Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Southern Comfort ( Wolvenrogue and Risky Business)

wolvenrogue

wolvenrogue

Singularity
Supporter
Joined
Aug 21, 2011
It had been a bad morning for Private Roger Hacket of the 5th Cavalry Division of the Army of the Republic. The boys in blue had just been handed their hats by the crack troops of the Army of Norther Virginia under Robert E. Lee. Roger was the victim of a mini-ball in his thigh, and fearing he might lose his leg, he had cut it out himself with his bayonet. The 6'2 200 lb soldier was all muscle and his blue eyes matched his uniform, and on this day that bought him a trip south in irons with 100 other prisoners. Being wounded he was taken to an aid station manned by volunteer nurses. They were the angels of the battlefield revered by soldiers on both sides for their kind treatment of the wounded.
 
The days were long for Leah Hammond as she tended all the injured soldiers from the war. She had barely gotten a few hours of sleep before she was back up and tending to the soldiers again. There was more of a rush of injured soldiers than normal, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She was a wreck, her hair was pulled back in a bun, which at one point of the day was up neatly and tightly, but now strands started to fall loosely from it and hanging around your face. Her light blue dress and white apron were sporadically covered or splashed with blood from all the soldiers with missing limbs or from other sorts of injuries. She was struggling to keep her eyes open but knew she was the only hope for some of these soldiers, whether they were on her side or not.

"Leah!" She heard her name called out from a co nurse of hers as she rushed to where she was needed. Behind a white curtain where the amputations took place she ran to. There, she saw him. He was bleeding profusely from his leg. "Yankee cut it off himself." The doctor murmured out as they all rushed to stop the bleeding. She grabbed a rag, pressing it against his wound and applying all her might to stop the bleeding. "More pressure!" She yelled out as another nurse came to attend. Her eyes wandering constantly to the soldiers face as he lied there in and out of consciousness. The commotion of doctor and his nurses running around the room, trying to gather as much clean cloths as they could salvage to help this man's leg stop the bleeding and their efforts were paying off.
 
Roger was alternately wild with pain and unconscious that morning as the women rushed to save his life. They had little to offer but bandages and comfort but the offered plenty of each. Each time he woke, writhing in pain she was there and their eyes met. He hadn't seen compassion like that since before he'd lost his dear wife to cholera. With no one to return to the risks of war seemed somehow less important. But here in this moment he received an unexpected comfort from someone whom probably had a relative he had killed. The gratitude he felt at that moment knew no bounds. Finally as they got the bleeding stopped, he could sleep rather that simply pass out with pain.
 
After the wound was treated he was moved to his own bed, surrounded by a very small white sheet curtain. There were very few left, since most of them had been ripped from the ring that held them to use them on wounded soldiers. It had been a few hours since his wound was dressed and although the most of the bleeding had stopped, his wound still needed dressing regularly to avoid infection. The night had calmed down and as she made her rounds, she found herself stopping last at his bed. She slipped in and sat on the chair next to the bed, he laid asleep still as she began to undress his wounds which were no longer white. She prepared to dress the new gauze around his wound, she handled his injury carefully. She had gotten better with dressing wounds since she had done so over hundreds of times. After she was finished, she covered him back up with the blankets before taking a wet cloth and placing it over his forehead, slowly swiping at his face as she cleaned the dirt and blood from it.
 
His eyes blinked open and there was his angel just as before. He didn't know if she ever left but whenever he woke there she was. "Your my angel, he said softly through chapped lips. My God you are so beautiful. Where do you come from" he asked. he knew she was from heaven, but in this war he had no idea where that might be. He lived for her smile. though he had lost a leg, that smile gave him hope that the war might someday end and he would see home again. but then it made him cry, knowing that home would never be the same. His darling Jennifer was gone. He wailed her name, crying openly for 10 minutes before passing again into blessed sleep.
 
Leah smiled at his words, the damp cloth pressing against the skin of his face gently. She nodded at his words, trying to calm him down a bit. She knew that he was still in a bit of hysteria from all of the blood that he loss. "I'm no angel.." She said softly, smiling at him sweetly. She paused for a moment, before she would say anything else. She didn't want to get him any more excited and at that moment when he started crying and shouting out a woman's name, she wish she had said something. "Shhh shh.." She said, rubbing her hand over his arm and the face cloth on his face, trying to hush his nerves. She had still not known his name and now she was questioning who Jennifer was. He finally fell back asleep, she stayed with him for a few more moments and her eyes couldn't help but swell up with tears from the previous event that just happened. She could hear the fear and sadness in his voice. She had slipped off into a daydream and was quickly broken out of it when a night shift nurse came and got her. "Get some sleep!" The elderly nurse, Rose had said. Leah nodded before walking to her tent quarters.
 
