Re: AFTERMATH-Florence & John
The losses hadn't entirely caught up to him just yet. He was still in shock, both from being back on the front line of war and loss. John found it difficult to speak, it was like he was stuck and couldn't breathe. Rose and Harry were gone, his two close friends. He could barely function and it wasn't just due to the injury or cold. He couldn't process it. He didn't want to.
"Lucifer is gone." He repeated again as though he were still trying to figure out how he was supposed to respond. She was talking to him, or at least sort of. She'd said his name, so he was probably supposed to say something. That was all he could think of. They'd been sent to hell. The rack the demons kept bragging about was the most horrible place to be. Rose and Harry.
He was a doctor. He was supposed to save lives and did of strangers every minute on that field but he couldn't save the people that meant the most to him. Now, he couldn't even cry over them properly. He didn't have the energy to mourn them yet. He didn't have the stomach to feel anything beyond physical pain.
When Florence hugged him all he could do not to break was close his eyes. Memories of Harry falling still flashed through his mind, of Rose turning her back on them. He was tired. Emotionally and physically he had nothing left to give. All he could do was lean against her in silence.