Chapter 76 Exercise is death

Luke did it, Sarge gave the start signal, Luke started running, giving it his all. He reached the sarge and stopped, bent over and breathed heavily. He heard footsteps, saw the grim coming, then Saskia and a few breaths later Ted arrived. 

Sarge took notes.

"Good run, you made it, Ted. Saskia, you too. " She nodded and gasped for breath. 

Sarge looked at Ted. " Slow, huh?

"Tzz," was the only reply.

Then came the steeplechase, shot put, javelin throw, discus throw and long jump. Luke thought he had a taste of iron in his mouth after the shot put, he was glad he had a black t-shirt because he had wiped the blood from his mouth. 

"Last Ted, you start."

He took a running start and swung over the bar. Then Saskia jumped over it. Luke closed his eyes, gasping for air. He took a running start, jumped off, flew over the beam and landed on the mat.

"Good, Ted's tested you."

Luke sat down on the corner of the mat.

"Well? Can you go any higher? Huh? " Ted approached him arrogantly. 

"You're a ..." Alex put his hand on Ted's head.

"He's what? Huh?" 

Ted backed away.

" He won, I saw it. He beat you, even though he's hurt. "

Luke went into a coughing fit and coughed up blood.

" Wuhh!" 

He tried to get up, but Alex pushed him to the ground, looked at Hyda, the girl, and ran to get the first aid kit from the car. 

"Pff!"

Hydra was back, pulling a hand scanner out of the case and scanning Luke, who stood there breathing heavily, head bowed.

"Sir, micro-tears in the airways, larynx and oral cavity, he shouldn't have done that here, not even out of the military hospital." 

She fetched a breathing mask and put it on Luke.

"I need to apply the gasserum," she looked at Alex. 

" Do that."

"Okay, young man, now that you've passed the test. You can get dressed again."

"Who are they anyway?" asked Ted.

Luke saw Alex grin.

"I'm the boss of the sarge and the young ladies in their uniforms, and his mom is my little girl."

"So?"

"I hear you're in trouble right now."

" Me? Problems? What are you talking about?"

" Gergio told me everything Ted, did you really think you could get away with it? "

" I don't know what they're talking about! 

"

Luke breathed in gas, everything burned cold in his airways.

" Don't struggle, try to relax, " the Hydra said to him, he nodded.

"Didn't you see the cracks?"

Luke shook his head. "Just said there were some in my throat and that it wasn't bad."

He had to cough.

" No more talking, just breathing. "

He nodded and obeyed.

" You wear the mask overnight to sleep, at least a week, Kia get his clothes, have him put on something dry. "

He felt her pull the shirt over his head.

"What are you doing there? He's just sitting in a fucking cart..." Ted said. Luke closed his eyes.

"Luke, have you been to the doctor?" came from the Hydra. He pointed to the spray can in the first aid kit.

"Luke, that's just for little things or to ensure transportation. "

He felt hands feeling his back.

"Sir, where was he?" came from her.

" You can take me." Luke's eyes snapped open, Ted walked away arrogantly. He saw his class dodging him.

"Fuck you!" 

" Fuck Ted! Even Saskia hit you," came from Eddi.

" Fuck you faggot!"

"Even I saw you in the gay bar Ted!"

Ted ran towards Eddi and was grabbed by Sarge. He said something to him and Ted meeked down and left. 

"Kia help me, you need to hold on here" He could still feel hands. 

"I have to cut out all the splinters." 

"Do that," came from Alex. 

"Kia, hold on, you've helped me many times before."

Luke had to cough again. 

"Hey Ted, the windshield of the black car is broken!" 

came from Lina. 

Luke heard a whistle. "Sarah, Ember get him. Let the others know."

"Luke, this is going to hurt!"

He just nodded, felt brief pulses of pain and then a tug. His eyes went black. When he opened them again, he was lying in a hospital bed. 

He looked around in confusion, raised his hand to his head and felt a mask. He looked at his wristwatch, which told him that 4 days had passed. He took off the mask and got out of bed. He filled himself shakily, his gaze wandered through the rooms, he saw two doors, a wardrobe, a small table and chair, a window with darkness behind it.

He staggered towards a door, opened it, inside was a toilet, he switched on the light. His reflection greeted him, he came closer. Luke himself didn't know when he had really seen himself. He had always shaved with an electric razor because he was in a hurry. The last lather shave was the end of his basic training.

The face that looked back at him was not the one he saw then, not the one he saw when he looked in the mirror at home. It was tired, there were deep marks where the mask had been. The cut on his side was clearly reddish, his larynx had two blackened indentations on either side. He had been told that if he wanted to have skin color, the plastic would have to be surgically removed. He hadn't thought much about it at the time, everything had happened very quickly. 

He looked towards the toilet, sat down and took his time. He sighed and relaxed. He hadn't even taken time for that. He washed his hands when he had finished and rinsed. The water felt hot, he washed his face. He heard frantic footsteps in the room. 

He looked around for a towel, but there wasn't one, so he took the hospital gown and went out. A nurse flinched and stared at him.

"Captain Akim, you can't just get up!"

He nodded, sat down on the bed and pulled the blanket over his hips.

"I had to go to the toilet ..."

"You have a pan and a bottle next to the bed!"

"I'm using the loo..."

She scowled at him. 

"I'll tell the doctor that!"

She roughly put the mask back on him and typed something into the machine next to it.

"It stays on until the rounds are over!" 

She slammed the door behind her. He gasped for air and felt the sting of the cold again, his eyes grew heavy and he nodded off, awakened by the bright light shining into his eyes. Reflexively, he raised a hand. Which was held tight.

