Chapter 10

France-1944

"Look Kris, would you please stop wiggling. I've never seen one woman with so much energy. Why don't you go back and talk to Lieutenant Winters, he seemed to put you in a good mood."

Kris stuck her tongue out at Spina and crawled out of the foxhole again. "Fine and maybe I'll just stay with him; I can see when I'm not wanted around here."

Behind her, she heard Roe heave a sigh and mutter in Creole again. Spina had told her he only did that when he was upset with her. Well he could just be upset with her; she had too many things on her mind right now to be concerned about Gene's sensitive feelings.

She had been agitated for the last hour and couldn't sit still. The whole kiss with Ron, while exciting had left her confused and nervous. After all this was a married man and now…she'd just kissed a married man. Sighing she realized she was suddenly standing in front of Dick and he was giving her a strange look.

"What's wrong Kris, you seemed a little distracted? Did something happen?

Kris found that looking into those vibrant blue eyes she felt the need to tell him everything that somehow telling him would make it okay. As quickly as that feeling came she pushed it down. How did you admit you were after a married, man? Somehow, she didn't think Dick would understand about that. Shaking her head, she gave him a smile, "no there's nothing wrong. I guess this whole sitting in the dripping rain and mud is just making me restless. I was actually coming to see how you are?"

Dick's eyes narrowed slightly as he seemed to be examining her for lies. He nodded in understanding, gave her a shrug, and smiled slightly, "okay, well just hang tough and all this will be over tomorrow."

She nodded, "uh well okay I need to go, uh I'll talk to you later Dick, I'm sure that you have stuff to do and well Gene gets worried if I'm gone too long."

When she tried to move past him, he laid a gentle hand on her arm stopping her. "You know Kris; I'm here for you to talk to if you ever need me."

Giving him a silent nod, she quickly moved back into the darkness away from Dick's intense staring eyes.

London-2009

"Wow Nana, Poppy was a real hottie huh?"

Kris laughed, "well yes he was and he definitely knew how to woo a woman off her feet." Kris smiled and sighed, "well he at least knew how to get to me and after that kiss I just couldn't stop thinking about him."

Adie laughed, "hell I wasn't there and I don't think I'll stop thinking about that kiss. You sure he didn't have any brothers, cousins' maybe, hell any Speirs males left?"

"No dear and even if there were, no one was like him, and he was one of a kind, that's for sure. Now let's see yes I believe I have time for one more tale. I'm going to skip over some details as they were almost the same for every battle, we dug in, they dug in, someone attacked, wounded were treated and we moved on, but this one even sticks in my mind because of the lousy timing."

France-1944

She sat on the next to Gene watching Harry and Nix argue over something while they both gestured at the house in front of them.

"Wonder what they are arguing about?"

She yawned, "I don't know but if we sit and wait much longer, I'm going to fall asleep. Hey did anyone ever tell you, that you snore?"

Roe snorted, "I don't snore, but Spina does, so it had to be him keeping you awake. Okay here we go."

They rest of the platoon watched as a small group of men, led by Blithe moved off to investigate what appeared to be an empty farmhouse. She watched as they moved slowly forward trying to keep low to the ground as there was no real cover for them. She hadn't realized how tense she was until she felt the pain in her palms and looked down to see she'd dug her nails into them. Releasing her clenched fist she drew and deep breath and released it slowly to try to alleviate some of the tension she was feeling.

When the first shot rang out all of them jumped but somehow no one was surprised. The whole situation had seemed like a bad idea from the start. The call for a medic was barely heard over the gunfire coming from Easy as well as the farmhouse. Both she and Gene were moving as a unit and slid in on either side of Blithe. The wound to the neck was bleeding severely and he had a glazed look to his eyes.

"Doc he's going into shock, not what we need right now. Okay Blithe, come on stay with me, look at me." When the man's eyes focused on her face she smiled, "good boy, okay Doc, let's get him out of here."

She stepped aside and allowed two other to carry him out but was quickly on their heels, only to stop when she heard Dick's voice.

"Yeah well they're pulling us off the line, coast of France and back to England."

"What, they're pulling us off now?" The last from Nixon, the surprise or anger clear in his voice, she was unable to pinpoint the emotion when all she could concentrate on was her own anger.

Stopping in front of the men and glared at the three of them. "You know, only men start these stupid wars. Do you realize had you been just ten minutes fast Dick, you'd have save Blithe?" When none of the answered she continued, "and to think, the two of you," her finger stabbing in the chest of Nixon and Harry, "had the nerve to argue over who to sent to die. Careful boys, or next time one of you are injured I might forget I'm supposed to help you."

Stopping off after the rest of Easy she left three very shocked men standing behind her. She didn't care what they thought of her, she didn't care in the least. She was too angry, waste of human life always made her angry and if they'd just been five minutes faster.

"Hey you shouldn't have been so hard on Lieutenant Winters back there; he really is one of the good guys." Roe's voice had taken on that soft quality he used when on men that were wounded. She knew that he was trying to calm her, but right now she was just too angry.

"You know Gene, I'll think about that later and you're probably right, but don't come after me with your soft spoken Cajun crap. Not in the mood right now."

Gene shrugged good-naturedly. "Alright then, you got plans for England?"

She stopped walking and stared at him as if he might have lost his mind. "Uh I don't know, I've not thought any further than getting back to the coast. Huh, I'll have to give that some thought."

