Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

A/N: This is a WWII fic. I was sitting in lecture about the history of nursing and that's how this idea came to me. It was meant to just be a one-shot but as I was writing this it got pretty long so I'm planning on this just being a two-shot. I've never written any fics like this but I hope you like it.

The dates are pretty much here to help you follow the story line better so hopefully no one gets confused.

December 3rd, 1943

Rachel heard the helicopter before she actually saw it. She heard the screams next, even over the loud propellers. She hated when that happened. Her stomach twisted but she pushed the wisps of hair that had escaped her bun back from her face and hurried out of the large tent to find three wounded soldiers getting unloaded from the helicopter. One was dead on arrival, one was rushed off to amputate his arm, and the third was unconscious with a bullet in his gut. Rachel watched as the third soldier was taken to a smaller tent with a doctor and a few nurses to dislodge the bullet and stitch him up. She sighed, seeing her services weren't needed and walked back into her own tent to tend to the wounded soldiers that did need her.

She was positioning a corporal in his bed when Rachel looked up to see the soldier that had suffered from the bullet wound in the stomach this morning being transferred into bed 37. She walked over to see that he was still unconscious but the other nurses assured her that he would be fine given he got plenty of rest and fluids. He had lost quite a bit of blood so fluids should definitely be encouraged when he woke up.

The other nurses walked off and Rachel gingerly reached out to finger the young soldier's tags. She read that his name was Noah Puckerman and she sighed. Looking at the man's face she saw that he couldn't be more than 25. She silently prayed that this young man pulled through. Even though Rachel was relatively new to being this close to the front lines she had come to see that most soldiers survived if they made it through the first night. She had seen numerous soldiers survive with much worse injuries so she assured herself that this one would make it.

She carefully took a damp rag and wiped the man's face. His skin was clammy and sweaty. Rachel hoped the man wouldn't get an infection. Infections were one of the biggest causes of deaths during this war. She checked the man's dressing one last time – the sutures were holding well and there wasn't a great amount of drainage, at least not more than could be expected – before heading off to the next bed. It was almost nightfall and she needed to make sure everyone was fed and bathed before leaving for the night. As she worked on the wounded soldier's her eyes kept drifting back to bed 37; to the soldier she now knew as Noah Puckerman.

It was nearly sunrise before Rachel's head finally it her thin pillow. She had to be up in a few hours but she figured she could squeeze in some sleep before then. Her eyes slowly drifted to a close before she fell into a dreamless sleep.

December 5th, 1943

When Rachel tied her apron around her waist she made her way back into the large green tent she was assigned to and made sure her hat was in place on top of her head. She busied herself with helping the other nurses to pass out breakfast. It consisted of toast, orange juice, and bland oatmeal. It wasn't much but the soldiers were grateful.

She was tucking in the corners of the bed sheet on an empty bed that just this morning had housed a Sergeant before he had passed away when she heard a deep voice behind her.

"You look tired." The voice said.

Startled, she whirled around to see the soldier, now known as Sergeant Noah Puckerman, staring back at her. She moved towards him quietly. "You're awake." She stated in a whisper.

"Yea." He tried to sit up but winced and his face contorted in pain.

"Don't move." She instructed and helped him lower himself back on the bed. "You'll rip your stitches and that would be painful." She gripped the back of his neck and helped him sip the cold water from the metal cup in her hand. "Small sips, okay?"

"Thanks." He looked up at her after he had drunk a glass of water and half of another. "I guess I was thirsty, huh?" He joked.

"You've been asleep for a while. It's understandable after everything you've been through." She pulled the covers back from his body revealing his chest and stomach. She made sure to keep his lower half covered as she examined his dressing. Luckily, he wasn't bleeding anymore and when she pulled the white gauze back she noted that the wound wasn't draining as much anymore. "Your stitches are holding beautifully." She commented absently.

