Posted March 22, 2023, 6:26 p.m. by Lieutenant Junior Grade Charlie Bailey (Chief Medical Officer) (Emily S.)
“Charlie? Charlie? Are you awake?”
Charlie sleepily opened one eye and peered at her little sister. “No,” she replied grumpily and rolled back over before feeling a tiny finger poking her in the back. “Please Charlie, I had a bad dream…” her little sister Mimi replied, her soft voice cracking. Charlie let out an audible groan and rolled back over again. “Then go and wake mum up!” She snapped at the little girl before catching herself as she saw the 6 year old’s bottom lip start to quiver. Charlie sighed and sat up in her bed, beckoning Mimi to come and sit on the bed with her. Although only 10 years old herself, Charlie had always been mature beyond her years and did tend to take a bit of a mothering role with her little sister.
As Mimi snuggled under Charlie’s blanket, she hugged her tightly and buried her little face in her big sister’s shoulder as Charlie stroked her hair gently. “I’ve got you…” Charlie whispered as she pulled the blanket tightly around them.
The pair laid down and gradually started to fall asleep when suddenly a deafening sound shook their apartment. The girls shot up and gripped onto each other in terror as they heard the distant sound of people screaming. Without hesitation, Charlie quickly scooped up Mimi, pulling the blanket tightly around them and ventured out of their room.
As Charlie stepped into the corridor, a wave of heat hit them and acrid smoke burned their eyes and lungs. Pulling the blanket over Mimi’s face to try and block some of the smoke, Charlie stumbled down the corridor away from the fire towards the back door. As they approached the exit, Mimi’s head popped up out of the blanket as she spluttered “what about mama..?”
Charlie felt a pang of guilt as it dawned on her she hadn’t even thought to find her mum. Quickly pushing Mimi out of the back door, their eyes met briefly as Charlie simply said “run!” Mimi stood frozen for a moment before Charlie gave her a desperate shove away from the door. “Please Mimi, just run, I’ll find you!” She shouted above the noise. As Mimi nodded nervously and quickly ran away to safety, Charlie turned back to the blaze and gulped nervously as she took a few steps back inside. “Mum!” She called out, coughing as the smoke went deep into her lungs. She took a few more steps before a large blast of flame came hurtling towards her down the corridor. Turning on her heels, Charlie instinctively ran back to the door and screeched as she fell through the exit onto the hard concrete outside, feeling a searing pain in her arm as the flames licked her skin, burning straight through her nightgown in seconds. She quickly grabbed the blanket Mimi had dropped and smothered the flames still bouncing off the sleeve of her nightgown as she backed away from the door, cradling her arm as the flames engulfed the whole apartment.
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“Mum!” Charlie screamed as she sat bolt upright in her bed, waking from her all too frequent nightmare. She instinctively grasped her arm and let out a deep sigh as she felt the now familiar scars running down the side of her right arm. Flopping back down onto the bed, she lay panting for a moment as the memory slowly dulled and her thoughts turned to her family. Rolling onto her side she gazed at the picture by her bedside of the last picnic that the family enjoyed just a week before their lives had been torn apart. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she gently touched the image of her mother who had died in the blaze. She quickly wiped her eyes and put the thought to the back of her mind. It was a big day for her today and she couldn’t afford any distractions.
She quickly got into her uniform and smiled proudly as she touched the new edition of her lieutenant junior grade insignia before quickly fixing her hair and instinctively pulling her right sleeve down to try and conceal the burn tissue on her wrist. She wasn’t ashamed of it by any means but equally she didn’t want to draw attention to it. Taking a few sips of coffee she took a deep breath and headed out of the door for her first day.
Lt (jg) Bailey (CMO)
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