"We're coming in fast. Better be ready." The pilot said over the radio. Doctors and nurses were standing by, waiting to move. Four that were injured out on the battle field were getting medevac'd. There was no time to waste, no time to mess up. Injured Marines, some who are on the brink of death, would be arriving any second now. I stood by waiting to help pull them through the emergency doors. The helicopter landed on the landing pad and we quickly got to work. I help pull the first Marine off, he had gotten the brunt end of the blow. He is covered in bandages, any skin that showed was covered with cuts. The top of his skull was wrapped. There were dark purple and blue circle around his eyes, one beginning to swell. His chiseled jaw was covered in a few days growth of beard, though patches looked burned off. His built torso was exposed, dried blood covered his muscular arms and part of his toned abs. The bandages that wrapped around him were blood stained and getting worse.

We pull him into a large white room and began to work to clean him up and assess his damages. I slowly began to pull off the blood soiled cotton wraps. He never winces in pain; no sound came from him. It was almost as if he were dead. The other nurses work to hook up IV's and heart rate monitors and cleaning him up. His wounds look worse than I could ever imagine. Shrapnel pierced his skin, burns lace his arms and torso. He had a deep cut in his forehead that was going to need stiches. His legs weren't too bad, he must have been kneeling or behind something when they got the blow. It's a horrid sight to see someone in this kind of shape. It's one of the things I hated about this job, but I wanted to help those who fought for our freedom, so I will deal with the emotional pain of seeing their physical pain. We quickly got him prepped for surgery to remove all the shrapnel. His heart rate was stable, and he now wore a breathing tube. I pray we can keep him alive.

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I made my way over to the nurse's desk to see if there is anything new that I should know about. "So, how are the patients?" I get asked by one of the senior nurses, also a good friend of mine, Sally. "They all seem to be doing well. PFC Strand is recovering very well. She should be out of here soon..." I continued to tell her about my patients, but purposely forgetting Sargent Evans. "Your missing one?" her voice raised a bit in curiousness. My cheeks immediately began to turn red and my eyes leave hers and I took interest in the floor. This made her get up and move closer to me. Her elbows on the counter, hands holding her chin up and a smile plastered on her face, eye me down. "Tell me!" She squeals. "He's doing fine. He woke up about an hour ago and seems to be doing good." I said barely even looking at her. "He's cute, isn't he?" I looked at her in fake shock that she would ever suggest a thing. "You know were can't fraternize with the patients." I say trying to change the subject. Though she is persistent, like always. "Don't even go there. I saw how you looked after you walked out of his room. It's like something in you sparked. You seemed to glow." I can't stop the smile on my face, no matter how hard I try. My face heats up more and my hands become sweaty. "Don't you need to go check on him now." She gave me a wink. 

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When he finally wakes up, it was about exactly an hour, like the doctor said. He is awake and talking to the doctor. I stand off to the side, listening to the doctor explain what happened to him. He is taking it better than I expected. Most Marines we get in here, can't stand sedatives or any type of treatment. Sargent Evans seems to understand everything he is being told. That told me his brain wasn't affected by the blast. Which is a good thing. Some men and women have lots of problems with an explosion going off that close to them. I've seen it once or twice. Once the doctor finishes up, he leaves the room. I do a once over of the equipment and made sure he is comfortable. As I am about to leave, he stops me, grabbing my wrist. I feel butterflies in my stomach.

"Don't go." He pleads with his deep husky voice. I moved to his side, looking down at him. "Do you need anything?" I whisper, my voice seeming to fail me. "I just don't want to be alone." He looks straight ahead as he talks to me. He is still holding onto my wrist. I reach behind me and try to bring one of the chairs in the room, closer to me, so I can sit down. I guess I didn't realize how much of a hold he has on me, he let's go quickly, noticing my predicament and I fall straight on my butt. "Ow." I whisper to myself. "I'm so sorry." I look up and see him leaning over the edge of the bed, looking down at me. I send a smile his way and start to get up. He offers me his hand and I gladly take it. I dust myself off after I get on my feet. "It's alright. I'm fine. No harm done." I say with a small chuckle. He hums back in agreement, looking away again. "Are you alright?" He starts to fiddle with his hands before answering. "I've felt better." He says, giving a weak smile. I smile back at his little joke.

"What's a beautiful lady like yourself doing at a hospital over here?" he blurted out. I quickly wipe the surprise off my face and try to control my blushing. "I admire you military men and women. I couldn't join, but I could go to college and all I wanted to do is help. This is the closest I could get." I explain to him. "Well I sure got lucky to have you taking care of me." He smirks. I can feel heat rise to my cheeks. "Oh, I'm sure you would be lucky with any of the nurses." I say awkwardly. He shakes his head, looking at me with his fierce ocean blue eyes. I could probably get lost in them or drown. Whichever comes first. "No, I don't think so. I've seen some of the other nurses and they aren't nearly as beautiful. They also don't have your smile." I can't stop the blushing this time. I try and remember the last time someone flirted with me. I focus so much on my work, that I don't think I ever noticed. "Well thank you. Your very handsome. Even with being covered in bandages." I say with a slight giggle. He attempts to wave me off with his right hand, but it must have hurt for he winced in pain and it came straight back down. 

