WARNING: pure fluff, mentions of blood, death and war,

love, miss nurse

the war in the pacific seemed to have dragged on. many soldiers had come and gone through the medic tent; most alive, but some succumbing to the inevitable end. thank god for penicillin else you'd be saying goodbye to more men than you would have liked.

the battle of peleliu in the autumn of '44 saw over 2,000 men dead and over 8,000 men wounded, many of them seen (and saved) by you. the battle had finally reached its end, and, still, nearly 100 men were in your care. none of them had made impacting impression on you, until an auburn haired soldier was dragged into your tent. 

he had minimal injuries, but they would definitely leave scars. when he arrived, he was unconscious, but breathing. the soldiers who brought him in said he had only been out for a short while. 'he fainted when he saw his blood' they said, patting his shoulder before running out of the tent.

as you looked over the soldier, you noted that he had a reason to faint. his badly bandaged arm had bled through the material, but, luckily, the wound was clean. both of his ankles were swollen, light bruising slowly appearing. there were a few scars on his face, only little ones which would usually be on every soldier's face.

you tended to his wound first, removing the bandages and cleaning up all of the blood that hadn't been cleaned earlier. the wound was still raw, bright red at that, notifiying you that it wasn't infected. it didn't take you long to rewrap his wound, applying the right amount of pressure to stop the bleeding. his ankles were easy; nothing that some ice couldn't help.

once you were happy with how you dealt with his wounds, you grabbed your clipboard, ready to write down the soldier's injuries. luckily, his dog tags were clean and legible, clearly showing the man as eugene b. sledge, k company, of the 1st marine division. 'finally,' you thought. 'a name to a pretty face.'

eugene stayed out for the night. he slept through peacefully, his ankles reducing slightly in size by the morning and his arm stayed clean and uninfected. when he woke, you were nowhere in sight, only a cup of water and a bowl of, what looked like, oatmeal on his bedside table.

although he had never been before, eugene recognised the tent as the medic tent (and not due to the medical equipment surrounding him and the other wounded soldiers). the tight wrap around his arm and the coolness of his ankles reminded him of the events of the day before. the screams. the shouts. the sounds. all too vivid for his liking.

"morning, mr sledge," you smiled as you walked around to collect his now empty cup and bowl. "did you sleep well?"

"if my memory serves me well, i believe i was knocked out over the night, so my best guess is that i slept fine, miss nurse." the small smirk on eugene's face made you giggle.

"well, mr sledge, you're one of the lucky few to survive the night," your smile sadden as you broke the news to him. "it seems some of your friends in the 1st division didn't make it. infections and pain really take their toll here."

"oh," was all he could manage. "how did you know my name? my division?"

all you did was tap the dog tags which were still around his neck. the warmth of your hand compared to the cool skin of eugene's chest as you brushed against him didn't go unnoticed by him.

"are you cold?" it was a simple question with a simple answer. but eugene couldn't answer truthfully; getting a chill when your nurse lightly touched your chest was laughing material in k company, in any company.

"a little, yeh." eugene slightly shivered again, trying to convince you of his chills.

"i'll grab you an extra blanket, they aren't for everyone." as you stood up, you sent a wink in his direction, meaning what you said about the blankets; even you couldn't get an extra one on cold nights.

as soon as you dropped off eugene's blanket, the calls and shouts of worried soldiers outside of the tent caught your attention.

"i'll be back in a minute, mr sledge." you smiled sweetly before turning and rushing to see the commotion. luckily, it was only a small disbute between some lieutenants, but had drawn attention from others around them. only a short while later and you were back attending to eugene. his cheeky smile as he saw you walk over to him made you giggle.

"call me eugene," was the first thing he said. "we're fightin' a war, i don't need formalities."

"as much as i'd like to, mr sledge, i have to have formalities."

"no one needs to know. call me eugene to my face and mr sledge to everyone else."

the charm and persistence he had desperately made you want to call him eugene to his face. it suited him. the name, eugene sledge, suited the person you saw in front of you. the slanted smile, the wound arm wrapped in soft bandages, the swollen ankles, the eyes that have seen more than they should have at such an early age. his slightly matted auburn hair, which was beginning the curl at the tips, suited him. you dare say that you were beginning to have a crush on the wounded soldier.

but you had to keep professional.

"please, miss nurse." you could slip on the formalities, surely?

"alright, just for you, eugene. can't have the others thinking i'm going soft, now, can i?" hearing his name fall so naturally from your lips made him smile, causing you to giggle once again. he made a obvious attempt to move over in his bed a little, silently inviting you to sat next to him.

