As we walk toward Ramelle, Wade and I are stuck in the center, with the others forming a large diamond around us. Daniel is walking toward the right front and so I can see him but he can't see me without turning all the way around. Wade saw my reaction earlier to the dog tags and how Daniel reacted and has taken to holding my hand again. Daniel knows we're just friends, and doesn't mind someone being with me when he can't.
"Hey bumpkin, looks like you have some competition," Reiben yells.
Daniel just looks at us before looking at Reiben and rolling his eyes.
"Aw Reiben, you feeling jealous?" I ask and hold out my other hand toward him. "You want to hold my hand too, like I'm sure your mother still does."
Reiben glares at me before boldly running forward and grabs my hand, surprising me a little.
"Didn't see that one coming did you doll?" he asks grinning.
"No," I say scowling at his hand that's in mine.
"Unfortunately, I did Private. Back in formation," Miller barks and I smirk.
Reiben let's go and falls back, leaving me and Wade to smile at each other.
An hour later Mellish stops and says, "Captain."
Miller looks up from his map and looks at where Mellish is. There is a dead paratrooper on the ground. Everyone gets down and runs over to the tree line. They go and inspect the paratroopers and we realize it's more than one. They've been here for a while, you can tell by the state of decomp- and the smell.
Miller and Horvath go to the left hidden by the trees and we wait as he Miller instructed us. I move between Daniel and Upham, pulling Upham down beside me as he just stands there unsure of himself.
When they come back Upham asks, "What is it?"
"Machine gun, probably MG-42," Horvath answers.
"Jesus," Reiben mutters. "That what got those guys?"
"Anyone of em' our boy?" Mellish asks.
"Nah, their patches are 82nd," Miller dismisses. "So your luck's not that good."
"Yeah, I don't know how fast the rest of you betties are, but I'm thinking we detour this way, quick and quiet. The Krauts will never even know we were here," Reiben proposes. "So captain what I'm trying to say is why don't we just go round the thing?"
"I hear what you're saying, but we can't go round it," Miller answers, and I find myself tentatively agreeing with him. I look at Daniel and he just looks at me, not yet made a decision himself. He knows we should, but doesn't want to risk it either.
Then he seems to come to a conclusion. "I'm with Reiben on this one sir. I mean we left them 88's."
Miller in the mean time has taken off some of his gear. "The Air Force… the Air Force is not going to spend ordinance on one machine gun."
"Uh, Captain," Mellish says hesitantly. "We can still skip it and accomplish our mission. I mean, this isn't our mission sir?"
"Oh that's what you want to do Mellish? You just want to leave it here so they can ambush the next company that comes along?" Miller asks and I think he's being a little unfair.
"No sir, that's not what I'm saying. I'm simply saying, it seems like an unnecessary risk given our objective, sir," Mellish says, trying to pick his words carefully.
"Our objective is to win the war," Miller states.
"Sir, I just… I don't have a good feeling about this one," Reiben says.
Miller takes a second to answer. "And when was the last time you felt good about anything?"
I look down, none he's definitely being unfair, and not like himself. I get that he wants to attack this thing, but does he really have to say things like this?
He puts his helmet on, grabs his gun and runs back toward the bunker, leaving his extra gear. We all follow and take up positions near him. "All right, three-three runners with suppressing fire. Mellish, you hook to the right; I'll go up the middle. Who's going left?"
No one answers.
"Who's going left?" Miller asks, his voice rising.
Again, silence.
"Sir, if I could make a suggestion?" I ask.
"Why not, Dunne told me you were good with the plans," Miller says.
"I'd have Dan- Jackson, take up a position with cover, take out as many Krauts as possible until his position is discovered. Then the others should come out from a place opposite him, making them split their attention in two. One left, middle, and right with suppressing fire," I say. The others stare at me. "What? Is that really a bad idea?"
I don't ask this defensively. I ask as if I'm really worried it was a bad idea and they're all about to laugh at me.
"No, actually, that's… that's pretty good," Reiben says.
"Agreed," Miller says. "Jackson, take up a position, Lilly, Upham, go with him. I'll go middle, Mellish go right, we still need someone going left."
"I'll do it," Reiben sighs.
"I'll join you if they discover our position before we take it out," Daniel says.
I look at him and he just looks back, as if trying to reassure me that it'll all be okay.
"All right," Miller says. "Alright, when we advance, we keep pressure on him until he has to-to change out his barrels. Then we should be able to hit him from grenade range."
"Maybe I should go up the middle sir," Horvath suggests.
"With the way you run, I don't think so," Miller asks.
"Maybe I should go left sir," Horvath tries again.
"Maybe you should shut up," Miller snaps and I look away and toward Daniel. We look at each other thinking the same thing; the Captain is really not acting like himself right now.
"I'll do the base of fire," Miller says as everyone shrugs off their extra gear, to let them run faster. "Mags and clips we can reach him and extra grenades for the base runners. Jackson, Lilly, Upham, go."
