Echoes of war (Glowing angel)

Afghanistan, 2014

It was the screams and grunts of pain that filled the night air, backlit by the echoes of explosions that caught Sgt Diaz's attention. He spun from his place at the lock box where he stood stocking the medical supplies used just hours before.

"We need some help here!" yelled a storing, yet authoritative female voice, while helping a man carry a wounded soldier into the infirmary. It was hard to determine who was more injured at that point as all three and the two men behind them were covered in blood.

Eddie could tell these people had been through hell and seemed out of place in the FOB. He had been stationed here for months already and had never seen them before now. Of that he was certain.

"Over here", Eddie said as he grabbed the one side of the man who seemed the most injured, guiding him to a cot.

"The hell happened?" Eddie asked as he started to assess the man, while more medics with him on call started assessing the rest of the mysterious team.

"Doesn't matter what happened Sargeant. Just take care of my men." The woman snapped, keeping her arm wrapped around her waist.

Eddie made a mental note to make sure this stubborn woman got medical attention too, as it seemed like she was more concerned about her team than she was about her own obvious injuries.

"Petty officer get yourself looked at, please? You are injured too." The man Eddie was stitching up said, as he looked at the woman pacing between the cots, keeping an eye on her men.

"I'm fine Boomer. You just let the medic take care of you, will ya?" the blonde grumbled.

"Boomer is right Viper; you took a hard hit there at the end." A big man grunted, only to receive a scowl from the woman in question.

Eddie, however, had frozen for a brief moment at the mention of the name 'Viper". He might be relatively new to this base, but even he knew the name "Viper' was often whispered in hushed tones.

A name he knew many feared as a soldier that was known to be merciless and cold when needed.

It took a good 20 minutes to clean and bandage the man called Boomer. Once Eddie was done he turned to the woman who has glared at every approach made by the other medics to offer medical assistance.

"Ma'am? I'd really 'appreciate it if I can take a look at you. I really don't need ya to collapse 10 feet outside my infirmary doors." Eddie told the woman, who looked at Eddie finally.

Eddie was suddenly struck with just how blue her eyes were, despite her dusty appearance.

Icy blue eyes met brown with defiance, while brown eyes met icy blue with pleading in their depths.

The men who came in with her watched the heated glares with anticipation, knowing how hard-headed their lieutenant could be.

"Fine Sargeant. Let's make this quick. I still have a team debrief to get to." The woman huffed as she took a seat on the cot.

With a smile, Eddie jumped to help the woman to remove her flak vest and camo jacket. He couldn't help the gasp that escaped as he saw the spread of blood on her side.

"You're actively bleeding lieutenant, you should have been seen to sooner!" Eddie snapped as he scrambled to gather the gauze he needed to staunch the blood as other medical supplies he would need.

"You are way too stubborn!" Boomer huffed with a hard tone of voice.

"Yeah well, I was busy trying to keep your asses alive." The woman snapped at her comrade; irritation clear in her voice.

"Busy or not Petty Officer, this needs to be taken care of fast," Eddie said in a hurry as he gently pushed the woman down onto the cot and pulled up his supplies tray.

Once he had everything, he took some swabs and started to clean the wound on the woman's side making sure to stitch and bandage her up and get an IV line with saline and a blood transfusion done- much to the woman's dismayed grumblings.

2 hours after the group of bloody soldiers entered Eddie's tent, they had disappeared, Never to be seen again… or so Eddie had thought.