The Hands of War

[Pinkshdw]

Rosaline had spent most of her night pacing in her quarters, thinking. Walking herself through everything that was in the tent, and every medical procedure she knew she'd need, even those she'd never gotten the chance to practice, even the ones she assumed she'd never need.


Rosaline silently slipped out of her quarters, wiping the sleep from her eyes. She heard the rumbling and decided to check it out knowing sounds this early in the morning was never a good sign. She had gotten an hour of sleep, maybe more, but it was not nearly enough. It was never enough. Her hair flowed around her in messy, frizzy waves, reaching to the small of her back.


She glanced to the truck running her fingers through her hair before jogging over to the entrance of the main tent, pulling her hair up into a messy ponytail. "So that feeling...does it always turn out true?" She asked raising an eyebrow as she stood beside him, putting her hands on her hips. "Cause if so, I'd like to know about every bad feeling. I like to be prepared," she said stretching her arms out before placing them behind her back.

 

[lafeae]

Liam had been moving about, checking on his patients for the umpteenth time, giving spare water to a man who was asking for it. Rosaline had almost startled him, but he swallowed that surprise as he finished the menial task and gave her his attention, maybe even a little smile for her. Briefly. She was talking about bad things that could happen and wanting to know about them. Bad things like the loud noises in the distance.


"Not always. But most of the time," Liam said, and he set the cup on a small tray he had laid at the end of each bed. "You just...get these inclinations by the sounds of the wind. The way the clouds move." He sounded crazy, or in the very least, sleep deprived. There wasn't any scientific reason he could give as to why he had these feelings. It was about as good as 'my knees know' when it came to rain. "I don't know how to tell the different. Most of the time its....just a sinking sort of feeling. Harder it sinks, worse it is."


The sounds was dying away, and he wondered if it was just a passing truck, or maybe even another shipment of men or supplies. It would be better than casualties. He'd had enough in the time he'd been there to know that he hated his job, even if he did save so many as he could. "I don't think I can prepare you for a feeling."

 

[Pinkshdw]

Rosaline watched Liam as he spoke nodding slightly. She leaned against a crate, her eyes scanning the beds, and the soldiers that laid in them. She stood taking cloth gently wiping the brow of a soldier who was asleep, his face looked pained. Probably a nightmare. Something she knew was far from uncommon.


Her eyes trailed back to Liam her eyebrows furrowing slightly. "How long have you been out here?" She asked gently. It seemed like it had been quite a while since Liam had gotten a chance to truly sleep, and not have to worry about that sinking feeling in his stomach or the helicopters passing over head.


She took a few steps towards him, slipping her hands into her pockets. A strand of hair falling into her eyes. She was intrigued by Liam, and she wasn't exactly sure why. He was more complex them most men, and had probably seen things that would make most want to crawl into a hole forever.

 

[lafeae]

The doctor smiled to watch Rosline be instinctive and help the patients even when she wasn't really on her shift yet.


"I don't know," Liam murmured, and he tucked his hands in his pockets. It seemed like something he should know, and he probably did if he really thought about it. He just didn't want to. "Probably like....three years or so. Give or take."


It probably wasn't something that was good to know. Out in the elements, constantly ravaged by bad images and sadness. "Longer than I needed to be."

 

[Pinkshdw]

Rosaline's eyebrows furrowed with worry. "Three years? That is....far to long," she said softly. She had a very strict contract, from arrival date, to the day she packed up and went back to the United States."People can only take so much before it is too much," she said mostly to herself. She chewed the inside of her cheek watching him a bit before giving a slightly nod and turning back towards the entrance of the tent. "If you ever need a reminder of the outside world let me know," she said with a gentle chuckle before walking out of the tent into the hot sun, her hands on her hips as she scanned the area.

 

[lafeae]

Liam was all too worried to investigate the noises he heard, even if they were imaginary. And to Rosaline's comments, he stepped outside with her, leaving part of himself in the triage tent and looking back at the men.


"I probably should have gone home a long time ago," he mentioned. Often, he got the same reaction. "I've had leave of absence, don't worry about me losing my mind on you. I just....can't seem to make myself go home. And...speaking of home: where are you originally from?"

 

[Pinkshdw]

"Good. I need to make sure you have my back," she teased gently, giving a sideways look. Before glancing back at the men in the tent. She watched them all for a few seconds before looking back to Liam. She gave him a slight nod."Originally? Maine. Spent most of my life traveling though," she told him with a shrug. "Year or so here, six months there," she said squinting slightly as she looked around. "Went to school in Boston. Same with my internship and fellowship," she told him. "What about you?" she asked, looking at him for a second before her eyes traveled back to their patients.

 

[lafeae]

"Indiana," he answered. "I went to school at Ohio state, did my internship at UC medical," he mentioned, thinking about how he was fairly boring to go through those things, all in the Midwest, only to end up here doing whatever it was he was doing. It didn't feel like it used to anymore.


There was something appealing about her--she didn't just roll her eyes at him and act like he was crazy. Empathy and concern made him amused--she thought of him as human. "I shouldn't have been out here so long, but...not much back home, to say the least."

 

[Pinkshdw]

"Interesting," she said with a gentle smile. She casually crossed her arms behind her back, scanning the scenery before her eyes trailed over to him, watching him for a bit. She heard a groan from one of the patients. Her eyes snapped to them, eyeing each one of them. Once evaluating that they were all okay, her eyes went back to him.


Her eyes narrowed with a bit of worry. "Doesn't mean you shouldn't go back," she told him. "Maybe not back home, but at least back over there. Go watch baseball, have a big mac. Sleep in a bed without a loaded gun attached to you. Sleep peacefully," she told him with a smile. "Something to keep you at least slightly sane," she teased.