The sun set below the burning buildings around Resistance HQ, and the surviving soldiers, wearing mental monitors to prevent them from going insane with PTSD after the Battle of the 80%, were headed to their sleeping quarters, twitching as night fell in fear of the dreadful certainty that Infinite would invade their shattered dreams.
All except for one.
Gadget the Wolf, armed agent for Rookiez Special Forces, wearing thick gloves, work boots, and a headset that had witnessed all the grotesque horrors of violent war, eighteen years old and disheveled with both blood and tear-stained fur, was bent down over the bed of his half-dead love.
She was precisely the definition of the living dead: the most pained expression frozen on her lovely face, bloodstained bandages wrapped over five layers thick, and yet, blood still seeped through them.
He sighed mournfully, once, he cared only about the brutal war, now he was concerned only about her. Unlike the rest of the Resistance, he did not fear night because of nightmares, he feared night because he feared her death.
The heart monitor and her soft, yet strained, breaths were his only console.
How he hoped she'd be okay!
As the window behind him revealed only darkness, his thoughts turned to be as grim as the world hidden there.
Is she going to survive the night? Yes, I know the night that everyone was worried about was her first night here, but they still aren't sure if she will survive! Oh, her wounds are too deep, she's not going to make it! But she survived the first night, she can make it through tonight... The nurses will make certain of it.
And so will I...
~~~
As the night went on, a nurse silently walked into Nadia's room.
Gadget, in protective mode, lowered onto all fours and crept towards Nadia, his actions kin to his primitive ancestors.
"Good evening, Agent Gadget."
Gadget stood up and moved out of the way, only go back on all fours and being pacing at the end of her bed.
The nurse frowned.
He already wasn't mentally stable.
Doctor Kimberly was worried that he was stressing too much about her.
"Agent Gadget. Panicking will not heal her any faster. Calm down."
Gadget whimpered and curled up in a ball. He howled, somewhat pitiful, and the nurse knew that he wasn't going to calm down.
She went over Nadia, who was her intended patient.
Gadget's head shot up and he raced over opposite of Nadia, whimpering feverishly.
The nurse took her glove off her paw and touched his paw knowingly, then replaced the glove to examine Nadia, Gadget stuck his head closer.
"Gadget! Back!" The nurse waved her hand in a 'shoo' motion towards the young adult wolf, muttering in a hushed whisper; as if Nadia was napping instead of trapped in a coma.
Gadget whimpered again, flattened his ears, and squirmed closer to Nadia.
She quickly pressed a button on Gadget's monitor, he stumbled towards the window before falling down, passed out on the floor. The nurse sighed.
You had to have more than just medical experience to work for The Resistance after Operation Big Wave, especially in this room.
The young she-wolf that lay before her was the only seriously wounded soldier who was still alive,
and she was a miracle with just that.
Young Miss Nadia, also referred to as 'Miss Operation Big Wave', had stitches running along the majority of her small body, she had also lost a portion of her left lung because of the state of her injuries.
The nurse pulled the covers off her patient, then automatically looked at Gadget, who was conked out on the floor, before continuing. She cringed in expectation of the young wolf's injuries, fingers almost refusing to extend to remove even the slightest amount of bandages.
About five minutes later, she had finally gotten herself to remove the bandages from Nadia's chest, and the fur underneath was covered in the same amount of blood as the chest of any of the deceased soldiers rotting just outside of Eggman's capital.
Nadia's blood seemed like a magnet to the nurse's glove, just the slightest touch caused the nurse's glove to become soaked with her patient's blood.
Her face twisted with both a natural disgust and a heartfelt worry.
The she-wolf had been through a lot.
Wrapping clean bandages around Nadia's chest, she replaced empty bags of both fluid and painkillers with full ones. As she turned to look at the monitor, she noticed that Nadia's breath count was less than what was desired, and she slowly increased the power on the ventilator, then proceeding to replace all of the blood-soaked bandages on Nadia. Once she was done, she checked Nadia's monitor again.
Much better.
The breath count had increased to a normal count and the nurse decided that this concluded her visit to Nadia's room.
As she exited, she looked at the unconscious wolf that was laying on the ground, his fur now glittering with fresh moonlight, a gift from the young night. She tapped a couple notes onto a digital screen by the door, both explaining her visit and sending a note to the rest of The Resistance's medical staff to have someone check on Gadget before midnight, just in case he started having problems after being knocked out.
She left, knowing that there was nothing more that her visit could do for either of them, leaving them to lay in the moon's clear glow.
YOU ARE READING
Counter-Cultural Love
FanfictionHe's an eighteen year old soldier, alone and on the front lines of a psychological world war. She's from a hidden household, a criminal's child. Together, they're a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, and true, passionate lovers outside of...
