Thank you for being so patient with me. Getting this next chapter up here took way longer than it should have. Unfortunately, I've been suffering from a nasty ailment call 'academia'…symptoms include sitting through insanely boring classes, writing research papers that seem to suck any form of creativeness out of its victims, and mocking annoying professors (okay…that part is fun). Sadly…there won't be a cure until after the painful procedure known as final exams…so it might be a bit before the next one gets up here…sorry in advance…gotta sleep sometime. ENJOY!!!!
"We should really get out of bed." Rose said as she strapped the watch she'd discovered earlier to the owner's limp arm draped over her waist.
Dick didn't open his eyes, but a small smile crossed his relaxed face. Getting out of that soft, warm bed he was in was the farthest thought from his mind, and the notion of letting go of the body nestled perfectly against his wasn't even an option. He just squeezed his long leg tighter around hers and burrowed his face deeper into her hair.
"Mmmm." The captain mumbled unenthusiastically, pretending to agree with her.
The rain that Rose had woken up to earlier had long ago cleared. The sunlight filtering through the curtains cast a glow over the two of them as they laid there entangled in each other's limps. The quiet, desolate streets of the night before no longer existed. Sounds of the bustling city penetrated the stone walls of the hotel, telling the two lazy soldiers that there was a whole big world out there that and they were missing it.
"It's almost 1000 hours, yah know."
Dick only tightened his arm around her slim waist, hoping to quell any more notions the nurse had about getting out of bed. A smile played on Rose's lips. She wasn't quite sure why she was making such a big fuss. She didn't really want to get up either and it wasn't like they needed to be anywhere. Rose scooted herself closer against his warm body. Dick welcomed the movement and pulled her tighter against his chest. Rose closed her eyes and sighed and conceded to the fact that the man holding her wasn't in any kind of rush.
"I haven't slept in this late in six years." She mused.
Dick peaked open an eye and mischievously smiled.
"I don't think you can call it sleeping in…more like making up of a lack of sleep." He slyly pointed out.
His deep, sleep-thickened voice rumbled in his chest and resonated against Rose's body, making her insides tingle.
Rose opened her eyes and a bashful grimace crossed over her face.
"Oh…I guess that's true." a blush stained her cheeks as she thought about their previous nocturnal and early morning activities.
Dick chuckled and suddenly maneuvered himself so that she was trapped beneath him. As he looked down Rose, a silly smile spread over his face. That infectious grin spread to Rose and her brown eyes gleamed as she smiled up at the man who seemed to make all her worries and pain go away with one little smirk. For once, Rose didn't feel like she had the whole weight of the world pressing down on her chest. In its place was a handsome redhead who was smiling down at her with those twinkling blue-green eyes of his. Dick made her feel things she never thought she could.
A small part of her mind started envisioning what it would be like to be with him all the time. She imagined taking him home and introducing him to her family. Her grandfather, with his uncanny ability to judge a person's character spot on with one glance, would have liked him immediately and would take him for a walk to show him around the farm. Ma, who was normally a stern, stoic woman, would have fallen all over him just because he was interested in her granddaughter and chatter away while dishing him up a piece of her famous apple cobbler. Her second eldest brother, Henry, would have tried acting like a macho, protective older brother and in doing so, would make a complete fool out of himself. Carlyle, her oldest brother, would have taken a more subtle approach with his 'brotherly duties', but he would eventually accept Dick and she could see them becoming good friends.
However, Rose's happy, little scenario was cut short by a familiar jingling noise. Her fingers reached up and entwined themselves in the chain of Dick's dog tags which dangled in front of her face. Rose mentally scolded herself for her silly, wishful daydreaming. This time tomorrow, they'd both return to their posts and Rose had experienced enough in life to know that happily-ever-after didn't happen to her.
Dick watched her study them. The smile fell from his face as a tiny speck of guilt flickered in his stomach. He'd almost forgotten about the precarious situation they were in, but cold, metal reminders hung around both their necks. He wished he'd taken his tags off, but then again that was at least one rule they hadn't broken.
