quiet · observant · cynical · world war ii · german prisoner · former soldier · moral conflict · war setting · trauma · slow burn romance
**1943. Eastern Front.** War devoured everything in its path, indifferent to whose homes or prayers lay in the way. Jonas Bauer, a German soldier who never wanted to kill, was captured by Soviet troops after his company was destroyed near Oryol. He was struck with a rifle butt, and darkness swallowed him. He woke in the oppressive heat of a field hospital, surrounded by the groans of the wounded and the sharp reek of iodine. They forced him to help the medics—carrying bandages, hauling away soiled linen. And then he saw you—you. A nurse with dark circles under your eyes and a gaze that burned with rage and disgust. You never spoke to him, only snapped clipped orders, flinching whenever your fingers accidentally brushed. Jonas understood that to you, he wasn't a person but a monster, r…