SAFE Event Submission
Trope: Historical AU: World War II
Rating: T
Word Count: 1332
xXx
Screams fill the tents as they brought in more and more men, all in various states of injured. Kagome moves from cot to cot, triaging and marking which men are sadly lost causes and which can be saved. So many men, so many boys, came to fight for their countries and would never return home after today.
A familiar voice from two beds down draws her attention and her breath catches in her throat.
"You idiot. You're lucky it's only the arm. Doctor! We need a doctor!" Sango shouts as she struggles to take a familiar officer's coat off, causing his usually stoic face to contort in pain, his jaw clenching tight as he swallows a scream.
Kagome rushes over to help, forcing her emotions back behind her mask as she quickly begins to just cut through the coat, tossing a tourniquet to Sango. Miroku hurries over from the other side of the tent, his coat sleeves rolled up, splashes of blood covering the entire front of it. His face pales when he sees who it is on the bed, his eyes darting to Kagome's. She shakes her head once, focusing her attention on saving the man before her. She can't afford to see who it is, not yet, not when she has a job to do.
"What happened?" Miroku asks as he administers an anaesthetic.
"Mortar. Shrapnel. Pinned down," the officer grunts out through deep breaths, no doubt as an attempt to stem the agony he was in.
"Right. Well, I won't lie to you. It's bad. Had you come immediately after, we might've been able to do something, but as it is…" Miroku trails off, offering a small smile in condolence as he drags over a tray of tools.
"Take it," the man clips out, closing his eyes.
"Sango, prep the chloroform. Kagome, tie him down," Miroku instructs as he does up the buckles of the straps around the man's legs, leaving the nurses to their tasks.
xXx
Kagome laughs as she's spun around the dancefloor. The band playing that night for the USO dance was jazz heavy, but she didn't care. She was having the time of her life, and it was easy to forget the horrors she'd face again tomorrow in the medic tents.
Sesshoumaru smiles warmly as he pulls her back towards him. Most would consider him cold and uncaring, but when he was with her, he was soft and loving. He had been since they first met two years prior.
Kagome loops her arms around his neck as they slow dance to the music, the light catching on the beautiful ring he'd given her just two months before, sitting pretty with the wedding ring she received to match his a mere three weeks ago. It would appall her mother at the brief engagement, but in such chaotic times, they couldn't afford to drag it out. They knew how they felt, knew what they wanted, and they took it. Determined to enjoy it while they could.
"You look beautiful tonight, Kagome," Sesshoumaru murmurs as he ducks his head down to press a soft kiss to her temple.
"Thank you," she replies quietly, letting the fingers of her left hand trail through the short platinum hairs at the nape of his neck, relishing the small contact.
"Hey! Sesshoumaru!" a voice calls from across the room, drawing their attention, and a small sigh from the man.
"InuYasha, when did you get in? I thought they deployed your unit until next week?" Kagome asks with a bright smile, stepping back from her husband to offer a hand to her brother-in-law.
"We were, got back early. New orders. Set to ship out again in two days, though. Something big happening. You heard anything about it?" InuYasha directs the question to his elder brother, an officer, therefore more likely to be privy to intel that he wasn't.
"Nothing more than they are planning on shipping out more than usual," the stoic man answers, his hand settling on his wife's waist, gently pulling her to his side.
"Damn. Alright. Well, I'm going to go dance, see if I can find any lucky ladies. Enjoy your evening!" The younger man waves as he walks off, leaving the couple to themselves. Sesshoumaru wraps his arms around his wife, hugging her close as the joy from before dims as reality slowly creeps back in.
"Everything will be fine. You'll see, love," he assures Kagome, earning a small nod as she squares her shoulders and smiles.
"Of course it will, sugar. Now, we were dancing, weren't we?" Sesshoumaru chuckles as Kagome half leads them into a dance before he takes over again.
xXx
It's been weeks since the allied forces made landfall on Normandy Beach, and weeks since Kagome has gotten even a passable night's sleep. However, it's been three days since her husband came in with his arm shot full of shrapnel and needing an amputation. Three days that she's been trying to spend as much time at his side as she could, while still attending to her duties.
"You're an idiot, but I love you. You need to wake up," she demands quietly as she changes his bandages, gently cleaning the skin surrounding the stitches holding the skin around the severed muscle and bone together. Swallowing thickly, she re-bandages him before pulling up the blankets and smoothing back his hair. "You need to wake up, sugar."
A soft groan makes her head snap up, before relief floods over her as Sesshoumaru moves, blinking repeatedly at her.
"Hey," he croaks out. Frowning, he clears his throat and looks around, his eyes landing on her again as she leans over him to prop him up on pillows, then offering him water. "My men?"
"Only two have come by. As far as I know, no one else was injured. Apparently, you're the only idiot to use his own body as a shield against shrapnel," Kagome almost growls out, fury making her lips thin into a tight line as she sits beside the cot.
"It's only an arm. Better my arm than their lives," he replies, reaching his right hand over his body towards her, smiling softly when she grabs at it and clutches it tightly. "My ring?"
he asks suddenly, looking at the small table beside him, the resigned expression showing that he knows it won’t be there, but is hoping nonetheless.
"I have it." Kagome pulls the chain holding her Saint Michael's medallion, a familiar gold ring now hanging next to the disk. "I didn't want to risk someone pocketing it." Her words grow hoarse as her throat grows tight. She can feel the tears building, despite trying to will them back. She doesn't have time to fall apart, and he's alive. He's alive.
"Hey. Hey now, come here. I'm okay. We're okay." His soft, deep voice flows over her and the dam breaks. She falls over his chest, careful of his left arm, as she tucks her face into the crook of his neck, gripping him tightly. She can feel his arm wrap around her and hold her to him firmly, no doubt feeling the same overwhelming relief that they're alive. Missing a limb on his part, but it's survivable. They'll live.
They stay like that for several minutes before Kagome sits back, wiping her face. She presses a single kiss to his lips before settling for clutching his hand in hers again.
"I suppose a small silver lining, with this, you'll not be on the front lines anymore. I heard one of the officers mentioning a promotion to keep your strategic mind." She smiles as his face grows pensive.
"I suppose it is. Will you stay with the medics?" he asks her seriously, knowing how much she values helping others.
"I'll go where you go. There will be a place for a nurse wherever we end up, but we go together. Always, sugar."
Sesshoumaru squeezes her hand lightly as he smiles at her. "Together. Always."
xXx
Thank you ProudHanyou for the title idea!