"Jemima Liegbott?" I looked behind me while I was in the nurses tent, my hair in a long dutch braid, the brown shades were light in the sun that was in the room as I looked to see why I was called, and who was calling me. This was my third day at Camp Toccoa, and after getting settled in with the camp and my position as a nurse, Joe was off with Easy Company as one of their privates, having me hardly see him. But we would smile and nod at each other, not having time to talk with one another and see how the other was doing with their day because of our busy schedule.
Two men came into the nurses cabin, which was filled with cots and other medical equipment that was set up. I met a couple of the nurses already, some of them were just as young as me and just as wide-eyed about the whole situation we were in. The two men weren't privates, but they weren't captains. Not from what I could see.
"Yes sir." I replied, seeing the both of them stop in front of me and give me a short salute. I saluted back, feeling a bit off since I was in my nursing uniform and they were in their training clothes. One of them was taller, red hair trimmed to the side and a gentle face that had crystal blue eyes. The other had black hair and brown eyes, though his face looked a bit rougher and more intense.
"I'm Dick Winters, 2nd lieutenant of Easy Company. This is Lewis Nixon, also 2nd lieutenant." The redhead introduced himself and the other man, having me smile at the both of them.
"How do you do." I replied back to the both of them.
"We were told to bring you to see Colonel Sink." He explained to me in a soft tone, not even making me feel threatened at all. I took in a deep breath, nodding my head and then smoothing out my uniform before I followed them both out of the nurse's cabin and into the bright sunlight. Why would Colonel Sink want to see me now? I never met the man, but I did hear that he was a tough Colonel to deal with in the first place. I was only here to be a nurse and to learn the ropes of a nurse, that was basically it. Did he know about my epilepsy? Was he going to kick me out of the army because of it? What in the hell?
"So, you're Joseph Liebgott's sister?" Nixon asked me aloud, his voice was gruffer that Winter's voice as I walked in between the both of them as if they were escorting me while we were talking across the lawn.
"HIs twin sister." I replied back to him calmly, having me now think that this has something to do with Joe and how we were siblings? Was it allowed to have siblings in the army? Was that even a rule?
"HIs twin, eh? You do kind of look like him." Nixon commented casually, having me grin from hearing now smooth it sounded coming from him.
"We have the same nose." I commented aloud in a smirk, having me then hear Winters chuckle.
"And apparently the same sense of humor." Winters added, having me smile even more as we were heading over to Colonel Cabin. I looked around me for a second, having me see plenty of other new recruits with their companies and all of them going through their drills and rundowns. Was Joe in these somewhere with his own Company? I couldn't find him with my eyes, having me a bit worried as I looked forward once more when we were getting close to the cabin.
"If you don't me asking, sir, is there something that I did?" I asked Winters aloud in wonder and with a hint of worry in my voice.
"I doubt you're in trouble since this is only your second day." Nixon answered for him as we then approached the porch to the cabin, having me still think about the reason why I would be there. My mind was going at 50 miles per hours as they opened the door for me, having me slowly walk in with my hands behind my back and my eyes in front of me. I was inside the Colonel's Cabin, walking in a bit and then following Winters and Nixon as they lead me down the aisle to the other end of the cabin that had the door. I knew behind the door was Colonel Sink, and knowing that made me think that I was about to into the Principal's office at my school for doing something that I might have done.
Nixon knocked on the door, having us hear nothing but then someone asking us to come in. He opened the door for me, having me walk in and see Colonel Sink behind his own desk, writing papers and signing documents. I felt afraid then, not knowing what to do or say.
"Nurse Jemima Liegbott, as requested sir." Winters said aloud to Sink. Sink looked up at me, dropping his pin and then folding his hands on the desk.
"Please, have a seat Nurse Liebgott." He said to me in a kind voice, having me carefully walk over to the seat in front of me and sit down slowly, keeping my eyes on him.
"I called you here to discuss something that we found on your application coming into the army." He explained, having me freeze in my spot and watch him before he answered. He knew: my epilepsy. He knew about it and was going to punish me for not clearly stating it. I thought I did, also getting it cleared from the army physicians.
"It says here that you speak German." I sighed in relief in front of him, feeling as though some kind of weight was taken off of my shoulders.
"Yes sir." I replied automatically, seeing him looked down at the pile of papers that were in on his desk.
