Nili watched the 2 men from just inside the window of the hospital. She studied the Sergeant as he leaned down and poured over the large file his C.O. had brought with him.

He really was a handsome man. Some part of her thought she was terribly stupid for rejecting his advances, but her head which she had always let rule, told her she was right in her mannerisms with him.

Her eyes followed the line of his broad shoulders down his thick forearms. He was pointing out various parts of the paperwork in front of him to the Leuitenant in front of him. His eyes were bright and excited. His face really did come alive when he was excited, his teeth gleamed and dimples formed in the sides of his cheeks.

"He's a handsome man." Nili was snapped away from watching him by the voice of one of the night nurses, Lily Decker.

"Hmm, who?" Nili tried to sound unimpressed

"Your Sergeant, I'm his night nurse. Last night he grilled me on you the entire time I changed his dressings. He's like a big ol' love struck puppy."

"He's not my Sergeant, he's a Sergeant, just one among many here."

Lily rolled her eyes and nudged shoulders with Nili, they were almost the same age, Lily was 22 and Nili was almost 24. "Come on, he's damn handsome. Give him a chance, what do you have to lose?"

"None of the head nurses and doctors take the girls who get involved with the patients seriously. They think they're just here to chase husbands." Nili had seen more than her fair share of nurses dismissed for getting caught with the soldiers, and she was not about to be one of them.

"Everyone here knows you're a phenominal nurse, Nili. No one would think of you that way."

"Even so, I don't like him. I think he's all bluster and far too full of himself. Did you know he told me he was going to marry me on the spot, who thinks that will work?"

Lily laughed and joined her in watching him quietly "Well, consider yourself lucky you've gotten a proposal. Johnny still won't even mention it and we've been steady for 5 years." Lily's face fell a little speaking of her longtime boyfriend. He was stationed somewhere in Africa fighting Rommel.

Nili took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze "Don't worry Lily, as soon as the war's over."

"That's what I keep telling myself, but don't you close yourself off Nili. Let fate take over for once and don't try to fight it."

Nili just shook her head and laughed "I do love a good fight though."

Lilly nodded and smiled and excused herself from Nili to finish her rounds. Nili stole one more glance at the corner of the garden then moved to the nurse's station to finish some paperwork.

The next few days were spent waking and working towards becoming mobile. Donny woke three hours before he knew Nili would be in to see him and he would work to lift and move his leg. He was almost sure she knew about his morning rituals, but she let it slip passed the other nurses. After she came in she would take him outside and they would sit by their bench together until Aldo came. Nili and Aldo were not fond of each other and Donny always noted with a chuckle how she would tense and roll her eyes as soon as soon as she heard his voice.

As Nili wheeled him inside the hospital after another day out in the sun pouring over files with the Leuitenant she wondered why he was so quiet, usually he had some sort of comment about how he'd missed her or how she'd gotten prettier while she was gone, but today he was quiet.

"Is there something wrong Sergeant, are you in pain?"

"Hmm, no. Not at all, just thinking." His voice was flat and she could tell he was indeed deep in thought. His quietness made her uneasy, but not because it was awkward, because it was a different side of him. She hadn't known he could be dark and contemplative like this.

She got him to his room and moved to his side to help him back up into his bed. He waved her off and picked himself up.

"Sergeant, please don't be obstinant. Let me help you."

He sighed and she could tell his temper was flaring a little "I don't need you coddling me like a damn baby. If you expect me to get better you're going to have to let me do things on my own for God's sake." His voice was biting and she was shocked to hear him talk like that to her.

"Listen, I'm the nurse here and you're just a stubborn jack ass, don't think you can ever take that tone with me again." She was strong and she had her back straight with her hands on her hips. "I don't know what is wrong with you today, but you'll not be taking it out on me."

He growled out and stubbornly lifted himself out of his wheelchair, Nili whipped herself in front of him and pushed him down to sit in the chair with a fire in her eyes. "Stop it right now."

He sputtered to himself and when he met her eyes his held the same quick burning fire. "No, you stop it right now. I'm a goddamn man and I don't need a woman to help me out of a goddamn chair. I can lift myself up!"

Nili had had enough of him. He was infuriating, and if he wanted to hurt himself she wasn't going to waste her energy stopping him. "You know what, fine. Go ahead." She threw up her hands and turned quickly on her heel to leave the room.

