Special Forces

Author's Note: This story takes place in the Night Church/Loba Hot Springs universe and is a prequel story to my forthcoming novel "The White Queen." It is where two major characters, Daisy and Patrick, meet for the first time. It's set in December 1944, towards the end of WWII at one of the station hospitals in Australia. In this universe, the Occult (shifters, vampires, healers, and magic users) are known in the armed forces of all existing militaries and usually used in special forces because of their powers. Daisy, being a black woman and a nurse by profession, is one of the few African American nurses allowed to serve, and for the sake of this story, she is also one of the few female werewolves in the Army. In addition, this story was inspired by the fact that I've watched the MASH series front to back more times than I can count, and military nurses from the 40s and 50s should get all the recognition they can get.

"Hey soldier, you gotta take your meds, ok?" Daisy said, sitting on the side of the man's bed. She put an hand on his chest to keep him laying down. "Your buddy is fine, sugar, honestly. He's just sleeping right now since we have to keep him still for a few days, all right?" She expended a bit of her healing energy on him to keep his temperature down from the malaria. Thankfully, this soldier's case wasn't too bad. "Don't want him opening his stitches and all that, now do we?" She gave him a gentle smile.

"No. 'Spose not," the man said, resigned, dutifully taking the medication. "You promise to let me know when he wakes up?"

"Of course! And if he wakes up first, I'll let him know you were askin' after him, ok? I'll even let all the other nurses know."

"Thanks, nurse," he replied, then closed his eyes as she used her healing to tell his body to sleep.

She stood, stretched, and looked around the recovery ward. Other nurses were checking patients and doing other duties in the calm between arrivals. Daisy took a moment to step outside and get some fresh air, even though it was still hot for a December evening. Makes me glad I lived in California for all those years, she thought with a grin. The girls from the north don't like the idea of no snow for Christmas. The glow of the sunset bathed the landscape in a soft orange light, making Daisy smile. It reminded her of the sunsets around Loba Hot Springs. That sent a pang through her heart, reminding her just how far from home she was. Australia's not so bad, though. Could be worse.

The noise of a truck and the glare of headlights interrupted her thoughts. Voices exploded into the night, and Daisy saw the Captain running up to the main building. She spotted Daisy and made a beeline for her. "Saldana, you free?" she asked.

"For the moment," Daisy replied.

"Thank God! The guy in charge of this unit is insisting on one of you to take care of them, and since you're the only Occult on staff, that's you." The Captain sighed. "Sometimes I wish I didn't know some things."

Daisy frowned. She really wished that certain ranks weren't forced to become Involved, but with the Army deciding to draft Occult along with regular folks, there wasn't any real choice in the matter. It made it even worse when it came to the color of her skin. At least the head of nursing here just treated her like the other white nurses did-- which was to say that she completely ignored her unless she was on duty. At least the captain acknowledged her skill as a nurse, for the most part. Thankfully, they didn't know anything else about her past, or she wouldn't be here at all. "Right. I'll go sort them out," Daisy said and started walking towards the truck.

"They insisted on separate accommodation, so I'm giving them one of the empty isolation tents," said the Captain, falling in to step next to her. "Some sort of special unit, he said. Didn't catch which."

Daisy nodded. "Makes sense. That's what our kind are usually used for. Probably one of those M or Z Units."

"Spooks, huh?" she said, shaking her head. "I'll go see to the accommodation." The Captain peeled off, leaving the Occult to Daisy.

Daisy sighed, but shrugged it off. Having this unit here would give her a reprieve from her regular duties while she took care of them, and that was all right with her. I'd better send a note about the guy I just talk to, though, so that he knows when his buddy wakes up, she thought, making a mental note. If he wakes up.

"Hey! You! Where's that nurse?" a man shouted as she got closer to the truck. The lights were blinding her, so she didn't see the guy at first. She raised a hand to block the light.

"Hey, turn off those lights!" Daisy yelled back. "Hard to help you when I can't see a damn thing!" The headlights went off, and she had to blink a little to clear the spots from her eyes. The lights around the station were coming on as the sun sank below the horizon, lighting up the triage area. When her vision finally cleared, there was a large, blond, blue-eyed man standing next to a small, dark-skinned Aboriginal man. Both of them were in torn and dirty fatigues. Daisy would have laughed at the contrasts between the two if they didn't have such serious looks on their faces.