"What happened?" He asked and looked down at his wound. "I remember getting shot but after that everything went kind of fuzzy."

"I'm not sure on the details but it looks like you got ambushed maybe." She replied. "You showed up here with two other soldiers."

"That's right." He nodded as if it was all coming back to him. "Damn Germans." He grumbled. "Where are they? The other men?"

Rachel bit into her bottom lip and sighed before opening her mouth again. "When you got here one of them was already gone. He was badly hurt and there was nothing we could do. I got a look at his tags before they took him off. Rutherford."

"Matt." He groaned. "Fuck."

"The other one, he was bigger, he was hurt as well. We had to amputate his left arm." Rachel looked up. "He's over there." She pointed to a bed on the other side of the tent.

"Finn." He nodded. "I'm glad he made it. Is he awake yet?"

"No." Rachel shook her head. "Was he a friend of yours?"

"Kind of." He shrugged. "I don't know him that well but he was in my barrack."

"Oh…" Rachel glanced up at the man's face. He had bright green eyes and she hated to admit it, but he was actually very handsome. "Sergeant?"

He looked over at him and shook his head. "Call me Noah."

"I think Sergeant is more appropriate." She replied.

"Yes, well pretty girls get to call me by my first name." He smiled when she blushed slightly and then looked back down to watch as she cleaned and dressed his wound.

"Okay, Noah, may I ask how old you are?" She didn't look up at him, instead choosing to keep her eyes on his stomach as she taped the gauze down over his wound.

"Twenty-four." Noah told her. "And you?"

"Twenty-three." She covered him back up and fluffed his pillow slightly. "Where are you from?" She pried. She knew she should probably let him rest some more but the way he smiled at her question let her know he didn't mind the intrusion.

"Ohio." He answered.

"You're pretty far from home." She looked down at him and he nodded. "I'm from Kentucky, although you probably don't care. I'll just leave you alone now."

"I don't mind." His words stopped her from turning to leave. "I've been surrounded by men and explosions for the last two years. Getting pampered by a hot nurse is actually kind of refreshing."

She tried to hide her blush but she knew it was futile. "I don't think I'd go that far." She said referring to how he described her appearance. "I've been working all day and I know my hair is falling down. I look atrocious."

Noah rolled his eyes. "What's your name?" He asked and looked up to meet her eyes.

"Rachel. Rachel Berry."

"Rachel." He repeated her name. "That's a pretty name."

She smiled down at him. "You should get some rest. You may be out of the woods as of right now but if you don't get some sleep your body will never heal."

"Will you come talk to me later?" He asked suddenly.

She nodded. "Of course. If you're still awake when I get some free time I'll come visit with you." She assured him before moving on to the next bed.

Rachel was just getting done at almost eleven o'clock that night. She glanced towards Noah's bed, satisfied that he was asleep, before heading out to her own tent she shared with the other nurses. She was happy to finally be able to sit down. She changed her clothes silently and then slipped under the thin blanket that didn't help much in the cold, December weather. She slowly fell asleep, letting her mind wander to thoughts of the handsome soldier in bed 37.

December 25th, 1943

Rachel had stopped by Noah's bed every night for the past few weeks and each night their talks got longer. Noah told her of the war, the battles he had seen, the friends he had lost and she told him of the injuries she had seen coming through. She knew she shouldn't get so attached to him but she liked the way she was able to talk to Noah. She would rant for hours about nothing in particular and he would just sit there and quietly listen. She told him about how she wanted to be a singer on the Broadway stage in New York and about how she used to dance every night with her father and her cousin, Artie. She told him more about herself than she had ever told anyone and she had a feeling he was doing the same with her.

Noah had been able to sit up and even walk around a little bit with Rachel's help. She was just helping him back into the bed that night when he started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" She asked, pulling the blankets up to cover his chest and arms. The tent didn't do much to keep out the wind.

"I just realized that it's Christmas." He replied.

