Serendipity

I do not own Dunkirk in any way.

A/N - Kinda, but not really inspired by "Nancy Mulligan" by Ed Sheeran

Alex entered the pub and walked up to his friends. It was his last night of freedom before shipping out to Dunkirk.

"Oi, Alex. Check out that doll at the bar", one of his friends said.

Alex looked over and saw a beautiful girl.

"Go and talk to her".

"No", Alex said, "I'm here to hang out with you guys".

"Come on. You ship out in the morning. What have you got to lose?"

Alex stood up and walked over to her. "Hey there", he said.

The girl smiled.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

"Yeah. Gin and tonic".

Alex turned to the bartender and said, "Can I get a gin and tonic and a whiskey?"

The bartender nodded.

"So what's your name?" Alex asked, "I'm Alex".

"Violet".

"And what do you do, Violet?"

"I'm a nurse. I work on the soldier's ward".

"Soldier's ward. It just so happens that I'm a soldier", he said, giving her a cocky smile.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. I ship out to Dunkirk in the morning. Did you wanna see my papers?"

"No, I believe you. Almost everyone I know is in the army now thanks to the draft".

The bartender handed them their drinks and they walked over to a booth to talk more privately.

"Did you want to join the army?" Violet asked.

Alex shook his head and took a drink of his whiskey. "But none of us had a choice", he said quietly, "What made you wanna be a nurse?"

"Well I like helping people and they needed nurses".

"I should be happy about serving my country, but I can't help but be terrified. What if I die?"

"Oh Alex", Violet said rubbing his arm, "You can't think like that".

They talked about everything they could think about until the bar closed down.

"Goodbye Violet. Maybe I'll see you again".

"Me too. Goodbye Alex".

Alex never thought he'd be back in the thick of war after what he experienced at Dunkirk.

This was ten times worse.

He almost wished he could go back and relive Dunkirk compared to this. One minute he was in the trenches with his fellow soldiers, the next a grenade was going off next to him. He got up, despite the pain in his head and the ringing in his ears. He climbed out of the trench, running for the next one.

There was a gunshot and searing pain in his leg.

Alex dropped to the ground, yelling in agony. "Help!" he screamed. Alex didn't know how long he laid there. The last thing he remembered was hands grabbing him, but whether they were allies or German's he didn't know.

Violet gasped when they brought him in. She almost didn't recognize him covered in blood and mud. "What's the damage?" Violet asked the head nurse.

"Head trauma and there's a gunshot to the leg", she said.

"Alex, Alex, can you hear me?" Her voice was frantic. All she wanted was for him to open those green eyes of his.

"Get her out of here!" the doctor yelled.

"No! Please let me tend to him! Please!" she begged.

"Fine. Molly, keep an eyes on her", the doctor said.

"Vi, I need you to help me cut his pant leg to get to the wound", Molly said.

Violet grabbed a pair of scissors and they cut away his pant leg.

The gunshot was right below the kneecap.

"Hold his leg down. I need to pull the bullet out before we stitch it up", Molly said.

Violet leaned forward and placed all her weight on Alex's leg.

Molly grabbed a pair of tweezers and went to work pulling the bullet out.

Alex's eyes shot open and he screamed.

"Hold him down!" Molly yelled at Violet.

"Alex, Alex, calm down", Violet told him.

"Violet?" he asked.

Violet moved so Alex could see her. "Oh my god, it's you", he said.

"Keep him talking", Molly told her.

Violet pushed the hair away from his eyes and said, "It's me".

"I thought I'd never see you again".

"I heard about Dunkirk, but I didn't know if you survived. I thought maybe you had died".

"I was trying to get home to you. I didn't know how I would find you when I got back to London, but I'm so glad you're here".

Violet's eyes filled with tears as she leaned down and pressed her lips to his.