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Flashes blinded him. The rhythm of gun fire pounded his body. Shots filled his ears. His head felt like it exploded. Blood poured from him. Screams. Smoke. Darkness.
The Captain bolted upright gasping in breaths, trying to steady his head. He was lost. None of his surroundings made sense. One minute he was in a mud covered field and the next he was back in a large damp room. He coughed and spluttered and grabbed onto the side of his bed to steady himself.
He gazed around trying to make sense of his surroundings. Hospital beds lined the room all pushed together and filled with people. Nurses rushed around checking on each of them.
Of course. It flooded back to him in an instant.
Button House.
He remembered where he was and why he was here. Several weeks ago he had been fighting on the front lines and then something dreadful had happened. Next thing he knew he had ended up back in Button House which had been renovated into a temporary hospital since the conclusion of war.
He didn't remember much, only what the nurses had told him. Once he had steadied himself he gently rested his back against his pillow and automatically looked to his left at the bed next to him. It was empty of course.
His Lieutenant Havers had been resting there beside him for a few weeks. They were out fighting together when they were caught up in the gunfire. Havers had finished his duty in North Africa and was stationed in Germany where conveniently The Captain had been stationed too.
Neither man had expected to see the other again after Havers had left Button House in 1940 but in an unexpected twist of fate they had been reunited. They had worked together, fought together and now they were destined to die together.
Lieutenant William Havers had passed away four days earlier leaving The Captain absolutely devastated. They had spent his final moments together hand in hand after spending weeks keeping eachother company in their neighbouring hospital beds.
The hand holding was only so that Havers had someone close to him when he went, so that he could feel warm and not die alone. Well that's what The Captain had assured himself.
The Captain had cherished those weeks together and he couldn't even bring himself to admit his feelings to his dying true love. Now he wanted nothing more than to follow Havers into the afterlife. As his body started to shut down he could feel that it was coming soon.
He knew that his days were limited as each day he was becoming more exhausted and was slowly being overtaken by pain. The pain of losing Havers was also taking it's toll on him.
There was nothing to live for so why not let go.
A nurse walked along and saw The Captain holding himself up with one arm as he was leaning against his pillow.
"Oh Captain you're awake!" She looked over at him and he stared back blankly at her. "Would you like some water? You must be terribly thirsty."
He took his piercing eyes off her and stared at his bedsheets.
"Captain I know that it has been hard for you losing your friend but please if there is anything I can do for you let me know." She gently smiled at him.
He stayed looking down at his bed as he managed to break the silence.
"Can...can you bring me my uniform. It's in my old room down in the east wing. Second room to the left." His voice was barely above a whisper.
"I'm not sure..." The Nurse replied, she didn't want to get in trouble but he was a Captain so she had to listen to him.
"Please. Honour a dying man's wishes." He coughed and looked deep into her eyes in hopes of gaining some sympathy from her.
"Of course...Sir."
~~~
She returned shortly with his full uniform neatly folded and his swagger stick on top.
"Could you assist me to the mirror please?"
"Yes certainly." Should he really be getting up?
She pulled a chair to the mirror hanging on the end wall and placed his clothes onto it. She then walked towards his bed, removed the sheets and helped to lift him out. She held his arm and walked him towards the mirror where he steadied himself with a weak hand on the wall.
"Thank you Nurse, that will be all." He dismissed her in true military fashion. He still had it.
The Captain slowly started to undress from his night clothes and began to place his uniform on whilst leaning into the wall. With a lot of struggle he had pulled his shirt and trousers over his bandages and lifted his braces up onto his shoulders which hid the wounds underneath. He then put on his tie, smoothed down his collar and carefully placed his jacket on top.
He buttoned it up and placed the Sam Browne belt on whilst looking directly at his broken reflection in the mirror. He tucked his swagger stick into his pocket for use later. He bent over to place his shoes on and once he had tied up the final lace he lost his balance getting up and fell straight into the mirror cracking it on impact.
There was a huge crash and The Captain fell face first against the wall, slowly sliding down it. There was a lot of commotion and screaming but then it all cut out. People were gathered around him checking his breathing and then he easily sat up.
"Settle down everyone I'm quite alright." He stood up with ease and walked through the crowd. "I'm splendid actually. I feel rather better."
He turned around and came face to face with a huddle of Ghosts. A caveman, a lady covered in what looked like chimney dust, a man in a waistcoat, a lady in a pink and purple dress, another lady in a beige dress and... Havers.
The Captain grabbed his swagger stick from his pocket and held it out in defence.
"ooh two in one week how exciting!" Squealed the excited Georgian
"What the bally hell is going on? Who are you and why are you here?" The Captain thought he was in a nightmare.
"We are the..."
"Thomas it's quite alright I will take it from here" Thomas sighed as Havers carried on talking and locked eyes with a shocked Captain.
His Havers was here?
"Hello Sir. I'm not entirely sure how to tell you this but I'm afraid that you are dead. We all are and we are Ghosts. I know that this will be hard for you to understand but I am here to help you."
Dead? It had finally happened. He'd died with honour in his uniform. Died from battle wounds like a true soldier. And he was reunited with Havers again. Just why did he have to be a Ghost? What happened to the idea of heaven that he'd spent years learning about at Church in his youth?
Was this the afterlife that he was going to spend the rest of eternity in? Well he supposed that he didn't mind as long as he got to spend it alongside his beloved Lieutenant.
"I- I- I'm-" The Captain had no words for once.
"Yes Sir. I truly am sorry. I know that it is a lot to take in, I've only been dead for four days and I am still getting used to it."