"i promise i won't tell a soul." he raised his hand, holding out his pinky finger towards you.

"a pinky promise? now, that is something serious, eugene."

"i'm all about seriousness, miss nurse," obeying his silent wishes, you extended your pinky out to his as well. wrapping them around the other's caused a wide grin to appear on eugene's face.

"call me Y/N. since we're on a first name basis now, right?" you smirked at the solider, leaving his bedside before he had the chance to reply to you.

———

eugene had come in almost three weeks ago now. his arm wound had almost healed fully now, but his ankles were still giving him a hard time. he had tried walking many times, but the pain just brought him back down onto the bed. everyday, you had made a conscious decision to help eugene with his ankles, knowing he'd be needed for the war again and knowing he needed to walk again.

"please, eugene," you sighed, holding onto his hands. "please, just stand and try to walk. i'm here, just squeeze my hands if it hurts." you were practically stood between his knees as he rested on the edge of his bed. his hands were held tightly by yours, mainly for support, but you also wanted to hold the helpless soldier's hands at least once.

many times that day eugene had tried, and failed, to stand up without falling back onto the bed in pain. it was frustrating the both of you; he wanted to walk again and you needed him to walk again (for, you know, possible future dates and stuff). lunch came around and you let him rest for a while. he happily sat and ate his small lunch and downed his cup of water and tablets quickly, ready to try again.

"i feel as if you need some encouragement, genie." that was a new thing; calling him gene or genie. he had told you that his family and friends called him that and you had taken the liberty of calling him those, too.

"and what would that be, miss nurse?" that was not a new thing; him calling you miss nurse. you had told him countless times to call you Y/N, but he refused, saying miss nurse suited him better.

"if you stand up and walk," you start, placing your hands in front of you, "even just a few feet," eugene took them, holding onto them tightly, awaiting your last words, "i'll give you a kiss."

"well, that's an offer i can't refuse." he smiled, preparing himself to push off of the bed.

"i knew you wouldn't," you smiled back. "now, let's get you walking, soldier." as soon as you said that, eugene pushed your hands down as you helped him stand up. he winced a few times, the stinging of his ankles hurting him, but once he put his full weight onto them, he seemed okay.

"is this okay?" you asked, seeing the slight discomfort in his face.

"i'm okay, love. just need to get used to it." you just nodded, understanding this would be hard for him. before you were even ready for him to move, he stepped forward towards you, closing the gap between you and him. the sudden movement made you stumble backwards slightly, but eugene's grip on your hand tightened to keep you upright.

both of you giggled as you continued to walk backwards and eugene walked forwards. quicker than you expected, you and eugene had made it more than a few feet. you were now both on the other side of the medic tent, still holding hands. the amusement of almost tripping the other up had erased all the pain caused by his ankles.

"i believe this is more than a few feet, miss nurse," eugene smirked, removing his hands from yours and placing them on your hips.

"not yet, gene," you giggle, pressing a single finger to his lips. "let's get you back to bed, that's enough excitement for today." eugene groaned quietly, grabbing your hands again and walking back to his bed.

he reluctantly laid back down, getting comfortable before you pulled his sheets over his body.

"i'll be back soon, gene, i just-"

"have to check on paul and roupy? i know."

"i'll be ten minutes." you smiled at his brilliant memory before leaning down quickly and pressing a short kiss on his lips. almost as quickly as you leaned forward, you backed away and left eugene alone.

———

it had only take eugene a few days to be back in his feet. each of those few days he was last in, he had gotten and walked about the medic tent, stepping outside a few times to smoke his pipe or for just a breath of fresh air. whenever he went back inside, he always caught sight of you fussing around his bed, no matter what. you made excuses as to why you were there. to you, they were work related excuses. to eugene, they were feeling related excuses. or so he had hoped.

since your short kiss with one another, nothing much had changed except eugene's flirting noticeably increased. as did yours. but you wouldn't admit that.

one afternoon when eugene arrived back at his bed after a smoke, he noticed the bed sheets had been removed and new ones were neatly folded at the foot of the bed. his marine uniform was folded semi-neatly on the bare pillow, the traces of his and other's blood was no where to be seen.

a note from you sat on his bedside table,

genie,

unfortunately our time together has to be cut short. you've been given the all clear to return to active duty, hence the lovely marine uniform and the cleared bed. i'm sorry i cant be there for your return to war, but i'm sure you'll see me again. just don't get injured for the sole reason of visiting me. please.

love, miss nurse x