Roger woke the next morning and was not disappointed as his angel was there as usual. "I am sorry for yesterday," he said softly. "My heart got away from me. I miss her so so bad, but she's gone. She's the only woman I knowed that was as sweet as you, but I lost her to the Cholera.

So now for me, if it weren't for you. I'd happily die. Got nothin else worth livin for you know. He looked off into space and a tear escaped the corner of his eye.
 
Leah nodded at his bedside, she once again had a damp cloth over his forehead to help with the hot heat. They were planted on the side of a battlefield, there was barely any shade for a mile. "You have no reason to apologize.." She said softly, "I'm sorry to hear about your wife... it's never easy using a loved one.." She said, the pain was in her voice for she too had lost someone close to her.

She saw the tear fall from his eye and bowed her head and couldn't help but pout and feel sorry for him. The war effected lots of people, but the sickness going around at the same time as it made it all seem like a cruel joke and she knew very well that cholera was no laughing matter. She lifted her hand and placed it on top of his, she squeezed it softly, trying to console him.
 
He looked down at her tiny hand, so much smaller than his, and so soft, in awe of the work that it had done, day in and night out. His own hand was rough and calloused, with cuts and scars, and no one would have trouble imagining that it did a hard days work. Hers on the other hand was smooth, and fine and beautiful . Her nails were slender and clear, the skin taught and uniform , and feeling like silk to the touch. They were a miracle all on their own.

Her soft voice and her hand were enough for him. They were surrounded by the sounds of battle; gunfire, explosives, and the screams of terror and pain, but for that few minutes , for Roger at least, all was right with the world, and it was all due to Leah, his Angel.

Hearing the pain as she said she was sorry, he recognized immediately that she shared his experience. He wrapped her seemingly frail hand in his and asked “I’m sorry too, who did you lose?” His voice was thick with compassion and another tear streaked his face, but this time for her. He looked up into her eyes clear and liquid with forming tears and for the first time since he had reached the aid station he smiled. “You are an amazing woman” he said and kissed her tiny hand. “God Bless You Leah”
 
Leah pulled back her hand, dipping the cloth into the bucket filled with water beside the bed as she began to dab it across his arms, cleaning his skin. She almost avoided the question, "My brother." She said softly, biting down on her lip. Every time she though about her brother, her eyes would swell with tears and this time it was no different.

She took a deep breath in and pushed the tears back before breaking a small smile as she dabbed and wiped at his skin. Her brother would roll in his grave if he ever found out she was talking to a Yankee. But she was only helping him heal, right?

"He was a great man... my best friend. And I'm sure he would die all over again for his home." She said, it was true. Her brother was always rambunctious and proud of who he was and especially where they were from.
 
Seeing her tears he placed his hand on hers. It was now his turn to give comfort. “None of us want anything but to protect our homes and families. I’m sure he was a fine man. “ He patted he hand, and reaching up pushed the tear from her eye. “I’m so sorry if I have caused you any pain. This war is fought with good intentions, but miserable results. If it weren’t for you, my life wouldn’t be worth a plug nickel, I’d be over in some ditch 6 feet under.”

As he spoke a hail of bullets flew through the tent from the nearby battle. Instinctively , he pulled his body over the woman, and then cried out in pain as a miniball ripped through his shoulder. He sunk back on the bed, gasping and covering the bloody wound. Seeing the blood stains on her dress , he asked in desperation, “Are You alright? Please tell me your alright,”
 
Leah smiled at his words. "You're a kind man." She said with a small smile. Their eyes had met and stayed locked for a moment before the tent was pierced and bullets ripped through the fabric.

She felt him on top of her and if he hadn't done so, she wouldn't be injured and maybe even dead. The bullets had finally stopped and all she could hear was his cries and when she pulled back she saw his shoulder dripping with blood. He had been shot. She was frozen still for only a second, quickly and without hesitation Leah had grabbed a rag and placed it over his shoulder. She nodded at his question, putting more pressure on the wound. "Doctor!" She cried out, but no one had responded. There was possibly more injured soldiers coming in from the recent gunfire.

She glanced around and saw a pair of tweezers by the bed, she had only ever used them to pull out stitches but she knew that the bullet would need to come out as soon as possible or it could possibly go further into his skin. She bit on her lip, looking down at him. She knew what she had to do, she'd seen the doctor do it thousands of times. "Do you trust me?" She asked him, her eyes wide as she looked down at him.
 