He managed a weak "Yes" in response.
He was speechless. This was what he had been begging for those past four days and beyond. To spend eternity with Havers. In peace where nothing could ever hurt them again. He kept staring at the hoard of Ghosts.
"Would you like me to escort you to your old room Sir? You may need some time alone to process this."
"Um yes please Lieutenant."
The Ghosts watched him leave.
"So much for introductions" Huffed the Edwardian
~~~
Several weeks later The Captain had settled in nicely and had slowly become used to his new situation. He had started to form a friendly relationship with Lady Button who was the newest Ghost to die before him and Havers. She had also been the previous owner of Button House before her children opened the house to be used for military operation. He had become rather fond of Kitty despite her being very excitable and slightly overbearing at times which was unlike his nature. He couldn't help but feel fatherly though.
Havers had developed a strong friendship with Robin and shared his love for astronomy. He had also learnt to deal with Thomas' constant pining over a certain female nurse and tried his best to listen to him talk about her despite him having no understanding of Thomas' attractions.
The Captain found Mary pleasant and Havers enjoyed helping to educate her. Both men had only had very rare encounters with Humphrey's head which they found to be very nice but the same couldn't be said for his headless body which they were terrified of. Whenever they had the chance, both men would carry him back to his body and he was very grateful.
The Captain had even trusted them all with his name which was unexpected but he had said "Please call me Edward" when Kitty had called him by his rank.
The two men, The Captain and Havers, had grown even closer in their time together. They had bonded over their old stories from the war and talk about their lives. There were some advantages to having your closest friend in the same situation as you.
They both continued a very similar schedule everyday just as they had in the war. The Captain would always run every morning. Instead of briefings they would tell eachother about their day and end up telling stories from their time alive. They would laugh together long into the evening and spend some time patrolling the makeshift hospital wards. A few more poor souls had passed during their time in the hospital but no one had stayed as a Ghost with The Captain and Havers.
Their friendship had certainly become stronger as a result of the time they spent together. There had been several occasions of brushed hands and lingering eye contact which had always happened but being dead made it feel more special.
~~~
One day they were sitting together discussing fond memories of their nights spent working late in The Captain's office. They were sat knees touching laughing at the old memories. Then the Captain had brought up a sensitive topic.
"I do miss those days Havers. When you left for North Africa I thought that I would never laugh like that again. But here we are defying the laws of the universe back together again." He made sure to add the word 'together'.
"I am so glad that I am here with you. It's much less lonely with you around." They smiled at eachother. "You do know Sir that you don't have to call me Havers anymore. I am no longer a working Lieutenant and being dead means that formalities are not needed especially given our.... friendship."
"Yes of course. My apologies William. I suppose that you should also call me Edward now along with the others."
"Well as we are closer than the others I think I shall call you hmmm... Teddy."
"Teddy?" He was very confused. Where on earth did that name come from?
"Teddy is short for Edward. It makes a lovely nickname and I think it rather suits you. A handsome name for a handsome man."
This made The Captain blush, Havers found him handsome. He felt like a schoolboy with this first crush.
"Then Teddy it is!" If Havers liked it then it was good enough for anyone. "Only if I get to call you Will."
"Of course you may" Nicknames made them feel special as they were the only people in the world to call eachother by that name.
And it made them feel so loved. They caught themselves looking deep into eachother's eyes and William took this as a sign.
"Teddy..." He took hold of his hands "there is something that I am afraid I have been keeping from you for a long time. And I think that now may be the best time to confess. I don't want to waste any more time especially as we've been through so much together already. I'm sorry if I say anything wrong but I... must do this."
Again The Captain was confused but he loved the feeling of Hav- William's hands against his so chose to focus on that.
"I think that I am in love with you. I know how illegal it was but we are dead now and nothing can stop us. We are finally free Teddy. Free to love as we want."
They never once broke eye contact.
"William I..." He pulled William in close and kissed him gently.
Words were of no use as he had waited six years for this moment. His William loved him back and that gave him all the confidence to take the risk. They held eachother's faces close and smiled.
"Oh Edward" He pressed him into a hug.
"William. I- I-"
A bright flash of orange filled the room. William started to float upwards towards the ceiling. It was happening already. No time. Edward didn't want to let go, he couldn't lose him again. They were two lost souls who had found each other no matter the circumstances. But this time it was completely beyond their control, there would be no finding eachother again.
"Edward! My Teddy. I love you" Havers shouted as he faded away.
"I love you too. My William" Teddy replied whispering into the empty space.
He didn't know how to feel. The exact pain he had experienced when Havers had died all of those weeks ago had crept up on him. He thought then that Havers was gone forever, dead. But he wasn't because they were reunited. But now he was really gone for good.
William had moved on leaving Edward alone.
Today had been singlehandedly the best and worst day of his life at the same time. His true love was gone. Again.
~~~
A Ghost appeared through the door looking bemused. It was Thomas of course.
"Where is William? I must talk to him about my recent discovery with..."
"He's gone." The Captain said bluntly still staring into space and not bothering to face the poet.
"Edward I am truly sorry." His poor attempt at sympathy.
"My name is The Captain. I will not have you address me by anything else do you understand?" The anger was bubbling.
"Um yes sorry I uh-" Thomas ran out, realising that it's not a good idea to get on The Captain's bad side.
The man known as Edward had died today. He could no longer be himself anymore. William Havers had brought that man out and he had taken him away alongside him. He was where he belonged. The core was gone and all that remained now was the shell.
He was a man who would never dare to open his heart again. Pain is weakness and so is love.
This man's name is only The Captain.