"Yeah I will, you go ahead and take that stick out of your perfect tight little ass."

The next day she was dreading going to his room. She even saved him for last. The walk down the hallway seemed long and foreboding as she listened to the clicks of her own heels, each step bringing her closer to the man that had so infuriated her the day before.

She took a deep breath and turned the handle. She stepped into the room and refused to look at him. She busied herself with his chart and did not move to speak to him.

"Nili..." His voice was quiet and she could hear that he was sorry almost immediately, she still did not meet his eyes as she pulled up a chair to his bedside to change his bandages. "Nili will you look at me?"

"You popped your stitches." She said flatly as she unwound a bandage from his bicep.

"Nili, I know you're pissed at me." She still didn't look at him. She was not going to give in easily, she was not the type of girl who let a man speak to her like that. "Can you at least look at me while I apoligize to you?"

She huffed out of frustration and looked up into his face, she was startled to see how distressed he looked, his brows were furrowed and his eyes were searching. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that yesterday. It's been eatin' me up since then... I was wrong."

She sighed and cocked her head to look at him. There was no doubt he was sincere.

"You were stupid."

"I know, I was an asshole. I'm sorry, I just hate bein' like this. I'm not used to it..."

Her anger at him was ebbing out of her and she couldn't help but notice how handsome his features were when they were soft like this.

"I forgive you." She said nodding "I know you're not someone whose used to needing help. You just have to trust me."

"I do trust you, I know you're a great nurse, I just... I got a lot on my plate."

She knew what he was cooking up with Aldo everyday was not just some small battle plan, their faces were always so serious, she knew it was terribly important.

"I know, it's okay to be overwhelmed once and a while. You can't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders."

He laughed a little and winced as she started to restitch his arm. "I could say the same to you, do you ever have fun Nili Cohen? Lily says you never go out with the other nurses. Are you just waitin' on me?"

Nili stopped stitching and immediately swore under her breath, she could kill Lily Decker. She cleared her throat and tried not to look at him again "I have plenty of fun, I just don't like to go out to the taverns."

He nodded and the old smirk she had become used to graced his face "I think you just try to shut yourself away behind your work. You gotta loosen up, I won't take back telling you to take that stick out of your perfect little ass."

She huffed again and rolled her eyes at him, "Just when I thought I could maybe like you Sergeant."

"You're gonna love me one day, baby. And it'll be soon."

"You're never going to quit are you?" She asked staring him right in the face. His eyes were warm and she could tell that he was not joking now, he was deadly serious. This man was in love with her.

"Not until you let me put a ring on your finger." He reached out a hand and cupped her cheek gently and she let herself lean into his hand for a moment before realizing and pulling herself away sharply. She cleared her throat and petted the newly stitched skin on his on arm before moving down to change the bandage on another wound.

Once she was done she moved to leave the room, they had talked sparingly during the rest of her visit, she was too preoccupied by the churning in her stomach.

"Hey, you're done with your rounds now aren't you?" His voice was soft and she turned back to look at him not knowing if she should answer him truthfully

"Yes."

"Care for a drink? I think we both need to take eachother's advice for once and take a break from thinking so much." He gestured to the flowered bottle on his bedside table, no doubt Aldo had brought him that. He knew wine wasn't allowed techinically, but most nurses turned a blind eye.

"Sergeant... You know wine is against the rules." She tapped her foot a little.

He waved her off and smiled with his whole face at her, his dimple forming and his eyes lighting up "Come on kid, this is what I'm talking about, live a little."

She felt herself breaking towards him, her brain was chatising her to brush him off and leave the room, but for once she let her instinct take over and she turned around and pulled the chair back up to his bed and sat down.

His smile grew wider as he watched her bend down and start untying her heeled shoes, he grabbed two glasses off of his table and poured a generous amount of red wine into each glass.

She pulled her heels off and wiggled her feet a little letting the feeling return to the tips of her toes.

"Even your feet are cute." She looked up to meet his gaze and she let his smile infect her face as she took the large glass he offered her.

"Do you think I'm a lush Sergeant?" She chuckled a little and he laughed with her

"No, but I think this might be enough to start to loosen you up."

"You know, I can be fun too." She said taking a sip of her drink

"Oh yeah?" He sat back on his bed and crossed his arms "I bet you've never even stayed out past your curfew."

