I stood still, not wanting to move. He was going to marry me and we weren't even an official couple yet. I smiled at the thought of marrying him and quickly headed back into work. The tent was filled with traumas coming in left and right. I felt overwhelmed and tired. Just when we cleared one, another one came in behind him. I felt at any moment I was going to collapse when I was relieved.

I made my way to the lounge tent for some unwinding and found Allan already there. He sat on the couch and looked at me as I came in. "Long day?" He smiled.

I laid as best I could in his arms. "You could say that. I don't remember a time when I was this exhausted." I turned awkwardly around to face him. "You really going to marry me or was that a joke?"

"I'm really going to marry you when we get back. I know that it's a little weird as we've never said we were any sort of couple, but I just knew when I met you." He leaned down and kissed me. "Don't ever forget it."

For the first time in a long time, Allan's usual cynical nature was quiet. He fell asleep and I watched him sleep for a while before starting to head off to my bed. I kissed his forehead softly and headed out of the tent. "Corporal!" I heard Captain Mitchell yell.

I turned around. "Sir?"

He returned my salute. "I have a favor to ask you."

"Sir, I've just had a long day and..." He held out his arm. I noticed it was bleeding profusely. "What happened, Sir?"

"Not sure. I just...then...If I could tell you, I would." He seemed a little spacey and I checked him out as much as I could in the moonlight. "Do you think you could help?"

I clamped down on his arm, hoping to stop the bleeding and ran to the tent. "INCOMING!" I yelled. Private Bell helped me get the Captain on a gurney. "I don't know what happened. I don't think he knows." I checked his eyes, which were starting to gloss over. "Shit." I ran out and back to the lounge. I needed help and the only medic I wanted to help was "SHAVER!" I yelled as I ran into the ten. "We need you ASAP at the tent."

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "What now?"

"Captain Mitchell. Something happened and no one seems to know. His eyes are glazing over and if I'm going to have help..." I needed to say no more as he was now sprinting to the tent. I ran as best as I could back to the tent, running right into Lieutenant Hunter. "Sorry, Sir." I apologized as I ran back.

"Corporal!" I heard him yell. "You need to show some goddamned respect!"

I stopped and faced him. "I've got respect, Sir, but right now that lies in saving a Captain's life and last I looked, he outranked you and deserves my full attention and respect right now more than you, Sir." I quickly saluted and ran back into the tent.

Shaver was working furiously on Captain Mitchell. He glanced up at me once. "Let's go, Shue. I need blood. He's lost a lot of it."

I ran to get some blood when I ran into Captain Baron. "Sir?"

"I just got news that one of my fellow Captains was in here."

"Sir, it's Captain Mitchell. He's bleeding profusely." I pointed out a folding chair. "If you choose to wait, there's a seat, Sir, but for now, I need to get the man some blood."

Captain Baron nodded in agreement and sat in the chair. "Keep me posted!" He yelled at me.

"As always, Sir!" I yelled back.

A couple hours later, Captain Mitchell was in recovering from surgery. I looked outside and the sun started to rise. I felt the exhaustion overcome my body as I realised I had worked nearly a full 36 hours with a five minute break. I sighed as I found Captain Baron still sitting in the chair. He stood up as I approached him. "How's he doing, Corporal?"

"He's recovering, Sir. We're still trying to figure out what happened." I rolled my head. "Have you visited Staff Sergeant Silas yet?" I rubbed my neck.

"Not yet." He smiled. "Listen, you go get some sleep. You deserve it. You've been working your ass off since you got here." He looked as Shaver walked over to us. "Both of you. You're off duty for 24 hours. Where's the rest of the staff that was here the past couple of days?"

"Probably finishing rounds." Shaver yawned. "But, Sir, this is the life of a medic. We don't get rest."

"You're under orders to, Corporal." The Captain was serious. He saw Dr. Givens walk by. "Lieutenant."

She faced him. "Sir?"

"I want the names of all those who worked the past 36 hours."

"Sir, it was most of the staff."

He sighed. "Starting with these two Corporals, yourself and as many as you can spare are under orders to rest for 24 hours. Those who don't get to now get it when these two and yourself come back in. You tell everyone here. Anyone has any problems, you direct them to me, Lieutenant. This is not an option. You won't see much rest while you're here so take it while you can."

"Yes, Sir. I'll let the staff know right away. Thanks, Sir."

"You got it." He faced me and Shaver. "Why are you two still here? Get some fucking sleep." He smiled.

We saluted him and Allan took my hand. "Shall we?" His eyes were heavy from sleep and I wondered if we'd even make it to our separate tents.

I fell asleep quickly and couldn't remember the last time I had slept so well in Iraq. I woke up, feeling refreshed, and heard the sounds of men yelling. UH 60s were landing and despite orders, I ran over to see if I could help. Private Henderson looked at me. "Thought you were under orders to take the next 24 hours off."

"Go. You need to get some rest, Henderson. I've got it." I pushed him out of the way. "What do we have?"

"Young male, approximately 24 years old, hit by VBIED. BP is 85 palp and resps are 22. Pulse is 55 and fading fast." The other medic looked at me. "Behind us is the other guard. Shrapnel lodged in his Kevlar."

"Stats?" I ran over to the guard, who was awake and looking around.

The medic pushing the gurney looked at me. "He's strong. BP is 121 palp and resps are WNL as is his pulse. His pupils are slow and unequally reactive, so be on the look out for possible concussion."

We quickly took the young men inside and I nearly laughed at what I saw. Like me, Shaver had decided that 24 hours rest was too much and he was already helping with the first young man. Lieutenant McNalley looked at me. "So much for Captain's orders, huh?" He smiled.

"Yes, Sir. A medic never sleeps." I helped to get the young guard on the bed. "VBIED and while he's well within normal limits, the medics said his pupils were unequal."

"I see that." Lieutenant McNalley moved a light over the young man's eyes. "What's your name, Soldier?"

"Roanoake, Sir."

The words were clear, but half slurred. Lt. McNalley looked at the young man's arms. "Tell me what happened."

"We were standing roadblock duty, Sir, when this VBIED came out of nowhere. We ordered him to stop, telling him we'd use deadly force. He didn't and we did. When the car went off towards the side of the road, it exploded. We lost four men, Sir. But my buddy, Markus, Sir. How's he?"

The young Private winced in pain as we removed his Kevlar. "Sorry." Lt. McNalley said. "We're going to look at this wound. Shit."

"Sir?" The young man's eyes darted around, fear in them.

"You're one hell of a lucky young man. We're going to have to perform surgery to remove not just the shrapnel, but parts of your Kevlar that are imbedded in your skull. Without a doubt, you'll have a headache, but you'll live to fight another day." Lt. McNalley smiled. "Let's move out!"