Thank you for the comment to fix this mess. I have no idea what happened...
Patroclus tried not to think too deeply about the blood that he was washing off his hands, then berated himself before he made his thoughts turn to it. The blood that was making its way down the drain with the water that could never cool was not his, but from the soldiers he tried to save, and save some he did. There were bullet wounds and knife wounds and wounds from shrapnel from where bombs had gone off. Sometimes he wished he weren't so good at his job and the men he helped could go home to recover in peace, but with what little training he had he was better than the others. That spoke volumes to the level of preparedness the army had come over with.
This was not what he had meant to be doing, he wasn't an army doctor, Hell he wasn't even a doctor! Patroclus had been sent here to review the standard of living and the effects war had on the soldiers to bring back as propaganda to end the war that had been going on for years, but no one was quite sure why it started. He had been doing his job credibly, but he hated feeling useless and hated being pushed to the side while more men lost their lives in a meaningless war. Taking what he had learned from his step-father Patroclus had pushed into the medical tent without permission. After stressful hours of confused nurses he ended up helping to save the most terminal cases and managed to keep more limbs attached than any other doctor there.
He had been doing that for months before the paper he worked for sent him a letter telling him that due to his inactivity he was being fired. The army he had been helping hired him right on the spot. It was a few days after that that Patroclus met Achilles, the aloof general that everyone revered and feared. He had been taking a much needed break that Briseis had forced on him when Achilles walked by ignoring everything around him.
It was the way he ignored everyone, implying that he was better than those who fought for him, that got Patroclus steaming mad in an already hot climate. Patroclus was able to follow Achilles thanks to his obliviousness all the way back to his tent, Patroclus slipped in behind him and let the rant that had been bubbling inside him for weeks flow out.
"How dare you! How dare you walk around here like you are better than the men you have dying for you! What the hell is wrong with you to be ignoring the men you are meant to lead! I save these men, the value of their lives in my hands, and then you lead them to their deaths with no recognition to what they have sacrificed for you!" Chest heaving, cheeks red from yelling, pinched face inches from Achilles's wide green eyes and relaxed shocked face.
"I am a soldier, always have been and always will be. You do not come here unless you are willing to sacrifice everything including your life." His words were a prepared speech, dead words with a meaning that had been interpreted by a hundred other men. These words were not good enough for Patroclus.
"Meaningless words spoken by a man who is trying to avoid a scolding. A child trying to be a soldier in a place where he pretends men do not die." There was an angry tension shocking the air around them.
"I kill everyday. I know the worth of a life." Achilles stepped closer trying to intimidate the young medic who had barged into his tent without permission.
"I save lives everyday, now which one do you think takes more effort to do. When you have your answer then tell me about what you know about the worth of lives." Patroclus left the tent without giving Achilles enough time to respond.