Another chapter, please enjoy!
Becca sat next to Freddy's cot as he slept. It was very late and Becca knew that she should feel tired, but she just wasn't. She wasn't a lot of things anymore. She barely ate, hardly slept and any feelings to socialize outside of Freddy were gone as well.
In a camp full of people willing to talk to her, Becca pushed it all away and preferred to be alone.
It was quiet now. The doctors and nurses were in the operating room finishing up on the wave of injured that had come in around 2am. It was the first time Becca had witnessed such an event.
Chaos.
People running around, shouting orders, trucks driving in and out, horns honking and just general craziness. Had she felt less broken she may have found it all fascinating. As it was, she could have cared less about the procedures done in a war zone in the 1950's. She was done playing historian. She had learned enough.
So she sat and drew. She wasn't very good at it, one of the few skills she had attempted to master and couldn't, along with singing and sewing. She was still learning how to play the piano, but she felt deep down that it would be another skill she would never master.
She drew, mindlessly, until she found herself looking at a rough sketch of a pair of eyes. She knew instantly that these eyes belonged to Charles. She sighed and told herself that she should throw the paper away, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. What would be the point? The next drawing would still reveal Charles to her.
Instead she continued working on it defining the lines and the shape. She would have to add color at some point, but wasn't sure that the right colors existed to make up his beautiful eyes.
She felt the sadness try to overwhelm her, but she pushed it down. She was done crying over Charles. She was just going to have to get past this and forget about him.
"Becca?"
A soft voice she recognized caused her to look up right into the pair of eyes she was drawing. She turned to the clock and found that it was already 8am. The sun would be rising over the hills soon and blanket the camp. She turned back to Charles.
"Short session?" She said softly, mindful of Freddy sleeping in the cot next to her.
Charles glanced at Freddy and then back at Becca. He seemed troubled from some reason and Becca wanted nothing more than to wipe that troubled look away. She liked it better when he was relaxed or smiling. She loved watching him listening to music the best. He was so peaceful at that time.
"Would you mind coming with me for a moment," he said. "I have something important to discuss with you."
Becca nodded and quickly put her paper back into her knapsack and stuffed it under Freddy's cot. She would come right back to his side when she and Charles finished their talk.
Her heart was pounding in her chest. She hadn't spoken to Charles at all in two long weeks. She had seen him in passing, but she couldn't bring herself to talk to him, not even a simple hello. It hurt too much to do so.
But he wanted to talk to her now and she wanted to hear his voice again.
Charles lead her out of Post-OP and into the nearby supply tent. Becca was instantly confused about why Charles would lead her here of all places.
"What did you need to discuss with me in here?" she asked.
Charles turned to her and took a deep breath. "It has been decided that with the upcoming winter months and the shortage of supplies during that time that it would be beneficial to remove you and Freddy to a safer location."
Becca was taken aback. As hot as it was here she figured that the winter would be very mild. With the way Charles was talking, though, it seemed as though winter would be worse than the summer.
"Is it really that bad?"
Charles nodded. "Winter here is very harsh. We have more soldiers coming in for all sorts of reasons other than being wounded. Frostbite, hypothermia, flu and even more sicknesses than we can imagine. We don't have the space or rations for everyone, barely even enough for ourselves."
Becca couldn't believe it. She knew that things were tight, but she never imagined it would be this bad. She took what he was saying at face value. If that were true then it would make sense to remove her and Freddy as they don't belong her and would just be taking up valuable space and resources. She glanced at Charles and wondered for a moment if this was really just a tactical way to remove the pest, her, from his presence and shook that thought away, Charles wasn't cruel and he had never lied to her before, she had no reason to believe he would be doing so now.
"So, where will we be sent? I can't imagine that the army is willing to give us a place to stay until we get it sorted out."
"You'd be correct," Charles replied. "The army would, most likely, place you both in a refugee camp because they would consider you to be refugees."
Becca gasped in surprise. She had heard horror stories about those camps. Nomad villages with flimsy buildings and overly sick individuals. She sat on the nearest box and took a deep breath
"That is...not ideal."
"There is another solution, but you would have to leave the country."
Becca looked up at him in shock. Leave the country? Leave Charles here alone? While it would be the safest choice, the thought of being separated from Charles hurt Becca worse than she ever imagined.
