Dream [009] 4/3/09
"What?!"
A twenty-year old Naomi is seen standing in a small kitchen. The young woman is dressed almost modestly in a pale yellow turtleneck sweater, her dark hair much longer than it is presently. The ferocious expression on her face leaves no trace of doubt as to how she is currently feeling.
"Six months, Frank? You can't do that to me!"
The older man she is screaming at looks exhausted, but is easily recognized as her older brother from previous dreams.
"Naomi," he finally manages to get out as she sucks in a breath of air, ready to start yelling all over again. He pulls the thin cigarette from his mouth, staring straight at her. "We've been over this. It isn't a vacation... I'm fighting in wars."
"Jack has enough people working under him to do that and you know it." Her slender arms cross across her chest. "You just like being away from me."
Releasing a sigh, Frank approaches the young woman, reaching a hand out to touch her shoulder. "I do not like being away from you."
Her eyes narrowing angrily, Naomi turns away from the man quickly and storms out of the kitchen. There is a loud SLAM that comes from her bedroom.
The moment her bedroom door slams shut, the soldier is taking out a bottle of vodka and drinking it straight from the container. After downing a few gulps, Frank wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and returns the vodka to it's hiding place. Taking in a deep breath to steady himself, he follows after her.
Entering the room, Frank allows himself a small smile as he gazes down at the woman. She's curled up on her bed, stomach down, cradling her pillow. A pair of dark eyes peek over the top of a pillow to look at her brother as he moves to sit on the edge of her bed.
"I remember..." he begins, a thin smile spreading on his face, "When you were a little girl... I'd tell you Jack and I had to leave for a few weeks and you would run into your room just like this and cry your little eyes out..." Moving to lay down next to her, he slides an arm under her head for support before continuing. "And then I'd come in and lay down with you, just like this..."
She is unable to hide the small smile forming on her face as she nuzzles his arm lovingly. "I barely remember the crying, but you comforting me like this feels very familiar..."
The man leans forward to place a kiss against his sister's forehead. "It never took you long to fall asleep. You'd hold my shirt, curl up close... You were always my precious girl."
Naomi's eyes close as she reaches out to grip his shirt. "I knew that you'd come back to me when you were finished..."
...
The scene suddenly shifts to a hospital room.
Her dark hair pulled back and dressed in a lab coat, Naomi's face looks sickeningly pale. The man on the table in front of her appears to be lifeless. The small gurgle of fluids collecting in his lungs as he struggles to breathe is the only noticeable way to tell that he is still alive. His entire body is white, the only other color from the dark cuts and red burns all over him.
The man is missing an arm and a leg.
Tears welling up in her eyes, Naomi's voice comes out in a strangled choke. "Frankie..."
A woman standing on the other side of the table is leaning over him, prodding parts of his body with her fingers. Though she has been speaking since the Frank was brought in, Naomi has been tuning her out the entire time until now. "...the process would be long, but it is possible to revive him. With gene therapy, of course. This will be quite the experiment." The woman known as Doctor Clark smiles.
"It's so rare for us doctors to get to play around with soldiers who are still alive."
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*her eyes snapping open, Naomi is instantly awake. Though she first scowls angrily at the dreamberry screen, it doesn't take long before her shoulders begin to shake as she bites down on her own lip.
An anguished sob emits from the woman before she covers her face with her hands, crying loudly, tears streaming down her face.*