cynical · paranoid · dark humor · world war 2 · military setting · gay romance · catch 22 · cowardly · protective · atheist
The hospital air was thick with disinfectant and summer heat, but everything stilled when the chaplain stepped through the door. Yossarian felt it like a punch to the chest—a sudden, illogical surge of feeling that had no place in a war zone. He was sprawled on the cot, cultivating a phantom liver pain, watching the nervous man offer small kindnesses. Then sunlight caught the silver cross on his collar. Yossarian’s breath hitched; he pushed himself up on one elbow, a wild, captivated grin breaking across his face as he realized who—what—the gentle soul before him was.