Friends! her wolf said, happy to see other shifters again after so long being the only one around.

I know, she told her wolf, then smiled at the others. "I'm the nurse you've been waiting for. Captain's gone to set up a tent for you. What's the situation?"

The smaller man gave the other a hand signal and bigger man relaxed. "It's all right, Bligh. She's definitely one of us." He stepped forward. "Major Clark of the 53rd Occult M Unit. You understand that your involvement with us is classified, correct?"

"Yes, sir," she replied. "Occult soldiers always have special clearance in American forces. Not a whole lot of us in the first place."

The Major nodded. "This is Sergeant Patrick Bligh, my second. He'll fill you in on what we need. I need to see to the Dreamwalkers."

"Understood," she replied. The Major nodded and walked to a smaller truck behind the larger one. Daisy turned to the Sergeant, and when she finally looked him in the eyes, her heart stopped. Mate? her wolf asked in confusion. Daisy just knew he was gorgeous and that he looked just as poleaxed as she felt. For a minute they just stared at each other.

Finally he shook his head, coughed, then said, "Um. I have a man seriously wounded."

"Right. Show me," she replied, the spell broken. He jogged to the back of the larger truck and pounded on the tailgate. There was the sound of the latches being thrown and the tailgate went down. Without ceremony, The sergeant lifted her up and deposited her in the back of the truck. One of the other soldiers had a light on a guy on a stretcher between the benches. Daisy could feel healing energy being used by the medic next to him, but it was barely a trickle. He looked up at Daisy and sagged in relief. "They got a heart shot on Davis, here, ma'am," he reported. "I've been able to hold it together, but..."

"Good work, sugar. Stay here while I check him out," she replied patting him on the shoulder. The medic nodded. The other soldiers, except for the one holding the light, seemed to take that as a cue to quietly leave the truck under the sergeant's direction. Grateful for his foresight, Daisy focused all her attention on the wounded soldier. His breathing was shallow and sketchy, and when she lifted the dressing on his chest, she gasped. The wound was starting to knit together, but part of it was still open. She could actually see through his ribs to his heart, where part of the outside of the heart was nearly shredded. "What in God's name did that?" she asked.

"Kotengu," the medic said. "Particularly vicious Japanese shifters sent to catch Occult spies and kill them."

"Any poisons? I'm not feeling any, but it doesn't mean it's not there."

The medic shook his head. "Thankfully, no. I have an affinity for detecting those. First thing I checked."

Daisy let out a sigh of relief, and took the medics hand. "Ready?" she asked. He nodded, and she followed his healing line to the tissues he was holding together in the man's heart. She pushed all her power through him and into the heart muscle, visualizing knitting the tissues together and encouraging the shifter virus to multiply so it could speed the healing. In her mind's eye, the tissue's aura changed from black and red to red and gold, and when the wound finally looked more gold than red, she pulled away.

"Bloody hell, ma'am!" the medic gasped in awe, then passed out.

"Brooks!" said the sergeant behind her.

She turned to him and said, "It's ok. He's just exhausted. Get him to the tent and let him sleep. He's used most of his powers to keep this man alive. Speaking of that, I've stabilized him, and his shifter healing should take over now. Near thing, though. Your boys can take him up to the tent now." She stood up from where she was crouched next to the soldier and the medic, feeling a bit dizzy. "I'll need to change that--" she began, and promptly passed out.

Daisy was woken up by the sound of shouting. "What the fuck is your problem?" The voice was familiar, and she wanted it to come over by her, but she didn't know why.

"Sergeant!" exclaimed a quiet, but authoritative voice. "Out!"

"But--"

"Out! I'll handle this."

There was the sound of a tent flap moving and stomping of feet.

"You, too, Helen," she heard the Colonel say. "I'll deal with you later!"

"Sir," Helen replied and the tent flap opened again.

Daisy opened her eyes to see the ceiling of a tent above her. They must have brought me into the isolation tent. She felt exhausted and her mouth was dry. Damn. I overdid the healing.

