Her ears hurt almost as much as her eyes did. The battle had ended almost an hour ago, though she stayed close to the ground as she searched through the bodies. She was searching for signs of life, but every single person she had come across had been cold beneath her fingers. She looked up and glanced around, she didn't have long until night fell and the Germans came back and made sure that they were all dead. She crawled over to the next body and pressed her fingers to the pulse point, already knowing that it would be silent and cold. Her eyes widened when she felt their pulse, it was faint and erratic, but it was there. She looked the young man up and down before noting how close to death they were, their body had several bullet holes in. She almost left him their to die, but his eyes fluttered and she knew he felt the pain. With a sigh she grabbed the man and pulled him over her shoulder before standing up and walking back the way she had come.
"I have your back soldier, don't worry. Leave the mess for the nurse to clean." she muttered as sweat beaded on her forehead. It wasn't a long walk to where she had made her base, but it always seemed longer with someone on her back. Always. She was glad she had rigged a rope lift to carry them up. Breathing heavily she put him on the rope lift and climbed up into the not so abandoned tree house and started to pull him up. With a final tug she tied the lift up and walked to the door that had been cut into the wall and pulled him in. Quickly pulling the rope ladder she had used to get in up she sat down for a second and took in his wounds. He had been shot several times, one in what looked like his heart but clearly couldn't be if he was alive, another in his gut and one in the back at a similar angle. She furrowed her brows and undid her shoes before standing up. Her shoes made a lot of noise and the Germans patrolled here nightly.
She grabbed a cloth and a bowl and walked over to the cistern, filling the bowl with rainwater. Setting the bowl down beside her she rolled her sleeves up and unbuttoned his jacket. A journal fell out of his jacket pocket as she slipped it off, a bullet hole through the leather. The journal had saved his life. But only just. The bullet had still got him but instead it had hit something less vital. She unbuttoned his bloodied shirt and grabbed the cloth from the bowl, cleaning away as much blood as she could. 3 bullet wounds, one to his left side, the one that had been aimed at his heart, one to his stomach and one to his lower right side.
She wiped her head with the back of her hand as she looked around the room, searching for her needle and thread. Spotting them she got up and grabbed them, opening the new packet as she sat down. She threaded the needle and leant over him to pull the bullet out and stitch up the wound to his left side. It was the most vital at the moment, he was loosing a lot of blood from it as it was the closest to his heart. She did the same for the others and her eyes constantly flicked up to his face, looking for signs that he could feel. Signs that he was close to the surface. Only once did she get any. His eyebrows furrowed as she reached inside his stomach with tweezers to grab the bullet. She wiped the blood away again then bandaged his chest and stomach up, placing extra fabric over the wounds in an attempt to soak up the blood. She washed her hands with the cloth then put the bowl aside. She would have to wait until morning to dump the water. She stood up and was about to jump out of the hide when she heard the gunfire. She was too late to save anyone else. She bit her lip and pulled herself back in.
"Looks like only one tonight." She sat down and covered her ears as she watched him breathing. Now that he was stable, enough, she finally got a chance to take in his appearance. He was probably in his late 20s similar in age to her, and he had gingery blond hair. She had no idea what his eyes were like, he hadn't opened them yet, but she could guess at blue from the hair colour. That or grey. He was decent enough, though she herself wasn't attracted to him, she could see that many women would like him. She also noticed that he wore a captains epaulette, an officer. Great, the only one she could save was an arrogant, ignorant, pompous member of the high class. She glared at him then turned her attention to the small door on her right. She could perfectly see the patrol route from where she was sat, they would be starting the rounds soon.
It was 2 nights before he started to show any signs of waking. She was sat at her usual evening spot when she heard them talking about the Allies field hospital 10 miles to the north. She reached for her small pistol next to her and stood up, they were clearly discussing a raid on allied nurses. She started to stand up when the captain started to make noises of waking. Her eyes widened and she turned to face him, glancing at the Germans below her who started to turn to face her. She made a jump for him and let go of her gun, placing her hand over his mouth. His eyes fluttered open with a moan, blue, and he looked up at her. She quickly cast at glance at the doorway as a torch beam passed it.
"I need you to be quiet, okay. Can you do that?" she whispered. He nodded and she removed her hand and crawled back to where she had been sat.
"Es war wahrscheinlich ein eichhornchen," they said. It was probably a squirrel. She smirked and stood up slowly so as not to make a noise.
"Es hat sehr menschlich geklungen." It sounded very human .There was a sigh and then the torch was shone up again, she tilted backwards but she knew that they had seen her.
