Dear darlin' surprised to hear from me?
Bet you're sittin' drinkin' coffee, yawnin' sleepily
How you gonna see me now- Alice Cooper
Chapter 2
Berlin-1956
Ron woke slowly and immediately realized his mistake; he'd fallen asleep in the chair. Too many years spent jumping out of aircraft caused normal aches and pains to be compounded, and spending the night leaned to the side in a chair was the last thing he should have done.
Rolling his neck he focused his mind on what his plan should be for finding Kellie. He knew, on some primal level that it had been her at the train station. He just couldn't figure out why, if she had been alive all this time, she'd never tried to find him.
Last night he'd fallen asleep thinking of their time in Tocca. What a fool he'd been? He'd been handed a gift in that woman and he'd pissed it away. How much different would his life had been? Would he have stayed in the Army? Probably not, he'd have been like the other officers in Easy company and left to go home and make babies.
Smirking he picked up his hat, oh and what wonderful babies they could have made. For the first time in twelve years he stepped out the door for work with a smile on his face.
Renee sat at her desk staring at the paper in front of her really not seeing it. Her mind wouldn't focus on her work; instead she tried in a very small way to remember the past.
She knew that she couldn't push too hard, or another migraine would send her crying to a dark room. Yet, there was something there just under the surface that she couldn't reach.
Smiling she thought about the man she'd seen. He had been extremely handsome, tall with dark hair just beginning to show a little gray at the temples. He had been…what was the word she was looking for? Disturbing, interesting or dangerous? Ah, now the later word definitely described him. The way he'd moved was more like a predator than a human, his natural grace showed in every step he'd taken. She also found part of her thrilled at the thought of him pursuing her. Shaking her head she could only wonder at where that thought came from?
He'd also appeared desperate. She'd seen his face when he finally spotted her; he had been shocked, almost as if he'd seen a ghost. When Gunter had begun to pull her away she had been overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness and every part of her being longed to run toward him, not away.
Looking down at her hand she ran a finger along the faint scar on it. The scar itself went much higher than her hand, but she had no idea where it had come from. The edges had been rough and still raw looking twelve years ago and Gunter told her when he found her it already had been there. Where had she been that would cause a scar like that? She'd seen others with scars resembling it, civilians caught in bombing raids during the war. Was that what had happened to her? Had seen been in a bombing raid or was there something else.
Running her finger across it again she squeezed her eyes tight and tried to remember…
Aldbourne-1943
Leaning up against the wall she took a deep drag off her cigarette and tried to let the kinks in her back relax. They had arrived late yesterday and now she found herself surrounded by chaos. Not to mention the thing she hated the most; paratroopers. Shaking her head she could only wonder about what exactly she'd done to deserve her own version of hell on earth.
"So what do you think of the new place. At least it's cooler than Italy."
Casting a quick glance at the person next to her she passed the cigarette over and shrugged. "Yeah cooler all right, but I actually would have preferred to remain with Patton. At least the armor guys aren't this full of themselves."
"Yeah, but I never saw any tanker that filled out a uniform as nicely as they do." The giggle that followed the statement caused her to frown. Sometimes she forgot that not everyone felt the same about men as her.
Sandra was still young and had only been with the team since August. She'd missed the actual invasion of Sicily, but she'd seen more than her fair share of action since that time. Neither the Italians nor Germans gave up ground easily.
Finally pulling herself out of her musing, Kellie reached over and grabbed the cigarette back and asked what was so funny.
Sandra sighed and closed her eyes. "You. I mean in the last few months that I've known you; I've hardly ever seen you smile or have any fun. Seriously what happened that was so bad that it made you hate your life?"
Kellie kept her thoughts to herself but she knew she didn't hate her life, but when the love of your life walks out on you and leaves you a wreaked mess, it changes your perspective. However since she knew Sandra was waiting on an answer she gave a short one. "I don't hate my life."
Sandra opened her eyes and looked at Kellie. "Yeah right, you could fool me. But hey since I know that's all I'm going to get, let me change the subject. How's the arm?"
Looking down at her right arm she wiggled her fingers. She'd been hit by shrapnel two weeks ago and it had taken multiple stitches to close the wound that ran from the back of her hand up to her elbow. "Well the fingers still work, even though the tips go numb from time to time, so I guess I'm good. I'm a little sore today, too much lift and pulling. You think you could change the bandage before you leave?"
Sandra turned her body and picked up Kellie's hand studying the bandage intently. "Sure, on one condition."
Kellie didn't like the way this sounded but shrugged, "sure what's the condition?"
"You go to the pub with me and the other girls tonight." Holding up her hand to stop the tirade she knew Kellie was about to unleash. "We are also taking both doctors with us, so you will be protected from the evil paratrooper males. Who knows, maybe just once you'll have some fun?"