Daniel nods and stands. I follow suit and motion at Upham. He scurries over to us and I grab his arm, pulling him after Daniel and me. Daniel finds a nice little place with some plant cover to disguise what little part the Krauts may be able to see. The others take up positions at the other end on the tree line and wait for Daniel to start firing.
A few seconds later he does. I use his other scope to see his shots and his first one is a dead hit to one of the Kraut's chests. He falls and the others look around confused. Daniel picks off another one easily and the Krauts start shouting something, preparing their guns and crouching behind them for some sort of cover as they try to figure out where the shooting is coming from. Daniel fires off another shot and clips a Kraut in the arm. But then the Krauts see us and fire in our direction. The dirt a few yards in front of us is kicked up by bullets and we duck. Daniel pulls back next to us and I hear the gunfire from the rest of the squad's weapons as they run out.
"Let's go," Daniel orders, dragging me, knowing I'll make sure to grab Upham. We run to where the others were and he starts firing again. He gets another kraut in an arm and then the area gets smoky from shells and grenades.
"Can't see anything," he mutters and turns to us. "Stay here."
I nod, albeit reluctantly and he leans forward to kiss my head before running out toward the others. I see him join Wade and Horvath before the smoke obscures him. There are many more shots from both sides and more explosions. I shift restlessly and jump at another explosion. God, I just want to see what's going on.
Then it all goes silent rather abruptly. Then we hear Miller's voice.
"Lilly, get up here we need you! Upham, grab the gear, we need extra water and dressings now!"
I bolt toward the, not waiting for Upham. If they need me than it means someone's hit. Please, please, God don't let it be Daniel.
I run through the smoke and find the squad sitting around someone. I immediately look for Daniel and he's sitting at the head of the group. Oh God, it's Wade. No, no, no, no, no.
I see them rip open Wade's shirt and sulfa packets and I jump into action. "Wait! Don't pour the sulfa yet! The bullets may still be in there and if they are you'll waste it!"
They all stop and look at me for what to do, all of them lost when it comes to this. I see two bullet wounds on Wade's torso.
"Horvath, put his feet up. Miller, Daniel, turn him over, check for exit wounds," I order and they all immediately do as I say as I kneel next to Wade, pushing Mellish out of the way. He scurries to the side and Upham appears from the smoke.
"You all apply pressure. Upham, we need your canteen and the extra dressings. Horvath, give him some morphine," I say and Mellish helps him get the stuff. I take out my supplies and shout, "Miller!"
"Yeah, I have one exit wound," he says as Horvath takes out the morphine and injects one vial into Wade's leg.
"Just one?" I ask.
"Yes," he says.
"Where, how big?" I ask as Mellish hands me a canteen and Upham the dressings, opened.
"About the size of an acorn in the small of his back," he answers and I hand him a dressing.
"Put this there, keep applying pressure and roll him onto his back when you're done, but don't stop with the pressure, keep your hand under him," I say as I take out a pair of tweezers. "Which on has an exit wound?"
Miller points and I order, "Put sulfa in that wound, and that one only, then put a dressing on it and apply pressure."
Daniel and Miller do as I say and I focus on the other wound. It's in his left shoulder, so nothing vital should be hit. "Upham, there's a needle and thread in my bag. Get them both out. Use a lighter to sterilize the needle. Wade, this is going to hurt, I'm sorry. Daniel, Miller, Horvath, Mellish, I need you to hold him down still."
Mellish sits beside me and helps pin him down as I take the tweezers and extract the bullet. Wade screams and tries to move but the others keep a firm grasp on him. Thirty agonizing seconds later I pull out the bullet and tell the others to pour sulfa in the wound, put a dressing on it and put pressure there.
"Upham, needle and thread," I say and Upham hands me the newly sterilized needle, which I quickly thread, practice has made me quick at it, but then I stop.
"What are you waiting for?" Reiben asks.
"She ca-can't stitch i-it until it s-stops bleeding," Wade answers.
"Wade, don't talk," I order and he shut his mouth. A minute later the bandages are completely soaked through and I have them change them out. The bleeding is slowing, the sulfa having helped and I tell Miller to carefully remove the dressing he's holding on the one wound on Wade's stomach. He does and we all feel a bit of relief seeing how the wound is for the most part not bleeding anymore. I quickly stitch it and tell Miller to clean around the wound very gently and to not touch the wound itself for it may make it start to bleed again. He takes a cloth and Upham hands him a canteen to wet it and starts to clean Wade's skin.
I then do the same with the wound Daniel is applying pressure to. I'm done in two minutes and Miller and Daniel clean around that wound the same way. The last wound on Wade's back is going to be the hard part. I stand and go around to Wade's other side. Miller scoots a little to the right to make space for me.
"I need you to lift him just enough for me to get my hands underneath him. We can't move him too much or the bleeding may start again," I say and they do just that. I can't see what I'm doing, but I can feel it. He's still bleeding pretty badly and I curse. I tell Upham to give me another dressing and he does.
