Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.
A/N: Many of you probably noticed that history is not a very good subject for me so I apologize for my many, many mistakes. I got an anonymous review pointing out that helicopters weren't used until the fifties and I just wanted to thank whoever that was. I probably should have mentioned in the first part that I don't do research… at all. The best word to describe me would probably be lazy. I don't know much about WWII so I'm not sure why I chose this war. The only things I know about this war is what I've read in my nursing textbook, which isn't much. I probably should have stuck with the Korean war like I planned because I know pretty much everything there is to know about that war but that's probably because my dad has made me watch the entire M*A*S*H series at least seven times with him. Anyways, thanks again for whoever mentioned that and there will most likely be more mistakes in this second part so I apologize in advance.
January 5th, 1944
"Quinn's lovely." Rachel smiled, passing the picture back to Finn and settled down in the chair at his bedside. "I'd love to meet her sometime."
"Yea." Finn grinned and then his eyes moved towards Noah on the other side of the room. "He hasn't woken up yet?"
"Every now and then he gets up but it's just to use the bathroom or ask for something to eat or drink." Rachel sighed. "The doctor said that it's a pretty nasty infection. He must have gotten it from one of the other soldiers."
"I'm sure he'll be okay." Finn told her and Rachel tried to find some kind of hope in his words but she fell short when she saw the saddened expression cross Finn's face.
"I just want this war to be over." She sighed, tiredly.
"We all do." Finn leaned back on his pillows.
"Oh, I'm sorry, it's late and you must want to sleep." Rachel quickly jumped up from the chair and started to tuck Finn in. "I'm so sorry I kept you up, Private."
"It's okay." Finn assured her. "Anytime you wanna talk, I don't mind listening. It's not like there's anything else to do around her." He smiled up at her.
"Thanks." Rachel smiled gratefully before moving on from his bed. She slipped her apron off and after checking on Noah one last time, she made her way to her bed for some much needed rest of her own.
January 6th, 1944
Rachel took a deep breath before stepping into the tent. She hoped that Noah would be sitting up in bed and would be over his infection. She zeroed in on his bed as soon as she stepped through the flap of the tent and apparently God had met her halfway because Betty was helping Noah sit up in bed and spoon feeding him some broth. She quickly made her way towards his bed and felt her heart skip a beat when he tried to smile at her.
"You're up." She smiled warmly.
"Yea." He nodded.
"I can take over from here." Rachel told Betty and the older nurse passed her the bowl of soup. "Thanks, Betty." Rachel told her gratefully.
Betty hadn't missed the way Noah and Rachel had been talking and she definitely didn't miss the New Year's Eve kiss but Rachel appreciated that her superior hadn't said anything. Yet.
"Do you feel better today?" Rachel asked, turning her attention back to Noah.
"Definitely." Noah nodded. She carefully blew on the spoonful of broth before feeding it to the soldier in front of her. "I guess this means that I'll have to leave tomorrow anyway, won't it?"
Rachel felt her grip loosen on the spoon as her stomach fell but she quickly regained her composure. "I guess so." She tried not to let her voice waiver but she wasn't sure it she had succeeded. The look on Noah's face let her know he knew she was upset.
"We'll see each other again." He told her.
"No we won't. You'll go back to Ohio and I'll go back to Kentucky. We'll forget all about each other, Noah." Rachel looked down at the bowl of broth, not able to look him in the eyes.
"I wouldn't let that happen." He smiled. "There's no way I'm forgetting about you, Rach. We'll see each other again." He repeated.
"Noah." Rachel bit into her bottom lip.
"I promise." He lifted her chin, making her meet his gaze.
She smiled slightly, taking comfort in his words. "Thank you."
They were quiet for a while. Rachel fed Noah the rest of the broth and then went about changing his dressing and washing him off. She was just pulling the blanket back up to cover him when he met her gaze.
"You're beautiful, you know that?" He grinned when she blushed.
"Noah." She warned. "Don't."
"Why?" He asked. "You know I care about you, Rachel; why can't you just admit that you care about me as well?" She ignored his question and started to walk away when she felt him grip her wrist. "Marry me, Rachel."
