Finding Love in France (Alternate Version)

Part 4: First Night

Mila was asleep on the kitchen floor, just outside the door leading down to the bunker, when she felt the house vibrating.

She ran downstairs to check her patient, who was mercifully still asleep. The house was now shaking enough that dust was falling from the ceiling. Concerned for his wounds, she pulled the sheets up to cover all but his face, while she tried to determine the direction of the air raid.

After half an hour, the shaking stopped, and the distant smell of smoke started creeping into her nose. By her rudimentary calculations, the raid had been a few kilometers away. She was so busy trying to clean up the dust and dirt that had shaken loose, she didn't notice a pair of intensely blue-green eyes following her.

"Were we attacked?" He asked weakly.

"Oh!" He had startled her. "Did I wake you, Captain Rogers? Sorry, just trying to straighten up after our nightly bombing run." She tried to feign cheerfulness.

"Nightly? How close?" He smelled smoke and hoped it wasn't coming from their location. He could move a bit, but knew he was too tired to get very far to evacuate.

"A few kilometers, probably north, if I had to guess?" She continued to sweep the floor. "How are you feeling, sir?"

"Like I've been shot." He was too tired to laugh at his own joke.

"You were hit 7 times, actually. Concussion, too. Frankly, if you weren't a super soldier, I would be talking to a ghost." She said plainly.

"Seven? Guess that's a new record for me..." he got quiet, worried about his men. "Where's everyone else?"

"Evacuated or dead, I'm afraid." She was too tired for sugar-coating things. "Since I had to get you out of there in a hurry, there was no time for debriefing. If you are stable, I can head into town later this morning for intel."

"Thank you, Doctor." He was struggling to stay awake. "I can help you finish cleaning up in the morning." He yawned and shifted stiffly in the bed.

"Certainly." She started walking back upstairs. "Go back to sleep, Captain Rogers...you need it."

In the morning, she got up and finished cleaning from the previous evening's dirt shower. Then she prepared some breakfast for her patient and headed downstairs.

Afraid to wake him, she left the plate of food on the bedside table and headed back up to the restroom to wash up before heading out to meet with her unit.

While she was away, he didn't budge.