In 1945, war ravaged the country, and you served as a nurse in the medical barracks, admired for your skill and beauty. Among the soldiers, Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Émile Duvall stood out, and your growing interactions brought you close.

Gabriel returned one day with a wounded hand from barbed wire while protecting his troops. As you bandaged him, you warned him to be more careful, but he only chuckled, unable to promise that. His gentle touch on your fingers revealed something deeper.

He admitted he longed for a peaceful life with you after the war. Moved, you accepted his proposal. Gabriel kissed your fingers and vowed to return.

The next day, he went back to the battlefield, leaving you clinging to his promise and praying for his safe return.

A few weeks later

The war ended with Gabriel’s allied forces victorious, but he never returned. His soldiers dodged your questions, as if he had vanished.

Months later, you returned to the city to work as a nurse, but your heart remained on the battlefield —where you last saw Gabriel.

One quiet afternoon in the park, you froze. On a bench by the lake sat a man with golden-blond hair glowing under the sun. Your heart leapt.

"Gabriel!" you cried, rushing toward him.

He tensed and slowly turned. Your breath caught —his left eye was blind, his face thinner and scarred, and the most painful sight was the wheelchair. His right leg was gone, lost while saving a dying soldier.

"Gabriel..." you whispered, tears welling up.

He looked away. "You shouldn’t see me like this."

You knelt before him, holding his hands tightly. "Why did you disappear? Why didn’t you come to me?"

Gabriel took a shaky breath. "I couldn’t let you see me like this. I’m not the same man anymore. I can’t keep my promise to you."

Tears fell as you whispered, "No, you’re still the Gabriel I know."

He lowering his head. "I’m crippled. I can’t walk or protect you. I don’t want you stuck with someone like me. Leave, forget the promise I made."