There was a quiet commotion from the end of the hall. The usually subdued and hushed tones used by staff and soldier alike were traded for shouts of exclamation. Katie turned as she finished administering the morphine drip to her last patient, curious as to what was causing the upset.
She nearly fell to the ground when she caught sight of it all.
Standing there, at the end of the hall, was Matt.
His boots were covered in mud. He looked as though he tried to clean his dress uniform as hastily as he could (which he probably did on the train); There were bags under his eyes and lines on his face that were new from the last time she had seen him.
But his smile was still the same.
Katie pulled herself together as the tears began streaming down her cheek. She tried to wipe them away, but they kept spilling out as a maelstrom of emotions coursed through her.
Within seconds, her feet were off the floor as she flew down the center aisle.
Looking back on it, she could swear she saw Matt brace himself in anticipation as she threw herself into his arms. Even with the extra effort, the force she used nearly knocked him over. "Matt!" she crooned his name over and over, burying her face into his shoulder.
Katie remembered how hard it had been to send him off to the war when it began. She could recall, with perfect clarity, that she had forced a stiff upper lip as she waved goodbye, banishing her Father's "American" emotions and sticking firmly to her mother's traditional upbringing. She had held it together until she got to her bed that night where her pillow and the moonlight through the windows were the only ones to overhear her silent heartbreak.
"You're really home again. You're really here," she insisted. Katie placed her hands on his cheeks, noticing the stubble on his jaw. He had grown while he had been away.
Matt tightened his arms around her. "Yes, I am Pidge. I'm really home."
They were each a relic to the other; a reminder of a childhood spent together in the nursery, supervised by nannies and governesses. A reminder of a time that was far simpler and much more innocent than what their recent years had brought them. Katie remembered books filled with diagrams and hard candies that the butler would sneak to them between luncheon and tea. Matt was reminded of toy guns and games in the gardens on those sunny days that lit up his childhood.
Slowly, as they both began to understand that the other would not vanish back into the shadows of war if they let go of each other, their memories disappearing in a cloud of smoke, they pulled apart. Matt kept his hands on his sister's arms, beaming with pride at seeing her nurse's uniform.
"Pidge! I didn't even think that you might still be working for the day. You must be very busy and I've interrupted you."
Katie warmed at the childhood nickname, born from their own childhood attempt at "hunting" like the rest of the family. Suffice it to say, she was not a very good shot at the time, a skill she had secretly perfected with his help a few years later.
"It's okay, I'm happy to see you," Katie insisted, wiping her eyes.
"And I'm happy to see you, too, Pidge," her brother replied. "Now, where can I find the rest of the family?"
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Katie couldn't keep the grin off of her face as she sat across from her brother at dinner. She had begged the doctor on staff that night to let her join her family for dinner, and he had consented, securing the promise that she would return to finish her shift when dinner was over.
It didn't matter that she hadn't slept a full night in over three weeks because it meant Matt was home, and the war was almost officially over.
In celebration, Allura had convinced her to wear her newest dress, a pale green piece of silk with a wide collar and white beading. She had even consented to have her hair done up with a feathered headband instead of it's usual bunch of loosely pinned waves.
"Katie," her uncle acknowledged as they finished with the first course of the night. "I think . . . I think that you look very much like your mother right now."
Pidge beamed at the compliment. "Thank you, Uncle Alfor. That means a lot to me."
"Oh, I do agree, dear Pidge. And I think with the war ending, we should start thinking about preparing you for the next season," Allura insisted.
Katie looked down at her plate as her heart hammered in her chest. She had completely forgotten about her impending introduction to society, especially since the war had certainly delayed it.
"After all," Allura continued cheerfully, "At nineteen you are certainly old enough to be out."
Matt could see his sister tense as she placed her utensils on her plate, her face turning white as she considered the impending situation. He could practically feel her fear at the thought of facing the ton.
"We don't have to worry about that right now, Pidge. Your introduction wouldn't be for at least another few months," Matt insisted in an attempt to calm his sister. Katie looked at him, her eyes wide. He nodded subtly in response. She exhaled before letting her shoulders drop, the tension leaving her almost immediately.
"It's such a fun time, Pidge. We'll stay in the london house and go to the opera and concerts, we'll host parties and go to balls. It's a splendid way to spend the spring," Allura said gleefully, clasping her hands together.