"All right, first the examination," came the Hydra woman's voice.

He blinked and his vision slowly improved. It was her, she was wearing a gown over her BDU, now he recognized her. His doctor, just with a different hairstyle. She was holding a penlight and writing something on a tablet.

"How are you?" she asked.

" I'm kind of hungry."

"Pain when you breathe? Can you taste blood?" 

He shook his head.

" Good. Now turn your back to me."

He did so and came to the end of the mask tube. Felt her hands feeling his back.

" It'll heal fine, but you'll have scars. "

" So I can't become a skin beauty anymore? "

He got a slap on the back of his head.

"You had 42 splinters Luke, I had to look at your service record to find out when you got some. "

He continued to breathe.

" What I don't understand is that I was able to replicate all but one shrapnel."

" Grenade in basic training, they were trying to create a real environment."

" What about the bullet holes, two bullets were still in you."

" Must have been Argentina ..."

" Luke, I'm worried."

He turned and looked at her.

"Worried about what? "

"So few who have visited you."

" Ha. If my mom didn't even come by, then I'm really hurt."

" She was there, with your father even. You really inherited a lot from him. "

"See, don't worry about it."

She looked at him sternly.

" Luke, of your " friends " there was only a brunette with her boyfriend and a blonde. "

" There are a few brunettes & blondes in the class..."

" They both had a sad look on their faces and why doesn't your file say that you were given electric shocks?" 

" Ah, then it was Uthe, yes he was kidnapped and then tortured with electric shocks" he pointed to a spot on his arm where there were still marks.

She looked at him worriedly.

"That needs to be treated."

"I got an IV and then I had to do nothing and drink some nasty stuff that Tes gave me. Mine is made from herbs from the sea plants where all the Med shit grows." 

"And did you stick to it?" 

Luke nodded.

"And I often see Blonde in therapy with your mother.

Luke had to think.

"Oh, so this is Lina. So my mother and father here, Uthe and Jeremy, Lina. So that's a bit of a visitor."

"Then Liz and George, Mei and April with their entourage, Tes with her husband and Ner with her hood. She was there the most besides Liz and seemed to be looking out for you."

 "Oh yes, I know who that is. So that's a lot." 

"Luke that little. George had a lot of visitors. No one else from your class came by, not your grandfather and not even Saskia. "

"I would have been surprised if Saskia had come."

She looked at him sternly.

"That's how it is, if you ask her, she'll say she was so busy with the Pr Zeuge or the Hydra girls or retaking exams and so on. My mother warned me that they were dangerous".

"I'm a hydra too. "

Luke coughed.

"Relax. Still ... "

"Anyway, important things had happened. "

She looked at him doubtfully.

"Luke ..."

Luke raised his hand.

"For me, that's a lot. I've never been the star in the class, so . "

"Still, they all looked so worried, and so few of your family. Just Liz George and the other four and your parents. "

He looked at her.

"Tes and co. are family, too."

"You can't think of them as family ..."

Luke coughed.

"They're more family than anyone, except for my mom, they never forgot my birthday. Liz used to sneak me into an amusement park or something. "

"Eh, what kind of present is that?" 

" To me it was worth more than an item back then and she always got a discount because they thought I was their kid. "

" Uh-huh ..."

He nodded.

"Was never popular, kindergarten, elementary school all snobs. Then boarding school ppff when they found out who my grandfather was. BAM. Excluded. No snobs, no elite. Friends nerds and idiots."

She looked at him in silence.

He grinned from beneath his mask.

"So whoever came to see me was a lot from my point of view."

"There's something else, your subordinate..."

" Benny."

" He shot himself in transit yesterday. He was supposed to go to a therapy center after he broke down in committee. He said he was supposed to sabotage your mission for the captain and told the terrorists the front line with marching directions. He wanted to come back a hero and thought you were dead. "

 " He was a hero " 

" No, just a hero Luke, the two old guys said Benny was just lying unconscious with them. "

He rubbed his head.

"When can I get out of here?"

"I'd have to discuss that with the head doctor."

He nodded and lay back down.

"How could he sabotage me?"

" Your EXO's rescue system was deactivated. "

There was a knock on the door and an older doctor entered.

" I heard the patient panicked the nurse. How is Dr. Gills?" 

" He's recovering very well, ventilation therapy would only be necessary at night."

"Very well, he should come in once a week for a check-up. He can leave our facility."

"But doctor..."

" There is a surge of seriously injured patients, we need every capacity. "

" What about the mask?" asked Luke.

" I'll tell the nurse, the reception downstairs will give them a set."

"Good, I'll get dressed then."

He took off the mask. The head doctor walked out. Gills looked after him, then at Luke, who trudged to the wardrobe and opened it. The clothes he was wearing were there.

"Luke it's one o'clock at night. "

" I'll call a ride. " 

He changed his clothes. She was gone by the time he was done. He put his things in his bags, left the room and went to reception, where a bag was waiting. He took it and left the hospital. It was chilly outside and he reached for his cell phone.

Saskia had left a message.

"We've taken the things home."

He clicked on the symbol for the car service, which arrived after a few minutes, he got in, gave the address and lit a fag. 

"Hey man, since when do they let people out at one o'clock?"

"They were in a hurry to get the beds empty for the next wave of casualties."

They were silent for the rest of the drive. Luke was dropped off in front of his house. His car was parked in the driveway with the windshield smashed in. He paid and went to the door, reached for the handle, it gave way and he was able to enter. It was dark, he could make out the outline of the furniture.

He went into the bedroom, the bed was empty. 

He put his bag down, went down to the terrace, had another smoke, went back upstairs, took off his shoes, put on his mask and went to bed.