MEDIC

Chapter 5. Snowfall

Edited 21/05/23 - minor changes to grammar & spelling.

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The month that followed your transfer had been blissfully uneventful, as boring as sitting around checking emails was it was always somewhat of a relief knowing that none of the soldiers in your care actually needed you.

Ghost had come to visit a few times for a top up on some tablets to help with insomnia, you'd suggested he take them during his initial medical to try and help him get a little more sleep and judging by the fact he was wanting more it seemed to be working for him, for now at least.

Soap and Horangi were also regular visitors at your infirmary, though their visits were purely for recreational purposes, you enjoyed their company and they two always seemed to brighten up your day and make you laugh with their rather crude humour. Since KorTac and the 141 had merged both Soap and his Korean counterpart had seemed to get quite close, of course the relationship that Soap seemed to share with Lieutenant Ghost was second to none, but Horangi seemed to enjoy winding people up just as much as the Scot did, so they became partners in crime more often than not.

Today you'd finished up what little work you had much earlier than you anticipated and decided to head out for a walk around the grounds of the base. Despite the cripplingly cold weather Russia had to offer you'd barely ventured out around the area and felt it was way overdue.

You bundled yourself up as best as you could, wearing as many layers as your coat would allow and still be able to zip up. Temperatures in Kazan regularly dropped to -26 degrees Celsius, coupled with the wind chill factor it didn't make going outside a particularly enjoyable experience for anyone, even for the soldiers in the base that had originated from equally cold climates.

Today, however, the weather seemed a little more forgiving and you were greeted by gently falling puffs of snow. For a while you simply looked out over the vast landscape and hugged yourself, allowing yourself to feel each individual snowflake that kissed your skin, the blanket of fluff deadened sound from miles around, leaving you stood surrounded by a silence that you'd not experienced for years.

Suddenly you were brought out of your daydreaming when you caught sight of a figure in your peripheral vision, around a hundred feet away from you stood König, you'd not seen the huge soldier at all since your rather awkward medical with him, even when you joined the group for breakfast and tea in the mess hall you'd not seen him once. For such a large guy he seemed to know exactly how to keep himself hidden, especially from you and in the back of your mind you could hear Horangi's voice reminding you just how much König hated doctors.

Against your better judgement you decided to approach the Austrian, you'd said to Soap when you first arrived that you wanted to be friends with as many of the troops as possible, now was your shot to add another name to your mentally logged friends list.

The crunch of the snow under your feet had König alerted to you well before you managed to get close to him, for a moment you genuinely thought he would turn and walk away from you before you managed to trudge through the snow to meet him. Thankfully he didn't, though he did eye you somewhat sceptically when you finally reached him.

"Good afternoon, König! Have you come out here to enjoy the snow too?"
You gave him your warmest smile as you craned your neck to actually look him in the eyes. Like the last time, his eyes were the only thing you could properly see due to his sniper hood covering the rest of his face.

König regarded you silently for a moment, his breath visible in a small icy cloud of vapour as he gave a slight huff.
"Ah...Yes, I suppose."
He tilted his head slightly, focusing on a particularly large snowflake that drifted by the two of you.

"Do you get snow like this back home?" You asked warmly, in the back of your mind you were desperately clutching at straws to keep the conversation going, even if it was a little while.

"Sometimes." He replied simply.

"When was the last time you went home?"
"Not for a very long time."
"I guess KorTac don't get home leave the same way the military do, huh?"

König raised an eyebrow from behind his hood and breathed out a heavy sigh before turning and walking in the opposite direction, you were quick to follow behind him.

The large soldier briefly glanced over his shoulder, noticing that you were still following him, stopping dead in his tracks so suddenly that you walked straight into the back of him. Your attention had been focused more on the snow and ice under your feet rather than what König was doing in front of you.

König turned back around to face you, while you couldn't see his face you knew for a fact he had an exasperated expression purely from the way he simply stood and regarded you.
Truthfully? You knew you were being annoying, though you'd prefer to call it "persistent". This man intrigued you, you wanted to learn more about him, just as you did with Soap, Horangi and the other men under your care.

"Doctor..." König's voice was straining to remain polite at this point, though he continued to remain courteous.
"Is there any reason why you are following me?"

You swallowed the lump of anxiety building in your throat and shot the soldier a crooked smile, gesturing to the snow as you did so.

"Well I didn't expect anyone else to be out here, to be honest. When I saw you I figured I may as well enjoy the snow with someone else rather than on my own. Besides, I've not seen you at all since you ducked out on me during your medical. Never even had the chance to do routine blood work."

König seemed to tense up, obviously hoping that you'd forgotten that he slipped out during the back end of his examination with you. You watched in silent amusement as the man shuffled awkwardly in the snow, squeezing the back of his neck as he tried to look anywhere else but at you.

"Ah... Das tut mir leid- sorry about that, I...I do not like doctors very much."
König's accent seemed a little thicker as he floundered to justify himself, you couldn't help but smile gently.

"You don't have to like doctors, König. Let's face it, no one likes doctors, but maybe you could learn to like me? The other guys have." You considered the possibility of giving the enormous soldier a friendly slap on the arm but faltered, opting to swing your arms back and forth awkwardly.

"I'm not sure that came out the way you'd intended for it to, doctor." König stated dryly, the brief glimpse of a raised eyebrow from under his hood showing confused annoyance.

Your eyes widened in realisation of how that must have sounded and immediately you ran a hand through your hair.

"I-I didn't mean it like that at all! What I meant was tha-"
Before you had chance to finish justifying yourself, König once again turned and walked in your opposite direction, leaving you flustered and alone as the snow began to get heavier.

This time you didn't follow him.