His Army Doctor

Time to Leave

The last thing Delilah remembered was screaming. Her voice was hoarse so she must have screamed for a while before she passed out. She vaguely remembered seeing Tobias’s face as he picked her up off the table and carried her out. She awoke back in that warm bed with the window that looked out on the dock. It was early morning with the sky turning shades of orange outside on the water. She slowly got out of bed, but instantly noticed the weight on her arm. Her left arm now had a heavy white cast on it. It was still very painful, but at least it could begin to heal now. She opened the creaking door and walked out into the living room. She looked out the glass door and could see a boat tied off at the dock and Tobias talking to someone outside.

She walked outside onto the dock. The creak of her barefeet on the wooden dock made the two men turn around. She recognized the man Tobias was talking to as the barkeep. He was the one who had called Tobias to her rescue that night. Tobias looked at her and then at her cast before turning to walk her direction. 

“How’s your arm?” Tobias asked.

“It’s fine,” Delilah lied as she curiously eyed the barkeep. 

Tobias let out a sigh and turned back to the man. “This is Mike.” Mike smiled softly and reached his hand out to shake Delilah’s. Delilah shook his hand and replied “Hi Mike. I’m Delilah. Thank you for your help the other night.”

Mike’s expression darkened and he quickly looked down shaking his head. “I’m very sorry I couldn’t have intervened sooner, mam.” Delilah nodded but she didn’t blame him. Mike was a small middle aged guy. She even now noticed that he had a little limp in one of his legs. There was no way he could have defended her against a room full of drunken perverts. He did the only thing he could by calling Tobias. 

Mike held out her book bag that had been left at the pub. Delilah thanked him as she took it. It would be nice to have some clean clothes of her own again. She let out a sigh of relief as she noticed her book of notes was still safely tucked inside. It was where she had been writing down all her leads on Daniel’s location.

“Mike will be taking you back to Acadia, now.” Calmly stated Tobias as he turned back toward the house.

Delilah’s heart stopped. She had completely forgotten about their deal that she had one day and then Tobias would have his friend return her to shore. She had hoped to be more successful in one day or at least have some time to convince him to let her stay longer. Delilah began to grow angry. Just because he was some big shot general doesn’t mean he could kick her off a whole island. 

“What?! No, I’m nowhere near ready to go. You heard the men today! Some of them know about Daniel’s battalion. I just need a little longer. Someone here had to have known him. He might even be laying in that infirmary somewhere. I can’t leave yet. I have to keep looking!”

Tobias turned back to look at Delilah after her little outburst. “I’m the general of this island and the general of that camp. I choose who goes and who stays. It is time for you to go. I will send word to Acadia if I hear anything more on your brother, but I don’t have time to look after you while you play investigator.”

His words stung. 

“I never asked you to look after me. I appreciate your help, but I’ve been taking care of myself for quite some time. I don’t care if you’re some big shot general! You have no right…” 

Delilah was still yelling when Tobias angrily picked her up and carried her to the boat. Her bare feet were still kicking wildly when he slammed her down onto the bench. He picked up a stray rope laying on the ground and tied her foot to a rusty rail on the bench. Delilah continued to kick and scream as Tobias threw her bag to Mike on the boat. 

“She’ll calm down before you get to Acadia,” Tobias sorrily said to Mike who would now have to deal with this erratic woman. Delilah fought as hard as she could to free herself and run back to the docks, but her heart sank as she heard the boat crank up and creep away from the docks. She could feel warm tears sliding down her icy cheeks. Tobias stood at the dock with a solemn expression and watched as the boat backed away. 

Delilah was heartbroken. This was the closest she had ever come to finding Daniel. Where would she go now? All her leads had pointed to Thanatos Island. She didn’t have a home or life to return to. Looking for her brother had become her life. She quickly realized that no general was going to stop her. She looked around for something to cut the rope, but couldn’t find anything. The shore was getting farther away. She had to jump soon if she hoped to be able to swim back to shore. She looked over at the water. How cold is that water anyways, she thought. Some of the shallow areas near the shore already had small patches of ice which meant that water was cold. Very cold. 

She shook off the fear. It didn’t matter. This was her only chance of finding Daniel. She turned around and noticed Mike was at the back of the boat looking at something with the motor. He wasn’t paying attention. Now was her chance. She began to kick at the rusty railing. If she couldn’t cut the rope, she would just have to take the railing with her. The railing was beginning to c***k, but she needed more force. She looked down at her heavy cast and grimaced. This was going to hurt. She swung her cast with one big force and the rusty railing finally broke in two. About that time, Mike looked up after hearing the loud noise. He lost all color in his face as he realized what the brave young miss was going to do. Delilah didn’t hesitate. She took one big leap and dove into the icy cold water dragging the heavy railing with her. 

The chill of water stunned her initially. The water was even colder than she imagined. For a few seconds, she couldn’t move underwater. Every muscle in her body had tensed up and refused to move. Delilah finally began to move her arms and then kick her feet. She came up to the surface of the water and took a deep breath of the cold air. It stung her throat. She began to swim to the nearby rocky shore. She could feel the weight of the heavy railing on her foot and the weight of her large cast now full of water. She was thankful she was a good swimmer. However, the weight of the cast and railing were beginning to tire her out. The shore looked farther and farther away. The waves had grown larger crashing over her and pushing her down each time. Delilah began to realize she may not make it. Mike had tried to come after her in the boat, but she had swam to an area with several ice patches making it difficult for the boat to maneuver through. 

Delilah kept swimming but the pull of the railing was dragging her farther back out to sea instead of to the safety of the shore. Her eyes began to darken. Every breath of air she tried to take was filled with water. She kept swallowing so much water. So much cold water. Her whole body was numb at this point and she could see her fingers now matched the color of the blue water. That’s when she heard her name. “Delilah! Delilah!” She looked in the direction of the voice and could see Tobias running down the shore. He was taking off his shirt and boots simultaneously and jumped into the icy waves. Delilah felt herself begin to drift down into the water finally succumbing to the weight of her cast and the heavy railing when she felt a pair of large hands grab her hand. She then felt the weight of the pole leave her foot. He must have cut the rope. Then, everything went completely silent and she drifted off into a sweet sleep.