A brother's care
Title: A brother's care.
Author: Glossina.
Rating: K+
Summary: Lebeau has a very bad day untill Kinch steps in.
Lebeau stood at the little pot bellied stove, stirring the contents of the pan.
He should have looked happier while he was engaged in his favorite activity but he had a scowl on his face and he was muttering things in french, under his breath that probably weren't meant for polite company.
He gave the contents of the pan an extra vigorous stir and splashed some of the broth onto his hand.
He yelled in pain and anger and then hurled the wooden cooking spoon across the room.
There was silence for a minute and then Newkirk rose from where he was playing solitaire and he went to stand over the smaller man. "You okay, Louis?" Newkirk asked worriedly.
"No! I'm not okay. My hand hurts. I burned it. Do I look okay?" Lebeau shouted furiously.
"Well, blimey", Newkirk said, drawing back as if slapped. Then his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Pardon me all to the devil for askin".
Kinch came up then to stand in between them. "Go get the doc", Kinch said softly as he gave Newkirk a small push towards the door. He didn't think Lebeau's injury was all that bad but it was a way to seperate the two men for bit. Newkirk shot his fellow corporal a sharp look and then slammed out the door.
"I don't need the doctor", Lebeau complained. "I just need to be left alone".
"Let me see your hand, Louis", Kinch said as he reached out for the little frenchman. Lebeau tried to move out of reach but Kinch was quicker than he was and he grabbed Lebeau's wrist and brought his hand up for inspection.
"It's fine. See?" Lebeau bit out sarcastically. "Now I don't need to see the doctor". Saying that, he turned to leave.
"Louis. Stop", Kinch ordered. "The doctor will be here in just a little bit. Let him look at your hand".
Lebeau turned away and tried to pull his hand free from the radio man's grip. "I don't want to see a doctor", Lebeau suddenly choked out. "I just want to be left alone".
Kinch drew in a slow, patient breath. Where is the colonel when we need him? he thought to himself.
Hogan, of course, was outside with Carter, looking over the motorpool and trying to decide which of Klink's vehicles they would liberate for the night.
Kinch turned Lebeau around and smile sympathetically at the frenchman. "What's wrong, Louis?" he asked softly.
Lebeau lowered his gaze. "Nothing", he muttered unconvincingly.
"Nothing?" Kinch prodded gently.
"No. Nothing", Lebeau flared, his anger resurfacing. Then he seemed to choke on his next words. "Everything is wrong", he muttered softly.
"What is it?" Kinch asked in the same gentle tone. "What's wrong?"
"Everything", Lebeau repeated brokenly. "I'm here in this bosche camp. I can't go home. I miss my family and I'm scared all the time".
He finally succeeded in pulling his hand from Kinch's grip and he quickly made for the door.
"Louis. The doctor...", Kinch started to say.
"I, I don't need the doctor poking and prodding at me, asking me questions I'd rather not answer", Lebeau shot back as he burst out the door.
On his way out, he nearly knocked Hogan over as he was coming back into the barracks.
"What...?" Hogan started to say.
"Wow. Louis looks like he's late for a hot date or something", Carter said. Then he snickered at his own humor.
Hogan frowned and pulled Carter inside.
"What was that all about?" Hogan asked as he sat down at the table in the common room of barracks two.
"The doc's here", Newkirk said as he entered the barracks, interupting any excuse anyone could have made for Lebeau's behavior.
Newkirk entered with the camp medic, Stephan Bradford, a tall, thin, middle aged man with a bushy gray mustache.
"So, where's the patient?" Bradford asked as he walked in and looked around.
"He's out in the yard", Kinch said drily. "He said he doesn't need to be poked and prodded".
"Hmmm. That so?" Bradford asked in an equally dry tone. "Well, let me know if he decides to be poked and prodded later", Bradford added as he went out the door to return to his own barracks.
"Why was the doc here?" Hogan asked with concern as he looked around at all the men in the room.
"Louis burned his hand a little", Kinch sighed. "It's nothing serious. I just thought the doc should take a look at it".
