OW???

When the deed was all said and done the battle ground was finally at peace.

The war was over.

Countless injured, thousands dead, their bodies being retrieved by mobile soldiers on the field. The camp was bustling with life. Especially the injured tents, who nobody dared stepped in, worried to ruin the doctors practices. Gruesome wails of pain and shrieks left the flaps of the tent while soldiers sat outside praying for their colleges safety.

A young man at the age of twenty, sat caked in mud on a log bench that was freshly cut down. His eyes prickled with tears for his friends sake, who had been rushed to the tents mid battle, and was still fighting hours later.

He entrusted her life to Diana.

Diana, rumour was it wasn’t the woman’s real name but that didn’t matter, was a superb doctor. Caring for hundreds of injured soldiers and made sure rest was needed when necessary. She was a angel in the soldier’s eyes, a gift that saved them all at least once before.

Men and women huddled up, rain pelting their soaked dirty uniforms. Mud stuck to their skin like leeches, soldiers quietly muttering plans on when to pack up and go back to the main camp in Inkopolis. The young man, Alois, kept his chin on his knees, staring into the medical tent in front of him. He wondered how was his friend doing…

…

Donut wheezed.

Her chest heaved as she wracked up a cough. Moving from bed to bed, advising what should be done for each patient as she was being sewn up on the run. The throbbing of her arm agitated her immensely, but couldn’t let that step in her way. 

“We need a wet cloth, stat!” She exclaimed as a nurse snipped off the remaining thread, allowing her to walk freely in the crowd, but protected the newly stitched part. Weaving through the bodies of her colleges, she stopped dead in her tracks at the foot of the bed. Looking at the untreated woman who lied there for a good six hours, she could tell she was being watched, signified by the fresh IV bags placed to replenish her lost blood. Donut placed the back of her hand on her forehead.

Lofty felt like she was on fire.

Donut pulled back quickly, a nurse delivering the wet towel she had called out for, dabbing the poor soldiers brow with the cooled cloth, she cursed faintly. 

Her eye, was a mess.

It was as if someone had gouged it out with a musket or spear, twisted into her skull and pulling gruesomely, or a bullet had gone through it. It was a gruesome sight, and made Donut’s pale at the sight of it.

“We have to get rid of it,” she looked up to the nurse, who provided assistant’s to put on a sanitated glove. Her skin coated with sweat from the humidity, she looked over to the bedridden soldier worryingly. “Lofty? Can you hear me? Lofty?” She frowned after receiving no response, only a blank, bloody stare. She sighed longly.

In a swift motion and a cruel twist, a blood curdling shriek left the woman’s lips, catching the attention of soldiers outside and patients in the tent. Donut apologized profusely, tears prickling the corners of her eyes as she handed the gouged eye off to her college. Picking up the cloth and pressing on the wound as nurses left and arrived. Upon the nurse’s return, bandages and disinfectant wipes in hand. The woman shrieked in pain as the wipe stung her open wound, wracking up choking sobs uncontrollably. There was no time to perform a proper surgery, and with a eye that badly injured, Donut hoped the pain wouldn’t be too long lasting.

A hour later had her heartbeat stabilized and breathing normalized, her cheeks now dry after her shedding. Donut sat on the bed, the metal frame creaking unsettlingly. The doctor’s hand caressed the woman’s cheek softly, wiping away the remaining tear from her eyes, she mutters. “Your gonna be okay Lofty,” that was a promise. The woman laid tiredly in bed, worn out from her crying and pain, the tent had calmed down significantly as well, meaning they may leave for home in a few days time.

“Mmmmhmmmm….Donut?” the tired woman murmured. The first time she’s spoken in hours which was an improvement. Donut flushed at her first name, and gave a weak chuckle.

“Wha… what happened? Did we w…….” She paused, and stared.

“What… happened to your left arm?”

Donut froze. The left coat sleeve had been tied up in a knot, lacking the limb that had been there when she first entered the unit. She could feel the tears well up in her eyes again, hyperventilating as her memories rewinded to the fight. There had been a plane, planting explosives in the field that would erupt at the slightest of vibration, soldiers screaming and yelling orders over gun fire while Lofty stayed tucked away in a trench, reloading every so often.

And before she knew it she turned to fire again, only to receive the end of a musket gouged into her eye. She screamed of course, catching the attention of a college who screamed bloody murder at the scene, panicking as he pulled the cursed thing out. He called for help, carrying the woman between trenches until she was taken away.

But what was missing?

Donut stroked the woman’s hair, fingers threading the knotted mane as she calmed the panicked soldier. “It’s okay, it’s alright,” she repeated, acknowledging her peers were around her. Lofty let out a sob, hands to her bandaged face and choked back even more as blood seeped through her bandages, coating her dirtied hands. Donut continued to whisper, wiping the woman’s hands with a wipe to the best of her ability, waiting for her to quiet.

She had been sitting for another hour by the time Lofty had calmed down. She stared intently at the lack of the limb, reaching out and grabbing the sleeve where the limb had once occupied. Donut pursed her lips before starting. “They were hualing you out of the field, crowd surfing if you will,” she chuckled at the watered down version. “We were on field taking in the severely injured, trying to save lives, when I caught a glimpse of you.”

“I panicked,” she admitted meekly. “And rushed out to meet you halfway,” Lofty looked down to the woman’s pants that were, indeed, coating in mud. “But I was careless, not watching where I was going, and hit a mine,” she frowned, placing her hand on her now useless stump. “I feel like a complete fool now, I should’ve paid more attention but… you,” she gripped her stump, facing the bedridden woman. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

Lofty laughed weakly, resting comfortably as possible on the solid pillow structure. She squeezed the doctor’s hand reassuringly. “I won’t,” she promised, placing a kiss to her knuckles only to receive a singular gasp.

Her good friend, a life saver, Alois walked thru the tent flaps, only to witness the sweet moment between the two women. He pointed in betrayal, “All these times you said you had nobody, you did?!” He whisper shouted, obviously hurt. Donut chuckled as Lofty’s grip tightened.

“And here I was trying to get you with another soldier! You could’ve just told me,” he pouted, crossing his arms and shivering from the bone chilling rain.

“Most people wouldn’t accept these kind of relationships Alois,” Donut spoke up bitter sweetly. “But because the war is over I guess there’s no point hiding it,” she chuckled, pecking the older woman on the lips before standing up. Alois gawked giddily as Lofty flushed from the sudden public display, “I’m gonna get my stump checked out, I had it stitched as I helped others,” she stated, only to receive a angry pout from Lofty and a confused look from Alois who muttered ‘wait, what happened?’. 

“They did what now?! Donut, you should be resting,” Lofty lectured, ignoring Alois’s even more confused ‘Donut?’. Donut chuckled. “I’ll be fine,” she stated, waving to the two soldiers. “She still needs to rest Alois so go easy on her,” she announced, walking down the tent to her colleges. Lofty sighed, sinking into her bed and looked over to the smug looking man.

“Donut? A kiss? What have you been keeping from me?” Lofty groaned loudly, she had some filling in to do.