| Fan Fiction |
by elmo
“What do you mean by ‘you can’t help me’?! You’re a doctor! Take this goddamn scar away from my face!” The man growled as he glared menacingly at Dr. Kiln.
“I’m so sorry, but I don’t think there’s any way to remove the scar. Firstly, you didn’t seek any immediate medical assistance, and secondly, the burn is very deep, so it’s impossible to return your face to its original look.” Dr. Kiln tried to explain patiently once again.
“A merchant from Emden, Germany brought him here, and he’s been like this after arriving back at the medical camp a few hours ago…” Selena told Bosco.
Just as Raymond was about to charge at the doctor once again, he felt a pair of strong arms pulling him away from the doctor, but he was unable to see the person’s face.
“Get the syringe and sedatives here.” Dr. Kiln instructed the nurse, whom hurried to get the equipment for the doctor.
“No! Don’t give me any tranquilizers! I don’t need them! Let go of me at once!” Raymond struggled to get away, but the strong hold on him refused to budge at all.
“Ray, calm down…” Bosco spoke from behind, as he was the one holding onto Raymond.
Upon hearing a familiar voice after being trapped in a foreign land for such a long time, Raymond’s attention was being distracted momentarily as he tried to take a peek at the person behind, but Dr. Kiln grabbed the opportunity to insert the needle right into the vein on Raymond’s arm, and gradually, Raymond’s body began to relax against Bosco. As Bosco placed Raymond back onto the bed carefully, he saw that his best friend was visibly a lot thinner and more haggard, but most importantly, the scar across his right cheek seemed to indicate the ordeal which Raymond had gone through.
“Go to sleep first. Everything will be fine when you wake up.” Bosco reassured in a soft voice, as Raymond tried to keep his eyes focused on Bosco, but soon he succumbed to the drug and fell into a deep sleep. After the struggle for survival for many months, it was a relief for him to see someone he knew, because that meant that he was finally home now.
“Selena, can you do me a favor?” Bosco turned and asked the lady.
She nodded and listened on.
“This is the address of Myolie’s family’s new home,” Bosco scribbled on a piece of paper, “Tell her that Raymond is still alive, and currently here at the medical camp.”
Selena then asked, “Do I have to tell her about his current condition…and the scar?”
Bosco thought for a while before answering, “Just briefly mention it, so that she can be mentally prepared. If she asks about me, tell her I’m with Dr. Kiln and the German merchant.” With that, both of them set off in different directions.
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He was struggling to avoid the pursuits of the enemies, whom were hot on his heels. Finding himself being drifted to the shore after crashing his airplane straight into the North Sea, he knew that he was on the land of the enemies. There was pain all over his body, especially his face, but he had no time to bother about his injuries yet. Fortunately, he had found a dense jungle to hide in temporarily whereby he moved during the night and stayed put in his hiding spot in the daylight, but food and water were pretty scarce. Suddenly, in his semi-consciousness, he heard voices coming from above his hiding place. They were speaking a foreign language. Taking a peep upwards, he accidentally stepped on a tree twig, thus giving out his hiding location to these soldiers.
“He’s there! Catch him now! Shoot him dead, if necessary!” An authoritative voice boomed across the jungle, as the man heard sounds of scurrying footsteps approaching him.
Gathering up all his remaining energy, he began playing hide-and-seek with his pursuers. He was running for his life, until he slipped and fell down the slope. He wanted to scream out but no sound came out from his mouth…
“Raymond! Ray! Are you okay?” A distant voice was talking to him, and he recognized it.
The bright lights on the ceiling momentarily blinded him when he tried to open his eyes. He realized that he had fallen out of the bed, and his shirt was soaked with perspiration. As Raymond looked up, he saw a pair of concerned eyes staring intently at him.
“Myo…” He managed to mumble out her name.
“Come on, let’s get up first,” She helped Raymond onto the bed and took the towel to wipe off his perspiration on the forehead, “Had a nightmare? You were screaming out loud just now. It scared me badly.”
Raymond did not hear her question. His eyes were focused on Myolie. He recalled the times when he wanted so much to see her just one more time. She was the main drive to motivate him to keep himself alive, and returned to this place for her. Myolie caught his intense gaze, and looked back into his eyes. It was until that moment when she saw him once again, did she realize that she actually missed him so much. Her hand slowly moved down to touch his face, but Raymond was afraid that she would find his scar hideous and disgusting, so he quickly shielded his right side of the face from her.
“Don’t look at me. Don’t look at my scar.” Raymond said with a tinge of sadness in his voice.
Myolie carefully shifted his face to look at her once again, and leaned over to plant a gentle kiss on his right cheek, before telling him, “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re still the same, old Raymond I know.”
“Really?” Raymond looked at her with tears in his eyes.
She nodded her head, and hugged him tightly, “I’m so glad that you’re alive. I’m really glad.”
Raymond put his arms around her as well, whispering into her ears, “I miss you.”
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Bosco was sitting alone on the huge rock, staring up at the night sky. ‘Although his physical wounds have mostly recovered, he’s still emotionally unstable.’ The doctor had told both Bosco and Myolie about Raymond’s medical condition, plus the recount from the German merchant about taking in Raymond made them feel that Raymond needed their support and encouragement most at this point of time.
“Bosco!” Myolie called out.
Bosco got down from the huge rock and walked towards her.
“He’s asleep again. I’ve already informed the nurse on duty to keep an extra lookout on him. If there’s anything wrong, she’ll notify both of us.” Myolie said.
Bosco nodded his head, “Erhm…I’ll walk you back to the dorm.”