She turned back to him slowly when his words finally sunk in and her eyes widened. "What?"
"Marry me?"
Rachel swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and shook her head fiercely. "No."
"If this war has taught me anything it's that life is over way too fast. You have to make the most of it, Rachel. I don't want to leave here without you. Marry me." Noah told her. "I've never wanted something so much before in my entire pathetic life. Marry me."
Rachel pulled her hand away from him. "My cousin, Artie, he deployed right after Pearl Harbor just like you. The only difference is that he came back just a few months later. The Germans… they shot him in the spine. He was in a wheelchair when he came back. His wife, Brittany, loved him just as much when he came back as she did before he got injured. She loves him so much but you should see the way he looks at himself in the mirror. He wishes they had been killed; that the surgeons hadn't saved him. All he's ever wanted to do was dance. He and I… we used to dance in the middle of my dad's living room for hours; until our legs would just give out and we'd collapse in the floor. He can't do that anymore because he was wounded; because of this stupid war." She felt the tears wells in her eyes.
"Don't cry, Rachel. Don't be sad."
"I'm not sad. I'm mad, Noah. There are people killing people. It's disgusting, and for what? Power? This entire war is about power, Noah." Rachel sucked in a deep breath. "I see so many soldiers coming through here that don't make it and I can't imagine how their families at home feel when they learn that they died over here. They died in this war." She stepped back from his bed, distancing herself from him. "I won't be a widow, Noah, but more than that, I won't be the wife of a soldier." She turned on her heel and rushed off, leaving Noah to stare after her.
Rachel was outside, trying to catch her breath when she heard someone come up beside her. Looking over, she found Betty on the other side of her.
"What's going on with you and Sergeant Puckerman?" Betty asked, getting straight to the point. "I've had this problem before, my nurses getting too close to patients, and I'm just warning you now, it never works. You'll get hurt."
"There's nothing going on." Rachel said quietly.
Betty met Rachel's eyes. "I don't like being lied to." Betty told her. "I try not to meddle in people's lives but I'm telling you to stay away from Sergeant Puckerman, understand?"
Rachel silently nodded and watched as Betty walked off. Rachel took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around her, trying to figure out exactly when her life started to spiral out of her hands.
January 8th, 1944
Noah was scheduled to leave two days later. Rachel had spent the last two days avoiding him as much as possible. She worked on the other side of the tent as often as she could and then she'd leave as soon as her work was done so as to avoid Noah. It wasn't until the day that he would be leaving that Noah finally had a chance to get her attention.
"Rachel?" Noah called out to her when she was forced to walk straight past his bed. She bit into her bottom lip as she tried to ignore him but his voice sounded so desperate. "Please, Rach, why are you avoiding me? Did I do something wrong?"
"I…" She stopped at the foot of his bed and met his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Rachel. Whatever I did… I'm sorry." Noah pleaded with her.
Rachel looked up from Noah's bed to see Betty's eyes on the two of them. "I can't… I'm sorry as well." She clutched the dirty linens tighter in her hands and moved past his bed, past Betty, and out of the tent for some air.
Rachel was standing outside, right by that tree Noah had kissed her under, when she saw the truck pull up. She knew it was the truck that would be taking Noah, along with several other wonderfully healing soldiers, to the warship that would be taking them home; taking them back to the states.
She heard the nurses and doctors inside start to bring the soldiers that would be leaving outside and help them into the truck. She sighed and turned to find Noah standing by the flap of the tent.
He stepped towards her but she shook her head.
"Come on, Puckerman." Finn slapped Puck on the back with his good hand and the two men started towards the truck.
Rachel was trying to convince herself of the reasons to not walk over to the truck and say something; anything to Noah and at this moment she couldn't find a reason.
They were just closing the door of the truck when Rachel called out for them to wait. "Stop!" She yelled and grabbed the door, jerking it back open. "Can I just… can I have a second with Sergeant Puckerman?"