"Hmm…O neg." she observed his blood type on the metal tag. "Better keep that under wraps or else they'll suck you dry."
She let go of his tags, but her fingers fell down to her own tags. She'd gotten so used to wearing them that she hardly ever noticed them. Like any other military member, they'd become a part of her.
"Yah, Doc Roe…well, Easy's medic. He knows." Dick smiled fondly, thinking of the Cajun medic from his former command. "He's chased me down and stuck me more than a few times." Dick held out his arm and with her highly trained eyes, Rose could easy decipher the tell-tale needle marks from the freckles that dotted his fair skin.
"Well, that's your own fault." She said as her finger traced a prominent vein that that ran down his muscular arm. Rose had taken thousands of blood samples and inserted hundreds of IV's and so she could spot a good vein a mile away. "Guess you just have'ta run faster." She said with a smile and an eye brow quirked.
Dick rolled his eyes and smiled down at her with that trademark crooked smile.
"Or just learn how hide better from him. Roe's got a bad habit of sneaking up on a fella when he's looking for a donation."
An amused grimace passed over Rose's face. She was guilty as well and was quite proficient in the art of duping people into donating.
"He any good?" she asked Dick.
Rose had dealt with a fair share of incompetent medics. Many of them did more harm than good. Either they didn't know what they were doing, or they were too arrogant to listen to a female's advice when she tried explaining things to them. A fair share of Allied medics had received much deserved, and sometimes harsh, criticism from the 5'6" former school teacher. Annie and Captain Kent had coined the name "The Rose Thorn Show" for those little ego-trampling sessions. Though they found her well-justified tirades to be quite entertaining, Rose didn't rip on the men because she got a kick out of it, but because it had to be done and thus far, she seemed to be pretty effective. No medic who'd been ripped to shreds by a pretty nurse whilst all his fellow comrades watched and snickered ever dared cut any corners or shirk from his duties again.
Dick rolled onto his side and propped his head up with his elbow and looked at her.
"Yah, he's really good; by far the best in the battalion. Probably seen the most wounded too."
"Mmmm, I'm glad to hear that. There are a lot of really good medics out there, but it's those few idiots who ruin it for the rest of us." Rose shook her head as one particular incident came to mind. "I had one who fainted while we were working on a man. The idiot managed to crack his head open on the way down and after I took care of the gusher that squirted me in the face, I had to give him a few stitches."
Rose rolled her eyes and stretched like a cat under the blanket and left her hands resting her head.
Dick chuckled and brushed back a strand of chocolate brown hair on her forehead. She'd been in the Army almost as long as he had, but she'd been on the front much longer than he. While he and the rest of Easy were running up Currahee, she was treating soldiers in Africa. Despite that fact, Dick still had a rough time imagining her in that chaos. He didn't doubt her ability though. He recognized in her all the traits of a good soldier and leader. The two officers had more in common than either realized.
"Yah, all the men of Easy Company are the best." He smiled fondly, but his eyes seemed to glaze over as he lamented over the men in his former command.
He wondered how they were doing back at base. They were probably finishing up with morning drills and getting ready for training. When he moved up to Battalion, the first few weeks had been rough on the Captain. He was so used to seeing the men every day that he almost felt lonely. He missed hearing them talk and joke. He missed witnessing their cohesion. The men had a bond like no other he'd ever seen, and he knew the reason; Sobel. As much as his personally disliked the man, he had to give him create; he made one hell of a company.
Rose chuckled at his remark and playfully poked him in the chest.
"Coming from a totally unbiased source..." She sarcastically commented.
The corner of his mouth curled up and he smiled for a moment. "Guess you got me there." He answered in a low voice and shrugged. His clear, blue eyes clouded over again in thought and he absent mindedly stroked her arm with his index finger.
"You really do miss them, don't you?" she asked after watching him think for several moments.
Dick smiled a tiny, sheepish smile at the fact he'd been caught, as Nixon put it, pouting again over the loss of his company.
"Yah…" he looked at her sadly through his blonde eyelashes, unable to fully meet her gaze. "yah, I guess I really do."