Katie nodded before taking a sip of her wine. Normally she wasn't afraid of things, but the thought of facing the ton made her increasingly nervous. She wasn't a fan of large social gatherings and particularly disliked how vain and vapid society could be when they all came together. She had found that in small settings, society included mostly intelligent and charismatic people. However, when faced with a ball and the thought of looking for a suitable suitor, they all became increasingly shallow, feeding off of their own insecurities.
"So," Katie began, turning the conversation to a new topic, "Matt, why didn't we get a letter from you announcing your arrival?"
Matt cut into his steak happily as he replied, grateful to have a different topic than the previous one. Nobody seemed eager to push him to marry anyone any time soon. "By the time I received my orders to go home, what with the war ending, everything happened so quickly that it would have been pointless for me to write. They told us we were shipping out the next morning. If I had sent a letter, it probably wouldn't get here until tomorrow as it is."
"They sent you so suddenly? How strange," Alfor chimed in, his curiosity piqued. "I wonder why."
Matt shrugged. "I think they were unsure about whether or not it would actually end, which is why they kept us on for so long. But once they knew we wouldn't be coming back, they were happy to send us on our way."
Allura smiled at Matt, content to have her cousin home safely. "Well, we are grateful that you are back, and in one piece," she stated happily.
"Speaking of being in one piece," Matt interjected. "I have been thinking about the officers downstairs. What is the best way for me to help with the situation? Now that I'm here, I would like to do anything that I can to help them in their recovery. After all, I have been fortunate enough to return without any injury, and those men haven't all been so lucky," he continued softly.
Katie could see the sadness in his eyes when he spoke of the officers in their convalescent home. After all, the men who returned with so few injuries were few and far between. And they were lucky compared to the men who didn't return at all. "A lot of them could use some companionship," she replied. "There's one officer who is waiting to determine if his eyes will heal from the mustard gas that hit him in the trenches. He just needs someone to talk to."
"Oh yes, I think I've met him!" Allura chimed in with a smile. "Captain McClain?"
"That's him," Katie replied. "I can introduce you to him, if you want me to. Then he won't be hassling me to talk to him every time I start a shift. Speaking of which," Pidge said with a glance at the clock, "I better go change. I promised Major Kogane that I would be back as soon as dinner finished." Katie stood up with the rest of the family. Matt hugged his sister goodbye before sending her off to finish her shift. He planned to go down later and see if he could do anything to help the men downstairs.
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"Captain McClain, I would like to introduce you to my brother, Major Holt. He's just returned from France. Matt, this is Captain McClain. He's a fighter pilot for the Royal Air Force," Katie introduced her brother to Captain that had been stealing all her attention for the last six days with a hint of nervousness. After all, what if they didn't get along?
"Captain McClain, it's an honor to meet a fellow soldier," Matt stated warmly, shaking the pilot's hand in the process. "How long has my sister been 'treating' you?"
The young pilot grinned widely. "Your sister has been refusing to administer any kind of treatment other than scolding. She insists that it's the doctor's orders, but I know that she actually just hates me," he teased.
Katie could see by the quirk of his smile that he was joking, but she couldn't prevent the blush that crept onto her face. "I have not!" she insisted. "I have been nothing but courteous to you since you arrived, Captain. But, if that's how you see it than I can ask another nurse to take over your assignment for me," she threatened archly.
Matt began to laugh. "Our Pidge is a spitfire, if you can't tell."
"Pidge?" The officer asked, having never heard her given name or any sort of nickname for the nurse that had continued to drift to his bedside each day, if to do little more than offer comfort and consolation.
"Don't you dare!" Katie hissed at her brother, smacking his arm.
"You see, Captain-"
"Matthew!"
"She's a terrible shot. Or, she was, at least," Matt insisted with a wide grin. "She has improved a lot in the last ten years."
The pilot's face lit up. "I would love to see that!"
Katie's head whipped in his direction at his choice of words. See that.
He would love to see that.
She wondered again if his sight would ever actually come back to him.
Captain McClain continued speaking, as though he was completely unaware of the implications of his words. "Actually, Major Holt. I was wondering if you would be able to assist me with something tomorrow. Your sister is always too 'busy' to take me out for a walk - "
"You've never asked!" Katie interjected loudly, her hands resting on her hips in indignation.
"-and I could really use some fresh air. Would you be willing to take me out for a bit?"
The Major nodded, his gaze flickering to the blush that coated his sister's cheeks, matching the pout that lingered from the pilot's accusation. "I'm happy to help, Captain. Should I grab you after lunch?"
