Alcohol incident

The medical tent had stopped feeling like a medical tent.

At first, the new medics thought they understood what they were walking into. They had training manuals, classroom drills, and instructors who had repeated the same lessons until everyone could recite them.

But the deployment had a way of tearing apart the difference between practice and reality.

The experienced medics moved with a quiet rhythm. They didn't panic. They didn't freeze. They just worked.

The trainees were different.

They were still learning how to breathe while everything around them was chaos.

Milky stood near the entrance of the tent, watching one of the newest medics handle a situation. She was trying hard — maybe too hard. Her hands moved quickly, but her confidence hadn't caught up with her training.

Ghost was nearby, leaning against the side of the tent, watching silently.

Everyone knew Ghost was intimidating. Not because he tried to be, but because he had that calm, unreadable way about him. Nothing seemed to surprise him anymore.

The trainee looked at the medical supplies and made a decision.

A bad one.

"Wait," Milky said, noticing what she was reaching for.

Too late.

The trainee applied medical alcohol directly, thinking she was doing what she had been taught: clean, disinfect, fix.

The problem was that training wasn't just about knowing what something did.

It was knowing when not to use it.

Ghost reacted instantly.

"Stop."

The trainee froze.

Then came the mistake on top of the mistake.

She panicked.

Ghost's sudden movement startled her, and before anyone could process what happened, she swung in fear and hit him.

The entire tent went quiet.

Even the other medics stopped moving.

Milky stared.

Ghost stared.

The trainee stared at what she had just done, the realization slowly catching up.

"I—"

She couldn't finish the sentence.

Milky rubbed his forehead.

"Okay," he said slowly. "That is... a new one."

Ghost looked at him.

"You going to defend her?"

Milky looked back at the trainee, then at Ghost.

"No."

A pause.

"Not really."

The trainee looked crushed.

Milky sighed.

"But I understand why it happened."

Ghost raised an eyebrow.

"Fear?"

"Fear. Stress. New medic. Bad decision under pressure."

Milky glanced around the tent.

"Doesn't make it okay. Doesn't make it smart. But it does explain it."

Ghost was quiet for a moment.

The thing about Ghost was that he had seen people break under pressure. He had seen trained professionals make mistakes when the world got too loud.

The difference was whether they learned from it.

The trainee finally spoke.

"I'm sorry."

Ghost looked at her.

"Don't apologize to me."

She looked confused.

"Apologize by learning."

That was the closest thing to kindness Ghost usually gave.

Milky shook his head.

"First week here and you managed to do something none of us expected."

The trainee looked embarrassed.

"What?"

Milky looked at Ghost.

"You managed to surprise Ghost."

A tiny smile almost appeared on Ghost's face.

Almost.

"Don't make that a habit."

The trainee nodded quickly.

And from that day forward, every new medic learned one important rule:

The battlefield was dangerous.

But panic could be just as dangerous.

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