A caring smile formed on Rose's lips and she reached up and placed a gentle hand on the sorrowful leader's face.
She knew what it was like to suddenly be ripped away from the people you knew and trusted. While in Africa, Rose had been with an excellent hospital. They were all very professional and knew their stuff and Rose learned so much. But, that was back when the standards seemed to be higher. When Rose got promoted to first lieutenant, she was transferred because they needed experienced nurses to lead the fresh-faced graduates in the ETO. It felt like she went from teaching a college class to a group of first graders. It wasn't that her present company was bad, just inexperienced. Plus, as the Army was being spread thinner and thinner across all the places of the world, getting decent supplies was half the battle being waged. It was hard to train personnel when she hardly had enough supplies for the real thing. Rose had to do her best and most times was training them on the fly.
"I bet they feel the same about you, Dick." She said softly.
Dick turned his face and gently kissed her palm as he reach up and covered her hand with his own as he listened to her.
"You're still leading them though, you just don't realize it. I know you'd rather be in the trenches with them, but they you need up there. After all, the way you talked it sounds like Easy's been the only thing keeping the whole lot together. Now that you're up the ladder, you can make the whole Battalion as good as Easy."
Dick smiled and caressed her hand with his thumb. What she said made perfect sense, but he still would have traded everything to be back up front yelling "Follow me!" instead of standing behind them shouting "Forward!".
"You use that same look on your students?" he asked after gazing into her soft, caring eyes that seemed to magically melt away his worries.
"Why, is it working?" Rose laughed; she hadn't even realized she was doing it.
"Yah, kinda..." His smile grew as she intensified the gaze to the point of mockery.
Rose laughed and leaned over to place a quick peck on his lips before she sat up, holding the light blanket against her bare chest as she swung her feet over the side of the bed.
"You should have fallen down and scraped your knee. You would have gotten a hug and a piece of candy." She quipped, peering over her shoulder.
Dick turned over and propped his body up on his elbows and chuckled. He watched her situate the blanket around her body as she prepared to get off the bed. A tiny sigh escaped his chest. He guessed she'd finally won. He'd soon have to follow suit and climb out of the soft bed which was nowhere near as inviting anymore without a certain warm body in it.
The light was shining through the tall, glass windows and cast a glow over her body just perfectly and she glowed like some heavenly apparition. He had the urge to pinch himself to make sure he really was awake. Never in a million years would Dick have imagined himself doing something like this. It just wasn't in his nature. With the exception of his 'wild' streak in his teenage years, Dick had always been a shy, quiet boy. His mother's parents were Mennonites, and even though she never officially joined the religion because of meeting Dick's father, she still raised her children with the same beliefs and values. His actions with Rose unquestionably broke the 'Quaker' imagine he'd made for himself with some of the men. He could just imagine the look of shock on Nixon's face if he heard about this, but he could only imagine. Dick had already made up his mind he wasn't going to broadcast the events that had taken place between him and the Lieutenant to even his closest friend. Besides, Nixon would have never believed him anyway.
Dick finally made up his mind to follow Rose's lead and he started to sit up, but he suddenly noticed something. The light Rose was being bathed in highlighted something else about her body, something he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed before. Unable to stop himself, Dick's fingers reached up and delicately traced one of the many long scars that crisscrossed the porcelain skin of her back.
Rose jumped slightly when she felt his fingers tickle her bare skin. She was about to let loose some sly remark, but she froze when she realized what he'd seen. Rose squeezed her eyes shut as his calloused fingertips brushed over those ugly reminders of the more sorrowful times of her childhood. Dick's jaw hung slightly open and his eyes grew dark with concern and anger for whoever had done this to her. The scars were old and hardly visible, but he still could count every single one and there were far too many.
"Rose, who di..." he started to ask in a low, anger filled voice.
"My stepfather." She answered, cutting him off as she solemnly peered over her shoulder. Her heart swelled for a second when she looked into his rage and worry filled eyes. "I did deserve a few of them. I was a pretty disrespectful stepdaughter."
