Prologue and The Accident That Brought Them Together
Summer 1863 or 1864
Not him. That was all I could think as I saw him, unconscious, being carried through the camp, toward the infirmary. They two men moving him had him on a makeshift stretcher. Two tree limbs with canvas spread in between. His shirt had been pulled up to under his arms and he had a bandage wrapped around his torso. His left side between his hip and ribs was bloody. The blood had soaked through the gauze. Almost too bloody. No. Not him. I wouldn't be able to live if something happened to him. The few moments in which they went past me seemed to happen extremely slowly. As if time were coming to a stand still. But everything sped up again as they moved farther away. My feet started moving on their own accord, following the men. I had completely forgotten about what I had just been doing. I couldn't think about that now; he needed me.
Inside the tent, the two men looked around, most likely for one of the doctors. The three seem to have disappeared, along with Alice. Mary Alice Brandon, who preferred to be called Alice, and I where both nurses at the Union camp that was under the charge of Colonel Edward Masen.
"Over here gentlemen." I directed them to lay him on one of the empty cots in the area I had just cleaned. I supervised, having to stand a few feet away so they had enough room, as they moved his limp form onto the shabby cot. The men nodded to me as they left with their makeshift stretcher. I rushed to his side, pulling the cart behind me. I sat on the stool beside him and got to work. I cut the bandages away to assess his injury. Blood. So much blood. I grabbed a rag and dipped it into the basin on the cart next to me. I wiped away most of the blood and saw a large bullet hole. It was on the side of his stomach, right above his hipbone. I gasped,
"Doctor!" I looked up as one of the doctors appeared out of nowhere. "Over here." I waved him over. "Gun shot wound." I got up so he could get a closer inspection.
"Humm..." He squinted down at him for a moment. "Would you get me my pliers Bella? I'll need to remove the bullet."
"Yes sir." I retrieved them and watched as the doctor worked.
"You need to stitch him up ma'am. I have others to attend to. You can give him whiskey and some morphine for the pain." He said to me as he walked in the direction of the other men in the infirmary. I never had been good with blood. Why, oh why had I decided to become a nurse? I looked down at the man before me. Right, that was why. I went to work on sewing up the gaping hole. It did not appear to be immediately fatal, just a flesh wound, but could be if infection set in.
When he was all stitched up and bandaged again, I gave him a shot of morphine and went about cleaning him up, wiping the sweat and remnants of blood off. I saved his face for last, wanting to take in the view. His strong jaw, defined check bones, an all around handsome face. I moved the bronze untamable locks out of his face as I continued my task at hand. And lastly his eyes. They were closed, but I knew if he was awake that he would be staring back at me with those brilliant emerald orbs in the same way that I was staring at him. With love. It was a look I had seen before.
I knew that I loved him. It had been made perfectly clear to me already that I did. And I could tell by the way that he looked at me that he felt the same. We had not spoken directly since the night that Private Newton tried to attack me about a week ago, and Edward had saved me from that vile man, but we had seen each other from time to time at a distance. I had not seen it my self at first; Alice was the one who had pointed it out to me.
"Bella," Alice sighed, exasperated. "How can you not see it? Even Jasper knows, and I didn't say a word to him about it. It's the way that he looks at you that gives him away. It's a look of pure love." I scoffed.
"Alice, that's not possible. He couldn't love me. I'm so plain, and he's so..." I trailed off, preoccupied with thinking of him.
"I wish you could see it Bella." She paused. "Do you know the way Jasper looks at me?" I nodded. "That is not even half of the love that he expresses for you. I've never seen something so strong before. It seems like you two were made for each other."
He started to stir a minute later, letting out a painful moan. His eyelids fluttered before they opened. Edward. My Edward. His gaze landed on me and my favorite smile captured his lips.
"Bella." He sighed my name happily. His velvety voice had to be my favorite sound in the entire world. He made a movement to try to sit up, but he had barely moved his arm when he winced in pain and lapsed back into his original position. I quickly grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the cart and brought it to his lips.
