No Man's Land

[capt_facepalm]

Title:  No Man's Land
Author: capt_facepalm
Rating: PG
Fandom:  Sherlock Holmes (Gaslight)
Characters:  Major John H. Watson, RAMC
Summary:  Watson recalls a friend's parting words of reassurance.
Warnings:  (none)
Word Count: 100
Author's Notes: drabble for the July 20th 2012 A.A. Milne quote prompt

.oOOo.

Near Field Hospital 15
April 10 1916

‘You're braver than you believe…’

What has bravery to do with this?
Explosions… bullets and shrapnel flying every which way…
What old fool would venture into this smouldering desolation?
Bravery feels so much like fear, yet when a hopelessly ensnared man cries out from the kill zone…
Comrade or foe?
It hardly matters now. Just cut the wires!

‘…stronger than you seem…’

He’s too heavy to carry and must be dragged to safety.
If bombed-out craters can be called safe.
Ah. Now, there’s gas—
Gas masks on!
Sit tight.

‘…and smarter than you think.’

Holmes must never hear of this!

.oOOo.

Please sign the guestbook...

Comments

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

That would be an awkward moment, when he's home and enjoying a celebratory dinner out with Holmes a few years later - and some one-legged young man in uniform comes right up to him and gushes over Major Watson's amazing act of bravery his mate in that trench told him about, and proceeds to unravel the whole story despite Watson's shushing (and Holmes' face growing whiter and more pinched). It may involve flung test tubes.