Dick shook his head in anger and disbelief. He'd had his fair share of well deserved lickings by his father's belt growing up, but nothing even close to this.
"So young…" he whispered, remembering she'd only been nine when her mother and stepfather died. Had the man still been alive, Dick would have tracked the bastard down and given him the same beating. He may had only met her less than 24 hours ago, but Dick had already developed a strong urge to protect the woman, even though he knew she probably didn't need it. "Didn't your mother do anything to stop him?"
Rose turned away from him and stared straight ahead so he couldn't see her trembling chin as thousands of memories of those dark times of her childhood filled her head.
"She…" she barely managed to squeak out with her cracking voice. She cleared her throat and continued melancholically. "She had to take the punishment if I didn't, and he already gave her enough of her own bruises and scars…"
Dick's eyes feel away from her scars and he shook his head. How could someone so young, bright, and kind have lived through so much heartbreak? He hadn't forgotten what she had told him last night. He couldn't help but feel as though he was taking advantage of her condition. The urge to ask her why she couldn't have children had been with him all morning, but he felt asking her would have been just another slap to the face. Instead, Dick reached from behind her and gently placed his hand over hers that was sitting limply on her lap. The motion broke Rose's stare into nothingness and she looked down on his freckled hand that gently squeezed hers. She entwined her fingers in his and smiled slightly.
"Poor woman…" she shook her head and sighed forlornly. "She knew she made a mistake when she married him; she was just too proud to admit it."
They sat there in silence for a few moments until Rose finally shook her head as if she shaking off the sullen mood that had suddenly settled over the two officers. She'd put all that behind her years ago, and with the exception of last night on the street corner, Rose tried not to let her gloomy past get to her.
"It is a glorious day outside and here we are loafing around like a bunch of lazy bums." She declared as she turned and looked at Dick with an eyebrow quirked and a sly smile on her lips.
She got up from the bed and Dick reluctantly let go of her hand, letting his arm fall limply to the soft mattress. Rose threw a smile over her shoulder as she walked towards the bathroom. It had taken a great deal of will-power to get up, but she knew they both had to have some shred of truth to tell their comrades when they went back to their posts.
Dick returned the smile, but sighed in defeat as she disappeared behind the door and shut it.
He knew she had a point. They both had an entire day to do what they please in the beautiful city of Paris, but he still didn't want to get up. His contented, blue eyes surveyed the floor and took stock of the scattered uniform pieces. The sight of the crumpled, brown clothing strewn carelessly across the floor made the military man cringe. There was going to be a great deal of starching and pressing in both their futures. He sighed once more and heaved his long legs over the side of the bed and he started the task of separating his garments from hers.
The question of how the Captain was going to sneak back to his room without being seen lingered in his mind. He thought of the possible scenarios as he collected and donned his clothing. Dick couldn't help but crack a smile at his militarily minded plans. He didn't think there was a field manual for sneaking out of a woman's hotel room in the Army's vast collection of 'how to' books. Nixon probably could have helped him. Dick shook his head as he thought of his friend. It would have been right up his alley, he thought. Infidelity was another one of his best friend's less than favorable traits that Dick didn't exactly fully condone.
Then again, Dick wouldn't have condoned what he, himself, was doing either. Dick couldn't deny the fact he'd broken a few rules and regulations in his career. He had an unauthorized knife he kept tucked in his jump boot, and he had the men disobey orders that were just plain idiotic. Of course, there was Malarkey's motorcycle that just happened to drive itself across the English Channel…
An officer couldn't be a good officer if he followed every, single, idiotic rule the Army seemed to have. A good one knew how to bend the rules and come out ahead.
However, he hadn't bent the rules with Rose. They broke them into a million pieces.
The same train of thought seemed to be running through Rose's mind as well. She stood at the sink, trying to tame her hair back down into a more presentable fashion. When Dick appeared at her door and made his intentions quite clear the night before, a small voice the back of Rose's head said 'you'll regret this later'. It was the same voice that had warned Rose the other two times she'd been with a man. Well, if one could even call them men, but she did indeed very much regret her actions with them.
