Band of Brothers Drabbles

11. And then I see you standing there (Dick Winters - Request).

REQUEST 

(A/N: Dick finds you covered in blood in the woods)

This was requested by lazysam14 Thanks so much for the request!

Disclaimer!: the characters in this story are based on the characters of the television show, not the real men and this is in no way meant offensively or disrespectfully to those heroes. 

Your vision was blurred and you could feel your breath quickening, you knew breathing like this wasn't a good sign. You were not a doctor or any other type of medical professional, but you were also aware that seeing spots wasn't exactly a good thing either. They were dancing around in front of your eyes, almost like they were taunting you. You hoped to God someone would find you. It was getting harder every second to take the next step and you didn't even know where you were going. You knew your legs were going to give out on you soon. "Please help me," you rasped out, not even knowing who you were saying it to. You could feel the warmth of blood flowing from what seemed like your rib cage and it hurt every time you tried to breathe in. You were trying to keep the pressure on the wound, but even tensing up your muscles to do that was too much for you. 

Winters had been walking through the forest on a patrol, to ensure there were no Krauts in the near vicinity. He was with a small group of men, among who Carwood Lipton and Harry Welsh. Suddenly he halted. He could hear twigs snapping, he motioned for the men behind him to stop. He tried to locate the source of the sound, but it wasn't helping him at all that it was already nearly dark. He motioned for the men to follow him cautiously, taking a step slowly. He was hyperfocusing to be able to distinguish any sound made. Suddenly he could see movement in the left corner of his eye and he swiftly advanced in the direction of the movement. His breath hitched in his throat when he laid his eyes on you. Even though he didn't know you, the sight of you broke his heart. The front of your dress was covered in blood, a stain so big that he knew your state was worrisome. There was blood in the corners of your mouth, so you had to have been coughing up blood. He could see it was taking everything out of you to just keep standing up right, because you were swaying on your feet. He could hear someone behind him pulling out a rifle. He put op his hand, motioning for the private to stop. "Sir," he heard Lipton speak up, "that's someone we don't know who could possibly be of danger." The lieutenant shook his head, "no one in that condition is of danger." He started making his way over to you slowly, motioning for Lipton and Welsh to follow him. He put up his hands in front of his chest, to show you that you shouldn't be alarmed by his presence. You blinked your eyes rapidly, were you hallucinating or were there really people out there who could help you? 

You swallowed, even though your mouth was dry. "Please," you begged them, but before you could do anything else the world around you went black and you could feel your legs giving out on you.  The last thing you saw before your vision went black was a worried look on a very handsome ginger man's face. 

Winters drew in a sharp breath as he could see your body hitting the ground with a sickening thud. He rushed over, yelling for Lipton to help him out. His arms went underneath your limp body, picking you up from the ground, holding you close to his chest. 

After what seemed like hours, the surgeon came out of the OR. Winters immediately stood up. He had been checking up on the process of your surgery as much as he could, staying for however long he could at a time. He didn't even know you. It was something he couldn't quite put his finger on,  but he needed to know you were okay. He looked at the surgeon curiously, almost feeling anxious. He walked over to the man determinedly. "And?" he asked. "It- she was in a bad condition when you brought her in," the surgeon explained. Winters nodded in understanding. "The worst part is over now, we'll have to wait for her to wake up to be sure, but it is looking good. One of the nurses is taking her to the big hall  right now, you can stay with her if you want. A nurse can show you where to go.But- lieutenant? It might important for you to know that she had bruises covering her whole body-she has been through a lot, you might want to figure out what happened to her. " After the lieutenant had thanked the surgeon, he followed a nurse to go see you.

When he saw you lying in your bed, he was happy you were still asleep. Your face looked peaceful and there weren't any signs of pain on there. His eyes trailed over your face, taking in the bruises on your cheekbones and jaws, the puffiness of the skin around your eyes. Who could have done something like that? The surgeon had told him that you were covered in bruises, he swallowed. You must have been through hell and back. He sat down on the chair next to your bed, looking around the room. Nurses were running around almost frantically, trying to get everyone the help they needed while there were two or three doctors making rounds and tending to the most urgent patients. He tried to make himself comfortable in the chair, leaning back and stretching his legs out in front of him. He knew it could be a while before you woke up. 

The first thing you felt when you woke up was a thumping pain in your head. You tried to open your eyes, but the light that was shining was really bright and made it hard for you to open your eyes. You let yourself keep them closed for a little while longer, all the while you were trying to figure out where the hell you were. You could hear people walking around you, you could faintly distinguish a sound that seemed like men crying for pain. You squinted your eyes as you opened them slowly, looking around. It seemed that you were in some sort of field hospital, surrounded by wounded soldiers and nurses. What had happened? Your memory on how you had precisely gotten there was foggy. 

Suddenly a feeling of panic crept up on you as you could see someone moving in the corner of your eyes. You opened your mouth to scream, but you weren't able to. Instead, all your mouth produced was a moan. You tried to make yourself as small as possible, curling into a ball. You covered your hands with your head, "Please don't hurt me, " you whispered, "I promise I won't try to run away again, just please-"  "Miss," a kind but stern voice interrupted you. "There is nothing to worry about." You opened your eyes again as you noticed the voice was American. You blinked in confusion, "You are -  American?" you asked softly. The man nodded slowly, obviously not trying to scare you with his movements. "Lieutenant Winters at your service miss," he spoke, you could tell he was proud of his rank. "Where am I? Lieutenant Winters?" You asked, still confused by the whole situation. The soldier nodded at you in understanding, of course you would want to know where you were. "You're at a field hospital for American soldiers, I hope you don't mind us taking you here. When we saw you collapsing in the woods we didn't know what else to do." "In the woods?" you asked, trying to fit together the pieces of blurred memories in your mind. "Yes, you were wandering around in the woods - you were all covered in blood," the way he spoke so softly taught you that he was a considerate man. He was trying to soften the blow. Still, you hated how your memory was all foggy. Why couldn't you remember what had happened precisely? You remembered being captured, you remembered planning to escape - but to know that you had actually succeeded. You breathed out in relief "Does that mean I'm safe?" You could feel the tears welling up in your eyes. The lieutenant nodded, "Yes Miss, you are safe." 

"Thank you so much for taking care of me - I couldn't have survived on my own out there." You were truly grateful for your savior, but you also knew this would come with questions and you weren't sure if you were ready to answer those. You had put away what happened some where deep down in your mind, you never wanted to think of it again. The scars on your body were enough of a reminder as is. The calm demeanor of the American Lieutenant helped you stay calm, made you want to keep a hold of yourself.

Winters decided to stay quiet for a while. He didn't want to seem intruding, but he was so curious. He wanted to know why you were all alone in a forest, bruises covering your body. Had you been a prisoner of war? Had you been in a fight? You didn't come off as the type to fight a lot, but of course he never knew. Maybe it had just been a wild night for you. Something about you was so intriguing to him, he hoped he would be able to get to know you better.