Hogan shrugged and looked towards the door. "You said he's out in the yard?" Hogan asked. Kinch nodded.
"Yeah. He's cooling off a bit", he muttered as he lifted Lebeau's pan from the stove and sat it aside.
"What's got him so heated up?" Hogan asked as he stood up and leaned over to sniff the contents of the pan.
Kinch shrugged. "I'm not sure, colonel. He seemed to just wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning".
"I think it had something to do with that letter he got yesterday", Carter offered as he picked up a spoon and tasted Lebeau's newest creation.
"Letter?" Hogan said, looking at Carter. He took away the spoon and shook his head. "Lebeau would kill you if he saw you messing with that before he was finished with it. Now what letter were you talking about?"
Carter pouted a little as the spoon was taken away but he looked up when Hogan asked again about the letter. "It was a letter from France", Carter replied. "I saw the stamp and it looked like it was from France. Boy, they sure have pretty stamps from there. My uncle once had a stamp from Japan and...".
"Carter... the letter?" Hogan groaned as he tried to get the younger man back on track.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, sir", Carter mumbled embarrassedly. Then he thought for a minute. "He got that letter, sir and then he got all quiet after he read it. Normally, he'd tell me some of what was in his letters but not this time".
"You don't know who it was from?" Hogan asked.
Carter shook his head. "No, sir".
Lebeau wandered the yard, staring mournfully out at the trees beyond the fence. He walked closer and closer to the fence untill he was at the dead line.
The guards in the towers noticed him suddenly and the swung their weapons around to point dirrectly at him.
"Nein. Nein", Schultz yelled frantically as he came hustling up as fast as his considerable bulk would allow. He latched onto the collar of Lebeau's red sweater and started out for barracks two. All the while he was soundly scolding the smaller man. "You could have been shot", Schultz yelled in frustration as he gave the little frenchman a mild shake.
They had reached the barracks by then and Schultz opened the door and drug Lebeau through. "Colonel Hogan", Schultz said in a disapproving tone. "I caught the little cockroach out by the fence. He knows he is not supposed to be that close to the fence. He was almost shot by some of the guards". Schultz released Lebeau then and gave him a firm push inside. "He is very lucky I caught him before the guards decided to shoot him", Schultz continued the scolding as he frowned at Lebeau, who lowered his gaze and scowled at the floor. Schultz frowned at him for a minute more before going out the door and returning to his guard duties.
Hogan pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a second. Then, he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm himself. Finally, he opened his eyes and turned to face his subordinate. "Just what was that all about?" he asked tightly.
"It was nothing, mon colonel", Lebeau said stiffly. "I was just taking a walk and Schultzie over reacted when I got a little too close to the fence".
"Over reacted?" Hogan asked in disbelief. "You were out there by the fence, in the middle of the day, in full view of the guards. This is no small thing corporal".
"It was nothing, mon colonel", Lebeau insisted stubornly.
"Nothing?" Hogan finally yelled in outrage. "Schultz is right. You could have been shot".
"I, I don't care", Lebeau shouted back. "I just don't care anymore".
Hogan's jaw dropped in shock and all he could do was stand there and stare. But Kinch had no such problem.
He was on Lebeau in a shot, slamming the smaller man up against the wall of the barracks. "What do you mean you don't care?" Kinch roared furiously.
Carter, Newkirk and Hogan all stared dumbfounded at the normally placid radio man. "Uh, Kinch... Maybe you should...", Hogan started to say.
But Kinch cut him off sharply. "No, colonel. He's been acting like this all day. Maybe he needs somebody to shake a little sense into him. What does he mean, he doesn't care anymore? How can he not care?"
Lebeau used Kinch's sudden inattention and he wiggled free of the big man's grasp and shot out the door.
Kinch's look was almost comical as he looked at the spot that Lebeau had been in just seconds before.
There was several minutes of silence in the barracks as they all stared at the door that Lebeau had gone through.
"Gosh. Maybe somebody should go look for him", Carter said softly.
"I'll go", Newkirk offered quickly, their earlier argument forgotten by the englishman.