"Here," I said in a quiet voice. "This should help a little with the pain." He closed his eyes and took a few mouthfuls. I recapped the bottle and placed it back on the cart. I tried smoothing down his hair, but had no luck. He sighed contently and pressed into my hand. Most likely an effect of the liquor and drugs, but none-the-less I still found myself giggling. A small smile graced his lips and not even a minute later he was snoring softly.
Once I was sure he was out cold, I went about removing his shirt. It was bloodstained and now had a hole in it. It was a fairly warm day; he wouldn't miss it in the time it took for me to send for a new one.
Getting it off of Edward was the hard part. I could barely move him without risking him stirring. And if he did wake up, he would certainly feel the hole in his body. Definitely not the best option. If I had been watching someone else do what I was attempting to, I would have laughed at him or her. Me, the girl who had barely even hit 5' 4", was trying to move a man, without waking him, who stood about 6' 2"; about twice her size.
"Tyler." I said, in a slightly louder voice then I would normally use, and he materialized by my side. Apparently he had a little crush on me and had taken to following me around. Something Edward was not too thrilled about, especially after the situation with Newton. But Tyler, clearly seeing Edward's favor of me, had never acted on his feelings towards me, something that Edward was immensely happy about. "Would you please go and retrieve the Colonel a new shirt please?"
"Yes ma'am." He nodded and hurried off towards Edward's tent. He returned a few minutes later with Edward's spare shirt. I thanked him when he handed it over. He didn't turn to leave immediately, so I turned back to him.
Tyler Crowley was a regular guy, a sergeant, in the army, but he had taken to following Edward around. That was before I had gotten here. Now he followed both us around. The funny thing was, he had never been told to do either of those things. But he was there, hiding in the shadows, ready to help. I have no idea how he does it, keeping track of both Edward and I all day.
"Is there something that you would like to discuss?" He shifted his weight uncomfortably.
"The other men wish to know the condition that the Colonel is in." I looked away from Tyler then, back to Edward.
"The doctor expects him to be just fine." I said unemotionally. Or rather, too upset that my love had been shot to show emotion at the moment. I knew that Edward was strong, but I was still scared for him. But Tyler still hadn't left yet; this wasn't the time to be upset. "Is there something else?" I was getting annoyed with him now. When I finally looked at him, he wore a look of morose.
"Ma'am, could I speck with you privately for a moment?" He whispered, eyeing Edward. I sighed, but stood and moved off a few feet with him. "Miss Bella, I think I've made myself very clear in expressing the...affection that I feel towards you." I tired to interrupt him, but he cut me off. "Now hold on. That's not what this is about. I've come to notice the way that you and the Colonel look at each other. And ma'am, I've come to tell you that I'm going to take myself out of the picture." Again I tired to say something, but he just wouldn't stop talking long enough for me to get a word in. "You two love each other, don't you Miss Bella?" I just blushed and looked down. Only a few people I had ever known had ever been that blunt with me before. "I thought so. Well...I have my duties that I have to attend to. I'll be seenin' you around."
He turned and just walked out, leaving me completely stunned. I just there, too shocked to move until a voice behind me broke me out of my trance.
"Bella?" I whirled around to see Alice standing at the foot of Edward's cot.
"Alice. Will you help me for a moment?" I didn't wait for her to answer though. I grabbed the shirt from where Tyler had placed it next to Edward's right foot and unfolded it. "Help me prop him up?" She nodded and helped me the fabric up his arms and over his shoulders, but we left it unbuttoned. Easier to check on his wound that way without him having to lay there half naked.
"I think," Alice started as she peeked under the gauze, "That he'll be just fine. We've both seen men come back from a lot worse before. And I have a feeling that he'll be peachy in no time. You know I'm never wrong about these things either." She patted my shoulder as she left me sitting there next to his cot and went check on the other men in the infirmary.
I didn't know what to do with my self. Alice's actions had told me that she would be taking care of the other soldiers, her way of giving me some time alone with Edward, but all I had to do now was sit with my thoughts. And, as my mother always used to tell me, I tend to think too much.