Note: Love to all of you. I really am excited that you guys like this. I don't like this chapter as much as the first but it's pretty good. By the way I shamelessly stole from the English Patient here. But first a short reaction…
Joanne looked over at Collins tears in her eyes. Her friend was staring at the ground while Angel rubbed his back gently. Could any of it be true? A part of her wanted to refuse it. There was no way that people could have lived previous lives. It just didn't make sense. And technically if they did, to find that other soul time and time again…was practically impossible. It couldn't be true.
If only the story hadn't made her feel so empty.
"Baby…" Maureen whispered in Joanne's ear. "You wanna go?"
Her girlfriend shook her head. "No…I'm ok. It just feels…too real."
Collins' eyes met her and he nodded. "Too real." Angel kissed his cheek reassuringly. What the drag queen wanted to know was what happened to Ty and Josephine. Just as the woman began to describe Ty, she knew it was Collins. And she loved him no matter what life he was in. With or without her.
The gypsy woman smiled gently. "That is because it is real."
"What happened? To them?" Mimi asked cautiously. Her eyes were long puffy from crying.
Roger watched his girlfriend with suspicion. "You're buying this? All of you?" Mark raised his head; eyes were also filled with tears. The rocker rolled his eyes. "It's just a story. She could tell what Collins and Joanne were like from just meeting them. She made it all up!" Roger said throwing his arms into the air.
"Shall I continue with another tale? Perhaps then you will believe, Roger," The woman said folding her hand civilly.
"Please do…" Mark said quietly. "Who's next?"
"Russell and Melody."
Winter 1944 Belgium
"10,000," Dr. Tilsdale muttered under his breath. "Did you hear those statistics, Melody? 10,000…all of them dead. I don't even want to know the number of wounded. Thank the good Lord they didn't call us in to help." The doctor put his feet up on the antique ottoman, which matched the Belgium décor of the grand household.
Melody tucked a few pieces of her brown curly hair into her nurse's hat trying not to be…too angry. "Course. Why should we ever help the thousands of wounded when we have generals with corns to take care of?" She said loudly with no fear of a reaction. Melody was known for being a loud mouth. The other nurses reminded the woman that with her attitude she would never get a husband. But this didn't really seem to bother her.
Dr. Tilsdale frowned deeply. "We must protect those who are the most important to the war!"
"The generals that sit on their glorified asses while the soldiers are dying in the bitter cold?" Melody asked with a sweet grin on her face.
"Miss Johan! You are on shaky ground!" Dr. Tilsdale argued his olive face turning into a deep red. A simple nurse mouthing off like that? To him? Sure, he heard about her mouth but…in the few months they were stationed together…somehow he managed to avoid it.
Melody saluted the doctor. "Pardon me, doctor. Just the loose tongue of a wild woman in the war to end all wars. I'll have to lie down until I come to my senses." With that, the nurse turned and walked out of the living room. She didn't have to deal with this. Even though she was technically in the army, the war was too hard, too deep for her superiors to do anything to her. Also, she was a damn good nurse. They wouldn't touch her.
She traveled through the Belgium mansion paying no attention to its lofty decorations. They were too over the top for her liking. Melody just preferred that the rich spread their money around with the poor. A concept that would probably send her family into a coma. That was one reason why she joined up. The prospect of never seeing her lofty family again was quite an exciting notion.
With a deep breath, she pushed open the side door of the kitchen and stood out in the snow. It was up to her ankles now. Melody couldn't help but imagine what it was like to fight in these conditions. To fight in any condition. The more and more that Melody thought about it, the more that she hated this. She knew they had to…Hitler and all. But she had to wonder if they're was a better way to solve all this. Maybe play a game of checkers?
Melody pushed her hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out a cigarette. She placed it carefully on her lips and then lit it up with an eager match. When the wisps of smoke hit her lungs she moaned in pleasure. There were really few things left in this war that gave Melody happiness. Her sneak smokes were one of them.