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"You're just saying that. I don't think you actually mean it." I try to contradict him. As much as I want to believe him, he can't be serious. "I mean it and the more I got to know you, the more I started to fall." His voice just above a whisper. "You're not thinking clearly. You're going to go home and forget all about me." I look away until he spoke again. "Jenny. I have never felt this way about a woman. Never in my life did I ever think I would. I can't get your gorgeous smile out of my head or your stunning eyes. They remind me of the chocolate river from Willy Wonka. I want to take a dive and not come back out. Though I don't think I'd want to get sucked up into that tube." I couldn't stop the laugh that leaves my lips. His smile seemed to brighten, knowing it was he who was able to make me laugh. "And when I'm able to do more things again, I can't wait to play doctor with you." He says with a wink. Way to ruin the mood, I thought. I pulled away with a scoff. "No come back here. I'm sorry. I had to." His smile is lost for a moment until my eyes returned to his. His hand was still stretched out for me, waiting for me to come back to him. I try to stay away, but I can't stay mad at him. I feel empty without his touch. So, of course I lean back into his hand.

He slowly guides my head closer to him. My eyes won't, can't leave his, I am trapped by his mesmerizing ocean deep blues. He leans his head up trying to close the gap. He gave a grunt as he leaned up. I knew it pained him. So, I brought my other hand onto his chest, pushing him gently back down, following to keep the gap closed. Before I knew it, his lips are on mine. His lips are chapped, yet felt so soft, so gentle. I lean in closer, pushing deeper into the kiss. Our eyes close, memorizing this moment. A spark seemed to zip through my body. I know he felt it too when he brought his hand to my waist holding me close. I wish I could get closer. I want to feel him against my chest, our bodies pressing together, him holding me close. Our kiss lingered, I knew I needed to pull away, but I don't want too. I know this is a bad idea, but it feels so right.

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In a couple days, Cody and I will be flying back to the United States. At this moment I am unwrapping the bandages off his arms. The bandage on his head came off last week. He has seven stitches on his forehead. Those would be coming out after we get back to the states. The few he had scattered across his chest came out last week. He is getting better every day and I'm glad I get to share this time with him. I finish unwrapping his arms and lightly run my fingers along the burnt healing skin. I hear him give a grunt and I look up, pulling my hand away. "I'm sorry." I whisper seeing the frown on his face. "It's okay. Will you still love me, even though I'm going to be scared the rest of my life?" I can't help but let out a laugh. He raises an eyebrow at me. "I don't know what you look like before you came here. I fell in love with who you are right now, not who you were in the past." I explained to him. My words seem to sooth his nerves.

The next day was mainly filling out boring paperwork. We had to make sure everything was correct and the other hospital back in the states was on board. He would be flying in a military jet. I wouldn't be arriving until a few hours after him. I won't even get to see him right away. I have to take care of family matters first. They are all very excited I'm coming home. They also can't wait to meet Cody. Of course, they knew about him. I can't stop talking about him. I finish up the paperwork and I go to my apartment that I've been staying in while I've been here and pack my things. My apartment is somewhat messy at the moment. I haven't been exactly living here the past few weeks. There were clothes thrown on the floor and over the furniture. There is now a thin layer of dust along the shelves and picture frames. I go in the tiny bedroom and pull out my luggage bags from under the twin bed.

"You excited?" I ask Cody. Right now, we are prepping him for the flight. He will be able to walk onto the plane himself and sit, but he must have some protective measures taken for during the flight. "Yes and no. You won't be there with me." He said sadly. "But I'll be there later. We won't be apart for long." I try and reassure him. I don't think it's working. He has no bandages covering his arms and torso anymore. All the stitches and scars from the burns are out in the open. The burns still hurt to the touch, but they are healed over enough that he doesn't need them to be covers. His back still needs a wrap on, just so there isn't too much rubbing on the flight that can open the wounds. "Long sleeve or short sleeve." I hold up two shirts for him to wear. "Short." He grabs the shirt from me and tries to get it over his head. I hold back my laughter as I help him get it on.

"You think that's funny." He purrs to me, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me onto his lap, tickling me. "Stop...No it...wasn't funny...please... stop!" I shriek. When he stops, I'm out of breath. I lean my head against his chest, trying to catch my breath. I fan my redden face and Cody wraps his arms around me. His head cuddles into the crook of my neck, kissing the damp skin. "You are so beautiful." He whispers nipping at my ear. My face begins to redden again. I turn my head and kiss his soft lips. "Alright love birds, time to get going." My supervisor yells into the room. We both break out into laughter and begin our way out of the room. By this point he found out too. He said he wouldn't say anything since he knew he wouldn't be under my care when we got back. He's such a great supervisor. 

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I ran down the hall, then hopped into the elevator taking me to the 5th floor. It brought me to the in-patient wing. I stopped at the desk, gaining some of my breath back. "Where is Dr. Dimitri?" I practically screamed at the women behind the desk. "He's with a patient at the moment." She whimpered back to me. "Well tell him to take a break, I need to speak to him immediately." I snarled. My knuckles are beginning to turn white as I gripped the countertop that stood in the way of me and the nurse. She gets up quick, kicking the spinning chair out from underneath her. I watched as she walked briskly down the hall. "Jenny." I spin around to the feminine voice behind me. It was another nurse I worked with before I left. "What?" I snapped, not in the mood to talk to anybody. "He wanted me to give you this." She handed me a note. She must have been one of his nurses to have this. It only gives me clarity. It pulls me into reality that it was the truth. He was gone. I lost him. I lean against the counter and slowly slid down to the floor, causing my shirt to ride up my back, holding the folded note in front of me.