"Oh." She nodded. "Seeing as we're both Jewish, I don't think we have to worry about celebrating the Christmas holiday."

"I guess not." He sighed. "This just means I've been gone from home for two years. I deployed two years ago today."

"Right after the bombing at Pearl Harbor. That's very noble of you." When she was satisfied that he was comfortable she straightened up and stepped back from his bed.

"I miss my Ma." He told her. "And my little sister. She's 17 now." He shifted in his bed. "How about you? Who'd you leave behind?"

"How do you know I left anybody behind?" She asked.

"Everyone left someone behind." He shrugged. "A girl like you has to have some guy back home waiting for her to come home to him. Or is he on the front lines?"

"There's no guy." She replied. "Unless my dad counts. My mom passed away when I was younger. He's really the only one I have back home. I still write him but it's hard to keep letters going back and forth regularly. We usually only write to each other a few times a month."

"I write my ma every week." He said. "Do you think you could get me a pen and paper? I should write her and tell her what's going on."

"Of course." Rachel nodded and was back a few minutes later with what he had asked for. "I'll leave you alone so you can write your mother. I'll be back later to check on you."

Later that night, as many of the nurses went around spreading Christmas joy to the wounded soldiers Rachel found herself moving towards Noah who seemed to be the only one that wasn't enjoying the holiday spirit. He smiled at her when she came up to his bed and she pretended that she needed to check his dressing. She wasn't totally pretending; she did need to check on his wound but she could have waited until morning.

"I finished my letter." Noah told her.

"You did?" She glanced up at him but her eyes were back on his dressing just as quickly. "That's nice. I'm sure she'll be very excited to hear from you."

"I wrote about you." He said.

She snorted. "I'm nothing to write home to mom about."

"I told her that she doesn't need to worry about me because I'm doing perfectly fine with a gorgeous nurse taking great care of me. I told her about your amazing brown eyes and your… your hands." She followed his gaze down to see that he was making small circles on the top of her hand with his thumb.

"Sergeant?" Rachel looked wary and when she went to pull away from him, his grip on her hand tightened.

"You have really cute hands, did you know that?" He locked eyes with her and without thinking she leaned closer to him. "Sit down, Rachel." He tugged on her hand and she looked around the room, making sure that everyone else was too busy to notice her, before perching herself on the edge of the bed. "It's snowing outside." He commented.

"Yes, it is." She nodded. "It's also very cold."

"Can I go out there?" Noah asked. "Just for a few minutes."

"I don't think that's a good idea. You're still wounded." She sighed.

"I've been walking really well today." He urged. "Please, Rachel, I really want to see the snow."

She pursed her lips and then stood up. "Let me see what I can do."

His eyes followed her across the room and she started talking to an older man that Noah recognized as the doctor that had been checking up on him. The talked for a few minutes and when Rachel came back over to him she smiled slightly.

"I can go?" He asked hopefully.

She nodded and when he broke out into a wide smile she couldn't help from giggling softly. "Ten minutes. Ten minutes and then straight to bed." She told him in a firm voice.

"Deal." He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and with a little help from Rachel, he was standing and taking small steps towards flap of the tent that led outside after she had made she he was wearing plenty of clothes.

She gripped his hand firmly and let him lean heavily against her so that she was supporting most of his weight. He tried not to wince in pain but she saw the pained expression on his face.

"Noah." She whispered. "You shouldn't push yourself. I knew this was a bad idea. It's barely been a month…"

"I'm fine, Rachel. Honest. See?" He smiled down at her and she rolled her eyes.

"When you collapse in the snow I'm leaving you there. It'll serve you right for not listening to me." She grumbled once they got outside.

She hung the blanket she had brought with her over his shoulders but still kept a tight grip on his hand as they stepped further away from the tent. He looked up at the sky and laughed when the cold, wet snowflakes hit his cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked, studying his expression.