They did not talk further on the way to the dormitory. An awkward silence filled the air between both of them. Both of them were shocked at Raymond’s return earlier in the day and they did not have any opportunity to talk to each other alone until this moment. But now, they were unsure of what to say, until Myolie decided to break the silence first.
“Bosco.” Myolie stopped to face him.
He looked on eagerly at her, wondering what she had to tell him.
“I was thinking just now…Maybe we should keep a distance away from each other first. I mean, Raymond doesn’t know about us yet…” Myolie tried to find the right words to put across to Bosco.
However, Bosco tried to hide his disappointment from her. He knew that he should be more understanding at this moment, but somehow, he felt like they seemed to be having a shameful affair instead. Myolie caught his expression, and moved to hold onto his hands tightly.
“It’s just a temporary measure. We’ll wait until Raymond is feeling better, then we shall tell him about our relationship.” She gave his hands a little squeeze, hoping to reassure him further.
“I know. Raymond’s health remains the top priority now.” Bosco nodded his head in agreement, before he started to state the doubt lingering in his mind, “Myo, how do you feel when you see Raymond again?”
She was caught dumbstruck at his question. The immediate answers which popped up in her head did not seem appropriate to be mentioned in front of Bosco now. The last thing she wanted now was to make Bosco feel worse.
“It’s…it’s actually quite complicated. I don’t know how to explain.” Avoidance might be a good reply.
“Alright, goodnight then.” Bosco did not wish to put any pressure on her, and kissed her on the forehead before leaving.
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“So whom have you decided to pick?” Selena probed when she saw Myolie coming out from the bathroom.
“What are you talking about?” Myolie was drying her hair with the towel.
“From what I observe, it seems that you prefer your old flame, am I right?” Selena then proceeded to sigh aloud, “Poor Bosco, he must’ve thought that he has finally won your heart back in Yorkshire.”
Myolie turned to smack on Selena’s arm lightly, “Don’t ever repeat your words in front of Bosco. He’s already paranoid enough. And for me, I’m not going to answer your question at all.” With that, she turned in for the night, ignoring her friend’s persistent queries about her ‘final choice’.
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[The Following Morning]
Bosco woke up early, and intended to visit Raymond, but when he arrived at the patients’ tent, he found Raymond missing. The nurse told him that Dr. Kiln had discharged Raymond earlier on already. After some searching, he saw Raymond out there in the field.
“What are you doing here?” Bosco asked when he approached Raymond.
Raymond turned around and smiled at him, “Baseball?”
“Ray, are you feeling better today?” Bosco asked concerned as he put on the catcher’s glove.
Raymond nodded, “Never much better than before. I never expected to be able to be back here playing baseball with you again.”
“Me too.” Bosco replied as he flung the baseball towards Raymond.
After a few rounds of game, Myolie spotted the duo, and called out to both of them. Immediately, Raymond’s attention shifted entirely onto Myolie, as he jogged up towards her. He seemed so much happier whenever Myolie was around him.
“How about having breakfast together, Myo?” Raymond asked with a bright smile.
She nodded her head, before looking over at Bosco, “Do you want to join us?”
Bosco shook his head, “You guys can go ahead without me.”
“See you later.” Raymond patted on his friend’s shoulder, before he and Myolie walked off towards the cafeteria chatting and laughing away.
Bosco let out a heavy sigh, before striding off alone towards the patients’ tent to start the day’s work.
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[1942]
Soon, the New Year approached, but the war was getting more intense and widespread. The mood was pretty heavy with little celebrations going on in the city. Raymond had resumed his duties in the Airforce, taking on only paperwork jobs, whilst Bosco’s suspension was being lifted after due consideration from the committee. During the past few weeks, Raymond and Myolie often hung out together, but Bosco chose to keep away from both of them, lest his jealousy got out of control. He began wondering if he should just give Myolie up, since it seemed to him that she had not forgotten about Raymond, and probably loved Raymond more than she ever loved him. Did she even love him in the first place?
One night, Nancy came to the medical camp in search for Myolie, having to pass a message to her from their parents. As she wandered around the vicinity, she caught sight of a familiar figure. Walking up towards the person, she gasped in shock when she saw the person.
“Aren’t you supposed to be dead? And what happened to your face?” Nancy did not attempt to hide the disgust from her face.
Raymond suddenly felt ashamed upon seeing Nancy’s expression and quickly looked down on the ground.
“I…I just came back not long ago. My face…it’s a burn scar.” Raymond murmured.
Nancy felt a little guilty about her earlier expression, “Oh sorry, I didn’t know that. Myolie didn’t tell me anything about you. The previous time she said you were dead.”
“It’s okay.” Raymond continued murmuring.
“Oh my God! Then isn’t it a love triangle? You, my sister and him?” Nancy exclaimed.
“Huh? What ‘him’?” This time, Raymond lifted his head and looked at Nancy in curiosity.
“Well…” Nancy began wondering if she had made a mistake on talking about it, “Didn’t you know that your best friend is dating Myolie since more than a month ago?”
Raymond stood there rooted to the ground. Nancy’s words took a long while to sink into his mind. If what she said was true, they did a perfect job of hiding it from him during this period of time. But how could it be? Raymond shook his head in denial. How could it possibly be his best friend and the woman he loved most?
At that moment, he heard Myolie’s voice from a distance away. She had seen Nancy and Raymond talking together. But before she could reach them, Raymond had stormed off in another direction with other plans in mind.
“What’s wrong with Ray?” Myolie asked Nancy as Raymond’s figure disappeared around the corner.
Nancy was hesitant in saying it, “Erhm…I merely told him about you and Bosco, that’s all.”
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yes, 1 more chapt to go~
heheh, thanks for the comments! So you guys guessing it's Ray to leave? Hmmm find out on the next chapt then lol =p