The man nodded and left Rachel alone to talk to Noah. Noah looked up from his spot beside Finn in the back of the truck and found Rachel's eyes. "Rachel." Noah whispered and moved out of the truck, following Rachel to the tree; the tree.
"I need… I just need to see you, one last time before you go." Rachel whispered and crossed her arms around her as she bit back the tears. "You're leaving. You're going home, Noah."
"I know." Noah nodded. "I've known that for a while now. You've known that and you've been ignoring me." His brow creased and the emotions flooded his eyes.
"I… Noah, I…" She stepped towards him and her breath caught in her throat. "I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too." He whispered, closing the space between them and gathering her into a hug which she quickly reciprocated. "So damn much, Rach."
She clung tightly to him and his hands pulled her closer and closer. "Noah." She pulled back from him and his forehead rested against hers. "I think I might… might be falling in love with you." She said quietly, scared of the words that were coming out of her mouth.
Noah's hands gripped her hips tightly. "I think I might already be in love with you." He chuckled softly and his breath danced across her cheek.
"Noah." She whispered, gripping his arms, her fingernails digging into the flesh of his biceps. "I can't believe this is happening. Why do you have to go?"
"I don't know." He replied honestly. "It's not fair, is it?"
"No." Rachel replied even though she knew he wasn't expecting an answer. "I wish… there was some way you could stay here… or maybe I could go with you."
"I'm going to kiss you now." Noah told her.
"Please." She nodded fiercely and lifted her face, trying to seek out his lips.
His hands tangled in her hair and she felt her heart jump when his lips grazed across her cheek. "I'm going to find you. After this damn war is over and you're back home, I'm going to find you, Rach." He promised. "I will."
His lips met hers hesitantly and she sucked in a gasp. She tried to take comfort in his words but she knew they would most likely never see each other again. She wanted to believe him; believe that he would follow out on his promises but she hadn't been raised to hope for something as hopeless as this.
"Noah." She murmured before his tongue eagerly danced into her mouth.
She gripped the back of his neck. This kiss was different from the others. They knew this was different; that even if Noah did find her after the war it could be years from now before they even saw each other. He gripped the back of her head harder, trying to fuse the two of them together. He never wanted to stop kissing her and he was sure she was feeling something similar.
As much as he hated to, he finally pulled away when he heard Finn calling his name.
"You still owe me that song." Noah whispered, out of breath, and still holding onto Rachel. "When I find you, you're going to sing me that song."
"Of course, Sergeant." She smiled sadly. "Promise me you'll be safe. Promise me you'll go home and get well and stay there. Don't come back to England; don't come back to this war. Please, Noah, just promise me."
"I promise." He lied and by her expression he was almost sure that a little part of her knew he was lying as well. She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him soundly on the lips. It wasn't rushed; it was sweet and gentle and the perfect way to say goodbye. At least for now.
Rachel stood under the tree, hugging herself, as she watched Noah get back into the truck. He offered her one last wave before he shut the door. She saw Finn wave at her as well and then they were gone. The truck pulled off, taking Noah away from her.
She sniffled, quickly wiping away any tears that might have escaped and turned to go back inside the tent. She spotted Betty a few feet away, watching her and Rachel was sure she had seen the entire thing with Noah.
"He's gone." Rachel tried to bite back her anger at her superior but it was futile. "Are you happy now?"
Rachel rushed past Betty, not waiting for an answer to her question and quickly started back with her work. She needed to keep herself busy or else her head would be flooded with thoughts of Noah. She only let her eyes dance towards Noah's bed once, bed 37, before she returned to washing a wounded soldier.
She was sure that tomorrow more soldiers would be injured and brought here, filling up bed 37, and all thoughts of Noah would go away. If only it was that easy.
A/N: I know I said this would most likely be about two parts but apparently I was lying because as of now there are three parts. I know this is a little shorter than the first part but I thought this was a good place to end this. Plus, my personal life has been pretty busy and I thought you guys deserved an update since you have left all of those amazing reviews. Hope you guys like this update. Let me know.
Not beta'd, all mistakes are mine.