"Are you kidding me? I'm standing outside in the snow and I don't have to worry about getting shot or blown up by Germans. I haven't been this great in years, Rach." Rachel had never been one for nicknames but when his nickname for her escaped her lips she didn't mind too much. She didn't even try to care and she wasn't exactly sure why.

"We should get back inside." She told him but he stayed rooted in his spot.

"Rachel." He said her name and she looked up at him.

She let herself get lost in his eyes for a few seconds as she wondered how someone's eyes could be that green. She felt herself step closer to him and under the moonlight she saw that his eyes were not only green but he had specks of chocolate brown mixed in as well. She felt his hand reach up to cup her cheek and she knew what was coming but she didn't try to stop it.

His eyes drifted down to her lips and then back up to lock eyes with her. Her breath hitched when his lips brushed against hers. She felt her heart jump into her throat when she found herself starting to kiss him back.

Rachel was twenty-three and she'd never been kissed before. Well, until now. He kissed her harder then and she felt his tongue swipe across her bottom lip. She wasn't sure what was going on but somehow she felt like she knew what she was doing. Her hands came up to grip the back of his neck as her fingers lightly pulled at the short brown hairs that were growing at the nape of his neck. It wasn't until he moaned into her mouth that she was shaken back to her senses and pulled away from him quickly.

"I'm so sorry." She pushed herself away from him. "That was very unprofessional of me."

"Rachel." He whispered.

"Let's get you back to bed." She grabbed his hand, leading him back towards the tent. "I'm positive it's been over ten minutes and the doctor will be upset if I keep you from resting any longer."

Once Noah was back in his own bed and covered up properly, Rachel moved to start helping the rest of the soldiers get to bed. She was about to leave for the night when her eyes once again landed on bed 37. Noah was staring back at her and she blushed before quickly ducking from the tent.

December 30th, 1943

"It's almost midnight." Noah noted as Rachel pulled the blanket up to cover him completely.

"You should be asleep." She told him.

"I want my New Year's kiss." He smirked and she just rolled her eyes.

"I don't know where you plan on getting it. Besides, New Year's Eve isn't until tomorrow." She frowned and tucked him in. "What happened the other night shouldn't have happened. I over stepped by boundaries."

"I kissed you, remember?"

"Nevertheless, it will never happen again. You'll be leaving for the main hospital in a few days and I don't need to get attached. It would only hurt us both, Noah." Rachel shook her head and started to step away from him.

"I'll be leaving soon." He said as if this piece of information was just hitting him.

"Yes, you will." She sighed and then moved away from him, going to see if Betty, the head nurse, needed anything to be done.

Her eyes darted back to Noah and saw that he was just staring blankly at the opposite wall. She gnawed on her lip, forcing herself to listen to what Betty was saying and not think about how Noah would be leaving in eight days.

December 31st, 1943

"I've decided that I'm going to stay." Noah told her once she arrived at his bed the next night. She had been avoiding him all day but it was nightfall and she needed to check his dressing. "I'm not going to let them kick me out of here. I like it here and I'm not leaving."

"I don't think it works like that." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Your wound is healing very well and you're walking a lot easier now. You're going to be transferred to the closest military hospital next week."

"I don't want to leave you yet, Rachel." His eyes plead with her but she focused on examining his dressing instead of letting herself get sucked in by his words. The dressing didn't need changing, at least not yet, so she just covered the wound back up with the white gauze. "I like you and I'd love to get to know you better."

"You're enlisted and I'm an army nurse. That's not allowed and we both know it." Rachel shook her head, palpating his stomach a little harder than she really needed to too. "It's unprofessional, Noah. We could both get in a lot of trouble if someone found out."

"It's not like it's illegal for us to get together, Rach." Noah frowned. "It's just looked down upon."

