After everything. After knowing that we may never see each other again. All he can come up with is "take care of yourself." I didn't know whether to be angry or hurt. He had looked like there were things he wanted to say. I would've listened, if he had given me the chance. The worst part of it all was that we had parted on bad terms.
I spent hours pondering every detail of the months I had spent with Joe. I stared at that hospital ceiling like it was a projector screen, replaying our entire friendship. I'd been writing off these feelings as simple physical attraction, or maybe just curiosity, for months now, but I could no longer deny the truth. I was crazy about Joe. I really was. Was it love? I didn't know yet, but I had to admit that it had the potential to be.
I had no idea how he felt, but I hadn't missed the look on his face when Gene mentioned him finding me after the tank explosion. I would've sworn that he had called me "baby" and kissed me at some point, but I was pretty fuzzy then, and I couldn't be sure of what was real. Was I just imagining all of those moments between us? All of that unspoken energy that seemed to buzz around us whenever we were together?
Regardless, it didn't take me long to get restless. I wanted to get back to Easy, and I wanted to make things right with Joe, all feelings of attraction aside. I couldn't bear it if something happened and he didn't know that I cared about him. If he wanted the Dutch woman, so be it. But at least we would be friends again.
As my ribs healed, I pestered the nurses until they put me to work, thankful for some extra help. A month after I arrived, I was helping a wounded soldier with a blanket and pillow when I heard a familiar voice behind me.
"Doll! Aren't you supposed to be resting while you're in this hospital?"
"Bill! What the hell did you do?" I rushed to his bedside. He was in a leg cast. Even so, he was flashing me that beautiful smile that I loved.
"Oh, that? Well, you see, there was a motorcycle and a sniper, and between getting shot and thrown from the bike, my leg got broken. I'll be fine." I shook my head at him and shot him a dirty look, but it didn't last long. He winked at me, asking, "So, are your ribs well enough for a hug?"
I wrapped my arms around his neck and planted a big kiss on his cheek. We spent the rest of the day catching up on the news from Easy. Apparently, Captain Winters had been promoted and "Moose" Heyliger had been put in command of Easy. Moose was a good man, and the general consensus was that he would do a fine job. The boys had been doing a lot of fighting in an area we called "The Island," and Operation Market Garden had proven to be a spectacular failure, with the British alone losing 8,000 men when Arnhem fell. In fact, Moose's first mission as commanding officer had been to rescue some of the British who'd been trapped behind the line.
"Joe was wounded," Bill told me, watching my face carefully. "Nothing serious. He got hit in the neck by shrapnel from the grenade that got Alley. Alley is gonna be fine. Joe barely even blinked. Brought Alley back, and then went back out on a mission with Winters. That's when Winters got promoted because Major Horton was killed."
"Is he okay, Bill?"
"Who, Joe?" I nodded, and he sighed. "I don't know, Kasia. I mean, physically he's fine. The neck wound will be fine. Mentally. Emotionally. He's changed. He's angry. The sarcastic, pissed off Joe is there all the time now. He hardly sleeps. And he won't talk about it. Although he did tell me once that he kept picturing the way he found you that day when he closed his eyes."
"Dammit, Bill. I've gotta get out of here."
"I know, Doll. We will."
Another month and a half passed, and Bill's leg was healing. My bruises had faded, and my ribs had healed. I had a small scar on my lip, but other than that, I was feeling healthy and strong again. Moose was in the hospital now. He had been accidentally shot by a sentry, and then given an overdose of morphine by Welsh and Winters. He was healing, but he had a long way to go. Bill and I were restless. I came to Bill's bed one evening in early December to find him coloring his cast black with shoe polish.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm busting out of here. I can't stand it anymore. Moose gave me a letter for Captain Winters, and I heard that the boys are in Mourmelon for a break. I'm going AWOL tonight. Don't try to talk me out of it."
"I'm not. I'm going with you."
It didn't take us long to get busted by an officer. Bill was clearly hobbling still, even though he had ripped his cast off as soon as we were out. He was going to have Bill busted to private, which pissed me off. A week later, after much arguing, I arranged for us to meet with the officer. Bill and I explained why we had gone AWOL, and told him that we wouldn't hesitate to do so again if it meant that we could get back to our company. He looked at us long and hard. Finally, he signed the release paperwork and arranged for transportation back to Mourmelon. We later learned that he had also "mislaid" the paperwork for Bill's demotion, so it never happened. We were on our way home to our boys.
I spent the entire trip thinking about what I was going to say or do when I saw Joe, and it surprised me when the jeep stopped and the driver announced we were there. Bill and I walked into an office and found Captain Winters behind a desk, with Captain Nixon and Lieutenant Welsh nearby. Bill gave them Moose's letter, and asked if they knew where a place called LuLu's was. I rolled my eyes.
Captain Winters mentioned that he was to avoid joyriding from now on, and turned to me. "Kasia, it's good to have you back. I know Doc has missed your help. I'm sure he's not the only one. Be careful out there, okay?"
"Yes, sir," I answered, and then to Bill as we left the office, "LuLu's? Really? I'm not treating you if you catch something!"
He laughed heartily, throwing an arm around me. "Well, doll, you know if you wanna volunteer instead, I'm always open to it." I elbowed him in the ribs and we headed over to the building where Easy was being quartered. It was nearly empty when we stepped inside, with most of the men having gone to get showers after a day of drilling with the CO, Lieutenant Norman Dike, who had replaced Moose. We were not hearing good things about him. In fact, the men were apparently calling him "Foxhole Norman" because he was always disappearing without explanation, or as far from the action as possible.
Shifty was sitting on his bed and cleaning his rifle, as usual. Bill stood in front of me, blocking me from sight, and cleared his throat.
"Bill! Hey, welcome back! You go AWOL?"
"Of course I did. You know me. How are things?"
"Good. Good. Not sure about Lt. Dike, but I'm sure things will be fine. Did you see Kasia? How is she?"
"As a matter of fact, she was terrible. Sick and tired of being in the damned hospital. Hope you don't mind, but I brought her back with me," he answered, moving out of the way. Shifty's smile lit up the room, and he immediately got up and wrapped me in a hug.
"I'm so happy to see you, sweetheart! I've missed you so much. You really look good."
I felt another hug behind me, and turned to see Popeye's grin. They told us that everyone was headed over to watch the movie that was showing, so we headed over to surprise everyone. The room was dark, and a projector was playing a John Wayne film, but I could see the outline of many faces I adored. It felt good to be back. Bill sat down next to Joe Toye, who waved and smiled at me. I waved back and moved to take a seat between Bull and Doc.
"You boys don't mind if I sit here, do ya?" Two startled sets of eyes turned to me. Bull bear-hugged me, planting a kiss on my cheek and whispering a welcome back. I looked over at Doc, who took my hand and kissed it.
"Chéri."
"I've missed you, Gene," I mouthed. He smiled and kissed my hand again, mouthing back, "Me too."
I spent the rest of the movie scanning the room, occasionally catching the eye of one of the boys and sending a wave and a smile. When the movie was over and the lights came on, I stood up to stretch. Bull and Gene were able to give me a proper hug, as were several of the other guys, before we headed back to barracks. We headed outside into the night air, with the group laughing as I told the story of Bill putting shoe polish on his cast.
