Sigmund and Audrey

Quiet nights were a precious rarity in their lives. A dugout within a trench was a staple of her existence. A tent set up a few hundred feet back from no man's land offered a bit more privacy (and easy access to her closest friends, unlike a nurse's barrack back in Allied territory). But she didn't mind the nights when they would throw their lot in some abandoned building. Bedding down the horses in a makeshift stable became a speciality of hers. Having a horde of hungry, exhausted veterinarians hovering over her shoulder as she cooked supper filled her with an understated joy.

Though, undoubtedly, the nights she slept best were those where she could throw her pack down beside Sigmund's, close her eyes and listen to the deep, steady rhythm of his heart and shallow breaths. A bed of spoilt flour bags beneath them, and Albie stretched out above them keeping first watch from his hammock... the sound of France's countryside persevering despite the thunderous battle raging not ten kilometres away... those were Audrey's favourite nights, despite it all.

Part of The Sharpshooter & The Vet series.