Chapter 1 – Part 4

Evan Davis seemed satisfied with Anne’s answer and went back to his work.

He hadn’t even bothered to ask her to leave when she stood there, oblivious to him. Something caught Anne’s eye.

She hadn’t realized it until now, but the shirt on his side was turning red.

Anne hurried over to him.

“May I have a look?”

“It’s nothing; don’t mind me.”

“You said I had a week, and I hope this is the chance to prove it.”

Due to his poorly visible wound, Anne bowed her waist and started unbuttoning his shirts one by one.

“Hey.”

“Just stay still.”

She unbuttoned his shirt and spread it wide open toward his shoulder. A bruise was visible on his left side.

As she examined the wound, she noticed that it seemed to have been injured quite a while ago, as fresh scars kept breaking open and blood was seeping out.

“Who stitched this up? Seriously.”

Evan chuckled at the comment.

“…Sounds like you are confident with your skills.”

Anne looked at him resentfully. Even at this moment, this man seems to be evaluating her. In a reassuring tone, with a hint of playfulness in his voice, he said….

Momentarily annoyed, Anne looked around and found a first aid kit she could use.

Being the commander’s barracks, the first aid kit was stocked with a variety of first aid tools.

“Aren’t you in pain? It looks like it needs stitching up again….”

“…I’m fine; it’s nothing.”

“That’s ridiculous. Don’t pretend you’re not in pain. And you keep moving, making the wound worse. Have you been overexerting yourself recently?”

Anne filled the syringe with anesthetic and squeezed the pistol to deflate it. Before he could answer, she stuck a needle into the wound and injected the medicine.

She had expected him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain, but he looked at her stoically, as if he had expected that.

“Why are you just standing there? I’m just an inexperienced person trying to inject the commander.”

“Really.”

“…….”

“Are you sulking? But it worries me. I’m not sure if you’re injecting properly.”

Anne’s gaze wavered at the words. She immediately put on a nonchalant face, but his words were starting to bother her.

“Can’t you see that I have a syringe in my hand?”

“Oh, my mistake.”

Anne was pleased with his words, and she gently caressed his abdomen.

“Hold still.”

Anne, who was a graduate student majoring in biology in her previous life, had only operated on mice at best.

However, in this world where even simple wounds couldn’t be properly treated, people were dying too often, so she’d been forced to take on the task of first aid.

Anne neatly sutured the wound. After spending nearly 8 months on the battlefield, she could now easily treat this kind of injury. She was now undeniably a military doctor.

Then, Evan’s expression subtly changed.

As she knelt to treat him, her legs grew numb. When Anne unintentionally tried to grab Evan’s thigh and stood up, her body wobbled.

She fell into his arms.

Spreading his arms to cushion the impact, Evan smiled and whispered in her ear.

“Are you trying to seduce me?”

“No!”

“Then, can I seduce you?”

Evan Davis looked up and the corners of his eyes twitched.

He was clearly enjoying this situation.

“You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”

“Well, all of a sudden you’re pulling my shirt off and casually looking at my flesh…. and then hugging me. What man wouldn’t misunderstand?”

“Huh.”

Evan lifted her up and made her stand properly, then ruffled her hair.

“Sorry. I realize you have an extraordinary talent.”

“Then please let me continue working here. It’s hard to make a living without this job.”

“This place is dangerous in many ways, so go to the military capital hospital.”

“They won’t accept me, and you know it.”

“I’ll write you a letter of recommendation.”

Anne smirked. A letter of recommendation? He didn’t seem to realize that even with that useless piece of paper, the military capital hospital would somehow harass her and get her out.

But she couldn’t speak rashly. Until now, she had been enduring rudeness, but the other party was a commanding officer.

“Give me a little time.”

“Sure. But don’t forget that the field hospital also falls under my jurisdiction. If you want to be paid a thousand milan, you’ll have to do a good job.”

He smiled differently than before and reached out his hand.

The acknowledgement from a superior who had just doubted her abilities moments ago was quite sweet. Ann looked into his blue eyes and took his hand.

“Of course. I’ll do enough to deserve it.”

“Yeah, I expect so.”

As Anne walked back into the hospital, Kyle called out to her, looking downcast.

“Anne. It was hopeless.”

Looking back, Anne understood what Kyle was saying and shook her head.

“…….”

“Sorry, I couldn’t save him. None of the methods you showed me could treat him.”

Anne rushed to the hospital room and checked on the patient she had suspected of having a stroke. When she found no pulse, no breathing, and nothing, she froze in place.

The blue and red marks of constant violence were still visible on his skin.

His body showed signs of severe beatings.

Most of the men in the camp bore similar marks to this one.

Was it all due to trauma? Anne lowered her head, feeling guilty that she hadn’t known everything about this man.

His hands were still warm. She let out a small cry.

“I’m sorry…. I’m really sorry.”

‘Even so, I’ll forget it soon. That’s how I survive.’

Hearing Anne’s sincere apology, Kyle cut her off.

“Anne, don’t beat yourself up. It’s time for you to become indifferent too.”

Kyle didn’t want Anne to worry about such trivial matters anymore. At this rate, she seemed to be on the verge of depression.

“…I will.”

Anne replied in a sobbing voice, blinking repeatedly, trying to hold back the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

But she couldn’t help it.

Every time she saw the marks of beatings on the patients’ bodies, she couldn’t help but think of her graduate school classmate, Hae-Soo.

That evening, when Hae-Soo was kicked in the stomach by her senior more severely than usual, a text message arrived on Ba-wool’s cell phone. It was a text message announcing Hae-Soo’s death.

As soon as the autopsy was performed to determine the cause of death, their senior bowed down and apologized to Hae-Soo’s parents, who were furious.

‘Hae, she fell down the stairs and I asked her to go to the hospital…. She smiled and said she was fine…. I really thought she was fine… I’m sorry.’

Hearing this, Ba-wool had to struggle to hold back her laughter at the absurdity of it all.

Ba-wool didn’t believe his apology. They were the ones who often pretended to push her down in front of the stairs. The apology he’d given to Hae-Soo’s parents was also a false one, meant to cover his own sins.

Even if they hadn’t actually pushed her, she couldn’t forgive them.

“You are killing her twice! Why do we need to have an autopsy? Huh? Let her go. Huh? Honey, please….”

At the wailing of Hae-Soo’s mother, Ba-wool remembered what Hae-Soo had said when only the two of them were left after she was kicked in the belly.

“Since I’m okay, let’s keep this a secret until the end. I don’t want to see my mom and dad crying, okay?”

Even now, her voice sounds serene.

What happened after that?

Whether or not they told Hae-Soo’s parents what had happened, Ba-wool or Anne couldn’t remember. All she could do was project her classmate onto the patient and say she was sorry over and over again.

But, as Kyle had said, she couldn’t grieve every time.

The dead wouldn’t come back.

Just as Anne was about to pull herself together and get back to work, Kyle grabbed her shoulder urgently.

“Anne, no. You need to take a break. You don’t look good.”

“No. I’m fine, really.”

Kyle sighed heavily.

“Anne! Can’t you trust me? There are people here right now. It’s not that busy. I’m not even busy right now. And about your leave, don’t you know you have to use it?”

“He’s right, Lieutenant. You should get some rest.”

With her back turned to Kyle and the other medics, Anne was forced to walk out of the field hospital.