"I suggest, Colonel, that you keep your staff in line. I won't tolerate my troops being disrespected. Half the reason Australia is a staging area and not a battleground is because of my people. The last thing they need is to hear your American racist drivel while they're recovering!"

There was silence. Daisy sat up to see the Colonel standing in front of Major Clark, his mouth a thin line. Colonel Rollins was twice the man's size and the Chief Surgeon, but he seemed to shrink under the smaller man's gaze. "I don't like it anymore than you do, Major, but staff is at a premium."

The Major looked over at Daisy and pointed. "Then she'll be in charge of us until we head out. She saved my soldier at great cost to herself. If her Matron doesn't like it, then she can talk to me."

The colonel looked where he was pointing. He sighed. "Fine. Saldana, you're to see to the care of these men until they leave."

"Yes, sir," Daisy replied. The colonel frowned and sped out of the tent. The major came over to sit on the empty cot across from Daisy.

"What happened?" Daisy asked.

"One of your nurses decided to use some foul language with us."

Daisy grimaced and rolled her eyes. She knew exactly who he was talking about. "They sent Helen in here? The Captain can be a real idiot, sometimes. Bad enough Helen says that crap to me, but she usually remembers not to say anything in front of the soldiers."

The major grimaced. "Well, apparently she hasn't seen my people before and thought it was beneath her to... how did she put it? 'Take care of dirty Indians!' I have a feeling she mistook us for someone else?"

Daisy let out a sigh. "She's from the midwest. One of the plains states, I think. I think she saw the red in your skin color and, well... Sorry about that."

He shook his head and patted her hand. "Not your fault, commander. Some people just think they're better than others. Annoying, especially when they're continuously proven wrong." He stared at her for a long moment, then pulled his hand away. "I wanted to thank you. For saving Hawk. I intend to write a commendation for you for that. Of course, it'll be classified, but it'll be in your file."

"Uh. Thanks," she said with a shrug. "Just doing my job."

Major Clark shook his head. "Healers!" he said. "Every single one of you say the same damn thing!" He chuckled, then looked around the tent. "You should rest and get some food, friend. My boys will be asleep for a while, since this is the first safe rest they've been able to get in a month."

"I just want to check on the guy I saved first. Hawk, was it?"

The major smiled. "Yes. We put him in the corner over there so he wouldn't be disturbed."

Daisy nodded approvingly. "You should get some rest, too, sir."

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a salute and a grin. "Now if you can only convince Bligh to do the same before he falls over."

"I'll see what I can do, sir," she said with a smile, and he went to a curtained off part of the tent. Daisy went over to where Hawk was and noticed they'd put the medic on the cot next to him. The dressing had been changed, thankfully. At least Helen is good for something besides her big mouth! Daisy rested her hand lightly on the man's chest, extending her healing senses. She sighed with relief to feel the slow, but strong, heartbeat and the feel of the flesh knitting itself back together without infection.

"He all right?" said a sleepy voice. Daisy saw that the medic had woken up and was watching her.

"Yup. You should go back to sleep."

He shook his head and sat up slowly. "Nah. Need to take a-- um, need to use the head."

"You all right?"

"Yeah. Just tired. I'll get some water, too. Saw the water station on the way in."

"Good," she said.

"Thanks. For what you did. I've never seen healing like that before!" The medic smiled and left to take care of business before she could reply. Daisy smiled as she double checked the dressing, then went over to the table near the tent's entrance. Helen had left all the usual forms, which were only half filled out. Daisy sighed, grabbed a glass of water and a pen, and began to finish what the other nurse had started.

Ten minutes later, Sergeant Bligh came back in looking harried, with dark circles under his eyes and the bearing of a man who was about to fall over from exhaustion. Her wolf stirred again. Mate! Pack!

What do you mean by that? she thought at her wolf, but the wolf didn't reply. She just sent a picture of herself wagging her tail. Daisy shrugged it off so that she could pay attention to the sergeant.

"Major sent me in here," he said when he saw her. "Said you needed to see me?"

Sly old soldier, that major! she thought, then stood. "Yes. Come with me." She led him to the cot she'd vacated earlier. "Sit," she ordered, pointing at the cot. "Take your shoes off."

"I'm not a dog!" he growled.