Rose was so heartbroken by her first that she almost told Carlyle and Henry so they could 'teach' him lesson. On the other hand, she knew that by doing that, she would have been exposed and her reputation would have been ruined. As far as her family knew, Rose was a nun. She'd never lied to them about her status; they just assumed and never asked. Though Rose had a feeling her grandmother knew. She was just that type of woman who you couldn't hide things from. A trait Rose herself also seemed to have.
However, Rose still hadn't felt any form of guilt toward the situation she and Dick had created from themselves. She wasn't proud of herself for going against military regulations, but she still hadn't gotten that sickening feeling that one normally gets when they realize their misdeeds. In fact, she was quite happy; so happy she was giddy with excitement. The more she thought about the man just outside that bathroom door, the more her heart seemed to swell and the wider her smile got.
In the back of her mind, that same voice reminded her that she would never see that man again after tomorrow. Rose's smile fell from her face. Spoil-sport, her giddy side said to that rational side of her head. Rose sighed and placed her hands on either side of the porcelain sink and leaned heavily against it. They'd have to say good-bye sooner or later.
"Enjoy it while it last girl." Rose mumbled to her reflection in the mirror.
She pushed herself off of the vanity and tightened the strap of her silk robe and her waist.
Dick looked over toward the bathroom door when the sound of creaking hinges met his ears. Rose let out a relieved sigh she didn't even know she was holding in when she saw Dick standing there buttoning up his shirt. She half expected to walk out and find an empty room. They shared a smile, but both ducked their eyes away as if knowing any lingering stares would put them right back to where they were before. Still, neither of them could help but sneak glances towards one another.
Rose smiled when she noticed Dick struggling with his tie. She stopped smoothing the wrinkles out of her blouse she'd picked up off the floor and watched the annoyance grow in his fair face as he started the knot over for the third time.
Dick jumped slightly when he felt a body approach him from behind and arms slinking around his shoulders. He'd been so engrossed in the damn thing, he hadn't noticed her approach. For some reason beyond Dick's knowledge, he'd always had a difficult time with ties. It was quite embarrassing for the officer. He could jump out of a flying airplane without flinching, hit a target a hundred yards away off his hip, and throw a grenade at precisely the right moment…but he couldn't tie a god-damned tie.
Rose gently grasped his furious fingers and pulled them away from the maddening strip of fabric.
"Before you cause anymore damage to my room, sir…" she quipped as her own fingers went to work.
Dick rolled his eyes bashfully and his shoulders slumped like a little boy who'd just been caught in the cookie jar. Normally, he just loosened his tie to take it off, so he didn't have to redo it. But Rose had mangled it beyond repair when she removed it for him the night before. Suffice to say, he had been too preoccupied to stop her.
Rose teetered on very tips of her toes and she was basically draped over Dick's back as her expertly twisted and pulled the light colored fabric. Dick watched her through the mirror with his mouth pursed in concentration as he tried to memorize her movements. Rose noticed his watchful eyes and smiled.
"I take it it's not my stunning beauty that just happens to be tripping you up." She said sarcastically.
Dick cracked a smile and bent his knees slightly so she could reach better.
"Well, I could." he joked at first, but his mouth twisted into a sheepish grimace. "Usually it only takes me two or three times to somehow get it right."
Rose chuckled and finished the knot.
"There." She smiled triumphantly at her handy work and rocked back down on her heels.
Dick studied the knot and shot her a coy glance.
"Thanks." He said quietly as he tucked the end of the tie in its proper place between the buttons.
"Eh," She patted him warmly on his muscular shoulder. "Don't feel too bad. My brother's almost 30 and the man still hasn't figured it out."
Before Rose could do anything else, Dick turned around and wrapped his arms around her waist. His body pressed against hers and Rose gulped back gasp. His roaming hands seemed to burn right through her robe and seer her skin. Rose's own arms soon slinked up around his neck, bringing their bodies even closer. They stared into each other's eyes; brown and blue melting into one as that burning gaze she'd come to desire pulled her lips towards his.
