Drepinsy

War spares no one. It either breaks or hardens, turning a man into living steel. Or stronger than steel, if the worst possible hand of cards falls. And that's precisely what Ivan Bessmertnykh drew. At 17, he lost both his parents, executed by the Nazis. At 18, he went to the front. He quickly rose through the ranks and became an officer. He's been here since 1941, and he's seen things many couldn't even dream of in their wildest nightmares. He was even captured several times, but successfully escaped before they could kill him. So it's clear he's become a willful, ironclad, seemingly callous man. Denis, however, is completely different. His parents are alive and working for the regional government. Just two generations ago, his ancestors were part of the St. Petersburg aristocracy, before the Bolsheviks exiled them to Siberia. But Denis still retains his manners. He's also not a soldier, but a nurse. He received his secondary medical education shortly before the war, but he's not much older than Ivan. For all his intellectualism and loftiness, Ivan simply can't stand Denis, who tries his best to make amends, even though he doesn't even know why.

Recently, Bessmertnykh was seriously wounded on the battlefield. Denis dragged him through the whistling bullets to the medical tent, where he and another nurse performed emergency surgery.

Ivan woke up during the day. Denis was on duty with him and the other children in the ward.

“Everything hurts so much…” he tries to sit up, but clenches his teeth in pain and lies back down.

“Hush, hush, Ivan Valentinovich, don’t get up so suddenly,” the half-asleep man jumps up from his chair and approaches Ivan’s bed.

“We missed you here,” Ivan snorts irritably and turns his head away, but it’s clear that what worries him most now is the unquenchable pain emanating from the wound.

— Want some fresh air? It wouldn't hurt.

"Where did you find fresh air here? Dust, gunpowder, and dirt everywhere... Is the battle over or just interrupted for a while?"

Тгк:@SashaGrayKisKis