"You learned the language?" he asked me, having me see that the papers that were on his desk were about me: me application and my transcripts.
"From my parents sir. They're from Austria by birth." I explained to him as he then nodded his head, clearly liking what he was hearing. He then got up from his spot at the desk, walking around it and placing his hands behind his back and he got over to stand right in front of me, though my own hands were folded on my lap and my eyes never leaving his.
"According to your records you are being trained here as a nurse, which is fine by me because we are in dire need of more nurses. However, because you are completely fluent in German and we have two other German-speaking soldiers in Easy Company, including your brother Private Joseph Liebgott, I am going to consider moving you to Easy Company as their translator for negotiations and affairs." I looked at him in shock now, thinking that something like this is not possible for a female in the army. Did they want me as a translator? They had two others in the Company who can speak German, including my own twin brother. But why me?
"You want me as the sole translator, sir?" I tried to word it out to make sure that it was correct. Sink nodded his head.
"Not only as our translator, but a translator that is also a medic." I was more confused about the whole thin now as he went on, "You are here to be a nurse, that much is going to be certain. But I did look at the application and references that came with your paperwork from your previous hospital that you worked at, and they highly recommended you beyond the line of basic nursing work." I knew my old job would want to say that about me, made me kind of hate them at the moment for being out in front of Colonel Sink and being appreciated. If there was one thing that I did hate too: being in the limelight. I was never one for gloating about what I have done in my life.
"I would be honored to have that opportunity sir." I thanked him, not wanting to be rude in front of him and the other men that were still there in the office.
"I am highly considering you to be one of our combat medics, since we have two others in Easy Company, but for right now I want to see what you can do as one of our nurses. if you meet my expectations, then I can have you trained with Easy Company." There was a small sense of accomplishment that was coming over me from hearing this from Colonel Sink, of all people. He wanted me to a combat nurse for Easy Company, but he was not going to let me get there easily. This was basically a challenge, a huge one that I was not going to look down from or turn away from.
"Thank you, sir." I thanked him with a small smile on my face.
"I will have 2nd Lieutenant Winters check in on you and make sure you are doing well with the nursing training. And if you are convincing enough for him, then you can be promoted to combat nurse training." Colonel explained to me, having me nod my head. This was going to be new to me since I was only here for two days and I was still trying to find my own footing throughout the whole nursing situation. Was this moving too fast for me? Was I ready for this new obstacle? Why wouldn't I?
"Yes sir."
"Where are you from?" Alice asked me as we were standing side by side in the nursing cabin, dressing some beds before we were going to go to another meeting with the other nurses. The sun was going down on Camp Toccoa, and I was already down with my training session for the day with some of the other nurses that were new like me. We talked about the dressing protocol for wounds that were both minor and major and how to treat them effectively: child's play for me.
"San Francisco." I replied back to her, looking over at her to my left and seeing her golden hair in a tight bun behind her, as well as my own hair was in a bun since that was called for in nurses training. But some of my own bangs were down and near my eyes since they were too short for being in my high bun.
"I have never been there, though I wish I could go," Alice explained to me," I'm just from Salem, Oregon. Where it rains all the time." I grinned from hearing her childish nature with her kind face and heart. Alice was just as young as I was, a beautiful young woman who looked like an angel amongst the sea of men here in Camp Toccoa. I could already see some of the men look at her with a glint in their eye, having me look plain in comparison to her though her heart was far too good and kind.
"So you wanted to get our of the rain by joining the army?" I asked her in curiosity as I turned down another bed next to her, Alice fluffing the pillows and pulling the sheets tight to make it look like they were in tip top shape.
"Pretty much, and my mother is convinced that I can find a husband here in the army," Alice explained some more, having me hear her giggle from the mere thought and I smiled, getting the pillow ready on the cot that I was fixing and then looking over my shoulder at her, "Honestly, my own father was embarrassed that my mother thought of that for me."
"You don't have a boyfriend yourself?" I asked her in curiosity, really thinking that she was far too pretty and kind to be single.
"I just haven't found the right one for me. There are no guys that really have caught my eye yet. And who knows, maybe there's a guy here for me, and you too." Alice suggested, shrugging to me as she pointed at me from the last part. I shook my head, waving her off in a playful way.
"Doubtful." I replied, seeing him look at me in confusion.