But it would also give her the freedom from her love of him. Perhaps she would be able to move on. Freddy had looked over some of the technology some of the others had with them and concluded that the possibility of recreating a similar device to take them home accurately was less than 10%. They would have to find a way to make a life in this time and move on.
Becca had kept this information to herself, terrified that they would kick her out if she didn't have a reason to stay here. Now it appeared as though the choice had been made for her.
"I don't see how we have much of a choice," she said softly. "Freddy won't survive with his injuries in a refugee camp. Neither of us have anything to wear that would protect us from the winter elements either. Plus we have already imposed on everyone here for far too long." She stood and turned to Charles. "What is the alternative solution?"
"Sending you both to my home in Boston."
Becca just stared at Charles for a moment. "What?"
"Sending you both to my home, in Boston, would be the best solution. We would know where you both are and can keep in contact with you easier. It's as far away as we can send you from this place to keep you both safe."
Becca couldn't believe what she was hearing. After all this he was planning to send her to his home in Boston. He had rejected her and now he wanted her to stay in his home? The thought didn't make any sense.
"Why are you doing this?"
Charles looked confused. "I just told you..."
"No," Becca shook her head. "I see the reasoning for it, but why would you even offer? Any number of people here would do this for us without blinking an eye, but I know you Charles. This is above and beyond for you. We're basically strangers and you are inviting us to stay in your home. It doesn't make any sense."
Charles narrowed his eyes. "I don't think you and I are strangers, Becca."
Becca froze at his low tone. It was a voice she had never heard from Charles before, deep and husky. Just the sound of it caused Becca's body to react, growing hot and shivery all at the same time. His eyes held an emotion that Becca had seen before and didn't recognize, but not nearly this intense.
The tent seemed to shrink, making the room feel much smaller than it actually was. Becca wanted nothing more than for Charles to touch her, right here and now. The feeling was so intense she almost could feel his hands on her even though she knew he wasn't touching her.
"Stop doing that."
Becca blinked, breaking the hold his eyes had on her. "What was I doing?"
Charles took a deep breath before taking a few steps away from her. As the distance between them grew the intense heat seemed to fade as well, leaving Becca cold.
He didn't turn from her but Becca could sense that whatever had just happened, it was over.
She wanted to explore it more. It had felt so new and exciting. After the last two weeks of feeling nothing but pain, this was such a wonderful feeling she didn't want it to end. She was scared but at the same time so very happy, an odd but exhilarating combination. She moved to take a step towards Charles.
"Don't!"
His sharp tone stopped her and she took a step back from him instead, increasing the distance. His eyes softened as he looked at her but his body still appeared tense. Becca suddenly felt such shame wash over her. She had done it again, imposed her feelings on him unwillingly.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm not sure what I did, but I apologize."
Charles shook his head. "You did nothing wrong," he replied, his voice soothing again. "I just think we should keep some distance between us from now on. It's for the best, don't you think?"
No she didn't, but she could see that this is what he wanted. It hurt so much to know that this love would never be returned. He didn't even want to be next to her anymore. She took a deep breath. "Is there anything else I should know before I tell Freddy the plans to go to Boston?"
"No, Klinger is working out the details to get you both there safely."
"Okay," Becca said before turning to the door. She turned back to Charles before opening the door. "I'm sorry again for whatever it was that I did. I'll try and be more careful in the future."
Before Charles could respond Becca turned and walked out of the supply tent, leaving Charles alone.
These feelings were getting worse every second he spent in her presence. When she looked at him only moments ago, he was sure that she was feeling desire for him. Had he not stopped her when he did he was sure she would have entered his arms willingly. It was times like these that he hated being a gentleman. He knew that had he been Pierce the girl wouldn't have stood a chance, but he found that he just couldn't take advantage of Becca like that.
He could tell that her feelings had been hurt by the way he had reacted. He was angry at himself for not being able to completely resist her. It had taken every ounce of self-control to move away from her but somehow he had done it.
He took a deep breath to calm himself before exiting the supply tent. He walked quickly back to his tent, his mind suddenly focused. He had to write to Honoria about picking up Becca and Freddy when they arrived in Boston later on. He also need to make sure that his home was ready for long-term visitors and start all the arrangements.
Another encounter like the one in the supply tent today and Charles wouldn't be able to stop himself. The sooner Becca was miles away from him, the safer it would be for her.