"Hey…can I bum one off you?" A voice said from beside her.
The nurse screamed and put her hand to her chest. Sitting in the snow, only a foot away from her, was an American solider. His dirty blonde hair stuck out from his helmet. It hadn't been washed in ages. His lips were chapped, old skin peeling off to reveal the new. And his deep green eyes were exhausted. But this wasn't what caught Melody's attention at first. It was his leg. His uniform had been pulled back to expose his bloody and ravaged limb. It looked like someone had taken a knife to it in many places. New colors lining its wounds hinting at a repeated infection. And it might have had a hint of frostbite.
"Mary, mother of God!" Melody whispered to herself. "You can have more than a cigarette. Let me help you inside." She dropped to his level but the solider took a hold of her arm.
"You can't…you can't," He said breathlessly.
Melody raised her brow. "I can and I will. It's my job to fix up people and I don't take lightly to those people being stubborn."
"No…you don't understand," The solider took a deep breath which was more of a wheeze. "If they found me here…I would be disgraced. I can't have that happen to me. I got family back home. They can't know what I did. No…I'll stay here. And wait it out."
"Um…no you won't," Melody pulled the soldier's arm around her shoulder. "They're gonna be too happy that you're alive to worry about whatever you went and did." Even though she said that she knew exactly what this soldier did. You would never see a solider on his own unless he deserted. It was a crime in wartime. But all Melody cared about was seeing to that leg.
The solider pulled away from her. "No!"
Melody stood up and put her hands on her hips. "How about I just bring you inside and we can worry about other people later? I'll hide you ok? Not that there is too many people around here anyway." That was one of the few pluses of being one of the general's personal nurses. The general lived in the house along with his attendants and medical staff. That was it. And most of them were usually in meetings. They would never notice an extra edition to the household.
"Fine…but I'm doing so only under protest," The solider said as Melody pulled him up. The man let out a groan. Apparently, trying to put pressure on his leg was a bad idea.
"You got it solider. What's your name by the way? Or should I call you gimpy?" She asked while carefully helping him into the house so he didn't have to walk on his leg.
The soldier chuckled then paused. "That was weird…I haven't heard the sound of laughter in….a long while." Melody smiled. It was her job really. To keep everyone's spirits up. At least it would have been that way if they allowed her on the front lines. "My name is Russell. Sergeant."
Melody nodded. "Hello, Sergeant Russell. I'm Melody. And I'll be your nurse for the duration of your stay," She said in an overly happy voice.
Russell smiled and then asked her quietly. "How does it look? The leg?"
The nurse ignored his question until she placed him carefully onto her own bed. "There…now let me get you some fluffy pillows." She scurried over to the chest of draws and shifted through the bedding.
Russell pulled himself up and gulped. "Shouldn't I lay on the couch? I don't wanna take the bed from you."
"I'm usually not in it anyway," Melody winked at him. There were always attractive Captains and reporters around to talk to the general. Some of the nurses weren't so bad either. "You can have it. The sofa is fine by me." She came over and gave the man extra pillows which she propped up his leg with.
"So?" Russell said looking down at his leg. "What's the verdict?"
Melody hated this part. Telling them what would happen. Her gut was usually a good indicator of a person's probability of living. Years of work at the New York Emergency Room taught her that much. And from one look at this guy…she knew. And with a careful inspection of Russell's leg she knew why. Gangrene. If only he had gone to a doctor on the fronts. Instead of wandered off. Than maybe his life could have been saved. "It's not looking too good, Russell…I'm sorry."
"Is there anything that can be done?" Russell asked a slight twinge of fear running across his handsome face.
The nurse licked her lips and sat beside him, taking his hand in her own. "We could amputate the leg. But even then…I believe that the infections have taken over most of your body…how long have you had this wound?"
Russell closed his eyes. "Three days. I crawled towards the light of the house. For three days. I thought…that maybe it was a kind Belgium family. That would help me…that shows you how…messed up my head was. Now I'm back in the frying pan. A general's station right?" He snorted at himself. "They could perform the court martial right here…on my death bed."