She snorted into her wine and shook her head "I have too! I'm not a wet blanket Sergeant."

"I never said you were a wet blanket. I don't think a girl that looks like you could ever be boring, I just think you like to play by the rules."

"There's nothing wrong with playing fair." She lowered her eyes and swilled her wine, he seemed to be able to read her so easily and she wondered just how much of an open book she really was.

"See baby doll, that's why you need me. Tell me you're not enjoying a fine glass of wine here with your man, and tell me it isn't a bit exciting because it's against the rules."

"You're not my man, Sergeant, but I will admit that this is a very good wine."

He shook his head and took a long gulp "Oh no, sweetheart. I'm your man and yours alone. You just won't admit to being my girl yet."

She felt her stomach warm a little as he said that. It spread to a delicious rush as she looked up and met his eyes. She felt little sparks in her scalp and a tingling in her toes.

"You're so sure of yourself Sergeant."

"I'm only sure of myself because you're a horrible liar"

He'd caught her and he knew it. He saw the pale pink of her cheek and the glitter in her eye and he knew it wasn't just from the wine.

"I'm not a horrible liar..." she mumbled stubbornly as she reached the halfway point in her glass, Donny had already finished his and poured himself another glass.

She wanted to change the subject so she thought fast "Tell me about yourself Sergeant."

"You wanna know about me?" he asked eyeing her down

She nodded and smiled at him curling her plump lips in a way that made him want to do nothing more than crash his own into hers.

"I'm 28, I'm from Boston, but you already knew that." He said starting off

"Tell me about your family." She asked taking a few more sips

"Well, I got 2 kid brothers, Zeckariah and Joshua, Zeck is 18 now and Joshua is 12, they're good kids, smart too. Zeck's going to college later this year, he wants to be a doctor. He's a real smart ass though, that's his only problem. Josh wants to play for the Red Sox, he's more like me when I was a kid, but he's got a better head on his shoulders."

She smiled hearing him talk about his brothers, she sucked down the rest of her wine and he nodded to her glass, she handed it to him and he refilled it gladly, he was finally getting to see her relaxed and it was just sinking him deeper.

"My dad's got a baber shop. I worked there for a few years after I graduated before I enlisted. I liked it a lot, I love being around my family I guess. I played baseball all through high school and after, I still have the state home run record, my mom's got a stupid plaque hanging over the fireplace next to my diploma."

He seemed almost bashful in front of her, it was not what anyone would expect form a man who stood 6 foot 2 and was as thick as a tree trunk.

"You're a barber?" The thought of him working a pair if scisscors with those big bear hands was almost ludicrous.

"Yeah, you think that's funny?"

"A little bit, I would have figured a man like you a butcher or a mason."

"Nope, I cut hair. Maybe that's why I like you so much, your hair." He reached out and curled one of her tight spirals around his fingers "Or maybe it's because you're the most beautiful fuckin' woman I've ever seen."

She blushed furiously and felt if she hadn't already been sitting her legs would have turned from bone and tendoin to mush.

"What about girls, you asked me; do you have a girl back home Sergeant?" The wine was loosening her tongue and she was letting her animal attraction breach the walls of her head.

That question sent one side of his mouth arching high over the other and he cocked his head a little. "You're askin' me if I got a girl back home?"

"Repeatin' a thing doesn't answer it Sergeant." Her head was swimming a little, she'd had a few drinks in her day, she and Abe used to knock plenty back in the little jazz bars in Manhatten, but it'd been months since she'd indulged and the tall glass of wine she'd sucked down was affecting her.

"What if I did have a girl back in Boston?" His voice was sly but the glint in his eye was sharp.

She swilled her wine and had another sip before she met his eyes with her own "Then I'd tell you you're the filthiest flirt on the Eastern Seaboard and she should be ashamed of you."

He laughed a low rumble in his chest "Well, good thing you won't have to tell me that then."

She raised her eyebrows and nodded slowly "No girl?"

"Nope."

"Well, that's a surprise." Her face was frank and she punctuated it with a strange look

Donny noticed she was half done with her second glass and he could tell she was getting a little blitzed. He was loosening up himself after 2 full glasses but he had at least 70 pounds on her.

He liked how brazen she was with him though, she wasn't guarding herself anymore.

