the medic

ch. 6

vi. gripping the routine

Barnes had not lied when he said he had gone easy on her that first day. The past week had been constant running, sparring, and snide remarks. Kelsey had grown to despise his presence in a different way than she despised any man.  When she fell behind as they ran, he would run right behind her to trip her up and force her to keep pace. When they fought at night he remained just as impatient, though took care to not set her off like he had that first night.

And the sick bay hadn't gotten any easier. More and more men were brought in everyday, their wounds proving to be more gruesome as time went on. Though in there was where Kelsey had found her most calm. It was a familiar setting and a place where she was truly in her element. The other nurses and doctors worked with her like they were all one, a functioning ecosystem and one of the more proficient sick bays in Europe.

"When are you supposed to go into the field?" One of the nurses had asked her, her name was Florence and she had vibrant auburn hair with the kindest smile Kelsey had ever seen.

Needless to say, Florence was the closest to the doctor, the girls often eating together and cracking jokes while working. The both of them making the other feel as if their situation was normal.

"Oh.. I don't know actually. I just figure that Sergeant Barnes will tell me one morning out of nowhere like he enjoys doing." She shrugged, looking down at a sleeping soldier's chart.

"He's so handsome, isn't he?" Florence commented, nudging Kelsey's arm with her own.

"Can we not talk about men? Especially him, he's not all his looks crack him up to be." She dismisses with an eye roll, as fun as it was to gossip, there were ears everywhere and the second Kelsey let herself act as anything but a professional, she knew the men wouldn't treat her as respectful as they had been.

Though ever since the Colonel left, it wasn't like they were even trying to treat her as a colleague anymore. Now they stared more obviously, made comments more loudly, and she knew it was a matter of time before she was being treated in the way she tried so hard to escape. One of the only things keeping her as a person of value to them was her medical expertise. Though there were a few occasions where she had soldiers come in complaining of head and toothaches, and the second she began to see to them they just flirted and ogled at her features in anyway they could. Kelsey knew it wouldn't take long until they were all like that. The longer they were away from home, from the touches of their significant others or otherwise, they would get bolder.

"You can act like you're above that talk, but I see the way you two argue. It's hot. There's a fire there, you just don't see it yet." Florence chided with a smirk and the doctor nearly snapped the chart in her hands in two.

"I don't need a man. Especially not that one." She bluntly ended the conversation, handing the nurse the chart and walking out of the tent.

It was nearly sunset and Kelsey knew that meant the Sergeant would be waiting at her tent. And the later she was, the more irritated he appeared. She thankfully got there to see he hadn't arrived yet and the brunette changed from her lab coat into her sweats, putting her hair up in a tight ponytail in time to see his shadow waiting outside.

She walked out surprised to see him holding two rifles in front of him.

"No sparring?" Kelsey asked and he shook his head, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

"You've had enough beatings this week. I wanna to see you shoot." He handed her a gun and she took it gladly, following him to the shooting range.

Now if there was one thing Kelsey could do kind of proficiently, it was shoot. Her excellent eyesight and surgeon-like precision aiding in her marksmen ability during training with the SSR. There were straw and metal dummies and targets set up at various distances across a field with bullet holes decorating each one.

Barnes set up his rifle at each target, making a near perfect bulls-eye every single time with a shocking speed. It was in moments like this that she saw why he was the rank that he was. And he hadn't even been in the field yet.

"Your turn, Doctor." He finished and gave her an expectant look, though this one was not filled with the same annoyance and impatience it usually had.

Kelsey took a nervous breath, for some reason finding herself wanting his approval. She set up her weapon, eyeing down the sight and took a shot at the first target. Bulls-eye. She looked back to gage his reaction, finding herself smirking when he seemed almost dumb-founded.

"Beginners luck, lets go, Kane." She bit back a smile when she turned back around.

Each target went like that, herself hitting with the same accuracy as him, just not the speed. Re-loading slowed her down, but only marginally. It was the last target when he spoke again.

"Here, let me fix your position a bit, you're doing good, but the way you're holding that is gonna make your arm sore as shit." He stepped up behind her, pausing, "I'm going to adjust your hips and arms now, okay?" He spoke softly and she found herself nodding, an unfamiliar feeling pooling in her stomach.

Again, she felt his calloused hands on her hips, but this time she knew it was coming. He was deliberate, slowly turning her waist and then moving his hands up to her arms. Warm breath brushed against her ear as he tilted and positioned her elbows and hands. She released a breath she hadn't known she was holding when he took a step back.

"Now try." She took a shot, taken aback at how much less forcefully the recoil hit her shoulder.

"If you weren't a medic I'd have you in a bird's nest with me," he commented and she looked back to see a smile on his face, the first real one she thought she'd ever seen on him.

And a part of her hated to think that she would like to see it more.