Realistic or Modern Love Behind The Trenches

[DarthMillicent]

A WWI Story with nomuseneeded !!

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Annie Clarke. Last year she was simply a girl with the hopes of passing all of her tests and becoming a full fledged Nurse. Now, she had been only miles from the front lines of the worst war anyone had seen for three months now. Everything she had learned and more could not have prepared her for the things that she had seen in these last few months, but somehow she still kept a smile on her face whenever she was working. Sure, she had broken down a few times... but it was away from anyone who could have seen her.

She had signed with the Red Cross only a few months after the Great War had started, feeling as if it was her duty. She wouldn't want to be anywhere else, even with all of the death and despair that riddled the war zone. Her blue eyes still managed to sparkle just a bit as she helped doctors and reassured patients. She learned how to think and act quickly, often having only moments to let her mind wander in a day.

Her bright blonde hair was pulled up into a twist at the base of her scalp, white nurse's cap perched atop her head. Today was slow for being so close to one of the main battle sites. Mostly, Annie was tending to some soldiers who had already been with them for a few days. Dressing and re-dressing wounds was terribly important. It kept the spread of disease down and kept infections at bay. The cleaner things were kept, the less loss there was. Loss of limbs, loss of blood, loss of life... Loss was incredibly normal in the makeshift hospital. Very rarely did the girl's in the Corps see a day without blood splattering their long dresses.

Annie loved making conversation with the soldiers. They didn't all like to talk, or have the ability to... but they all seemed to enjoy being talked to. It made things feel less foreign, and lightened the dreary mood. She often asked who they had waiting back at home, where they were from, or just about their family. It was small talk and it was often one sided with her just talking about the farm she grew up on, or her dogs, but it kept spirits just that much higher.

She was re-wrapping the leg of a French Soldier. He was a flirt, though he wasn't great at English and she knew little French. It was a fun little titter back and forth between the two of them. There was a bit of commotion coming from the front of the tents, but then again there always seemed to be commotion. She focused on the Private's leg and his advances.

 

[nomuseneeded]

Preston Daniels hadn't planned on joining the war only to be alone. He joined because it was his national duty, but also because all his friends joined. Maybe that was a bit less than patriotic, but wasn't that why half the eighteen-year-old boys joined? His best friend Douglas had died early in the war though, too early. That's when Preston made the decision. He was going to live through the entire war or die trying. He knew there would be reinforcements, there'd be leave, there'd be a chance to leave the front. He took none of it. Instead, he spent day after day on the edge of no-mans-land. Whatever it took to die in this war, or at least experience it fully.

That's why he volunteered when they were looking for people to make another rush. He didn't know why they thought this one would work when all the last ones had failed, but he was still willing to make that run out into the empty field. After all, he wanted to be back by Christmas.

Surprise surprise, he got shot. But, he got a heck of a lot farther than most of the guys. He supposed he must've learned to dodge bullets. Most people would be left for dead between the two armies, but he was close enough to be pulled in the English side. How hard was it to die out here? Still, he figured he would. His leg absolutely smarted. His right one, too, the one he really needed. He knew plenty of people who died from a wounded leg, so he figured he wasn't being overdramatic. It totally made sense that this might be it. Maybe he'd go see Douglas.

Of course, most of this thinking was going on in the back of his mind. The front of his mind was clouded over with pain. He noticed he was being put on a gurney, watched as it turned red. It was his blood. Fuck, it was his blood everywhere. Maybe he really wasn't going to make it. Maybe they'd cut off his leg and he wouldn't survive the amputation. Who the fuck cared with how much it hurt?

He was brought into the hospital tent, and he became aware that he wasn't the only one screaming, which made him aware that he was screaming. Red was on the ground and the walls and the uniforms. Red was on him. What in the world did he do about that?

 

[DarthMillicent]

Over the screams of patients, Annie heard her name called. She bit farewell to the Private and handed the job over to a lower ranked nurse. Quickly, she wiped her hands on the front of her white apron, walking towards one of the doctors who had been calling her.

"Put your hands right there, nurse." The doctor instructed, not looking up from what he was doing. The doctor was going to grab disinfectant while Annie quickly applied pressure to the wound in the soldier's leg.

"Hey there, it's alright now." She said softly, looking up to the soldier with kind eyes. Her free hand went to apply a wet cloth to his head, blotting away some dirt from his forehead. "You're in good hands now and were going to see what we can do about that leg."

 

[nomuseneeded]

Preston watched the blood flow slow with glazed eyes. There was no reason to try to live. Maybe he’d meet his best friend in Heaven. Preston was pretty sure he believed in that, but he wasn’t sure if Douglas did. Now he wished he would have asked. Anything to give him some hope for the future.



He had stopped screaming, and was thankful for the small reprieve from noise in that loud tent. He wasn’t listening very closely when the nurse talked to him. He hoped she wouldn’t give him any lifesaving information when there was a bullet in his leg, but he couldn’t be certain. People were stupid like that.



“Am I going to die?” he asked. If anything, his voice was hopeful, but mostly, it was tired. He knew now he would have to listen. There was no use asking a question if you wouldn’t listen to an answer.

 

[DarthMillicent]

"Not on my watch." Annie flashed him her signature smile, moving to brush his matted hair back. "You have to be strong for me though," She started as she gazed down at his leg. She knew that they didn't have everything they needed and that he would only be numbed while the bullet was removed. It didn't seem like they would have to remove the leg, but she couldn't be sure. "It is going to hurt, I won't lie to you... But we're going to get that bullet out of your leg and then we'll keep you comfortable while you heal."