"Stop," Melody said with a frown. "Stop being so…pessimistic. I'm not going to let them find you. I might call the doctor in so he can perform the amputat-"
"I don't want you to cut my leg off," Russell said in a biting tone.
The nurse raised her brow and took her hand away. "Well fine then. Then you're surely die! And this will be your deathbed. Don't you want to get home to that family that you were alluding to earlier? They won't care if you don't have a leg or not. They'll be happy that you'll be alive."
Russell shook his head. "All they'll see is a invalid with a mark of traitor on his face. I want to keep my leg. It's done good by me all these years."
"MELODY! The general would like a word with you!" A voice called from behind the door. Melody rolled her eyes. The general thought that Melody was quite a pretty lady, but sadly his affections were not returned. But every day he tried to convince her to stay in his bed.
"I'll be back in a few," The woman said jumping off the bed and going to the door. "Oh wait…." She turned around and started to dig in her medical bag. Then she handed Russell a few pills. "Pain relievers. Take them." With that she left the deserted soldier on his own.
Melody followed Iris who huffed as they walked. "I don't understand why you don't take advantage of the general's offers. He would be a-"
"Great sugar daddy?" Melody asked knowing that her fellow nurse was about to say something resembling that phrase. "I'm only with people who I find attractive, Iris. Inside and out. I don't find a general to hides his tail between his legs attractive."
Iris sighed and pushed open the door of the general's office. "You're a fool."
Melody shrugged. "Then what does that make you?" She asked slipping through the door. "Hello, General Hall. Can I help you?"
The man smiled hearing her voice. "Well yes Nurse. I believe you can."
Just then the sound of an explosion shook the household. Melody threw herself on the ground and covered her head as some of the light fixtures came crashing down onto the ground. The general grabbed his phone and started to scream into it.
"What the fuck is going on?! I was told that this area would be safe!" The man didn't seem to mind the parts of the house falling down around him.
Melody pulled herself up from the ground as the explosions stopped. "Russell…" She whispered to herself. "General…" She started to say but then she waved her hand. The man was too busy being angry to realize what was going on around him.
With a deep breath, Melody ran through the mansion towards her bedroom. She threw the door open. "Russell!" She called out running inside. The solider looked scared, but he was fine. All of the fixtures managed to stay on the walls and ceilings.
"What's going on?" The solider asked his chest rising and falling quickly.
Melody ran to his side and took his hand. "It's ok…it was just a freak occurrence I'm sure." As if the fates wanted to prove her wrong, another explosion wracked the household. Melody covered Russell's body with her own as she waited for the sounds and shakes to stop. Russell closed his eyes tightly and buried himself in Melody.
Finally, the explosions stopped again. It must have been time to reload. Melody pulled herself up and looked around panicking. What could they do? They had to get out.
"Melody!" Dr. Tilsdale stuck his head in the room. "We're evacuating. We have to…who is that?" He asked pointing to Russell's figure on the bed.
"He's a hurt solider…and it's my duty to help him," Melody said proudly. She wasn't going to desert Russell. Not like this. The solider watched her in awe. There was so much that she could have said. But she was supporting a traitor.
Dr. Tilsdale stepped in the room. "Are you out of your mind? He's a traitor! Not worth you saving! And we have to go so leave him here and-"
"No!" Melody said her eyes fiery.
"We cannot carry this man to safety…and by the looks of his leg he's going to die anyway. So leave him and come on," The doctor yelled moving towards the door.
"No," Melody said quietly. Her voice drowned out by more explosions. "Go Dr. Tilsdale," She called out. "I'm not leaving him here alone. Go!"
The doctor seemed more afraid of the shellfire outside to argue. He slammed the door behind him and left the nurse and the solider alone.
"Are you insane?" Russell asked wincing at the shots being fired. "You could be captured. Tortured…you need to go. You said I was gonna die anyway, go."
