Delilah cautiously answered a little surprised by his harsh tone, “No, I can’t. It’s broken. I’ll fix it later.” She already knew this meant that she would have to rebreak it to set it once she had something to cast it with. 

Tobias’s angry expression turned into confusion. “How are you going to fix it later?” Delilah hesitated. Should she tell him she’s a doctor? Any advice from the blacksmith is obsolete at this point. This guy was bleeding a lot and it was her fault. She had no choice but to help him. 

She sighed as she walked toward him answering, “I’m a doctor. I’ll fix my arm later. We need to fix your hand now though.” Tobias looked even more confused as he looked at his hand. 

“Do you have a first aid kit?” 

Tobias hesitated but then nodded his head as he led her back inside to the kitchen and pulled out a white box with a red cross from the cabinet. Delilah dug inside and found a needle and stitching thread. Unfortunately, there was no lidocaine. 

“There’s nothing to numb it with so this might hurt she said as she grabbed his hand.” 

She worked quietly and diligently as she carefully cleaned and stitched his wound. He barely flinched as the needle pierced his skin. It took a while since she only had one hand. Tobias quietly watched as he observed the young doctor display her skills. 

“What’s your name,” he asked. 

“Delilah,” she answered, not looking up from her work.  

“Don’t you want to know mine?,” he asked looking at her questioningly. 

Delilah glanced up to meet his eyes and quickly looked back down. “I figured it was Tobias. That’s what those men called you.” 

Tobias sighed, “Yes, but I wouldn’t call those animals men.” 

Delilah looked up at him a little surprised. Tobias was there after all. Was he not there for the same reason those perverts were? 

“Why were you there,” Delilah asked. “You don’t really seem like the type to enjoy that type of entertainment.” 

“I know the barkeep. He called me saying some young girl was there looking for the army camp and was getting auctioned off. He thought maybe you were one of the soldier’s wives. So, I came to bring you to the camp.” 

Tobias looked at Delilah waiting for an answer as to whether this theory was true or not. Was that the only reason he had protected Delilah? What would happen when he realized she was just some nosey sister looking for information on her lost brother?

Delilah hesitated before answering, “Well, that’s partly true. I’m here looking for my brother. Daniel Dawson. He was in the 78th battalion. Their ship supposedly went down about a year ago off the east coast. I haven’t heard from him since. I also haven’t been notified of his death so I think he’s still alive. I have been traveling from town to town for the last 9 months looking for any clue of where he might be.” 

Tobias didn’t say anything for a while and then asked “So, are you married or not?” Delilah furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. What did that have to do with what she just told him? 

“What does that matter?” 

Tobias shrugged and simply answered, “I was just curious about what kind of a scum of a husband would let their wife come to Thanatos Island alone.” 

“The kind that don’t exist,” replied Delilah.

 “There, all done,” she said as she finished the last stitch. It was good timing as well because she really wanted this useless conversation to end.

“I take it you haven’t heard of my brother,” asked Delilah, changing the subject as she looked up from the sink while washing the blood from her hands. 

Tobias continued to sit in the kitchen chair evaluating Delilah’s handiwork as he answered, “No, but I can ask around. There’s hundreds of soldiers here. I don’t know all of their names.” 

Delilah’s eyes light up. Someone had finally agreed to help her. “Is the army camp far? Is there someone in charge that I can ask for permission to talk to the soldiers myself?” 

“No, it’s not far. Only about a mile up the coast. It’s walking distance. And, no you may not talk to the soldiers yourself.” Tobias staggered off into the living room with a cup of coffee and sat on the couch not caring to offer any explanation. 

Delilah could feel her cheeks heating up with anger. How dare he be so arrogant and bossy? She followed him into the living room and stood in front of him on the couch. 

“Excuse me, but I said I wanted to talk to whoever is in charge of the camp.” 

Tobias looked up from his black coffee with a sly grin. He stood up in front of Delilah not caring to back up leaving only an inch between them. He was intimidating standing this close. Delilah was petite and small and Tobias was quite the opposite. He was tall and his muscles were noticeable even under a loose t-shirt. If he wasn’t so rude, she might find him attractive. Tobias looked down on Delilah with a devilish grin. 

“General Tobias Matthews, head of Thanatos Island army base and infirmary camp. I am officially denying your request, civilian, to speak to my soldiers alone.”

Delilah’s mouth nearly hit the hardwood floor. He was no mere soldier with a bad attitude. He was general! Although this only made the scary giant in front of her seem even more intimidating, she was not backing down now. 

“Okay then, General Matthews,” she said sarcastically, “why can’t I talk to them?” Tobias sat back down and rolled his eyes realizing this little doctor was not going to let this go. 

“Because many of my men are sick and recovering. The ones that aren’t are extremely busy. They don’t need to be playing 50 questions. And, may I remind you, you are one of the few women on this island. You don’t need to be going anywhere unaccompanied again or you might find yourself in a similar situation to last night. You can come with me in the morning while I ask around. After that, I have a friend with a fishing boat that will take you back to Acadia.” 

Delilah folded her arms and slumped on the couch beside Tobias. This was the best offer she was going to get. She would just have to hope that one day would be enough. 

After a couple minutes of quiet, Tobias began talking without taking his eyes off his coffee, “You can sleep in the bedroom. I’ll take the couch. There’s a shower in the bathroom down the hall. There’s some clothes in my closet you can wear.” He got up from the couch and turned to look at Delilah, “You’ll get pneumonia wearing a half shirt like that. You know that already, though, don’t you, doc?”

Delilah headed to the bathroom and let the hot shower rinse all the blood and dirt off of her. She hadn’t looked at herself in the mirror yet to see how much of a beating she had really taken. She was going to be sore in the morning which was only a few hours away. Her shower took a bit longer than usual while trying to use just one arm. She found a big, warm sweater in his closet. It was way too big for her small body, but it was warm and cozy. She finally drifted off into a deep sleep excited with hope of finding Daniel tomorrow. Hold on brother, I’m coming.