It's too loud. Too bright in this hospital. Leon's bones split from the dry heat hissing though his veins. His skin crackles, his insides stewing with infection. He knows he's sick but he has to find her.

Misting to life from thin air, her face hovers through a haze of light. She stands in front of a yellowed privacy screen, her black hair a shock against its writhing white. Ruth is a refuge of quiet darkness; a safe corner in which to hide. Idly, he wonders what it would be like to lose himself in her olive skin and night sky eyes. The thought ignites a deeper flame in his twisting gut only to be fanned as she approaches him.

She lays her palms to his cheeks and for a moment he wonders if he has died. Their coolness cuts him to the quick. He wants to lean into her, crash through the delirium and dive into her softness. Though she doesn't recognize it in herself; he sees it all too well.

There is no winter in her as he had originally thought. No ice cut rage; spiny and daunting. She is delicate as edelweiss though just as hardy. A tender heart protected by a hedge of thorns against the ravages of war.

Those same ravages have left him a coward. An inert, pathetic excuse for a man. She deserves the truth from him. He reaches up towards her as she leans over him like an avenging angel. Leon wishes he could draw her closer and tuck her to his side like the most perfect bandage.

Ruth deserves more than to be tonic for his wounds. She drifts away like snow on the wind and he loses consciousness.

I am pacing the hospital, attempting to complete my duties.

My hands are trembling and I drop a bottle of aspirin. The pills scatter as the glass explodes. The head nurse pauses mid conversation with the doctor and levels me with her poisonous glare. I can almost hear the acid in her voice as she makes a comment with her narrowing eyes focused on me. She's never liked me.

I sweep up the shards. The hair on the back of my neck rises like a cat's as she marches over.

"Toye, come with me."

I bite my lip, resting the broom against a nearby table. She leads me outside into the blinding summer sun. Standing erect, my hands clench at the small of my back. My gaze hovers over her bony shoulder towards the restless MPs at the front gate.

"Toye, I can't help but notice that you have been particularly concerned with a certain prisoner."

"I am just doing my job." I answer curtly.

My jaw tightens. I wonder how she could accuse me of caring too much when her negligence is what led to Leon's condition in the first place. I meet her eyes directly. She takes a step back as though she senses the hostility humming in my gut.

"His fever was out of control this morning." I continue coolly, "I was getting the care and attention a patient needs."

"Don't think I haven't seen your little trysts with the man." She draws closer, a good few inches shorter than me, "You have been seen in his company on multiple occasions without a legitimate reason. Personally, you make me sick. Flirting with a Kraut prisoner, a man who no doubt has the blood of many Americans on his hands. I could report you for fraternizing with the enemy."

"I have done no such thing-"

"He could be the very self-same man who killed my husband!" She hisses, her nostrils flaring.

I blink into her red, haggard countenance and remember my mother's warning about the cancer of bitterness. This woman is living proof of its truth. Despite her aggression, I can't help the pang of pity for her. The knot loosens once more in my breast. The last thing I want is to end up a seething, cold snap of a woman.

At my silence, she sighs and draws back. She runs a skeletal hand over her face. I wonder if she is younger than she looks.

"You will no longer be needed here. I will tell your head nurse at the hospital in town you were a poor fit." She straightens her posture, "If you leave quietly, I won't report you."

Pressing my lips together, I nod and flee past the canvas flap to fetch my things. The hectic frenzy in my heart drowns out everything around me. I stop at Leon's bedside. Without caring anymore, I drop next to his sleeping form. The doctor had apathetically said that his wound was worse but didn't seem septic yet. They said they would monitor him. How Leon has been forgotten over the past few days, I wonder if their words will hold true. If he dies, he'll just be another dead Kraut to them.

I press the back of my hand to his forehead to find that his fever has lessened. The penicillin is working for now. The panicked doubt that he won't get the regular administered amounts needed drives into my mind. I wonder if the head nurse will neglect him on purpose.

My breath catches as his eyes struggle to open. His hand lifts and he grips my wrist.

"You're still here." He groans.

I swallow down the lump in my throat.

"Yes," The corners of my mouth fight upwards, "But I have to leave you now. Leon, if you can, you must tell them what you need – how you feel-"

"I'll be fine, Ruth."

Gently grasping my hand, he brings my palm to his mouth and kisses the center of it. His bloodshot eyes never leave mine. The furious anxiety in my heart quiets as though Leon is the center of the hurricane. My feelings become as acute as an antiseptic on my anger. The knot dissolves. I know I have been in love with him from the beginning. However little I know of him and how brief our encounters have been, I have never felt anything more true.

"Nurse Toye!"

I look up and see the head nurse glaring me down from across the hospital. The other girls I work with are staring. I slowly inhale, turning my attention on Leon one last time. Cupping the side of his flushed face with my hand, I manage a smile.

"You will be fine, Leon."

He closes his eyes. I walk out into the late afternoon.

I manage to hitch a ride. I race through the village towards the clinic where Florence has been working. She is on her break outside, flipping through a copy of Life magazine. She doesn't look up at me until I am directly in front of her, blocking the sun from where she sits.

"Ruthie? You're back early." Her mouth draws down in concern, "What's wrong?"

"Do you remember when you asked who my other man was?" I sit down next to her, my heart pounding.

Her brow furrows, reaching across and taking my hand in hers, "Yes."

My eyes skitter away to the porcelain blue lakeside, "I need your help. Please."

"Just say the word, darlin'."

"Can you talk to Carwood for me? I think he'll take it better coming from you." I say the words quickly and meet her gaze.

She doesn't even flinch, "Anything you need."

