𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒 ▸ bucky barnes [1]

1.

OCTOBER 2, 1943
2:43 PM
UMBRIA, ITALY

                                          —

     "SIMMONS, ARE YOU WITH ME?"

     When Valerie heard the voice of Dot Parsons, the head nurse at the army camp of the 107th infantry, address her, she was suddenly snapped back to reality. When she saw the broken body of one of the soldiers wheeled into the infirmary tent, she couldn't help but freeze. When Valerie had made the decision to join the army as a nurse, she had done it because more than anything else, she possessed an unrelenting drive to help people. She had known she would have to see suffering, but witnessing it firsthand and having it be her duty was daunting, to say the least.

     "Yes, Nurse," Valerie said hurriedly. "It's Dugan. Mister, can you tell us what happened?"

     He slowly opened up a swollen eye. "Nazi bastards," he wheezed. "Who else? Got ambushed."

     Valerie had instantly recognized the man as Dum Dum Dugan due to he and his friend Bucky's countless attempts at flirtations with the camp nurses. She doubted Dum Dum and Bucky were their real names, but she'd never heard anyone at camp call them anything else. Dum Dum seemed badly hurt, his body bloody and bruised with what looked like a bullet wound in his thigh, but he could talk, so Valerie figured that was a good sign.

     "We'll need to get that bullet out of his thigh, first," Dot said firmly. "Simmons, Anderson, give me a hand."

     Valerie and another nurse quickly approached Dot, handing her various tools as she laid Dum Dum down on a cot to get the bullet out. It didn't serve any nurse well to be squeamish at the sight of blood, especially serving in the army, but at the sound of Dum Dum's squelching flesh, all of the nurses, including Valerie, flinched.

     After a brief moment filled with nothing but Dum Dum's pained shouts, Dot stood up and wiped her hands. "Done. Simmons, patch him up now. We can't have him losing any more blood."

     Valerie nodded, immediately approaching Dum Dum and firmly pressing a wad of cotton against the wound to slow down the bleeding. "Looks like you'll be just fine, Mr. Dugan," she said with a smile.

     Dum Dum spit out the block of wood he had been biting on while Dot had removed the bullet, and despite his situation, he chuckled. "You make me sound like an stuffy old man, sweetheart."

Valerie laughed. "My fault, Dum Dum. If it's any consolation, you're probably the least-stuffy man I know."

Dum Dum cocked an eyebrow at Valerie. "You being sarcastic, sweetheart?"

     Valerie laughed, shaking her head. "Not in the least."

     "A woman after my own heart, then," Dum Dum laughed. "I can see why my buddy Bucky has the hots for you."