Hamilton Drabbles/Oneshots

How to Pray

"How do I pray?"

Bishop Seabury froze, pausing in his page flipping. Charles Lee, a soldier, was lying in a cot next to him, one foot in the grave. Seabury was a bit confused by the question and set his bible down, looking at the soldier. "Could you explain your question a bit more?"

Charles was a dying soldier that had been crossing enemy lines. He was going to die soon and the redcoats had a bit of sympathy, taking him into their territory and helping him get better. Charles hadn't expected it, but wasn't complaining for the help. Everyday was seeming to be the exact same as the previous, blurring together. But today, a new face had appeared. A young, gingerish brown haired, pale faced bishop. He was british and smiling and innocent. Charles was probably hallucinating from the medicine, but he swore there was a halo above the boy's head.

A part of him knew there was a small chance of him living from this bullet wound, but that didn't stop him from annoying the fuck out of everybody there. He was almost thrown out by a redcoat, but quickly apologized and coughed up a bit of information. Of course he was ashamed, but Charles didn't wanna die. He muttered, "Nevermind, forget it." The bishop shook his head and picked up his bible.

"You don't have to be a full professional goes to church every Sunday kind of person to pray. You don't even have to be baptised either." Seabury smiled, "Would you like to try?" Charles frowned and sat up a bit, wincing at the pain of moving. He took the glass of water from his the table next to the cot and sipped it. He nodded and the bishop sat on the edge of the cot, taking his hands.

He whispered, "Just repeat after me ok?" Charles blushed at the contact and nodded, closing his eyes and bowing his head as he had seen others do. He had never prayed before, mostly because his parents had never brought him to church. Charles would always throw tantrums and argue with parents over going to church. But now he would give anything to be a child again, laughing and bonding with his parents. War wasn't something he enjoyed very much, no matter what position he was given.

Seabury smiled, bowed his head, and began.

"Dear God,"

"Dear G-God,"

"Thank you for all you have given me."

"Thank you for all you've given me..."

"Thank you for what you have taken away."

"... Thank you for what you've taken away."

"And thank you for what you have left me."

"Thank you for what you've left me.

"Amen."

"Amen- wait, what? That's it?"

Samuel smiled and squeezed his hand. "A prayer does not have to be fifteen minutes long with a big conclusion. It can be short and sweet like what we just did." He let go of Lee's hands, missing the gentle contact just as much as Charles did. Lee laid back down in bed, flipping the pillow over to the cold side. Seabury brushed his hair away from his face and spoke, "I want you to keep my bible. Give it a read sometime. Maybe I'll visit again and we can talk some more about it, yeah?" Charles blushed even more, his entire face red. He nodded and watched Seabury leave.

Charles picked up his large round glasses from the table and slipped them on. Then he picked up the bible and opened it up to the first page, beginning to read.