When Darcy regained consciousness all he could hear was a faint and gentle humming, although the tune was not one that he recognised. The voice sounded like it belonged to someone young and by the sweetness of its tone probably a female; it was a sound he had not heard in a very long time.

For the very shortest of seconds, he thought that maybe he hadn't survived the shell blast. The voice that filled his ears was nothing short of heavenly, particularly coming after the shrieking, ear-splitting racket of the shell and he thought briefly that maybe he had, against all odds, ended up there.

Heaven.

His thoughts were interrupted by a slightly aloof female voice that cut through his reverie like a hot knife through lard. Or perhaps a more appropriate metaphor was 'like jagged shrapnel through flesh'.

'Awake, are you?'

He opened his eyes and found himself in a small room. It was clean, bare and in a way heart crushingly homely. He supposed it was because there wasn't a layer of blood and dirt covering everything, as he had grown used to out here. In the corner stood a rather lovely young woman, probably in her early twenties, dark brown hair pushed back into a messy bun. Her eyes watched him with keen distrust, and this annoyed him more than it probably should have.

What didn't help his current aggressive mood was the painful aching sensation that ripped through his head, felt particularly acutely now that his eyes were open, and exposed to the bright sunlight streaming through the small window opposite where he lay. Yet, just as the pain in his head was beginning to subside somewhat, the pain in his shoulder and right leg amplified, reminding him that they too had been damaged in the blast.

'Who are you?'

She raised an eyebrow at his aggressive tone, and gestured down to the red cross stitched onto the front of her white apron.

'I thought that would have been rather obvious.'

He stared at her for a few seconds, not used to such insubordination, particularly from young nurses.

'Yes, despite your clear lack of bedside manner it was obvious that you are, in fact, a nurse. What I was inquiring about was my current whereabouts and your name, although the latter is less important at the present. Tell me where I am first.'

Darcy missed it, contemplating as he was her obvious lack of concern for his superior rank (and the courtesy it normally afforded him), but the side of her lips had twitched at his rather delightful accusations of her 'lack of bedside manner'. She smiled sweetly, although it didn't reach her eyes, and slowly folded up the clean bandage that she held in her hand with agonising precision, leaving him sitting in bed unable to do anything about it. He wasn't quite sure she knew just how angry it made him, although she couldn't be completely oblivious, her smile said as much. It made his blood boil, being so vulnerable.

She stood at the edge of the bed and looked down at him, in a way no woman had ever looked at him before. Indeed, he couldn't remember any human creature looking at him that way before. It was a look that he didn't quite understand because it wasn't exactly hatred, he knew what hatred looked like, but at that moment it was the closest emotion he could ascribe to it.

It was a sort of knowing look that he didn't understand or like, because he wasn't really sure what it was that she thought she knew about him.

It was all very… disorientating.

'You are currently in Dieppe, at the No. 5 British Red Cross A Section. You were brought here two days ago after a shell went off near your car and caused a rather nasty head injury, as well as more minor injuries to your shoulder, right leg and right arm. I have been assigned…'

She paused, eyes narrowing slightly, perhaps to highlight the fact that she really didn't want to be here looking after him.

'…to be your primary care giver throughout your stay with us, although I should mention that you will receive a visit from Dr Jones every day.'

Taking his silence for displeasure, she ventured on in elaborating the details of his situation.

'I understand that you must see a nurse, whose name is of such little consequence, a less than satisfactory replacement for a full-time doctor, but this is an army hospital and we need all the doctors we can on duty or recovering from said duty.'

'I never expected a full-time doctor, Mrs…?'

'Miss.'

His stoic face didn't change as he spoke his reply.

'You amaze me.'

She snorted in a rather unladylike manner as she turned back to the bandages lying on the table.

'Well I was twenty-one when this war started, there wasn't really much time for falling in love and settling down.'

'Many women are married before twenty-one, I don't think you can use that as an excuse for not being married.'

His remark caused her to looked up from the now neatly folded pile of bandages, a crease in her otherwise smooth brow.

'An excuse? I do not need an excuse for being unmarried by the age of twenty-one. I hadn't found anyone to love, and after 1914 all men worth giving my love to were neck deep in mud on the frontlines.'