"That's enough, Noah." She hissed. "I refuse to have this conversation with you. I am a nurse. I am doing my job and that is to make sure that you get better. I can't do my job if you keep looking at me like that and saying these sweet things. I can't…" Rachel looked away from him. "I just can't, Noah." She covered him back up before rushing off before he had time to say anything else.

Rachel moved towards the bed across the room; the one Noah told her was Finn. He had woken up several days ago and wasn't taking his amputation well.

"How are you today?" Rachel asked him once she reached his bedside.

"Better." He replied quietly. "And you?"

"I'm doing just fine." She smiled softly. "Do you want to try getting out of bed? The doctor suggested you walk around, maybe get some fresh air. I know its December but it's actually not that cold outside tonight."

"I'd like that." He nodded.

"Are you a Sergeant as well?" Rachel asked him. "Noah told me that you two were in a barrack together."

"Noah?" Finn grinned.

"Sergeant Puckerman." She quickly corrected herself. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Miss Berry." Finn looked down at her once she had him standing. "And I'm just a Private. You can call me Finn."

"Okay." She smiled as well, leading him outside. She could feel Noah's eyes burning into her but she chose to ignore them and kept walking, making light conversation with Finn.

"He likes you." Finn said once they were out of the tent. He leaned up against a tall tree and Rachel sighed from beside him. "I see the way he looks at you when you two are talking."

"It's just a stupid crush." Rachel mumbled.

"I've seen the way he looks at you. It's not just a crush he has on you." Finn countered.

"No, I meant for me. He's handsome, nice, and he's this amazing, brave soldier. Of course I have a crush on him but… but I've never been with a guy. My God, I'd never been kissed before Noah." Rachel wrung her hands nervously. "This is all just moving way too fast and I need to stop it. He's a soldier and I'm a nurse. He's going to be leaving next week and I'm never going to see him again. It's just this dumb infatuation, that's all. I'll get over it and he'll forget all about me once he meets some new girl." Rachel shook her head. "I should get back inside. It's late and I have to make sure everyone is ready for bed. Stay out here as long as you want, Private, just make sure you're in bed soon."

"Goodnight, Miss Berry." Finn called after her as she hurried back inside the tent.

Rachel was tucking a soldier into bed when she heard a commotion on the other side of the tent. She looked up to find an older nurse trying to talk to Noah but he wasn't having that. He was arguing with her and Rachel hurried over to see what was going on.

"What happened?" Rachel asked the nurse she knew as Madelyn.

"I'm trying to change his dressing and he's fighting me." Madelyn huffed.

"I don't want her touching me." Noah frowned and looked up at Rachel. "I don't like her."

"Nurse Madelyn is perfectly capable of taking care of you." Rachel replied. "She's got many more years of experience than I do."

"Yea, but I like you more." Noah told her.

Rachel blushed and looked up at Madelyn. "I can take care of Sergeant Puckerman." Rachel assured the older nurse. "I was just about to leave for the night anyway. I can handle this." Madelyn nodded and stalked off. "Why would you act like that?" Rachel scolded him and pulled the sheets back, examining his wound.

"I don't want that old hag." Noah pouted.

"Noah!" Rachel admonished. "Madelyn is only a few years older than I am."

"Her hands were cold and rough." He reached down to take Rachel's hand in his. "Not like yours. Yours are warm and small and… perfect."

Rachel blushed again and ripped her hand from his grasp. "This is highly inappropriate."

"This whole damn war is inappropriate." Noah grumbled.

Rachel silently worked as she changed his dressing and once she was done she covered him back up. She looked up to see that it was nearly midnight. "The new year is almost here." She commented. "Maybe it will be the year this terrible war will end."

"I hope so." Noah agreed, watching as Rachel pushed the loose strands of hair from her face. "Am I going to get that kiss?" He asked seriously. "One minute, Rachel. One minute and it's 1944. I'd like to start that year with a bang."

"Noah." She bit into her bottom lip and looked around. Most of the other nurses were talking and laughing with the wounded soldiers that were still awake. "You should be asleep by now."

