Chapter One

You paused to catch your breath, wiping away sweaty hair plastered to your forehead. Already you had helped perform three amputations, several bullet removals, and five gassed patients, and it was only ten in the morning! You felt exhausted: eyes demanding rest, limbs weary with fatique from overexertion. You felt it'd be better to crawl to places then walk, though you knew that wouldn't help your wounded soldiers. You were a nurse serving the freshly wounded Germans from the battlefield, and you wished you were dead.

A scream rupted through your eardrums, causing you to wince. "Another amputation..."

"NURSE! GASSED MAN!" A stern womanly voice called.

"Coming!" You replied, hasting after the voice. When you arrived the stern-sounding woman shoved a pair of hands into your arms. "Take him away and tend to him."

You nodded, gently squeezing the hands for support. "Sorry..." You apologized once she walked away, "She's not very social. Come on, I'll take you to your bed." You looked over at to whom the gloved hands belonged to: A stiff-looking solider with smoothed back blonde hair, tall form, cloudy befuddled blue eyes, dirty uniform, and smudged black boots. He looked to be about seventeen..."Come on." You gently repeated, hooking an arm around him.

He merely nodded, clutching your hands as you soothingly rubbed his arms, trying to comfort and cheer him up despite his injured state.

"Slowly...allright, I'm going to place your hands on the bed, and then, I'll help ou lay your head down." You laid his hands down, and softly cupped his head, bringing it down to meet the pillow. "Do you feel comfortable?"

The boy clung to your hands, the terror of being blind in a new place showing on his handsome face. "..."

"Shh...you'll be allright. it's allright. I'm here and you're safe from the battle." You squeezed his hands. "What's your name?"

He didn't answer, rather he kept clinging to you, nodding slowly. "..."

"Why don't we take off your gloves? Would that be more comfortable? Perhaps remove your hat also?"

The patient paused, as if he was deciding whether or not to trust you. Not that you couldn't blame him...being blind and having to trust a complete stranger was not an easy task. After a bit of debate, he hesistantly nodded, pointing to his gloves only.

At least he's communicating with me...You thought encouragingly as you removed the leather gloves, cradling his hands in your own. "There, that feels better, doesn't it?"

"NURSE! AMPUTATION!"

You held your breath, swallowing the foul tasting bile that had formed in your mouth. Refocusing your attention to the silent patient, you held his hands tighter. "I'll be back soon, allright? Hang in there, you'll be able to see soon."

His helpless expression only deepened as your hands left his. Now...he felt alone...in a strange environment, with nothing but screaming fellow soldiers to listen to.

Your eyes widened as you hurled today's lunch on the ground beside your feet. The gore was getting to be too much. Groaning, you clutched your stomach and covered your mouth as another wave of nausea consumed you.

"Nurse _, go take care of the gassed patients." Your fellow nurse ordered. "Oh, and try not to puke on 'em, okay?" She added with a chuckle.

"Okay..." You wandered into a room where a nurse was just finishing her shift. "Shut up! I don't want to hear it! You're fine! German soldiers never complain! Shut up!" She hissed at the men. "Thank goodness you're here. 'Bout time for me to leave." Spitefully she spat on the ground and left, mumbling.

"I'm so sorry..." You apologized to the sixteen men huddled in a room. "We shouldn't be treating you like this...forgive us please, we're just overworked." You passed by each bed, touching all of their hands, trying to be supportive. "It'll be over soon, ja?"

A chorus of weak "Ja!" 's was your reply, which encouraged you.

"That's the spirit!" You smiled walking over to the man whom you had helped earlier. "How are you feeling sir?"

"..." His hands clammered for yours, gripping them as a dead person grips the last breath of life.

"Your strength is coming back! That's wonderful sir! And I have some good news! You're going to leave here in a few weeks! Isn't that exciting?"

His face lit up, then fell during the last few words. Slowly, he nodded, still death-gripping your hands.

"So...what's your name?" You prodded gently. "It'd be a lot easier to talk to you if I knew your name..."

He sighed, shaking his head as a stern "no." He couldn't trust you...not yet...not yet.

"Maybe later...Hang in there sir...it's going to be allright." Your hands hugged his, hoping he could feel the sympathy through the simple touch. "Hang in there." Shyly, you leaned in and kissed his smudged cheek. "It's going to be allright."

You had to admit, your favorite part of nursing was being the beseecher of the hospital: Encouraging them, singing with them, talking with them, making them feel as at home as you possibly could, telling them stories of your childhood or fairy tales, even making up games for them to play like "Guess what object I'm thinking of" Or "Teach Nurse _ German". The men called you "Mein Engel" (My Angel) and "Schwester" (Sister). They seemed to be in better spirits when it was your turn to come and take care of them.

The only one who wouldn't seem to open up to anyone was the man you called "Sir." He stayed nonchalant, cold, grumpy, maybe even a little angry with the rest of the world. He never spoke or made any noises to show that he was even alive. The only thing he would do consistently was grip your hand and not letting you leave his bedside unless you were paged by another nurse or by your shift ending.

Today though, you were determined to try harder. "Guten tag everyone!" You called out in a sing-song voice.

The men cheered "Engel is back!" as they whooped as loud as their weakened bodies could.

"Yes yes, I'm yours until I get paged. How are you feeling?"

Johann, a handsome brunette with an arm missing, grinned. "I'm gut! Arm feeling better everyday!"

Wolfgang, a blonde with a temper like an Irishman, nodded eagerly. "Ja! I even spat back at the nurse who comes in before you!" He laughed. "You should have seen her face, she looked better than usual!"

You rolled your eyes. "What a thing to say!"

"And she tripped in the goop you coughed up here earlier." Otto laughed along.

"Oh you two..." You walked to Sir. "I trust you weren't a troublemaker in my absence?"

He nodded and remained silent, but squeezed your hand. Today his eyes looked slightly better, which made you smile. "Sir, your eyes look splendid today! Keep it up and you'll go home!"

"Sir" swallowed and clung to your hands fearfully, wanting some form of familiar comfort and love. "..."

You bit your lip, wondering how to help him...since he won't open up.

I apologize for my absence DX And for the shortness of this ^^; but chapter two is there! -

Please enjoy this, and let me know if anything is wrong, politely.

Komodo