Thanks to Madi92 for the review, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :)

It was warm today. The heat seeping into his bones, that had felt so chilled since he had been shot, was wonderful. Bill smiled to himself and thought that the warmth could just be from the company he was keeping.

Laura walked slowly beside him, keeping pace with his wheelchair as a tall boy with a mop of curly, dark hair pushed him through the gardens of the hospital. What was that kids name? Bill would have to ask him his name later; he hadn't seen the boy around in a while.

"How was your breakfast? I'm sorry we didn't have much to give you, what with the rations and all." Laura looked down at Bill and noticed the colour seemed to have returned to his skin, ridding him of the sickly pallor that had been emphasised by the harsh lighting in the ward.

"It was a lot better than the rations we'd had at the barracks." He grinned up at her and she placed her hand on his shoulder, rubbing it softly. She had kept her word. After fetching him some rations of crackers and dried fruit for his breakfast, Laura had made her rounds on the ward, checking up on the other patients, giving them their medications and making them comfortable before disappearing to talk to the doctor.

Ten minutes later she had re-emerged with the boy in tow, pushing the wheelchair, and a pleased smile contorting her lips, "The doc has given me permission to spring you temporarily, and only into the gardens, on the conditions that you don't go dancing anywhere and come back if you feel the slightest twinge in your chest." She had told him while pulling out a blanket from the chest underneath the bed.

"Yes ma'am. I 'preciate it." Bill, with the boys help, had hauled himself out of the bed and into the chair, feeling ashamed of himself when it took his breath away and Laura looked at him worriedly, her expression making him wonder if she was considering cancelling their little excursion. She hadn't, simply kept a vigilant eye on him as they made their way out of the ward and into the sun.

They walked in a companionable silence for what seemed like hours before they came to an algae filled pond with a rickety looking wooden bridge crossing over the centre. The middle of the bridge was bathed in sunlight and when Laura stepped into the pool of gold, Bill's breath caught.

The auburn of her hair seemed to change colours in the light, the few loose curls lightly tousled by a gentle breeze that up until that moment, Bill hadn't even noticed. When she looked at him, a gentle tender smile graced her features; "There's a bench over there, Bill." She glanced over her shoulder to the other side of the bridge before she gracefully walked behind him and took over pushing the chair for the boy.

"You know Laura, I can walk." He huffed when she didn't slow her pace and pushed him quickly over to the bench. The boy ambled over and helped Bill to pull himself up off the chair and plop heavily onto the stone bench before tucking the blanket over his lap.

"I'm well aware of that Captain. The doctor, however, would have my head on a silver platter if you were to have a heart attack on my watch." Bill chuckled and motioned for her to sit next to him on the bench. The mop-haired boy took it as a signal to make himself scarce and sauntered off further around the gardens.

"I'll keep that in mind and try not to have an attack when you're on duty." Laura smirked and lightly bumped his shoulder with her own, "What did you do before the war?"

Her smirk turned into a sad smile and she focused her attention on her hands, which she had knitted together in her lap, "I told you I'm not a nurse?" Bill nodded and waited for her to continue, "I'm not, and I just do what the doctors tell me."

"What are you then?" She looked up at him, her expression wistful.

"I'm a teacher. Before the war started I taught high school students." Bill smiled; he was able to easily imagine Laura as a teacher, the type whose students loved her.

"Why aren't you still teaching then?" He could tell from the glimmer in her eyes that it was obviously something she had loved.

Laura returned her gaze to her hands and picked an imaginary speck of dirt off her blue uniform, "I guess I realised we needed nurses more than we needed teachers at the moment, so I left the school and started volunteering here. Billy came with me."

Bill felt a stone fall to the bottom of his stomach, "Billy?" He asked tentatively, not entirely sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Laura smiled proudly and nodded in the direction the boy, who was now sat on a grass verge staring at the clouds, "Yes, Billy Keikeya." Bill couldn't help but laugh, so that's what the kids name was.

Laura looked at him, her face perplexed, "What?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking those drugs you gave me must have been pretty good if I couldn't even remember that name." He continued to laugh and was pleased when she joined in, that was another thing to add to the list of traits he liked about her.

When she managed to contain her laughter, Laura turned to watch Billy as she spoke, "Billy was a student of mine, he felt that he could be of some use so he came here with me." Bill recognised the tone that was lacing her voice, maternal pride, something he rarely heard when Carolanne spoke about the boys.

He watched as she reached up and pulled the pins out of her hair, letting it flow down around her shoulders briefly before she captured it again and pulled it back into a neater bun. He was completely in awe of how easy she made it look, he had always had the impression that women had to spend hours in front of the mirror to get their hair into the desired affect. He knew Carolanne certainly did.

"What about you?" She asked him, completely oblivious to his attention to her and more focused on getting her unruly curls into some semblance of order.

"Hmm?" She looked up at him and he vaguely noticed how her eyes seemed to change colours, alternating between green, grey and blue.

"What did you do sir, before the war?"

Bill sat for a moment and looked thoughtfully out at the pond, "I've always been a pilot. Joined up when I was 18, got my wings when I was 21."

When he looked at Laura, he caught a flicker of something in her eyes that he couldn't name, "You really are a patriot aren't you." She smiled shyly at him.

Grinning he gave her a nod, "Yes ma'am, I am."

"What about your wife? What does she think about you being a pilot?" Laura fought the urge to giggle, she was openly fishing.

Bill's grin fell slightly and Laura immediately felt embarrassed but before she had the chance to apologise, he answered her, "I think the fact that she's been my ex-wife for a while now might answer your question."

"I'm sorry." Her apology sounded hollow to her, so she looked down at her hands and closed her eyes. She started slightly when she felt Bill's warm hand encompass her own. Looking at him, she felt the blood rise to her cheeks and bit her bottom lip.

"Don't be. We knew it was wrong from the beginning, we just never did anything about it." The clouds shifted and doused the two of them in chilly shadows causing Laura to shiver.

Bill noticed her trying to suppress the shivers and took the blanket off his lap, "Here." He said as he wrapped it tightly around her shoulders, rubbing his larger hands up and down her trembling arms.

Laura let him continue his ministrations for a few minutes before standing, his look of confusion going straight to her heart, "We had better get you back inside. The doc'll kill me if you catch a cold."

When he nodded, Laura caught young Billy's attention and he moseyed over and helped Bill back into the wheelchair. By the time they got back to the ward, the doctor was making his own rounds, checking the leg of the man in the bed next to Bill's. He glared at them when he spotted them, but apparently decided that Bill was no worse for wear and left them too it.

As Billy helped prop him up on the bed, Laura returned the blanket to its place in the chest. When she stood straight, Bill caught her hand again.

"Thank you, Laura." There was a warmth emanating from his eyes that Laura was not accustomed to.

"Anytime Bill." She gave his hand a quick squeeze before disentangling them and going over to the doctor. Bill watched as he gave her instructions in a low tone, she paid close attention, nodding occasionally.

He felt like he was floating when she walked over to the ward door, shooting him one last glittering smile over her shoulder before she left.