"Why's that a surprise?" He was curious as to what she meant by that. He was trying to distinguish the look in her eyes but he found himself at a loss.

"Figured a man like you would have at least a couple of girls." She shrugged and gave him the same smoldering look from her big cat's eyes.

"I had girls that wanted me, but I never cared enough for one to call her mine."

"Not even now?" It was then that the look in her eye became clear, it was interest, and challenge.

The wine in his blood was making him warm and looking down at her made him hot. She had arched herself up in the chair a little and put her elbows up on his bed and rested her face there, his eyes moved down from her hypnotizing eyes to her plump lips and down shamelessly to her full breasts pressed up against his mattress.

"I asked you a question."

"I heard you, and I think you know the answer. Things are real different now,"

She pressed herself closer and her voice got lower and silkier "How're things different?"

He moved himself down so his face was only inches from hers, he could feel her warm breath on his neck and he could smell the pungent odor of wine thickening it.

"You got me so goddamn in love with you I don't know what to do with myself."

Her blood boiled hearing him say that. His face was so close to hers and in her haze her eyes followed his full lips and his perfect teeth as he spoke in a husky voice. His breath was so hot and she could feel the heat radiating off of him and she longed to warm herself with it. She had crumbled her last inhibition long ago when she sat down.

"Then kiss me."

He didn't need to be told twice. He felt a little cheap because he knew she was drunk, but he couldn't help himself, she was too close and too warm and her body and her lips were calling out to him.

He pressed his lips to hers hard and he felt her respond to him immediately moving her lips over his quickly and matching his fervor. He reached down and grabbed her around the ribs and pulled her up onto his bed on top of him. She settled herself on him straddling him over the abdomen, she pressed the palms of her hands on his shoulders as he wound his arms about her back and pulled her into him. He groaned feeling her crash against his chest and he nibbled at her bottom lip trying to coax her mouth open. He slid his hands down to the small of her back and he was tempted to rove a hand over the round firm bottom that lay just below.

Without warning though she pulled away suddenly and rocked against his hips as she tried to gain her balance. He gripped her hips both out of fear of her losing her balance and his own need to press her closer down to his groin, he stifled a moan as she raised a hand to her face and brushed back her hair.

"Good God, look at us." She said quietly as she stayed at her perch, she sighed deeply and leaned down to press one more soft kiss to his lips "We can't do this" She swung her legs off of him carefully and slid down from his bed. He watched silently as she sat and put on her shoes without saying a word and scurried from his room.

"Fuck." He swore loudly and tossed one of his pillows angrily at the door. This wasn't what he wanted to happen. He'd acted too quickly, he shouldn't have kissed her, he definitely shouldn't have pulled her on top of him; now she had the wrong idea.

She rushed out of his door a little unsure on her feet from the wine coursing through her. She let out a long breath as she backed against the door. Her head was spinning but alcohol had nothing to do with it. He was all she could think of, she was swimming in him. She still felt him on her, his strong arms around her waist and his lips on hers. His husky voice was replaying in her head over and over again "You got me so goddamn in love with you..."

"Fuck." She heard him swear loudly then she heard the sound of something being thrown. She knew leaving him like that wasn't the best way to end the situation, but she was scared, she was so goddamn scared.

He made her blood boil and her heart race, he made her feel hot and cold and so scared she could cry but so safe she could stay with him forever.

He wouldn't be here forever though. He was an enlisted man, he was going back to combat soon and the reality of it all was that he would most likely die.

The pain of losing Abe had left her empty and broken, she couldn't imagine the pain of losing a lover.

She shook her head and tried to calm herself. She pushed off the door and made up her mind as she walked quickly down the hallway.

The next day Nili entered Donny's room tentatively, he perked up as soon as she entered and he immediately started trying to appologize

"Nili, I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have kissed you. You were drunk and I was wrong and I don't want you to think that's all I wanted, Because I..."

She held up a hand to stave off his words

"It was a mistake, nothing more. We both said things we didn't mean and..."

She saw him bristle and he quickly cut her off "I didn't say anything I didn't mean." His voice held a cutting edge.

She was speechless for a moment and her stomach started to turn, she pushed it back though and tried to smooth out her face but she knew he would notice the cracks.

"I'm going to try to forget it happened, and you should too."

She watched as his face fell, it was only for a moment though and then he was all stone faced again.