The meaning of her words was not entirely lost on him, a man whose role out here was primarily administrative, and he silently watched her from his bed, suddenly conscious of the fact he was wearing nothing but pin-striped pyjamas in front of her. He also realised that his bandaged head must make him look completely ridiculous, and his left hand twitched. She paused and then looked up at him again.

'Actually, I don't mean all, there are some exceptions to that.'

'And what exceptions would these be?'

She paused for a few moments before answering.

'Those unwilling or unable to fight for medical reasons. Oh, and I suppose those who are needed at home to fulfil vitally important tasks.'

'Unwilling?'

She took out a needle and thread and began to badly darn a pair of grey socks.

'You know, conscientious objectors.'

'Conchies? You think those cowards are worth love of any sort. Whimpering at home while their fellow men fight for their country.'

'Whimpering at home?'

She looked at him with complete incredulity.

'I hope you don't find me impertinent but I have seen more conscientious objectors come through this hospital than I have men who wear stars on their uniform. They still end up out here, even if its carrying stretchers rather than fighting on the front. They still die for their country. How can you call someone brave enough to stand up and say they refuse to kill a coward?'

Her cheeks were slightly flushed, as they had somehow in their first proper meeting breached a topic that normally got her blood racing. She turned away from him in an attempt to rein in her emotions. She may be the best nurse in Dieppe, but that wouldn't help her if she punched an already badly-wounded Brigadier in the nose. She sighed in an attempt to level her breathing, and it was with a far softer voice that she finished her piece to him, trying to focus on darning the socks neatly.

'In all honesty, I'm not sure I was ever really sold on the idea of marriage in the first place, there is a lot I want to do and see first.'

He was quick in his reply.

'Marriage is one of the foundations of civilised society.'

'One could argue that it is the foundation of many a so called 'uncivilised' societies as well. We, that is to say the British, are by no means the only ones who indulge in the practice.'

He stared at her in badly hidden incredulity.

'How very modern of you. I suppose you are one of these man and marriage hating suffragettes that chain themselves to railings and jump in front of horses to get the vote. Which if you ask me is undeserved as a movement that is dominated by property damage and hunger strikes.'

She rolled his eyes as he said this. Had it been anyone other than this difficult nurse he would have said it was a trick of the light, but he was convinced that she had really just rolled her eyes at him.

Insufferable woman.

'I hate neither men nor marriage.'

He raised an eyebrow in sanctimonious disbelief.

She looked up from her work and stared him dead in the eye.

'It's just I would have to be fiercely and inexorably in love with a man to marry him. I shall settle for nothing less, my mind is quite made up.'

He said nothing at that, merely continued to watch her. Seeing him suitably speechless she smiled dryly and turned back to the socks.

'But as I am far too sensible to fall fiercely and inexorably in love, I shall, as you say, have to content myself with property damage and hunger strikes.'

She looked over at the clock that stood against the table where she worked, pressed against the wall between him and the window.

'Dr Jones should be coming to give you a check-up in about 5 minutes.'

She stood and walked to the door, upon reaching for the handle she paused and swung quickly around to face him again.

'Elizabeth.'

He looked up at her.

'What?'

'That's my name. You asked earli…'

'Yes, but I couldn't possibly use your Christian name.'

'Well everybody else here calls me Elizabeth, and we will be forced to see rather a lot of each other in the coming weeks.'

He looked away from her to give his reply.

'I am not everybody else.'

She looked at him, eyes darkening slightly.

'No. I suppose you aren't.'

The cold that had seeped into her voice as she said that suddenly lightened, as did her eyes which seemed to twinkle, although there was no warmth in them. In fact, he would say they seemed rather to hold a fire in them, as opposed to a twinkle. However, he could only see them out of the corner of his eye.

'Very well then Brigadier General, you may have the very great pleasure of calling me Miss Bennet.'

Opening the door, she turned to face him again with a smirk on her face.

'Or you may simply call me…'

She stood up straight and snapped her fingers loudly, mock severity plastered onto her face.

'NURSE.'

Barked like a drill Sargent, she clicked her heels together before saluting the dumbstruck Darcy and marching out of the room.

Hope you enjoyed the first instalment of Hummingbird. I think I shall be updating once a week (it would be cruel to promise more than that as I'm not particularly organised), but I shall try to post Chapter two sooner. Please Follow, Comment and Review, it would mean a lot and constructive criticism is always very welcome.