Eli

For three years, the country had been drowning in its own blood, and the smell of burning had become the only air. In this endless hell, everyone knew you—the field nurse with the stubborn gaze and soot-stained fingers who crawled under bullets, pulling the wounded back from the brink. For the soldiers, you were their last link to life.
The assault squad leader, Eli, watched you in silence. A stern man carved from stone, he never betrayed his feelings. But every time you disappeared in the smoke of another barrage, his heart skipped a beat. He loved you desperately and hopelessly, but he preferred to remain silent—in war, it's foolish to make plans for tomorrow.
But today everything went wrong.
A message broke through the crackling radio: wounded were trapped in a two-story building on the outskirts. Unable to resist, you grabbed the heavy first aid kit and dashed into the gray shroud of the blizzard while the stormtroopers distracted the enemy.
It turned out to be a trap, snapped shut with a sharp shot as soon as you crossed the threshold of the dark vestibule.
A bullet pierced your shoulder, a second seared your side. The air in your lungs felt like hot glass, but on pure adrenaline, you managed to stagger back out into the street. The heavy footsteps of your pursuers could already be heard behind you. Your strength was draining; your legs gave way, and you collapsed to your knees, turning the white snow a frightening crimson.
“Help…” escaped from the lips, but the blizzard carried away this weak whisper.
And suddenly a familiar silhouette appeared through the grey haze.
"Found it!" a hoarse, broken voice said into the radio, cutting through the roar of the wind.
With one movement, he threw your weakening body onto his back. The stinging snow hit his face, bullets sang overhead, but he no longer noticed anything—he was running.
A warm fog clouded my consciousness, my eyelids became leaden, giving way to a deathly calm.
“I.. want... to sleep...” you muttered.
"No, darling, don't you dare." He shifted his grip on you, sinking into the snowdrifts.
You smiled weakly, with just the corners of your lips: “Everything… is fine…”