“Yes! “he said wincing in pain. “Do it, it has to be done.” Grabbing a bloody rag, he stuck it in his mouth and bit down hard, steeling himself against the pain that was to come.” He felt the firey pain as she pushed the sharp steel tweezers deep in his shoulder and dug for the still hot lead that was buried there. When he finally sees the ball extracted, he breaths a long sigh of relief , and lays back, still panting with the pain.

“Are you sure your ok? You weren’t injured?” he asks still concerned. “The battle field is no place for a woman. You are much too brave for your own good. He looks around and sees one of the doctors laying on the ground. “I am afraid he didn’t make it, but you had better check.” The battle around them was brutal, and as wounded poured in, a southern officer walked in and seeing Roger, yelled, get that damn yankee out of here. We need the bed!

Knowing that the nurses would have no choice, he got up from the bed, and grabbing a crutch hobbled over and sat by an old elm tree a few yards away. As his bleeding continued, he passed out.
 
Leah carefully extracted the bullet from his shoulder, more blood pouring out, she replaced the cloth back on his wound as she applied more pressure. "I'm fine! Really!" She said frantically as she tried to stop the bleeding. She nodded at his comments but did not reply, the only thing on her mind was getting the wound fixed.

She glared at the officer, "This man is wounded!" She shouted back but her words were to late, he was already hobbling away. Leah was distracted and taken by the officer to the wounded soldier where she quickly assisted before looking around for him. One of the nurses had mentioned a man sitting by the tree and Leah quickly exit the tent and found him.

She ran to him and when he was aside him, his torso covered in blood. She cursed to herself, before lifting him up. She lightly slapped his face until he was gaining some conscience. A woman her size was not very able to, but something inside her gave her the strength to do so. She dragged him to the tent, where she found a free bed from a recently passed soldier and put him in. She quickly grabbed a needle and thread and saw up the wound.
 
Rodger coughed and then groaned as he regained consciousness. He winced as she lifted him by his shoulders and it pulled at the fresh wound, then sighed as he again collapsed into a bed. He was dizzy, and drifting in and out of consciousness so he barely felt her stitching as she worked to close his wound. When she had finished he saw her hand and reaching out to her, gripped it. To him it was was love and security in a world where everything seemed to be quickly falling apart. At the touch of her skin, his body relaxed and a deep sleep came over him. He dreamed of his wife and the life they had enjoyed, but in the end the image of the woman's face was of Leah.

His sleep was disturbed by the shaking of the bed in which he lay, and then he found him self being lifted onto a stretcher. A chaplain shook him and said. “your going home son, we've arranged a prisoner exchange. ”But! … Leah!” He called out wanting to see her.
 
When she saw that Roger had fallen asleep, she tended and cleaned the wound before making her rounds to the other soldiers. She was working on stitching up another gun shot wound when she had heard a man calling her name and it was familiar, she knew it was Roger.

She tied off the stitch before running out into the main corridor of the tent where she saw Roger being hauled off on a stretcher, she quickly ran over and grabbed his hand. "What is going on here?" She said to the chaplain who had explained the soldier exchange. "This man is in no shape to be moved!" She screamed at the chaplain, but he persisted with the hauling as Leah tried her best to talk him out of it. "He could get shot again being hauled onto the battlefields, if that happens then there will be no soldier exchange at all!" She reasoned and bartered.
 
Rodger, for his part was helpless in the whole matter. The officer had no interest in either his opinion or his safety. He had orders. As he was quickly hauled away and put on an open cart, He called out to Leah. “ I Love You and I will be back!” Seeing a yankee addressing a southern girl in that way, the office removed a glove from his belt and bludgeoned Roger until he passed out and was silent. The wagon rumbled along over the battlefields of northern Virginia picking up prisoners until they reached Pennsylvania and the scheduled prisoner exchange. By the time they reached the North Rodger was delirious with fever and near death. He was turned over to the Union Medics, who promptly decided he was as good as dead and refused to waste good medication on him. He laid on his streacher three days, before he woke up and decided he was better off on his own. Leaving in the middle of the night, he just limped away. He walked the three miles back to the border and finding a dead Rebel captain laying on the battle field stole his uniform. He had walked maybe a mile when he fell beside the road. Later that day, a rebel patrol found him and returned him to the aid station from which he had come.
 
Leah bit down on her lip and her eyes started to swell as they took Roger away and after he left she was quickly taken by a nurse who tried to talk some sense in her. "He's a Yankee, Leah. Don't forget where you come from." She said to her before Leah nodded, she didn't care but wouldn't dare say that to the nurse. She tended the other soldiers and later that evening she was called to tend to a Southern soldier who had just been found on the battle field.