"No. I'm his CO. I'll go", Hogan sighed wearily as he wondered why things couldn't just be simple sometimes.
"No, Colonel. I'll go", Kinch offered sadly. "It's my fault he's so upset. I'll go talk to him".
Hogan studdied his second in command for a minute and then nodded. "Go find him and talk to him".
Kinch gave Hogan a grim look and then went out the door in search of his friend.
Lebeau sat on the ground, in back of barracks six. His knees were pulled up against his chest, his arms were wrapped around his legs and his face was buried in his knees. Suddenly, he could sense someone there and he looked up to see Kinch looming over him.
He paled and shot shakily to his feet and then tried to back away from the much larger man.
"Louis?" Kinch said softly as he came to a standstill. "Don't go. Please? I just want to talk to you".
Lebeau froze and looked at Kinch carefully. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked nervously.
Kinch looked around and then went to sit on the bench that sat behind barracks six. "Sit down", he ordered in the same soft voice.
Lebeau looked at Kinch and then cautiously settled himself on the other end of the bench.
"What's really wrong, Louis?" Kinch asked as he scooted closer to the frenchman.
Lebeau shrugged. "I already told you, mon ami. I miss my home and my family and I hate being here".
Kinch frowned. "It's more than that, Louis. We all feel that way. Don't you think I miss my family? Don't you think Peter and Andrew do? Even the colonel does".
Lebeau shrugged, not noticing that Kinch had moved even closer to him.
"Talk to me", Kinch said softly, yet commandingly.
Lebeau winced. "I, I got a letter from home yesterday. It was from my cousin. He said that my sister is very ill and might not make it and I'm so afraid for her and I don't even know if the rest of my family is still even alive and I'm afraid that I'll have no one left after the war is over and ...", Lebeau stopped then as his self control finally gave way and tears began to stream down his cheeks.
Kinch closed the last of the distance in an instant and he drew the smaller man to him.
Lebeau wept against Kinch's chest for several minutes untill he finally managed to get control of himself again. When he did, he pulled back and stared at the ground, blushing darkly. "I, I am sorry, mon ami", Lebeau muttered embarrassedly. "I should not have let myself go like that".
"Hey, we all need to let it out once in a while", Kinch said kindly. But then he fixed the little frenchman with a stern look. "We still have things to talk about", he said firmly.
Lebeau nodded as he continued to stare at the ground unhappily.
"For starters", Kinch said in the same firm tone. "Don't ever go near the fence like that in the middle of the day again. Schultz was right. You could have been shot. Secondly, and more importantly", Kinch continued. "Don't ever, and I mean EVER say that you don't care again. You can't stop caring, Louis. You can't. If you stop caring, you'll give up and die and I... I can't let that happen. So don't let that happen. Don't give up. Is that clear, corporal?" Kinch said as he tried to make his voice firm again.
Lebeau nodded quietly. "Oui, Kinch", he mumbled contritely.
Kinch nodded with satisfaction but then he put his hand on Lebeau's arm. "Look at me, Louis", he ordered.
Lebeau looked up and then lowered his gaze again.
Kinch frowned and then reached down and tilted Lebeau's chin up. "Look at me", he ordered again.
Lebeau looked up again in perfect misery.
"No matter what happens", Kinch said sternly. "You will not be alone after the war. You're not alone now and you never will be".
The little frenchman's eyes began to shine as he looked up at his friend. "Kinch?" he said softly, shyly.
Kinch sighed exasperatedly. "You've got a whole family of brothers here, Louis. You're never going to be alone again. You've got brothers who worry about you and help you and take care of you. And", he continued in a lighter tone. "You've got brothers that will come down on you when you need it".
Lebeau grinned now and blushed a little more. "I think we better get back and let the others know that I'm okay. Let them know you haven't killed me", he added laughingly.
Kinch grinned back and rose to his feet, pulling Lebeau up with him. "Come on little brother", he chuckled. "Let's do that and then maybe you can finish cooking lunch. I'm hungry".
Lebeau laughed happily and then went back to barracks two and the family that waited for him there.
The End.