"Sure thing."
"Excuse me," Katie interjected. "He's my patient! Shouldn't you be asking for my permission?"
"Forgive me, Nurse Holt. How could I be so careless?" the pilot teased, his tone taking on a suave charm. "With your permission, dearest, kindest, most beautiful Nurse Holt, may I be given permission to take a short walk outside, that I might compare the cold air outside to the warmth of your manners, and be better equipped to appreciate your breathtaking charm?" he requested flirtatiously.
Matt balked at his blatant flirtation. Obviously, the Captain was quite the charmer. His sister had never shown any interest in men, but this man seemed quite persistent and he seemed capable of getting a rise out her at any given moment. Their walk would certainly be interesting.
Katie's eyes narrowed as she stared the Captain down. He couldn't see her expression, but if he could have he would have withered away at the sharp expression on her face. She took a deep breath before responding, trying desperately to compose herself. "Fine. Just see that you don't overexert yourself. And you," she stated, turning her attention to her brother, "keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't get hurt or anything," she insisted.
"Wow. If I didn't know any better, Nurse, I would think that you actually cared about me."
The nurse turned on her heels sharply before calling over her shoulder, "Then it's a good thing you don't know anything."
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"So," Matt began cautiously as he walked along the gravel path that ran behind the main estate with his assigned charge. "You seem to have a gift for getting a rise out of my sister."
Captain McClain, who had been bundled up in warmer clothes by a medical officer before being ushered outside with a cane just a few moments earlier, couldn't help the grin that rested on his face. He liked being outside, and he was intrigued by the notion of getting to know the brother of his favorite nurse. "She reacts very easily. I like to hear her reactions," he replied simply.
He could feel the cold settling around him. November had just begun and he could feel winter exhaling it's icy breath, testing the waters as it reached down into his bones.
Matt laughed as he continued walking, adjusting his normally brisk pace to accommodate the slower gait of his charge. "You like her, don't you?" he asked softly. The Major had never been one to beat around the bush or avoid difficult topics, especially when it was related to his sister's happiness.
The pilot stopped walking, nearly dropping his cane in the process. "Is it that obvious?" he asked with a wry smile.
"Just to people with eyes. And ears," Matt added with an easy shrug, his attention focused on the man next to him.
Captain McClain nodded slowly, his face tilted towards the ground. "It's not really fair of me, I guess. But she was there when I first woke up here. I could hear her giving orders and helping everyone. I don't really know what she looks like, but I've decided that whatever her appearance, that is what angels are supposed to look like."
"Why wouldn't that be fair?" Matt asked curiously. He could that the pilot was interested in his sister, and his description had won him points in the Major's books.
He exhaled in reply, a frown settling on his face as he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. Grimly, he handed it to the Major. "Read it, I don't mind."
Slowly, Matt opened what he assumed was a letter, the paper wrinkling in the corners from where his fingers had touched it. He read each line carefully.
A moment of silence ensued as he pored over the contents spilled across the page. His heart constricted painfully as he contemplated the suffering the young man must have been through. How would he feel if he had lost Pidge?
"I'm sorry for your loss, Captain," Matt uttered softly as he placed the letter back in the pilot's hands.
"Thank you," he answered softly, leaning on his cane for support. "That's why I need to get these bandages off. I need to see my mother and my sister."
Matt swallowed thickly. Losing family was painful under any circumstance. But to be separated during the loss added a layer of difficulty that he would never understand. "Captain-"
"Lance."
"Pardon?"
"Just call me Lance," he insisted as he replaced the letter in his pocket. His voice was subdued and somber. "Now do you see why I think your sister is an angel sent from God?" Lance asked, his voice cracking with emotion. He had hardly allowed himself to think about the letter received, instead choosing to focus his time and attention on the little nurse that changed his bandages and checked his morphine drip.
It was much easier to live in a world where his life was centered on wooing a woman than to face an existence filled with the absence of his two older brothers.
He prayed quietly in his bed each night, silently calling out to God, wondering if just his family had been abandoned, or if the entire continent had been forsaken.
Always, before sunrise, his angel would answer his prayers.
"Yes. Yes, I can see why. She was sent to you when you needed her the most," Matt replied with a low whistle. He placed his hands absently in his pockets before continuing. "What will you do when the bandages come off tomorrow?" Matt wondered if he even wanted to hear the answer that the young officer was sure to give.
Lance licked his lips before letting the words out slowly.
"Go home."
