The Way Back Home: A 1917 Fanfic

Chapter 19: In Her Eyes

"Listen, I...I don't know how the fuck I got here in France But one thing I know is that I'm not from this era. I...I'm from the year 2024 in the future."

Lieutenant Joseph Blake stared at Amelia's worried face as she was lying in the bed, her lovely green eyes silently pleading with him to say something as he absorbed her words. The ebony-haired soldier loosened his grip slightly on her smaller hands as a disbelieving chuckle emerged from his lips, although he tried to hold it back.

"Miss Hunterson...what are you saying? Surely, you're joking, right?" Lt. Blake asked Amelia, His dark brow furrowed in confusion. All Lt. Blake could guess is that Amelia must've hit her head pretty hard to the point where she wasn't making any sense. he raised one of his hands up and gently placed the tips of his fingers on the temples of her head. "How hard did you hit your head, Amelia?"

A hint of worry crossed his voice as Amelia shook her head, desperate to gauge his understanding of her situation.

"No, Joseph. You don't comprehend what I'm saying." She raised her hand and removed his fingers from the side of her head, feeling a slight chill from the absence of his touch. "I swear on William's soul that I'm not making this up."

Amelia's other hand that wasn't holding Joseph's raised and touched his cheek, both of them keeping eye contact with one another as the soldier struggled to decipher what he was being told.

"I knew from your American accent that you were neither English nor German or French. But...I never would have thought that you were from another time entirely." He looked away from Amelia and delicately removed her gentle hand from his face, placing her dainty joint down on her stomach as though it were made of porcelain.

The soldier leaned away from her as he stood up straight, confusion and skepticism blanketing his expression that just a moment ago had been one of relief and adoration after their declaration of friendship, however tumultuously it had started.

"You don't strike me as the type of woman who lies, Amelia. Considering Corporal Schofield's feelings for you and..." He trailed off before he could finish his sentence. His feelings toward her would remain with him and him alone.

He would rather see Amelia happy as his friend than angry and possibly end up hating him should he want to present himself as a potential suitor for her heart.

Lt. Blake looked down at the blonde woman, her hair hanging loose around her shoulders and her lively green eyes downcast toward her wringing hands. The remains of her food were left untouched... She needed to eat and regain her strength in time for Schofield to come and fetch her...

Before the oncoming envy could eat away at him, he turned away from Amelia and walked toward the exit of her squared-off area to give them privacy from other patients.

"Where are you going, Joseph?" She found herself asking the words before she could think them through. "I...I needed to tell you; as my friend, I need you to trust me. You're the one who volunteered to protect me in Will's place. What benefit would I gain in lying to you about something like this?"

Amelia's words from moments prior echoed in his mind about their need to have trust between them. He stood at the threshold of her makeshift room, his eyes straight ahead and his broad back and shoulders solid in a ramrod posture similar to a uniformed guard keeping intruders from entering her quarters.

Lt. Blake just barely turned his head to look at Amelia but didn't meet her eyes. He could hear the hitch in her breath as she restrained a sob from assaulting her throat and the guilt ate away at him. The sentiment wasn't exactly encouraged in the army, but his heart ached to go back to her bedside and enfold her in his arms and comfort her to where she would never be sad or afraid again in her life but fuck it, she already had a hero who would wipe away her tears and it most certainly wasn't him.