Dormez vous?

[A Davis 0]

"Dormez vous?"

 

The floor wasn’t exactly the most comfortable place to sleep, but at this point it didn’t seem to matter. Anywhere you could sleep sufficed, and Amanda had fallen asleep on the floor, leaning against a bulkhead with a child on her lap.

 

In her cobwebbed waking moments she remembered prodding Ejiul out of his resignation and consoling Annisha with a lullaby. After that she had moved from one child to another, humming and singing softly, soothing their weary young souls. Eventually most of them had fallen asleep, and one had settled on her lap as she sang, “Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques, dormez vous? Dormez vous?” She had a passing thought about the irony of the situation, then she had fallen asleep, only to awake and realize even she had slept through several attacks.

 

So… it’s been 36 hours since the first attack, and the attacks come every… 30 minutes? No, every 33 minutes. That makes… Amanda closed her eyes to concentrate, breathing deeply, but it didn’t seem to make much difference. ...that makes how many attacks? Sixty five? Sixty six…?

 

At this point most of the children in the safe rooms were sleeping. Even klaxons and bombardment didn’t awaken them. Everyone, including the doctors, medical technicians, the security detail, and…. well, just everyone was exhausted. No, they were beyond exhaustion, and it suddenly struck Amanda that the situation outside these protective walls could be very dangerous.

 

Sleep deprivation. Surveying the sleeping bodies - some on cots, some in chairs, some with books in hand or toys dangling mid-play…. If they were tired, what about those who were defending the station?

 

Page by page her mind reviewed the medical manual:

Sleep deprivation can lead to decreased performance and alertness, memory and cognitive impairment, poor judgement, relationship problems between and among teammates, depression, impaired vision, hallucination, paranoia, decreased fine and gross motor control that could result in stumbling, falling, or... firing a weapon unintentionally…?

 

Ever so gently Dr. Davis lifted the toddler and placed him on a cot, then straightened her skirt, checked in with Kat and Dacia, and left the safety and security of the Children’s Home bound for the Control Tower. Mr. Roberts was a military man through and through, and he’d probably seen more battles than he could remember. Amanda knew there were protocols in place to deal with such problems, but she felt compelled to check. Whether the lift would allow her to enter the CT in a time of crisis remained to be seen.

 

Edited January 10, 2014 by A Davis