Melody shook her head. "I'm upholding what I promised to do." And no one should have to die alone, she added to herself. "So…Russell…tell me about yourself."
"WHAT?" The soldier screamed over the shots being fired. "You really should go."
"Family…you said you had a family. Tell me about them," Melody said calmly and confidently. She knew that the shells would stop. That the minute that the Nazis got view of the General leaving they would move back. They would change their course. They would have to assume that everyone went out of the building. After all, any one would be insane to stay…
Russell closed his eyes for a moment and then said, "I have parents. A kid sister. And a dog. Well two dogs. The one kinda just…." He held his breath as the shots seemed to come closer. "He comes and goes."
"What are their names?" She asked quickly.
"My parents…Edna and George. My sister…Grace. You wanna know the dogs, too?"
"Why not? It's not like we got much better to do."
Russell had to smile. "Lulu and Bobo. My sister was little when she named them…she's twelve now…I promised that I would bring her my dog tags. That she could wear them around her neck when I got back," He explained with a distance in his eyes taking no notice to the beginning of silence in the distance.
"You must be pretty close with her," Melody whispered while pulling herself up. "I have a little brother. He's seventeen…we fought like hellcats though. Most of my family doesn't get along with me. I can't understand why."
Russell stayed quiet and only grinned. He had only known the woman for an hour or two…but she was more than formidable. Most in his neighborhood would probably huddle in fear from her. Russell knew he would.
Melody stood up slowly and glanced out of the window. "I think we'll be ok now. We'll just sit here…and get to know each other more. As soon as they come back we can give someone a call if the lines are still up…if not…the General will send for me." There were perks to being lusted after by a General.
"Ok…" Russell said quietly leaning back in the pillow more. "What do we talk about?"
"I don't know…anything. What do you want to talk about Russell?" Melody asked. She pressed her hand on his forehead and frowned. The man took no notice of her hand or the heat.
"That dog Bobo…he always pretends like he's wounded. He hobbles and whines…but I think he realized that people take pity on him that way. Give him more food. Cause we brought him to the vet a few times. Said that there was not a thing wrong with him," Russell replied staring at the top of the canopy bed. "So he musta realized. Musta known that people would love him if he pretended to be hurt like that. Smart dog. But I don't think humans treat each other that way. Not in this war they don't. My buddy back there…my sergeant made me leave him. All…covered. Only when we were done with the fighting did I go back. And I came to thinking…if we treated each other like we treated dogs…we would have stopped right there and saved him. Gave him a crumb or two. But we didn't. We moved on. And only after he was dead for hours did I get back to my buddy. Good help I was. I don't wanna die Melody. I don't want my parents seeing me in the body bag. Like I saw him."
Melody froze listening to his words and watched him slowly slip into delirium. "Well…well Russell…the Army does what it does for certain reasons. They are pretty stupid…but they're reasons behind it."
"I don't want them to see me. Can you…" Russell leaned up his head and pulled off his dog tags. "Can you send them to my sister? And can you walk away…pretend that I was never up here when they come to rescue you?"
"But…your body could-"
"I won't be there…I don't care what they do to me," He said right away knowing what she would say. "Do you…do you believe in the afterlife, Mel?"
Melody shivered slightly as he used her nickname. Only her father used that name. It had been too long since she heard it last. "I…" She took a deep breath. Truth was always the best way. "In a way. I kinda think everything…life death. It's one big circle."
"You believe in resurrection? Like I'll be a squid in my next life?" Russell asked struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Maybe," She giggled quietly taking his hand into hers. "If so…I hope I'm some type of sea creature. Then maybe I could get to know you better."
Russell closed his eyes. "That would be…" He fell into unconsciousness.
Two days later, the soldier moved on to his next life and left Melody alone in the abandoned General's house. The hour he passed, she carefully slipped the dog tags off and placed them in her pocket. When they found her body months later, they discovered another set of dog tags around her neck. She never got to send them to his sister.
Next tale: Matthias and Aaron