Taking her hand back from Sandra she pushed back to her feet. "Fine, let's get this over with."
Turning she walked back into the clinic with Sandra giggling and clapping in joy behind her.
Cocking her head to the side she tried to see if the uniform looked in reality as wrinkled as she thought it did? Nope, not too bad and while she knew Sandra would not be happy at her choice of outfits she really could care less. Tonight she was going into battle and she wanted to have on her armor.
"Oh my God you have got to be kidding me? Seriously Kellie, I know you have normal clothes around here somewhere."
Casting a smug look over her shoulder she watched as Sandra scooted things aside and flopped down on her bed. "Actually I do, however you said we were just going out for drinks. You know just us girls and the doctors, and since the doctors don't really expect anything and I know you girls don't, I don't see a problem with what I'm wearing."
She saw Sandra stick her tongue out at her before she turned her attention back to the mirror. Now if she could just get her hair to lay right…
"Holy crap, you can smile and who the hell is he. Man, he is hot!"
Kellie spun around to see Sandra staring at the photograph in her hand and then staring up at her, comparing her against the woman in the picture. How could she have been so stupid as to leave that laying out? Being around all these paratroopers was making her mind soft.
Reaching over she gently pulled the photo out of Sandra's hand. Looking down she briefly smiled before opening the desk and putting the photo away. "Well as you can see from the picture, I can smile; I've just not had a lot of reason to do so lately. As for whom he is, it really doesn't matter anymore."
She saw Sandra purse her lips and knew what was coming. "Oh, I'm sorry I…when…when did he die?"
Rolling her eyes Kellie took a deep breath and slowly released it. "Let me say again, that he has been gone a long time and it really doesn't matter anymore."
Sandra held up her hands, "you're right, none of my business, but just let me say…" she winced at the glare she was currently receiving from Kellie but finished any way. "The two of you really made a handsome couple."
Kellie glanced at the desk and thought about what Sandra had said. She hadn't been the first person to ever say that they had looked wonderful together, so maybe it was time to bury the hatchet. "Thank you. That's nice of you to say."
Sandra smiled and jumped to her feet. "Okay then, since you have shown you can smile and it's about that time, let's head to the bar."
Shaking her head Kellie picked up her purse and shut the door behind her, honestly how bad could it be?
Berlin
Wincing she clenched her hands together and willed the pain to stop. For a very brief moment she had just the tease of a memory in her grasp, only to have it fade way. She hadn't tried to remember anything past Gunter in years; the headaches that came were just too painful.
But something about today was different. Today she could hear the voices in her head, what they were talking about didn't make sense, but a voice in her mind was a huge improvement.
As the pain began to lessen she realized that if she took her time and tried a little each day, those voices, which seemed like a bad radio connection, would eventually become clearer and she would remember her past.
Ah, yes but have you ever wondered why you couldn't remember? Just think about what horrible thing could have happened that you don't want to remember.
Frowning she realized that it was a great possibility that something so horrible had happened that her mind couldn't deal with it and that's why she couldn't remember. No, she had to remember, she'd been living like this for twelve years and she wanted that missing part of her life back. She could only hope that Gunter would understand.
Ron hung up the phone with a smirk on his face. He'd cajoled and finally threatened but the embassy had promised to look into the woman he'd described. Now he felt like he was getting somewhere.
Yet, that little voice continued to nag at him about what he would do if he ever found her. The first would be a very long list of questions, and the top question would be why she never tried to find him. Well face it, you weren't exactly warm and loving the last time you saw each other.
Rubbing his head he wished he could disagree with that voice but couldn't. The last time they'd been together…what he'd said…what she'd said…they were terrible to each other. That's what they both got for thinking there would be time after the war to make amends.
Ron promised himself, that if he found her, he would do everything in his power to correct those words and make up for the last twelve years.
Aldbourne
She was relieved to see the pub was packed with not only other American nurses, but British nurses as well. This overcrowding of females had allowed her to take a seat in the corner and watch without being asked anything.
For most of the night this had worked and she'd enjoyed the company of the two doctors as they spoke of their wives and the impending delivery of the first child. Sandra and the other nurses with them had all been asked to dance several times and right now she was feeling good about the whole night.
"Okay so what suddenly caused that smile to grace your lips?"
Kellie pulled herself out of the internal monologue and let the smile slide from her face. "What smile? I wasn't aware that I was smiling."
Sandra shook her head, "are you ever going to dance? I mean there have been several men stop by and ask and I'll you've done is glare at them with those freaky ice cold eyes."
"Ouch, well thanks Sandra. That has to be the first time anyone has ever referred to my eyes as freaky. In fact I can remember a time when someone said…"
"I'm sorry to interrupt ladies, but I wonder if you might like to dance?"
