winter in greenland

Dan didn't know when he fell asleep, and he didn't know how long he had been asleep. When he opened his eyes, he found that August had woken up, half kneeling beside him, with a serious expression on his face.

"Are you awake?" Dan opened his mouth and realized that his voice was very hoarse.He had changed from sitting to lying on the ground, and the pain in his right rib had spread to his abdomen. He frowned and put his hands on the ground, trying to sit up, but August held him down.

"When did you get hurt?" He frowned tightly.

Dan smiled: "It probably bumped when I fell down, it's a small problem."

August's face darkened again: "Small problem? You only know you have a fever?"

Dan continued to play dumb: "Are you sure it's not your temperature increase?"

August's face really sank now: "I'm not joking with you, Lieutenant. I thought you would be aware of your physical condition."

Dan sighed: "Don't be so serious, Major. Just because I know the current situation very well, I know that there is nothing we can do except wait for rescue."

August was silent for a second, lit the alcohol stove next to him, and searched in his backpack: "I remember there is still an antibiotic."

Dan pressed his hand. "I know my situation well. That antibiotic doesn't mean much. You need it more than I do."

August turned his head, his eyes were terrifyingly sharp. Before Dan could react, he raised his hand and unbuttoned his coat, and directly lifted the sweater inside him.

Dan was taken aback by him, and subconsciously shrank back, pulling the wound. He gasped, and was still joking: "Major, what are you doing? I'm afraid our physical contact is not good enough." Great, okay?"

August stared at him and ignored his words.After the last layer of clothes was lifted, what he saw was shocking - there was an obvious depression on his right rib, blood spots had begun to appear on the surrounding skin, and the lump in the middle of the chest and abdomen had spread to a palm, and the color was blue.

August sank down with a heavy heart, and helped him put his clothes down, and his hands moved a lot more gently: "Is it difficult to breathe?"

Dan swallowed his saliva: "It's okay."

August didn't look at him, spread out the sleeping bag, and half-supported Dan to sit up: "Take off your coat and lie down, I'll give you an antibiotic shot first."

Dan lay down obediently, watching August take out the injection and inject it in his arm.

"Major, your arm...is your fever gone?" Dan leaned on the rock wall and half-lyed, and spoke with some difficulty.

August glanced at him with a half-smile: "I'm already like this, how can I still care about me?"

Dan was stabbed by him, touched the bridge of his nose embarrassingly, but did not reply.

August sighed: "My fever is gone early. Don't think so much, just have a good rest. I'll go inside the cave and see if there is an exit at the other end."

Dan nodded and closed his eyes.

He could vaguely feel the broken bone piercing his lungs, and he could feel the friction at the crack with each breath, accompanied by bursts of sharp pain.He slowed down his breathing as much as possible, trying not to think about the current situation of the two of them.

August didn't leave right away, probably because he was worried about his situation. He could feel the other person put his hand on his forehead and probed, followed by a slight rustling sound. He probably wanted to search for it in his backpack. What else works, after a few seconds, the sound stops.It seems that there are no new discoveries, he thought with a sense of humor.After about a few minutes, a slight air current blew past, and August probably stood up, his footsteps were very soft, but there was still a faint echo in the empty cave.The sound of footsteps gradually faded away, going deep into the cave.

Dan didn't know when he fell asleep, because he had difficulty breathing, he slept very lightly, and he felt as if he was trapped in a strange dream.

……

The walls were all white, and there was a sound of "didi" from the instrument next to my ears, as if it would never stop, which made people feel a little irritated for no reason.

He found himself standing in front of a hospital bed, the light was too bright, and he stared awkwardly at the window next to him. Outside was a withered garden, bare branches, yellow grass, and occasionally there were a few nurses in their clothes. People in clothes hurried through the garden.

"Don't you have anything to explain to me?" The voice of the person on the hospital bed was weak.

He still didn't turn his head, evading something: "I don't know what you mean."

"Jason is dead, how long do you want to hide from me?"

He spoke with some difficulty: "I'm sorry, Mia, I..."

Mia interrupted him: "That's not what I want to hear." She was also injured in the shooting incident, but not in a fatal position. She asked the doctor to bring Dan after the anesthesia wore off after the operation.Her face was haggard, her red hair was messily draped over her shoulders, and only her eyes were surprisingly bright.

