Susannah POV

Major Davis had been gone for two days. During that time, my daily life was quite dull. . In the morning, I would wake up with everyone else at the bugle call, and then I would help Lisa make breakfast. After we ate, we'd wash our plates, and then for the morning, we would usually mend uniforms. After lunch, Eliza and I would go for a walk and talk about what was on our minds. I had not yet old her about my feelings towards Major Davis, as I was still trying to make sense of them. Then, after supper we would write letters.

I never wrote letters home because the only people I missed from my home were Robert and Cabot, and they weren't at home. I did not know where they were anymore. When I fell off my horse on my way to see them, I was going to see them because they were to leave the next week, which meant that they were already gone. They did not know I was coming to visit, so they wouldn't know that I was "missing".

I did not write to my family at home, either. My father never paid much attention to me because Robert always got all the glory. My mother focused most of her attention on my eldest sister, Anna. Josephine and Ellen were so frivolous and took up any other time my mother had. I would often stay with my aunt and uncle along with Robert. He was the only one in our family who would ask how I was doing.

These were among the reasons I chose to stay with the army. Even if they were Confederates, my opinions still remained the same, and I had Eliza. She cared about me, the way I wished the rest of my sisters would, and I cared for her. I was treated with respect by General Lee and Major Davis, who would always want to know how I was feeling here, and the truth was, I was feeling quite at home, even if life was a little slow.

Eliza did not feel up to taking a walk that evening, so I went alone. It looked a little overcast, but I did not think it would rain. I, of course, was very wrong. Out of nowhere the rain started coming down in torrents. I wandered around, unable to make any sense of direction. I could barely see, catching glimpses of where I was with every lightning strike. The rain was cold, and chilled me to the bone. My hair was plastered to my face and my clothes were soaked. The thunder and pouring rain made it impossible to hear anything.

Suddenly, a dark figure on a horse came barreling towards me. I stumbled back and tripped on a tree root just before it would have hit me. I noticed that the rain had let up a little, but I still could not see where I was. Moments later, the man appeared again, this time without his horse. He helped me up, but when I had fallen, all of the wind got knocked out of me. I could not easily breathe the cold, stormy air.

"Are you alright, Miss Shaw?" said a deep voice full of worry that I recognized well. It was Major Davis… He had almost killed me! I was shivering and gasping from the cold, and from fright. I couldn't speak and just stood there, trembling. He flung his coat off and put it around me, leading me towards the infirmary. How he could see where it was, I do not know. "It's alright, Susannah, you're okay now," he kept whispering to me over and over again. His hands felt like a vise on my arms, as though he was afraid to let go. "W-William," I managed to say. My legs began to fail me and I started to collapse when he scooped up my legs and carried me the rest of the way to shelter.

William POV

I got Susannah to the infirmary, where Margaret took care of her. Dr. Ewell wanted to know what had happened, but first he thrust a thick woolen blanket towards me. I hadn't even known we had these! My camp blanket was so thin! Well, emergency purposes only, I supposed. I was cold, so my speech had some breaks in it where I shivered, "I was riding back… from the other camps where the General had me deliver some news, and I almost… ran over her on my horse. I have no idea why she was outside during this storm, but I went back… to make sure… she was okay. When I got there, she was on the- the ground. I helped her up, gave her my coat, and brought her here." "It's alright, son, Margaret will make sure she's okay." He walked away and came back with a change of clothes. "Here, change into some dry clothes so you don't catch a cold. You'll have to stay here until the storm lets up." "Thank you," I replied, and then went to change. I got back, sat down, and started talking to Dr. Ewell. He was a good man, and reminded me of my father. After a while, he went to go check on some of the other patients, so I lied down and fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was no longer raining. I felt better, but they would not let me go until I had seen Dr. Ewell, so I had one of the nurses go tell General Lee that I had completed my mission and what had happened. I figured that Susannah had been excused, or was being treated in her tent because I couldn't see her in the make-shift hospital. "Dr. Ewell?" I called, "Where is Su-Miss Shaw? Is she alright?" I almost slipped up and called her Susannah like I had last night. I know that it isn't bad to address women that you are familiar with by their given name, but as you already know, I like to have some sense of propriety. "Yes, she is in her tent, I've recommended rest- for both of you. You can be on your way if you wish, just remember, no strenuous activity." I thanked him and made my leave. I thought that Dr. Ewell was one of the more sane doctors in the south, if not the only one.