Both Kellie and Sandra turned to stare at the man who'd just spoken, but before either of them could speak one of the other nurses spoke up for them.
"Oh you really should take Kellie for a dance; she's been sitting in the corner all night."
Kellie snapped her head around and glared at the girl who in that moment didn't appear to be the least bit concerned but merely smiled at her innocently. Next to her Sandra had found her voice as well.
"Oh yes, Kellie is definitely the one you should dance with." Giving the Kellie a hard nudge to the ribs Sandra continued to smile, "get up Kellie, can't you see the nice man is waiting?"
Kellie turned back to the man standing next to the table to tell him her friends were mistaken, when he held out his hand in a very gentlemen like manner.
"Come on Kellie, I don't bite, well unless you want me to."
Reaching out she took his hand and allowed him to pull her out on the dance floor. When they moved away from the table he leaned slightly and spoke closer to her ear. "Well I know your name is Kellie, I'm Buck Compton and I'm really glad you agreed to dance I've been watching you most of the night."
Kellie pulled back from him and made sure there was space between them which caused Buck to frown. "Well Buck, thank you for asking me; however I just want to warn you that I'm not looking for a husband or boyfriend."
Huh, he'd never had a woman shoot him down before he even got started but he would play along. Searching for a neutral topic he noticed that the hand he was holding was mostly covered in a bandage. Pulling it up between them he raised his eyebrows and nodded toward it. "So what happened?"
Kellie glanced at the hand he was holding between them and shrugged. "Shrapnel wound. Not very nice to look at so I just keep it wrapped."
Buck nodded and pulled her hand closer to his chest. Bending his head he placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand, then looked up and smiled. "Hmm, seems I remember my mother always saying that a kiss would make anything better."
Shaking her head Kellie couldn't stop the small smile from gracing her lips. "Well I have to admit, the nice gesture if anything made it feel a tiny bit better."
Buck's grin spread and behind her she could hear the very loud whispers of her friends all remarking on what a miracle it was that she smiled.
"So your friends are a very interesting group. Why are they so surprised you smiled? I mean you have a wonderful smile."
Glancing over her shoulder she sighed and turned her attention back to Buck. "Well that's because they rarely see it. It wouldn't be very good for a nurse to go around being cheerful all the time now would it, especially when we are at war."
"Well I never thought of that way, but like I said, it's a shame a woman as pretty as you let's that smile go to waste."
Kellie's smile slipped away quickly and the frown took its place. The music thankfully had stopped and she was able to pull away from him. "Look, save your pretty speeches for these silly girls. I've heard it all and you're wasting your time. Thanks for the dance."
Buck stood watching as she walked away. What had he done? He was being honest when he'd said she was a pretty woman and when she smiled, it lit up her whole face. Turning to head back to his table he decided he wasn't giving up that easily.
Kellie returned to the table and grabbed up her drink without sitting back down. Swallowing the whiskey in one gulp she slammed the glass on the table and glared at each of the females in turn.
"Well ladies, thank you all for putting me in an uncomfortable situation and if you are done with tonight's entertainment, I'm going home."
Sandra jumped to her feet and quickly tried to follow Kellie and explain. "Honestly Kellie we just wanted you to have some fun…you've just worked so hard. I mean come on have you looked at yourself lately?"
Spinning on her heel she started to say something and quickly closed her mouth. She knew Sandra was right, see did look exhausted but hell they all did. Shaking her head, she turned and headed out the door hoping that the cool evening would cool her temper.
"Hey Kellie wait up a minute."
Turning she groaned when she saw who was following her. "Seriously do you not take a polite 'no' as an answer?"
Buck held up a hand in submission. "Hey I just wanted to walk you home. I didn't mean anything by that."
Sighing she shook her head, "you seem like a really nice person so I'm going to try and get this through your head. Leave me alone. I don't want or need your help."
Before she could step away from him he grabbed her arm and looked down at her. She saw the pity in his eyes and hated him for it.
"Who was he?"
Jerking her arm free she stepped away from him, "a paratrooper." Moving quickly she put as much distance as she could between them. Let him make of that what he would.
Buck didn't know how long he'd stood looking down the road at where she'd gone. The gentle touch of a hand on his arm drew him back to the present.
"Don't take it personal. I mean she kind of treats everyone that way, you know, pushing them away I mean."
Buck looked at the woman and frowned. "So do you know what happened?"
"No, and up until this happened I honestly thought he'd died and that was why she was crushed, but obviously he is somewhere alive and kicking."
"Hmm, so it would seem. She seems pretty firm on hating all paratroopers. Guess that's going to leave me out in the cold."
Sandra grinned, "maybe not. Maybe you just need to show her that not all paratroopers are like him, whoever he may be."
Buck nodded, yeah he could handle that.