"One kiss, Rachel. That's all I'm asking for." Noah eyes pleaded with her and Rachel felt her resolve start to chip away at the corners.

She searched the room, trying to find an excuse to leave Noah's bedside but no one seemed to need any help. Most of the soldiers were already asleep or were content in their beds waiting until midnight. She heard the other nurses start the countdown and Rachel's eyes flashed back to Noah. He was looking at her expectantly.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three…" Rachel heard the countdown grow louder as everyone got more excited but it sounded like static in her head.

Noah smiled up at her and she felt her heart jump. He had a beautiful smile, wonderful lips. She sucked in a breath. "One kiss?" She asked.

"Rachel." He breathed her name out when she leaned down towards him and she felt her cheeks grow hot. "Rachel." He repeated and it made her throat dry suddenly. She felt the desire flare up in her stomach when her lips met his.

She could vaguely hear cheering in the background as the people around her rang in the New Year but all she could think of was the way Noah's lips were moving on hers. The kiss only lasted a few seconds but Rachel felt like it had been much longer. She straightened up and blushed slightly. She tried not to look like a complete idiot but she knew she had a dazed look on her face. She cleared her throat loudly and stepped back from the bed.

"I think that was a nice way of telling you how thankful I am that you were brave enough to enlist. I will see you in the morning. Goodnight, Sergeant Puckerman." She said awkwardly because all she really wanted to do was call him Noah.

January 1st, 1944

When Rachel walked into the tent the next morning she felt the panic fun through her body when bed 37 was empty. She zeroed in on Betty and rushed over to the nurse.

"Where's Noah?" Rachel asked and Betty scrunched up her brow. "S-Sergeant Puckerman? Bed 37? Has he left yet? Is he okay?"

"Sergeant Puckerman is perfectly fine." Betty assured Rachel and gestured across the room.

Rachel followed Betty's gaze to see that Noah was sitting at Finn's bedside. Rachel let out a breath of relief when she saw the two men were talking and laughing. She avoided Betty's eyes and made her way around the room, helping the men eat breakfast before she finally arrived at Finn's bed.

"Good morning." She walked over to Finn and pressed the back of her hand against his forehead. "Your fever has subsided. That's a good sign." She told Finn. "It's nice to see you socializing." She looked over at Noah. "And it's nice to see Sergeant Puckerman out of bed. I assume you're having a much easier time getting around."

"Noah." Noah corrected quickly. "And yes, I'm moving around very well."

"That's good." Rachel nodded curtly. "Maybe this means you'll be able to get transferred to the main hospital sooner." She kept her voice calm and her face fixed in a blank expression. She was determined to keep her distance from Noah. "I'll check back later on the both of you."

Finn watched Rachel walk off before smacking Noah's chest with his good arm. "You're an idiot."

"Ow, I'm wounded over here." Noah complained.

"Yea, well, I'm missing an arm so I beat you." Finn chuckled. "She's pretty." He nodded towards Rachel who was helping a young soldier eat.

"She's beautiful." Noah agreed and his eyes fell on Rachel. She straightened up and the two boys watched as she pushed her hat back on her head and fixed her apron.

"I have a girl back home." Finn spoke up. "Her name is Quinn."

"Finn and Quinn?" Puck tore his gaze from Rachel and looked back at Finn.

"Yea." Finn smiled. "She's amazing. We got married right before I deployed. Here, I have a picture of her." He pulled out a worn picture and showed it to Noah.

Noah took the picture carefully in his hands. Quinn was a blonde girl, tall, and Finn told him that she had amazing green eyes. In the picture she was standing on a porch, wearing this red and white checkered button down blouse tucked into a pair of denim shorts, barefoot, smiling widely as Finn hugged her from behind, his arms wrapped around her waist loosely. They were smiling this goofy grin and Finn told Noah that the picture was taken the afternoon after their wedding.