Dick's own heart beat jumped up a few notches and he brought up his hands and gently, but firmly, grasped the back of her head and guided it towards his. Their lips met and Rose's arms tightened around Dick's neck as her knees gave away on her. Rose felt herself falling back into that blissful haze of passion he'd put her in far too many times in the last 24 hours. His hand tightened against the small of her back and Dick's mouth moved from hers and his lips grazed and path down her cheek to her ear.
"Oh Dick." She grasped when he found a sensitive spot on her neck that she wasn't even aware of.
Dick smiled wolfishly against her soft skin. He'd become quite fond of hearing that phrase from her. He leaned his head back and relished at the sight of her. Those big, brown, desire filled eyes stared up at him. Dick felt as though his heart could pop right through his chest it was swelling so much. He felt his instincts start to push away any rational thoughts floating in his head. He needed her.
Dick leaned back down to capture her lips again, but Rose's head suddenly ducked down and nestled itself against his heaving chest. A pang of confusing mixed with disappointment shot through Dick's body, but instead of pursuing anything else he just tightened his arms around her slim body.
Rose squeezed her eyes shut and just focused on the warmth coming from the Captain's strong, lean body. That pessimistic voice in the back of her head was nagging her yet again. As much as she wished to continue, it was eating away at her.
"Dick?" her muffled voice said against his still, heaving chest. "I think we need to talk about this…what we doing together."
Dick squeezed his eyes shut and a sullen grimace crossed his face. He took a few deep breathes to calm himself before he could even consider answering her. He knew exactly what she was talking about. He'd just been ignoring it.
"Yah…" he swallowed painfully. "Yah, I guess we should."
Rose took one more deep breath before she pulled back and looked up into his face. She tried to appear serious, but bits of sadness and longing were already slipping through her solemn demeanor.
"You and I both know that after tomorrow, the likely-hood of us seeing each other again is probably as likely as Hitler walking through that door." Rose nodded toward the closed room door.
"Would make things a hell of a lot easier if he did…" Dick looked towards the door and squinted, trying to keep their conversation from getting any more depressing than it already was.
Rose rolled her eyes and smiled, but it quickly fell away. She had to get what she needed to say out while she still had to guts to.
"You know what I'm trying to get at though, right?" She asked.
Dick looked back down at Rose with doleful eyes and solemnly nodded.
"Yah…I think I do." He cocked his head to the side and bore his eyes into her as if he was trying to commit every part of her to memory.
Rose took another deep breath and tried to continue without fumbling her words too much.
"I thi...think it would be in our best interests if we both get on our trains tomorrow and act as though none of this ever happened." Rose couldn't help but cringe as soon as those words left her mouth. They sounded so cruel and uncaring; like something heartless harlot would say.
As harsh as it sounded, Dick agreed completely…even if he didn't want to. He nodded slowly and brushed a bit of hair away from her forehead.
"I know." He answered.
Rose sadly shook her head.
"This thing might be over next week, but if something happens…I don't think either of us can afford to be daydreaming."
Dick sighed and tried to hide any sadness he might have been feeling. Though she didn't say it out loud, Dick knew exactly what she was talking about. Many called Dick lucky because by all rights, he should have been killed more than a hundred times already. Dick never really believed in luck until the night he dropped into Normandy. He owed a great deal of his survival thus far to his training and his natural instincts, but even the best soldiers, through no fault of their own, could just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even though Rose was a nurse and not supposed to be in harm's way, things could happen. The very thought of that made Dick's stomach twist painfully.
"Yah…you're absolutely right. It wouldn't be fair to my men and I don't want you cutting some poor soldier's arm off because you're thinking about me." Dick shrugged playfully.
"Don't flatter yourself…" Rose rolled her eyes and they both laughed.
They stood there in one another's arms as if both were afraid to let go.
"No strings then?" Rose finally asked after several moments of gazing into his tender eyes.
Dick leaned down so his lips were millimeters away from hers. Rose could feel them smiling playfully against hers.
"Not a thread…"
There it be…for now.