We want to be clear on a few things, there was a disclaimer with the first chapter that certain things within the story would not or could not actually happen, such as ranks, promotions, and or time frames. This story was not written this way to be disrespectful to the military and or anyone within the medical field. We have been accused of being disrespectful to the nursing profession, and our intent was never that at all. Both of us have nothing but the utmost respect for the medical professionals and armed forces, around the world. We meant no disrespect to anyone in the writing or sharing of this story, it is purely a fictional story we wrote to share with you and to help raise money for a Fandom supporting our everyday heroic men and women who battle for our freedoms, both combat and medical alike.
Chapter 9
The next morning I'm up early, washed, and dressed. After checking inside the mess hall, I wait outside for Bella. I slide my shades off when I see her approaching, tucking the arm in the front of my shirt.
"Swan," I say, and she smiles.
"Cullen," she replies, and I grin, nodding in the direction of the mess hall.
We get our breakfast and were sitting at the same table as we did last night. After we eat, we head to the hospital to do our rounds. After rounds, we start seeing patients that have been brought in for normal things and some who came in sick.
"Kerr," I say, and a soldier stands up and waves a little, looking unsteady on his feet.
Bella moves to him with a wheelchair. She has him sit in it, and she wheels him to the examination room. Turns out that he has a bad inner ear infection, so his balance is off kilter.
We go through most of the day with it being quiet. Bella stocks up the exam rooms, and does prep for all the surgical rooms.
"Seems a little quiet," Bella says, and I look up from my notes. She's right in a way. So far this morning has just been a few sick soldiers that we've seen.
"That, Swan, is something you shouldn't …" I don't get to finish what I am saying when we have a radio call.
"Base sixteen-eighty-two, this is alpha transport, come in."
I grab the radio. "Base sixteen-eighty-two, go ahead Alpha transport."
"We have two men with multiple GSW and one WW."
Bella looks to me and then the radio.
"Roger that, Alpha Transport. What is the ETA?"
"Twelve minutes," they reply.
"Roger," I say into the radio. "Let's go, people. We have incoming," I say, being the senior officer in charge.
We all quickly wash our hands and gear up in our medical cover, masks, and gloves. The meeting teams run outside to help the medics on the chopper.
As soon as they are through the door, I'm given a report. "Patient one: Private Sterzing, two GSW one left upper arm, one left abdominal. BP is crashing." I nod my head and look to the next one.
"Patient two: Private Davies, three to the top of his chest and his BP is 105/65. Patient three: Private Welsh, WW, suspect broken left leg."
"Maries, Fox, work on Davies. Kelly and Jenks, you have the WW. Swan, we've got Sterzing."
Everyone immediately jumps right to work. I work quickly with Bella to get the bullets out. I look to the screen, seeing his heart rate dropping.
"He's arresting. Start compressions," I say. "Shit," I say. This is far too soon for Bella to watch some soldier die. I'm shocked for a whole second as Bella jumps up straddling Sterzing and begins doing compressions. I watch as she seems to be getting a good rhythm going while I charge up the defibrillator. As soon as I've got a full charge, I say, "Swan, clear."
She jumps off, and I shock him. Within seconds, he starts to improve.
"We've got a steady rhythm. Good job, Swan," I say, not looking her way. I know she knows I'm very proud of her.
As soon as we have him stable, we move to look in on Davies who also seemed to be good. We check the walking wounded, and see that he did in fact have a broken ankle.
Once we have everyone stable, Davies and Sterzing are sent off via transport to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, in Germany.
*~EL~*
Bella's first week has gone by quickly, but she has settled in well. She sent out letters to my parents, Alice and JC, and Rose and Emmett. I know she's still a little upset that Rose will not talk to her.
Tonight is our down time, and we also have tomorrow off. I've already planned for her to spend some time watching movies with me in my quarters. I know we are taking a huge risk, but we haven't had much time, and I miss calling her Van.
There is a small knock on my door, and I open it quickly, pulling Bella inside. "Hey, Van," I say, pushing her against the door as I hug her and lock it at the same time. "Come on. I have a load of snacks and unhealthy shit for us to eat."
I pull her to the makeshift bed I made for us. I smile even more as she takes her boots off and looks so calm and relaxed here.
"You ready to watch Road House?" She nods, waving her hand.
I press play and sit down next to her. Instantly, my arm goes around her, and I pull her close to me. We chuckle and gasp throughout the movie, and as soon as it's done, I put on Identify theft. I let out a little yawn as I look at my watch, seeing that it's a little after twenty-three hundred. I sigh, knowing Bella needs to head back.
"Van," I say softly, but she only hums out in reply. I turn my body a little to see she's asleep with her head on my shoulder. I move slowly and lay her down flat. I look at her face, but I can't see it as well, since her hair has fallen over it. I carefully, so not as to wake her, move her hair out of the way. I can't help but smile when I see the small smile on her lips.
"Edward," she says with a sleepy sigh.
In those weeks after Jasper's death, I found out that Bella speaks in her sleep. In the first days, it was pain-filled cries for Jasper to come back. As the days went on, my name started to fall from her lips too. The warm feeling it gives me is what clued me in to the fact that I was in love with her.
"Edward," she says again, reaching out with her hand.
"I hope you don't say my name too often in your room," I chuckle a little as the image plays in my mind. I cover her up and kiss the side of her head.
I strip down to my bed clothes and lie down next to her. She moves back to me, placing her head on my chest and my name seems to stop spilling from her lips. It's almost as if she was calling me to come to bed. I smile as my eyes close.
*~EL~*
I wake, feeling more rested even though I've had less sleep than normal. I know it's because Bella is lying with me. She moans, and I frown looking down at her.
"Van?" I say worried, and she looks like she's in pain.
"It's just women stuff," she mumbles out.
I swallow, pushing her hair out of her face. "Do you take the pill or something?"
"No, I'm not having sex," she says, rolling her eyes a little.
I chuckle. "That's good to know, but you're a woman and a nurse. You should know that they can help with the pain and make heavy cycles lighter."
"Well, sadly since my stateside doctor is old Dr. Murray, he said that since I was still a good girl and was not having sex, I didn't need it. Besides, I hate taking medication. You know that."
I nod, knowing that she can be a baby when it comes to taking medication. "Besides, they're only really painful about twice a year."
I remove my arm from under her head and rub my hands together. Once I have them warm, I place one on her belly, rubbing it softly.
"Hmmm, you have healing hands," Bella chuckles a little. "I really don't want to leave, but I need to get washed, changed, and get myself sorted before …" I nod at her as she trails off.
"If you need a bath to soak in, I can free up a bath at the hospital base for you."
She shakes her head. "Thanks, but we need to be careful."
I sigh and nod at her. "Okay, I'll meet you at twelve hundred hours in the mess hall."
I help her to stand. Once I check to make sure the coast is clear, she runs out of my room.
A/N: So they are getting closer, what are your thoughts?