"Oh, come on, Jemima. You're pretty, very much so and I think you're just as kind. There must be some guy here that would be worth your while." Alice suggested some more, having me still think it was beyond crazy as we met up in the middle of the rows of beds.
"It won't happen here, Alice. As much as it sounds great, I doubt my brother would want me to have some guy fawn over me here. If that were to happen, then he would end up with a fat lip thanks to Joe." I explained to her in a honest tone. It was true: my own brother would look out for me to the point of any other guy who would look my way would run in the other direction. Sometimes I didn't mind it, but other times it was a burden. But before Alice would argue with me, we heard the door opening at the front of the cabin and we both looked, having me see someone walk in with a private uniform on, but there was a medical cross on the arm. It was a combat medic, someone whom I haven't met yet and he was looking right at me.
"Hello, sir." Alice said aloud atomically, having me only watch as the person walked forward and having me notice that it was hard to see his face since the light was shining right behind him and blocking out the sight of his face. But as soon as he was close enough, I saw his face finally. He had black thin hair, thin lips, and dark inviting eyes that had a small shade of bue. Something about seeing how he was looking at the both of us, almost as if he was too shy to be in front of us, had me more intrigued by him and drawn to him. The other men here, including my brother, were far more confident and brooding when it came to looks and how they carried themselves. But this man and I only just saw him and not spoke to him, carried himself in another way.
"Hello, ma'am." He said to Alice, a think Louisiana accent was coming from his thin lips have it sound to low and so soothing in the cabin. He then looked over at me, having me suddenly smile at him because him looking at me want to smile.
"I was wonderin' if I could grab some supplies for my combat medic training, along with Private Spina from Easy Company." He explained to the both of me though most of the time he was looking at me as if he suddenly got lost in a busy street. I nodded my head, folding my hands in front of me to show that I too was soothing to talk to.
"Of course, I can show you if you want." I said without even thinking about, without even having a moment to consider helping it. Both the man and Alice looked at me in a bit of a shock on their face. Though there was a look of happiness within her smile at me, having me grimace a bit on the inside and wonder if I was going to be teased later.
"Thank you, ma'am." He thanked me, having me grin at him as he walked over to me, following me as I lead him back to the end of the chain where we had our supplies. For the first time in my life, being in front of a man who looked pretty harmless and less of a threat seas scary to me. Something about his eyes, how he was holding himself in his stance, made him feel safe and that nothing was going to be bad around him. I never felt that around any other guy, and I just barely talked to him.
"What is it that you need?" I asked him politely as we were back by the shelves that held all of our supplies. He looked at the shelf as if he was a child lost in a store: wide eyes and with confusion. It must have looked too much for him, but I waited patiently for him as he was trying to find the right tools and supplies.
"I…huh…need some bandages and plasma." He explained to me, having me gracefully walk over to the shelves that had both of them and pulling them out, walking over and holding them out in front of me to him, as if I was having a peace offering.
"Here." I said to him, seeing him open the satchel that he was wearing and them take the items carefully from my hands. Maybe he thought that doing it carefully would be kind enough.
"Thank you, Ma'am." He thanked me, a small smile on his face as he said this to me, though I shook my head at him.
"You can call me Jemima." I explained, then cringing a bit. I was never once not ashamed of my name and how it sounded, but why was I ashamed of it now?
"Jemima?" He asked me, his voice sounded a bit higher than usual, as if he was trying to say it right. I sighed, nodding my head.
"Yes, but you can call me Jenny if you want to." I suggested to him, then seeing a small smile on his face. That smile lit up the whole room from what I saw, having me suddenly feel so warm all over my insides that it made me lose my breath for a second. That smile, to me, was, in fact, pure satisfaction that he must of felt then and there.
"I'm Eugene." He said to me suddenly, having me smile widely at him as I held out my hand for him to shake. He gently took it, shaking it and having me fee as though I just made a new friend.
"It's nice to meet you." I said to him, seeing that the smile never left his face. As soon as we pulled our hands away, I saw his hands got the strap on his satchel and clutch the strap tightly like a death grip. It was like he was holding it like a lifejacket, making it his sense of reality as I folded my hands again in front of him, There was never one guy that did this to me, nor acted like this to me. It must have been the same way for him, since he shifted from one foot to another carefully like he was on broken glass. I then looked over my shoulder at the shelf again, trying to get myself back on track with what I was here to do.
"What else can I do for you?"