"Scheisse." She ducked down and leant her elbow on her knee, before aiming her pistol. She shot one through the chest, he was dead before he hit the ground. She hit the other in the shoulder he held his gun with, she wanted to talk to him. She stood back up and was about to jump down when a bullet embedded itself in the wood. She dropped down to the ground and shot the third man through the chest.
She walked over to the man she had shot in the arm and stood over him, pistol aimed at him.
"What are the plans for the allied hospital?" She hissed as she knelt down on his chest when he didn't reply. "I know you understood me, I've heard you speak English before." she pressed the boiling hot barrel against his ear. He flinched and let out a cry.
"They plan an attack on them, kill the moral as well as the troops." She pressed the barrel against his forehead and asked him again.
"When?"
"A week, please don't shoot me." She smiled at him sweetly before pulling the trigger.
"Sorry, but I cant do that now you know where I am." She holstered her pistol and picked the man up, dragging him away from her small camp and leaving him behind a tree 30 meters away. She did the same for the other men, grabbing their first aid kits and storing them in her pocket. She didn't realise how long it had taken her but the sun was coming up when she pulled the rope ladder down so she could climb up. She emptied her pockets then pulled the ladder back up before turning back to the Captain.
"Can I talk now?" he whispered cautiously.
"Yes. Here." She poured him a tumbler of scotch and handed it to him. "It'll take the edge off. Welcome back to the living Captain." He took the scotch and let it trickle down his dry throat before he spoke aloud.
"What happened? Where am I?" he asked as he struggled to sit up. Quickly she went behind him and pulled him so that he was resting against the wall.
"Your fellow cavalry men were mowed down by machine guns when you charged into their camp. You were the only one I could save. Which is why you are here." His blue eyes widened.
"What about Major Stewart?" She shook her head and took back the glass of scotch, refilling it.
"Even if he survived the initial wave of destruction and death, he would have been killed by them the night I brought you back. If he had been lucky enough to look dead and not be shot through the head he would have died of his wounds by now. Sorry." She handed him back the glass and he downed the contents even though it burned his throat.
"What is your name?" he asked as he put the glass on the floor, turning the conversation off the hurting subject. She raised an eyebrow and sat down with a sigh.
"Charlotte. And yourself if I may be so bold?" The captain winced slightly as he shifted. She looked down at his bandages and noticed the blood staining the bandages. She cursed and got onto her knees and started to unwrap his bandages, reaching for the clean set on her left. The movement of getting up had pulled the stitches and the wounds had started bleeding again. She left the clean bandages in his lap and grabbed the cloth she had used to clean his wounds that morning. She sat down beside him and cleaned out the wounds before bandaging them back up. He let out a breath and replied to her earlier question.
"Captain Nicholls, James Nicholls." She sat back on her heels and let out a sigh, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.
"Well Captain Nicholls, we have to get going, they plan on attacking the allied hospital next week. Do you think you can stand?" she asked as she herself stood up and grabbed his shirt and jacket, handing them to him. He struggled up and used the wooden wall to aid him. His wounds fast bled through the bandages, even faster when he stood up straight. He took his shirt from her and turned so that he could get changed. He hadn't realised that he hadn't had a top on. She moved around him and grabbed a small water canister and walked to the cistern to fill it. She quickly tied it around her waist and grabbed another, handing it to him when it was full. He drank it thirstily, water dripping down his chin. She laughed lightly when he handed it back to her empty. She refilled it and gave it back to him, he looked guiltily at it.
"If you are still thirsty then drink it." He held it to his mouth and took a sip, then another. He forced himself to stop and screwed the cap back on the bottle, putting it on his belt. She walked over to a small drawer and pulled out a ration pack. "Here, eat this. It's a two hour ride to the hospital so we need to get going." He nodded and opened a small pack of oat biscuits as she stared to untie the knot that kept the lift off the floor. "Get on the lift." He was glad that she knew what she was doing, because the pain was stopping him from thinking properly.
She followed after him and slowly started letting the rope out of her hands. It was a short drop to the floor and he almost fell off the lift as dizziness over whelmed him. He stumbled towards the tree trunk and rested against it, taking in the feel of the bark, associating himself with the world around him.
"Sit down if you need to." He shook his head and stood up straight, only to double over from pain. She tied off the rope lift and walked over to him, pulling his arm over her shoulder in an attempt to support him. "Yet again, I've got your back." She lead them to a stable half a mile away where she let go of his arm and let him stand on his own and mounted the horse.
"I'm not sure I can." She clenched her jaw and looked down at him.
"Get up, now." He sighed and took a deep breath before mounting the stead behind her. She spurred the horse as soon as he was on, making him grab her around the waist. He was glad for it though as it meant he didn't have to excuse grabbing her, it meant he didn't have to admit to hurting so badly that he could barely make out her brown hair.