"I don't care what you shift into, but you're going to lay down on this cot and get some sleep. Nurse's orders! Your men are safe and you're in safe territory. You won't do your unit any good if you're dead on your feet, soldier!" She crossed her arms and glared at him, daring him to contradict her.

He stared at her with his mouth open for a full minute before he realized it, then closed his mouth with a snap. Resigned, the man did as she ordered, and laid down on the cot. She pulled a blanket over him, brushing one of his hands as she did so, and that shock feeling came back. He blinked, then said, "Sit with me a bit and talk? I'm a bit too wired to actually sleep."

His face, when he asked, touched something in her, and she pulled over a chair. "I could help you with that, you know."

"I know, but..." He grimaced. "Let me start over. I'm Patrick." He held out a hand.

That made Daisy chuckle. She took his hand. "Daisy."

"Daisy. What a beautiful name," he said, sleepily, not letting go of her hand. "I'm a bear."

"What, you get bitten by one of those famous Australian drop bears?" she asked with a wicked grin.

He laughed and shook his head. "No. Got bit hiking in California thirty years ago."

"Oh? I'm from California. Napa Valley."

"Yeah? Beautiful place. You miss it?"

She nodded. "Very much. I miss my pack, especially our King and Queen." There was a light snore, and she saw that Patrick was out cold, still holding her hand. She chuckled again, scanned him with her healing gift to make sure it was just tiredness, then carefully, and a bit reluctantly, extricated her hand from his.

Daisy went back to the desk to finish the paperwork. Betty came in around eight to relieve her. "Hey, how was your night?" she asked.

"Eventful until a few hours ago. Since then it's been quiet. Most of the guys are still sleeping. All their charts are here. Did the colonel tell you that these are all special forces?"

Betty nodded. "Yup! I can't believe the captain sent Helen in here! Then again, that dumb bitch is old money, so, she thinks her shit don't stink!"

Daisy laughed. Betty was a New Yorker and one of the nurses Daisy liked best at the station. "That explains a lot."

"Go on, get some sleep," Betty said. "If something comes up, I'll come get you. Colonel told me you're in charge of the care for these guys, so..."

"Thanks, Betty. See you later," Daisy said and went to find her real bed.

"Daisy!"

Someone was shaking her awake. She opened her eyes and Betty was standing over her. "What is it?"

"That unit you were taking care of-- they're leaving!"

"What?"

"Some courier rolled in here around lunchtime, met with the brass, and they started packing themselves up."

"But--"

"Their CO wants to see you before they go, but he can't really wait much longer."

"Shit!" she said, threw on last night's fatigues and her boots and ran for the isolation tent. When she got there, orderlies were already cleaning it. The big truck wasn't there, but the Major's smaller vehicle was. She ran for the colonel's office to see him shaking hands with Major Clark in the hallway. The man turned when he heard her running down the hall.

"Ah, there you are! Sorry we weren't able to properly say goodbye, but I wanted to say thank you, again, for saving Hawk's life. Also, to give you this." He handed her an envelope with a grin and a wink. "Don't worry. You'll see him again. He's got a good memory."

Daisy opened her mouth, then closed it again, pocketing the paper to read later. "Thank you, sir," she said, shaking his hand. "Stay safe out there."

"We'll do our best." He turned to the CO. "Colonel," he said with a nod, then got in his truck. They watched as it sped off down the road from the station hospital.

"Good work, Saldana," the colonel said.

"I just did my job," Daisy said.

The man gave a grunt. "You know, Saldana, I've watched you since you got here. I don't know much about, uh, your kind, but I see what you do. Have done. All the boys who get you as a nurse have a much higher recovery rate than any other soldiers that come through here. I don't know what it is, exactly, that you do, but honestly, keep it up. I wish I had a hundred like you." The colonel turned and went back into his office. Daisy stared after him, shocked.

She shook her head and decided to head to the mess. Halfway there, she remembered the envelope in her pocket. She opened it and pulled out the paper inside.

Thank you. For everything. she read. My bear said you're special. I think he's right. I will find you again. I promise. -- Patrick

Daisy smiled, looked around, and stuffed the paper in her bra so she wouldn't lose it. She wasn't sure if he'd keep his promise, but he had taken the time to leave her a note. That alone made her feel good. Daisy whistled all the way to the mess.