"One of these days you're going to realize how stupid you can be, but just know that I'll still love you."

She tended his wounds without another word and left quickly once she was done.

The next few days followed suite, she would go in, tend to him and then leave all without a word, some days she would take him outside in the wheelchair, but she would not sit with him like she had before.

After the first week and a half Nili allowed Donny to use a cane instead of the wheel chair but only after a fight.

"Damn it Nili look, I told you!" He was standing and supporting his full weight on the cast and he had his arms throw up in the air in frustration.

"Can't you just listen to me Sergeant? Why do you constantly have to undermine everything I ask of you when I'm only trying to heal you right!" She was in front of him hands on her hips with the wheel chair poised between them. Her eyes were bright with fury and her cheeks were flushed with the effort of yelling at him. This was the first time they had shared more than a few words since that day and he was thankful to hear her voice even if it was her yelling.

"No, I can't. I'm a goddamn Staff Sergeant and I'm wastin' away in here while my boys are out there dyin'!" He was spouting out in a rage Nili had only seen once before but now it was clear and aparent. It didn't scare her though, it seemed only to incite her more and perhaps even excite her.

"Is that what you want then too? To go out there and die with them? Because I can guarantee you if you try to leave early that's what's going to happen. That cast would make one hell of an easy target." She was so frustrated with him she could cry, he could get under her skin so easily, and what was worse was it wasn't his obstinate pig headed ways that made her frustrated it was just how much she didn't want him anywhere but where she could be to take care of him.

"Is that what this is about?" Things were finally clicking for him. This was the reason for her skitishness. She was scared.

"What are you talking about?" She asked shrilly

"Me dyin'. Is that what you're scared of?"

She couldn't speak, she wanted to rush and deny it and tell him he was crazy for thinking it but she knew her face was an open book. He knew he was right.

He just looked at her while she huffed in front of him. Before she could react he had pushed the wheelchair out from between them and pulled her into his chest, he wrapped his arms around her waist and marveled at how right it felt holding her like this. He ducked his head a little to move his face close to hers so he could look her dead in the eye as he spoke

"There's never been a time during this whole fuckin' war when I've actually given a shit about not dyin' until now. You listen to me, Nili Cohen, I'm gunna be leavin' here soon whether I'm healed or not; but I can tell you right now I won't be goin' back out there to die, I'll come back to you." He punctuated his speech with a look that sent shivers all the way down to the soles of her shoes just before he crashed his lips into hers.

After just the briefest moment he pulled away and let her go. She just covered her face with her hands and let out all the breath she'd been holding it. He just watched her, waiting expectantly because he knew he'd already won.

"Alright, fine. No more wheel chair, but you have to use a cane. And, don't ever pull that damn stunt again."

Their dynamic changed over that last week. He knew she was warming to him, to herself, to her own foolish heart. They talked again now when she tended him, and she stayed with him when they went outside.

"You never answered me when I asked if I could write you." His voice broke their content silence as they sat on their bench, this time Donny was seated next to her on the stone bench with his casted foot thrust out next to her small feet.

"I said we'd cross the bridge when we came to it." She always had the same answer for him, but this time it was different.

"That bridge is comin' " He said looking over at her and moving his hand over hers on the bench

"What do you mean?" She asked turning to him, her face suddenly becoming serious.

"I mean that I'm shipping back out soon." He looked down at his hand covering hers and rubbed a small circle on the top of her hand with his thumb.

"But... you're not even close to healed yet, you're supposed to be in that cast for at least 2 more weeks." Her face betrayed her worry, he could see that plain.

"I know, but the army doesn't really care about that. They need me and I have to go."

She looked up at him and she could see in his eyes that he had no choice. This was what he needed to do. She thought of the phrase on his arm, the phrase she got her name from. He could not lie here while his brothers were falling around him. She felt tears brim at the backs of her eyes and she knew she couldn't play away her feelings anymore.

"If they need you, then you have to go." He could hear that her voice was thick but she wouldn't look at him

He sighed and picked up her hand taking it into his lap. "Do you need me though?"

She still could not look at him "What?" she asked him trying not to let her tears betray her.

"I asked you, do you need me? I need you to be honest, because if you say you do I swear I'll fight my way across the continent just to get back to you."

"I..." She was at a loss for words.