The next day I was awakened by Whitney shaking me awake. She frantically shook me, even though I rolled over and groaned at her to leave me alone. "Good God, Ella! It's an emergency! You have to come now!"

Of course, I--a trained nurse who resides in the ER--responded very well to those words. Within two seconds I was up on my feet, ready to face whatever danger this new land offered. I didn't bother to change out of my pajamas, and turned to Whitney. "Where is this emergency?"

She grabbed my arm and urgently pulled me out into the daylight. I readied my mind for what horrors I might see, but nothing could have readied me for what I saw. As she pulled me out, I saw the emergency.

I saw the shirtless men, running and chanting, with the sunrise behind them. They looked like angels, running around, the sweat shining off of their toned bodies. I blinked once, hoping that I hadn't died in my sleep and gone to heaven. "Whit?"

"Yes?" Whitney responded, in a daze.

"I love you for waking me up."

"I love you too, just not as much as those men."

Whitney and I, lost in our dazes, didn't notice the man creeping up behind us. He leaned in, behind me, and bent down so his line of sight was level with mine. He chuckled when he realized I didn't notice him at all, "Ah, so this is why you woke up so early."

I screamed and jumped up, losing my footage. I began falling backwards, when Sergeant Whit caught me, smirking. "My, my, and women say men are perverts!"

I flushed and pushed off of him, landing on my butt instead. I got up and dusted off my butt, embarassedly. "I wasn't being a pervert."

"No, you were just watching sweaty, shirtless, men running around because you have no internet to look up porn, right?"

"Yes!" I agreed indignantly before realizing what I said. "I-I mean no!"

"Oh, God! I don't feel comfortable sleeping within a mile of this pervert!"

"I'm not a pervert!" I protested as Whitney giggled and went back to watching the men.

"Uh-huh, I'm sure. But you shouldn't be looking at other men," He leaned in close to me. "I'm the only man you need to see."

I flushed more and tried to kick his shin. "You're a jerk!"

"Says the pervert," he teased as he dodged my poorly aimed kick. "Oh, and I love the bed-head, it's quite cute." He ruffled my hair before jogging off in the other direction before I could attempt to assault his shin again.

"Y-you have coffeebreath!" I screamed after him, frustrated.

By the Medical Team's quarters, Brandon muttered to himself, "There is definitely something fishy around here."

~oOo~

After I had properly showered, applied a thin layer of makeup, had on clothes that were presentable in public, and, most importantly, properly groomed my thick mane, I met with the rest of the Medical Team inside the Medical Treatment Center. Keith and I were taking inventory on the narcotics, which were to be under lock and key. I yawned quietly info my hand, and Keith smiled, "Are you tired?"

I nodded, "Whitney woke me up early.  I count twenty-seven 12oz bottles of morphine."

"Only twenty-seven?" Keith asked, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"What's wrong?" I stood up to check his clipboard over his shoulder.

"We were supposed to have twenty-nine bottles..."

"Should we tell the Captain? Or Madeline?"

"Yes, we should. But how can narcotics which are always locked up go missing?

I paused for a minute, "I'm not sure...you stay here, I'll go find Madeline."

I got up and left the medicine closet, trying to remember where Madeline had said she would be. As I exited the Medical Treatment Center, I remembered that she had said the eight other volunteers would be in the mess hall, giving vaccines to all the soldiers. I crossed the pavilion in a hurry, and didn't stop even when Sergeant Whit called out to me, "Ella! Hey, will you stop?"

He frustratedly began to walk beside me, "Where are you going?"

"The mess hall," I responded sharply, not looking at him.

"Well, you're in luck! It so happens that a certain handsome sergeant is on his way to the mess hall as well."

"Wow, aren't I lucky?" I replied sarcastically.

Sergeant Whit sped up, reaching the door before me, he stood in front of the door, blocking it. "Ella."

I stopped about two feet away from him, "Please let me through."

He put his hands on his utility belt, watching me closely. I fought the urge to look away from him, and held his gaze. "Can we talk?"

"Look," I started. "I am busy. Okay? I'm on the job right now. I don't have time for whatever this is. Do you understand?"

He looked taken aback for a second, and I immediately felt guilty. I brushed the guilt away, knowing that I had to set boundaries. "I don't understand."

I sighed and ran a hand though my hair, "We had one night, years ago, when we were kids. It may habe meant something then, but it doesn't mean anything now. So just let me do my job here, and you can do yours."

I saw the hurt in his eyes, and I feeling of guilt rose up in my stomach. I looked down at my sneakers, not wanting to see him. "Yeah..." he muttered, pulling the door open for me. "I get it."

I muttered a quiet "thank you" as I passed through the door.

~oOo~

"Are you sure you counted correctly?"

Madeline, Keith, Captain Cooper, Sergeant Whit, and I stood inside the medicine closet, discussing the two missing bottles of morphine. I avoided eye contact with Sergeant Whit at all costs and tried my best to stay engaged with the conversation. "I'm positive, Captain. I counted twenty-seven bottles, and Dr. Bradley said that, according to inventory, there should be twenty-nine 12oz bottles."

Captain Cooper rubbed his temple, "That means there is somebody in this base smuggling narcotics and firearms."

"That's gonna be a lot of paperwork," groaned Sergeant Whit.

"Firearms?" Keith asked, surprised.

"Yes," Captain Cooper sighed. "Last week, we found that four rifles were missing when we took inventory. It's also suspected that more firearms have been smuggled in the past two months."

Madeline furrowed her brows together, "Do you have any idea who's behind it?"

Captain Cooper shook his head and sighed, "At any rate, you've all done a good job, taking inventory. Thank you for reporting back to me, Nurse Anderson, Dr. Bradley. You're all dismissed."

I nodded my head, thanking the Captain as I left the medicine closet. I looked back at Keith as he exited the MTC as well, "We should go help the others vaccinate the soldiers, shouldn't we?"

He nodded, "Come on, let's go."

I saw Sergeant Whit talking to another soldier out of the corner of my eye. She was pretty, with strawberry blonde hair and a thin face. I felt a wave of jealousy flow over me, and was immediately frustrated. Why should I be jealous? I had just rejected him earlier today. Whatever we had was all in the past.

Right?