"She's pretty." Noah nodded, handing the picture back to Finn.

"I can't wait to get back home to her." Finn smiled at the picture as his fingers brushed over to the worn paper. "I've only been gone a year but it feels like forever since I've seen her or kissed her. I miss her so much." Finn looked back at Noah. "What about you? Do you have some girl waiting at home for you?"

"Just my Ma and sister, Sarah." Noah shrugged and his eyes found Rachel again. She was taking her apron off as she left the tent.

"You care about her." Finn said matter-of-factly.

"No." Noah lied.

"She cares about you." Finn smiled. "She basically told me herself."

"I'm leaving in six days." Noah replied as if that explained everything. "I won't see her again after I leave. She'll stay here taking care of wounded soldiers and I'm going back out to the front lines."

"You're not going home?" Finn asked.

"No." Noah shook his head. "I made a promise to my country and I'm determined to keep it. Hopefully this damn war will end soon and I'll get to go home but until then I'm going to keep fighting."

Finn nodded. "I understand. I'd like to go back out but seeing as I'm missing an arm I don't think I'll be much help. I'd probably be in the way more than I'd be helping."

Noah excused himself after that, and made his way out of the tent in the direction Rachel had gone. He knew he wasn't supposed to leave but everyone was too busy to notice he was sneaking out anyway. He found her sitting under a tree as she ate a roll and sipped on some water.

"You aren't supposed to be out here." Rachel said when she felt him come up beside her.

"I know." He replied and she stood up to face him.

"What is this, Noah?" She asked. "Why can't you just leave this alone?"

"I…" Noah's gaze drifted to her lips and then back to her eyes. "I can't stop thinking about that kiss." He admitted.

"Which one?" He saw a small smile playing on her lips.

He chuckled and then Rachel paled. "What is it?" He asked, concern thick in his voice.

"You need to get inside." Rachel grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the tent. "The helicopter is coming." She explained and then Noah heard it. It was close.

"Shit." He mumbled. "That means more injured men, doesn't it?"

"Sadly, yes." Rachel grimaced and led Noah back to bed before hurrying out to see what had happened. She prayed that the soldier's weren't injured too badly and that they made it. Unfortunately, God didn't seem to be listening today because neither of the two men that arrived on the helicopter made it through the night.

January 3rd, 1944

"Rachel?" Noah's voice was quiet and she was still a few beds over, tending to another soldier's dressing. "Rach?" His voice grew louder and more anxious.

Rachel looked up and felt her breath catch in her throat. "Noah." She whispered when she took in his appearance. She quickly gestured for a younger nurse to finish the dressing Rachel was working on before hurrying over to Noah. "Oh, Noah, please, no." She pulled the cleaning rag from her apron and wiped the sweat from his face.

"I'm not feeling too well." He whispered, his voice raspy.

"Here, drink some water." She gripped the back of his neck and lifted the cup to his mouth. He drank greedily and then she helped him back flat on the bed. "You've got a fever." She pressed the back on his hand against his forehead. "You must be getting an infection."

"I'm tired, Rachel." Noah told her.

"Sshh." Rachel shushed him. "It's okay, just go to sleep. You need rest. It's the only way your body is going to beat this." She said.

"Will you sing me a song? I'd love to hear your voice." Noah looked up at her. "I figure I'm going to die soon anyway, I'd hate to leave without hearing you sing."

"Don't say that." Rachel shook her head. "You survived a bullet of shrapnel in your stomach. You can pull through a lousy infection." She felt her voice waiver. "I'm not going to sing to you. It will give you something to look forward to when you get better."

"Rachel." Noah smiled softly.

"Go to sleep, Noah." Rachel told him. She stood there, holding his hand until he fell asleep, and quietly mumbled a prayer to whoever would listen that Noah would get better and soon.

A/N: Hopefully you guys didn't hate this too terribly much. Please review and let me know if you want me to finish this.