Leah went to his bed side, "He has a fever, it's a wander that he even survived the short trip here." Beth, the nurse said. Leah nodded, before grabbing a cloth and dipping it into the water beside the bed, she rung it out and placed it on the soldiers head as she dabbed at it slowly, cleaning the dirt off his face and then she recognized him. "Roger?" She said under her breath. She was stunned and confused, he was dressed in Southern attire. She wept softly, tending to him at his every needed as she allowed him to rest. Placing the cloth on his forehead to hopefully break the fever.

She had gotten some water and opened his mouth to pour some down to see how he reacted, he was dehydrated and needed plenty of liquids to recover.
 
He coughed as the cool water ran down his throat, and he woke to see…. His Angel! “Leah!” he said through parched and bleeding lips, “ I said I would return, and here I am. Tell them I can’t speak, lest they recognize my deception. “ I love you Leah….with all my heart I love you!” he became quiet as other nurses entered the tent. He lay back and was quiet.
He was at piece just knowing that his Angel was again with him. Though he had once had family in Pennsylvania, they were either dead or gone, and the old farm meant nothing, and was probably commandeered by one side or the other. At that moment he only wanted to survive and be Leah, whatever that meant for him.
 
Leah smiled at the sound of his voice, she nodded. "You kept your word." She said with a big smile, "I love you, Roger." She said with a big smile as she held his hand and squeezed it, kissing the back of it softly.

She nodded at his idea, which was a very good one at that. Leah grabbed the glass of water and poured more down his lips, " You need to drink." She said with a smile before nodding over at the nurse. "He's unable to talk, could be dehydration.. but I'm not sure." She said to the nurse who nodded in agreement. "Make sure he drinks plenty of water and rests." She said back, "Yes ma'am." Leah rebutted. She looked back down at Roger, "You're crazy, you know... you could have gotten killed." She said.
 
He whispered back to her "I know but what had I to loose. I have nothing at home and my own medics left me to die. Everything that matters is here. You, and you alone. " As the head nurse came by, he fell silent. and looked up at the face of his love. "The man is a brave soldier, it is rare that a captain would allow himself to be so close to the fighting to receive such wounds. See that he receives every comfort." the head nurse said.

When she disappeared into the next tent, Roger smiled up at her from his bed, and held tightly to her hand. Holding her hand gave the man more comfort than anything at that moment. He looked at the soft white skin and her long slender fingers, so unlike his own, bur so much what he needed at that moment. He wanted very mucch to kiss her but knew that wasn't possible for her.
 
Leah smiled over at him, patting his hand as he told her that she was the only one who mattered. It gave her a sense of hope, who knew what would happen after they were both out of this war... if that day would ever come.

Leah nodded at the nurse as she left and smiled over at Roger. "You've got them all convinced." She said, winking at him as she caressed his hand softly. "You're a true man, Roger. God has been watching over you." She said softly, leaning forward and planting a quick kiss on his cheek. "Can I get you anything, Roger?" She asked sweetly.
 
He looked around and seeing that the other nurses were gone and the patients asleep, he smiled at her and said hoarsely, " A kiss if may" He looked at her deeply in the eyes. He felt he had always loved her though he had known her barely a week. Though he could barely move at that moment, he wanted to hold her in the worst way. He licked his lips hoping she would grant his request. He dreamed of the day when they could leave the war behind and either go to his home in Pennsylvania, or her home where ever it was, or wherver God might see fit to send them. He didn't care where it was if she was by his side.
 
Leah smiled and bit down on her bottom lip, she couldn't help but blush and she also couldn't help but to agree. She lowly leaned over him, her lips pressing softly against his as she held it there. Her hand squeezing tighter onto his hands as she leaned more into the kiss. She held the kiss for several moments, before she pulled away and smiled, still very close to his face as she stared into his eyes. Her grin grew wider and wider before she pulled back, grabbing a fresh cloth and wiping at his skin. She wanted to try and make herself look busy and Roger was still dirty from being out on the battlefield.
 
" Thank You he mouthed silently to her as the head nurse passed by them. She patted Leah gently on the shoulder. Take care of that one honey, he makes us all proud. It was clear the nurse approved of the affection he was receiving, though he doubted she had seen them kiss. He smiled and whispered "nurses orders" and gave Leah a knowing smile.

Over the next few days Roger grew stronger every day, and it soon looked as though he was ready to be released. He worried that he would be sent back into action against his own troops. His worst fears were realized when the recruiting officer showed up at the aid station one afternoon, and examined all the patients. He gave the "Captain" fresh orders, that he was to leave first thing in the morning for the fighting, no voice or not. In desperation he scrawled a request on a piece of paper. He requested that he be able to take Leah with him to start a new aid station in the western region where he had been ordered to. Seeing his decoration as a war hero and an officer, the request was granted. That night, when Leah arrived at his bed, he showed her their orders.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom