Make the world go away-john shelby

Prolouge pt.2

1915
It had been a while since she last saw Elijah and she found herself sitting in an empty operation room praying to god to protect her boys no matter how terrible they are. She finished up her prayer and heard a door open and quickly walked out of the operation room.

"Excuse me nurse bourbon, do you mind wrapping my arm for me?" She would know that Birmingham accent anywhere. It was John's.

"Shelby!" She grabbed him into a tight hug and couldn't believe he was still alive. "H-how are you john?" "I've been better. Listen mercy I haven't gotten long but I wanted to talk to you." "Go on." "In private." She walked with him back to the operation room and shut the door.

"What is it you wanted to s-" she was caught off by a hand cupping her face and soft lips colliding with hers. It took her a minute before she kissed him back.

"John, what are you-" "mercy I think I love you" "what?" Johns's hand still held her face. She couldn't deny how hot he looked in his uniform.

"Mercy bourbon I think I love you. I have since the day I met you." "John i -" "I know you may not feel the same but things are getting worse out there and now I'm not sure if ill make it home so I wanted you to know that if I don't make it back, you are the love of my life"

She kissed the boy with so much passion except he was no longer a boy, but a man.

"John Shelby I have fancied you since we were children as well."
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It had been exactly 3 months and Christmas had now passed. John would fake an injury At least once a week to see mercy. What John didn't know was by tomorrow morning his sweetheart would board the train to Birmingham. mercy would return home.

"Oi Nurse, I think I've hurt myself again." "Oh yeah, Mr.Shelby? Where have you hurt yourself this time?" "My head hurts but I think I know what would fix it." "And what's that?" "A kiss from my girl." She grabbed John's hand and they hid in an empty room locking the door behind them.

"I missed you john." She wrapped her arms behind his neck and kissed him "I missed you too beautiful." He held her in his arms for as long as he could and told her about everything going on outside of the walls that protected her. They had both seen terrifying things but she couldn't imagine how much worse it was for john. 

He began to kiss her again but things soon became more intimate.

He laid her on her back and kissed down her neck slowly unbuttoning the top four buttons of her nurse uniform and pulled the ribbon that held her hair back and smiled at her as he tucked it into his tunic pocket before she unbuttoned his thick woolen tunic and pulled it off of him leaving him in a white tank top and suspenders holding his trousers.

"Can I take this off you?" He asked pointing towards the bottom buttons of her dress and she bit her lip and nodded her head. She watched as he fumbled with the buttons and removed her arms from the sleeves and tossing them to the floor.

He then undid her heels and threw them before slowly pulling off her beige stockings.
She undid his suspenders and pulled off his tank top and unclasped his pants.

"Are you sure you want to do this mercy?" "Yes John, I want you. All of you." "But your virtue?" "John when have I ever worried about that? I would much rather give it to you than any other man." And with that john stripped her of her bra and underwear and removed his pants and boxers. "This will only hurt for a moment doll." He slipped himself inside of her slowly causing her to wrap her arms around him and bring him closer to her body.

After they both finished he helped her put on her clothes before dressing himself. As he pulled on his trousers she broke the silence.

"John, I'm going home." "What?" "I'm getting sent back to Birmingham. There relieving me of my duty's." "Wow, That's amazing love." "Your not upset?" "Course not! You don't deserve to be here." Neither do you john-" "love I would rather be here sacrificing myself for your safety than have you here in the crossfire. When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." "Oh." "I'm sorry John, they only told me yesterday and it is not like I could've gone put there and searched for you." John looked up at the clock on the wall to see that he was late to return to camp and bid the girl goodbye.

She sat on the bed and blinked back the tears at the mere thought that her love could possibly not come home.

Mercy came home to the news that her mother had fallen ill and passed and that she missed the funeral. She was a complete wreck and began to live with the 3 other Shelby's that weren't fighting a war.
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"Mercy, you alright love?" Pol asked as she saw the girl bent over the toilet spewing out her breakfast. "I don't know Polly. I haven't been feeling well." "Stand up." She did as she said and poly grabbed her boob. "OW! Polly that hurt! What are you doing?" "Mercy bourbon, how late are you?" "Late?" "Menstruation'. When did you last menstruate?" "When i- honestly I don't remember, maybe a few weeks." "When did you last menstruate?" "When I was in...France. Polly, maybe it's my anemia? you know ada and I both have low iron."

"I'm calling the doctor." She sent mercy to the bedroom she now shared with ada and had her wait until they could visit the doctor

Mrs.Simeon, the doctor that was standing in since all men were at war examined mercy before telling her she could put her clothes back on. "What's wrong with me?" "Congratulations, you're pregnant." Mercy felt her whole world crumble as she got up and walked out to see poly waiting.

"What's wrong? You look scared." "Polly, I'm pregnant." She whispered to her as they began to walk back to the house on watery lane.  Mercy had been home for a month and a half and never got a single letter back from john no matter how many she sent.

"What?! Who's is it?" Polly whisper yelled as they rounded the corner and entered the house.

she couldn't exactly tell Polly that it was her nephew's child. "A man from the war." "What man mercy?" "John." "Our john? John Shelby?!" "Polly it just happened, I didn't mean to fall pregnant. I love him and I was scared we would never see each other again so I gave myself to him and- and he loves me too."

"I don't care if he loves you or not. Mercy his life is not guaranteed. And what if he does come home? He will be a new man. They all will. He will no longer be the same man that claimed to love you. When did you last hear from him?!" "Before I left." "See, you don't even know if he's alive! None of us do."

"I don't know what to do Polly."

"The longer you leave it, The worse it gets. Believe me, I know. I was 16, and I didn't dare tell anyone." "Polly john will come home, I know he will." "This may sound brutal, but in the end, I did it myself, I did it to myself, and I almost died. And he didn't come back. They don't. Why should they?" "But this is john, He's only gone cause he's at war."

"That doesn't matter if they see you alone with a child or he doesn't want it or he doesn't come back you know the malicious words they'll say to you, 'you're a whore, the baby's a bastard' but there's never a word for a man who doesn't come back. I promise you if you go through with this, one day, on your wedding day, you'll have a good man on your arm, maybe it will be john, maybe it won't, either way, you will still say 'Polly, thank you, for common sense' because face it, no man wants a woman with a bastard child." Mercy knew Polly grey was right. It's just how things were. If she were to keep the baby and john did not want it or doesn't come home, she would be all alone with a babe that she would have to take care of and provide for all by herself.

"This woman is in Cardiff. We can take the train Tomorrow morning and leave Finn with ada. She can fix this for you mercy. Save yourself the trouble and pain."

And that's exactly what happened the next morning. They took the train and had the fetus removed by noon.