"Daniel, pour the sulfa on the bandage, right in the middle," I command. He does, ripping another packet open and hurriedly pouring it onto the bandage. I then put the cloth under Wade and press it into the wound, trying to get the sulfa into it to slow the bleeding. Wade is shaking and I look at his face. I put the back of my hand to his cheek and feel he's cold and clammy, his breathing is fast and I realize he's in shock.
"Daniel, I need you to calm him down, get his breathing to slow down. Horvath, undo his belt, his shoes and Mellish take off your jacket and put it over him; we need to keep him warm," I instruct and again they all jump to obey.
"It's alright doc, you're gonna be fine. Lils is going to have you in top shape soon, alright? We're gonna get you some help, you're fine," Daniel is saying and I check Wade's back for the bleeding a minute later. It's slowed down enough for me to try to stitch it. I can't do much from this angle, but I manage to get a few stitches in there, enough to hold it together until we can get him some real help.
"Lilly," Daniel says and I look up to see Wade's eyes closed. Shit. I lean over, putting my ear to his mouth and feel his breath. I sigh in relief. "He's still breathing, probably just passed out. Someone get the plasma from his bag and give it to him, it might be from blood loss."
Reiben and Horvath do that and set up the needle to his arm. I'm passed another bandage and put it to Wade's back and check the other ones. One is covered in blood and I apply another one over it, not wanting to disturb the wound anymore seeing as how it might just start to bleed even more.
After I do this, there's a moment of calm as everyone just stays still, looking at Wade.
"Woah doc," Mellish says, looking at me and I meet his eyes. The adrenalin starts to fade, leaving me in a mix of worry, relief, and exhaustion.
"Now what?" Reiben asks.
"We shouldn't stay here," Miller says and looks at me.
"No, but we can't just move him," I say firmly. "Carrying him like this would most definitely cause him to start bleeding again. He's already lost too much blood for that."
Miller looks around, trying to come up with a plan.
"What if we made a stretcher?" Upham suggests and everyone looks at him.
I consider it. "Maybe, it's the only option I can think of to carry him safely."
"Do it," Miller says. "Reiben, Horvath, Upham, with me. Jacksons, stay with Wade."
I nod, I wasn't going to move an inch anyway. I watch the others make for the trees to start cutting branches to make a stretcher. I then take the canteen from earlier and take an empty sulfa packet. I wet it and start to wipe the blood from Wade's neck and chest. Daniel copies my movements and after we clean him as best as possible, I hold the canteen over the grass to pour over Daniel's hands, to clean them. He does the same for me and we wipe our hands on our pants. The others come back a few minutes later with a stretcher. They put it next to Wade and I instruct the other on how to lift him.
"We need to do it as quick, but gently as possible. Don't jostle him too much and when he hits the stretcher it needs to be softly or his back could start bleeding again," I direct and they all nod. They do it quickly, yet delicately as possible. Something then catches my eyes.
"Daniel, your arm," I say.
He, and everyone else, looks at it. Daniel pulls at the cloth a sees it's been ripped by a bullet. There is a small patch of blood darkening the fabric around it. "It's just skimming the arm sir."
"Get it patched up," Miller orders, but I was already rushing over to him. He pulls his jacket, unbuttoning the various snaps on it. I pull the on the bottom of it to get it un-tucked enough that he'll be able to get his jacket off. This way he can get his arms out of the sleeves and it hangs around his waist, leaving him in his t-shirt. I can see the graze and a little bit of blood dribbles out of the wound.
The others are surrounding Wade, leaving us mostly alone. Seeing Daniel like this, hurt, bleeding, even if only a little, makes a spike of fear go through me. Just a few inches to the left and the bullet would've gone through his chest. I almost lost him.
My hands shake as I take in a deep breath and try to get out another dressing. Hands suddenly appear over mine, stopping their movement. I watch them as Daniel moves our hands away from my vest and toward himself. He lifts them up and kisses the back of both my hands.
"I'm alright darlin'," he says.
I let out a shaky breath and say, "Barely, you got lucky."
I try to calm myself down, looking everywhere but him, and Wade.
"Lilly, look at me. Darlin'… sweetheart," he says and this gets me to finally look in his direction. "I am fine, just a scratch."
I nod a few times before suddenly hugging him with a strength I rarely use, yet find myself using much more often since I found him again. He hugs me back just as tightly and after a few seconds just taking him the comfort and safety of his warmth, I pull back; I still have to treat his wound.
I quickly clean and wrap up his graze and he just stands there, barely even noticing the pain. When we're done I look at Miller and give him a nod. Daniel fixes his clothing and gets ready to go. Upham got my gear together, Reiben getting Daniel's, and they're all ready to go. Upham helps me get mine on and we join the others.
"Horvath, Reiben, you take the stretcher first," Miller orders, rubbing his hands on his pants, trying to get the last of the blood off. "We're going to make a stop before we continue on to Ramelle. There's a town not far from here- the 29th should reach it first before Ramelle. He'll get help faster there."
No one is happy about soon leaving Wade with a group of strangers, even if they are our allies, but everyone also knows it's his best chance. Reiben and Horvath pick up the stretcher and we follow Miller to the east, where this town soon comes into view.