My face relaxes into a faint smile, "He needs help, desperately. The man."

"Where is he?"

"At the POW camp."

Florence's eyebrows narrow, "Is he a guard?"

"Not exactly."

"Oh my dear Lord, you've gone and gotten yourself in knots over a Kraut." Her mouth drops hard and eyes widen in realization, "Ruthie, are you sure-"

"Florence, please. I'm begging you." I run a hand over my head with a deep breath, "I think he might die."

I drop my face into my hands, pressing my fingertips into my eyebrows. I feel a hand on my shoulder blade.

"I'm on my lunch. Give me a minute, I'll go find Carwood."

Florence has already flounced away by the time I look up. I watch her strut down the sidewalk, hips swinging with determination and hand casting her cigarette to the ground. The young driver of a jeep passing by nearly hits a pedestrian as he throws a jaw dropped double take in her direction. Despite the circumstances, I can't help but chuckle.

I sit by the open window of our quarters, watching the twilight close in on sunset like a disease. My fingers twitch on the arms of my chair. There is a swift knock at the door. I jump to my feet and nearly leap across the room to answer it. I take a step back from the threshold.

"Hello Ruthie," Floyd rubs the back of his neck, his other hand in his pocket, "Florence sent me to fetch you."

"What-"

"She and Carwood are waiting at the edge of town with a car. It seems they have had to jump through some hoops for your problem."

He meets my eyes pointedly and I know that he has guessed. I wonder how he got involved with this whole mess in the first place but realize it was probably for the best.

"Floyd, I wanted to tell you."

"That was all you had to do." His mouth twitches as he looks past my shoulder, "I would have understood."

My knees grow weak. The guilt is overwhelming as I stare into his crestfallen expression.

"Floyd, please-"

"Come on, we need to go." He urges walking towards the stairs, "We only have a window of time."

We drive through town in dead silence. Pulling up towards the sloping end of the main drag, we see Carwood and Florence with someone in the backseat of their own vehicle. We barely slowly down as Lieutenant Lipton turns on the ignition. We follow them into the night.

"Who is that with them?"

"A DP we know who does a wicked German accent. He's got a change of civilian clothes with him. They're going to have to go to a local hospital and this was the best way to make it look least conspicuous at road blocks." Tab takes a long drag of his cigarette, "Lip wasn't able to get the proper paperwork on such short notice so this is the best we could do."

"I never expected anyone to go through so much trouble." I breathe.

"It's something having friends, isn't it?" Tab replies coolly, jerking the gears as we climb an incline.

I stay silent for the rest of the trip.

As we pull up to the gates of the camp, I sink into my seat. I don't recognize the MPs. I can only pray that the head nurse has left hours ago. I watch Carwood enter the gates. I get out of the car, my agitation overriding my fear of discovery. Without another word to Tab, I run through the dark. Florence is getting out of the passenger side. The sandy haired DP gives me a swift nod and a smile as he hops into the driver's side.

She isn't able to say anything before I have thrown my arms around her neck. I can feel the tears coming, the first I have shed in so many months. After what feels like ages of winter, the thaw in my heart is fast and violent. Florence holds me tightly.

"You'd do it for me." She whispers, kissing my temple before I pull away, "I know you'd do it for me, darlin'."

I rub my face with the heels of my hands, "You don't know what this means."

"Oh I think I do," She leans back studying me, "You really do love this Kraut fella, don't you?"

"I didn't realize it until today." I admit, the words shocking me to the bone, "Yes, I do. I don't know how it happened."

"Doesn't matter how these things happen, the point is they do." Her eyes trails towards the gates, "Speak of the devil."

Lipton has a supporting arm around Leon who is moving so very slowly. I wince when I notice his constricting boots back on his feet. I cannot imagine the pain they must be causing him. His jacket is draped over his shoulders. Under his arm, he carries two books.

Without a thought to how it seems, I meet them halfway. Leon's gaze is fuzzy in the glare of the camp lamps. I wonder if he understands what is happening. As I come into focus for him, I see a dawning realization creep across his face. I have to keep my actions as formal as possible but it is taking all of my will not to wrap my arms around his lanky frame.

"Ruth Toye," He breathes as I come under his arm and help him towards the car, "I thought I was being taken to be shot."

Carwood snorts, lifting an eyebrow in my direction. I meet his eyes, fighting back the tears.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." I choke.

He nods his head forward, his gentle eyes drifting to the ground, "It wasn't a problem."

Carwood helps me get him into the passenger side.

"God speed to you, sir." Lipton shakes Leon's hand.

I am stunned silent at the irony of the scene. Mere months ago, these men would have been duty bound to their countries to kill one another. War is a wondrous monster; the true Grendel in the soul of man.

I grip the top of the jeep door. Leon reaches out and wraps a warm hand around the back of my neck. He leans forward and firmly presses his feverish forehead to mine. The bridges of our noses meet. I close my eyes and exhale slowly.

"Don't worry, Ruthie." He breathes, "I'm not scared anymore."

"I am."

"That's a lie." He chuckles, knotting his fingers deeper into my hair, "I have never known anyone braver."

"Ruth, they only have a short window for when they change the guards at the road block." Florence reminds me.

Leon releases me from his hold but keeps my eyes as they drive away until they disappear in the darkness. Tab, Carwood, Florence and I are silent all the way back to the village. But Florence never lets go of my cold fingers.

I fall into a restless doze somewhere around midnight but am awoken with a jolt by an urgent knocking at the door. Florence answers it. Tab is standing once more on our threshold. He meets my bleary eyed gaze tentatively.

"Something has happened."