"Yeah, well you should think about a bath first, because you reek."

Hitting his shoulder she smiled, "nice Gene and here I was wondering why you didn't have a lady friend…guess I now know. It's your wonderful sense of charm."

England-1944

It had taken her a few days once they reached England to calm down enough to go in search of Dick, the only person she truly felt she owed an apology too. Yet standing outside his door, she felt the butterflies twist in her stomach. She hated being wrong yet was proud enough to admit when she was wrong. Knocking on the door, she waited to be invited in.

"Kris what are you doing here? I'd have thought that Buck would have wormed his way back into your good graces by now." He stepped aside and let her into the room smiling at his own joke.

"Oh trust me he has, and well I've kind of agreed to go at least to diner with him, I mean we were both under a lot of stress when we said things we probably shouldn't have." She blew out a heavy breath before continuing, "which brings me to why I'm here now bugging you on your off day. I'm really sorry Dick, it wasn't your fault or anyone else's for that matter Blithe was injured. I overreacted and I shouldn't have taken it out on you.

He gave her an understanding smile, "it's okay Kris, you didn't have to apologize or explain. I think we were all hit hard with the loss of a soldier that close to being taken off the line and well I guess all of us forget that the medical personnel feel it more than most."

He saw the tension leave her body and the smile grew into a true one, "well you know I feel a lot better and well…I guess you're right that we all deal with death so much that it begins to get to all of us. So with peace restored, I'll leave you in peace and maybe I'll see you around tonight."

As she stared to open the door, Dick's hand covered hers, "if you don't mind me asking…I've heard some rumors that Speirs was maybe paying a little more attention to you than he should, I just wanted you to know that he's married."

"I know he is Dick and he's friendly with me, but that's all. I know how to keep men at a distance. Don't worry about me." Inside she knew she was lying. She knew he was married, that had been the truth, but keeping him at a distance was the last thing she wanted to do. "I'll see you later Dick." Slipping quickly out the door she moved down the hallway and out into the damp English afternoon.

Dick meant well and he was a good man, but there was something so dark and forbidden about Speirs that it drew her like a moth to a flame, even if she knew what happened to moth when the flame touched it. Sighing she headed back to Millie's house. The English nurse had married a couple of months ago while she was in France and had been more than happy to have Kris staying with her again. Frowning she gave serious thought to talking to Millie about Ron, maybe she'd be able to explain what was going on.

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"Hey you're still not mad at me are you?" Buck's breath caressed her neck as he whispered in her ear. She'd have like to have said it caused pleasurable shivers, but it didn't.

"No not mad, just trying to enjoy the night."

He seemed satisfied enough with the answer and lightly stroked her back with his fingers. "Good, I'm really hoping for the chance to make up for what I said, I really didn't mean it, I was just so upset seeing you injured, I guess it brought out the caveman in me."

She laughed, "well there for a moment I had to admit, I thought you were going to throw me over your shoulder and carry me off. I do understand Buck, but you have to understand, it's going to take a while for me to recover from your reaction."

"I know, but the fact you're giving me this chance, lightens my heart." His smile was genuine and she found she was smiling back at him. When his brows lifted in surprise she laid her hand on his. "Buck, what's wrong?"

"Uh nothing, I'm just surprised that he would bring his wife her tonight with this crowd."

Even before she turned, she could feel her gut clench in pain. She knew who it was going to be yet she was compelled to turn as if she'd lost control of her body. Ron had entered with a small petite woman on his arm. She barely reached his shoulder, her light brown hair swept away from her face in a flattering style, her dress only slightly bulging in the front indicating her condition.

The evil jealous monster inside her wanted to call her fat and ugly, but the rational side realized that the woman was not any of those things, she was tiny and cute. She was all the things Kris would never be. Ron was an attentive husband, his hand riding on the small of her back directing her through the crowd to a small table in the corner. Holding the chair out until she was seated.

Turning back to face Buck her smile she knew was sickly, but she tried to force a happier one. "Well it's good they get out together you know. She's been cooped up so why are you surprised?"

Buck shrugged, "I don't know, I just figured if a man had a wife he'd stay home with her not drag her out to some pub. So what do you want to do tonight?"

"You know, I think I'll turn in, I'm not feeling well tonight and you know I've got an early day tomorrow. Could I get a rain check for tonight?"

"Sure, I'll walk you back."

As they stood to leave the bar, she could feel eyes on her and glance to where Ron and his wife were sitting. He was watching her with dark intense eyes that gave away nothing. She could only wonder at what he was feeling, because right now she was more than a little confused.

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"I told you Millie, go have fun I'll take care of the inventory and repacking of items."

The other woman played with a curl at her neck, "well if you're sure, I feel so bad leaving you with this."

"Don't, I have nothing better to do today and well, need something to take my mind off a few things any way."

That stopped Millie at the door, "is there anything I can help with?"

"Ha, not unless you're a mind reader and can tell me what the hell men are thinking."

Millie laughed gaily, "I can tell you no more what a man things than I can tell you what kind of day tomorrow will be. So I'll see you at home later?"

Kris nodded and waved a hand, "yep I'll be there. See you then."

When she was alone in the quiet supply room, she heaved a sigh and looked at the chaos surrounding her. How they'd managed to screw this up in the few months she'd been done was beyond her.