"What I want to know is your true identity and your purpose."

Dan was silent.

After a while, Mia showed a sarcastic smile on her face: "Do you all think I'm a fool? You, August, you are all the same. All of this, all the things that have happened, I just watched them one by one It happened one after another, watching people around me leave one by one, but no one ever came to explain something to me, and no one told me why. August only said that everything was for my safety. , are you going to use the same words to prevaricate me now? Damn safety!"

Dan walked up to her, hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder: "Mia, don't get excited, you just finished the operation..."

"You are not surprised to hear August's name at all. Does this mean that you are also from the military? You even know him?" Mia looked at him stubbornly.

"I... I don't know him, but I am indeed from the military, sent... to protect you."

"Why?" Mia looked straight at him.

"This is out of consideration for the last incident...I mean your father, that accident was also a request made by Major August."

"So during the past year or so, I thought we were friends, but we weren't? You approached me with other purposes from the beginning?"

"I admit that at first I did...but Mia, I really consider you a friend." Dan still tried to explain.

Mia ignored him and leaned back on the hospital bed: "As for the reason for doing this, it should be the same as the cause of my father's death. It's a secret, right?"

Dan said nothing.

Mia stared at the white ceiling of the room with erratic eyes: "I remember that at my father's funeral, I slapped August. Actually, I didn't really want to blame him, and I knew he tried his best. I just ...I just can't forgive. I just think, before protecting others, shouldn't he protect us and his family first? Now? Jason died too, is it because of me? Because I'm his sister , someone wanted to kill me, that's why Jason died."

"Mia, it's not like that. Don't think too much about it." Dan tried in vain to interrupt her.

Mia turned her gaze to the bedside table, on which was a brown glasses case with some dark brown stains on it.

"The most innocent people often have to bear the most painful price. Why wasn't I the one who died?"

Dan held her hand, and there was some sobs in his voice: "Mia, don't do this."

Mia was silent for a few seconds, then withdrew her hand from him, and said softly, "Let's go."

There was no extra expression on her face, but her tone was firm.

Dan stood there for a while, opened his mouth but found that he didn't know what to say, and finally had to say "Take care of yourself" in vain, then turned and left the ward.

Before he closed the door, Mia's last words fell into his ears lightly——

"...Okay? From now on, who do I dare to trust? Who do I dare to approach?"

He almost escaped from that place.

……

"Dan? Wake up." August's voice brought him back to reality, and he opened his eyes suddenly, only feeling sticky on his forehead.

"You have a fever." August's tone was a little anxious, and under the reflection of the alcohol stove next to him, his eyes could not conceal the worry.

"Then that antibiotic seems to be of limited use. Any findings?" Dan managed a grin.

August shook his head: "There is no exit at the other end. This hole should be formed naturally, and there is only the way we came in."

"How long have we been here?"

August raised his hand and looked at his watch: "From the time we fell into the ice cirque, it's already the second night."

Dan said "uh", feeling his head was heavy, and said drowsily, "That's not too long."

August gently supported his head: "Do you feel uncomfortable there? Do you want to eat something? Or do you want to drink water?"

Dan shook his head vigorously: "I have no appetite, I just feel a little pain."

August put the empty backpack on his lap, sat down in front of the stone wall, helped Dan to turn him around, and let him lean on his lap: "Is this better?"

Dan said "no".

Looking at his pale face, August felt as if his heart was being tightened, and his voice involuntarily softened: "Then why don't you sleep for a while?"

Dan shook his head: "Don't sleep."

"Did you just... dream about something?" August said hesitantly, "I see you've been moving."

Dan's eyes were half closed, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "It's nothing, it's all old."

silence.August subconsciously raised his hand to help him wipe off the cold sweat on his forehead. The sound of his heavy breathing seemed to echo in the empty cave.

"Major, would you please turn off the alcohol stove?"

August looked at the dancing flames, only one-third of the fuel was left inside.

"Are you cold?"

Dan seemed to hear something funny: "This temperature here is not as warm as a coat. No, I'm not cold, I just think the light is a bit harsh."

August obeyed and turned off the alcohol stove.

"Major, I remember that I told you about my mission experience before. Speaking of which, it was the first time I saw blood. How about you? When was your first time...?"

August's eyes turned to the darkness in front of him: "It's very early, that's my second year in Sirius..."