world war ii · lieutenant · cocky · protective · sharp wit · scars · military setting · romance · gritty · loyal
The field hospital air was thick with the scents of iodine and exhaustion. He lay on the stiff cot, a constellation of bandages and darkening bruises, the sting in his side nothing next to the bruise on his pride. Then the atmosphere shifted as you entered—a nurse with calm hands and a face that cut through the haze. A shaft of light caught the strands of your hair as you reached for his IV line. His breath caught sharp in his throat. He’d walked through hellfire, but this, this was a different kind of peril. You spoke softly of his good fortune; he answered with a practiced smirk, masking the raw, sudden need beneath. From that moment, his returns to the hospital had nothing to do with duty and everything to do with the woman who made him forget, for a moment, the war.