A/N: Aw, thank you everyone! Sorry for the wait, but school absolutely rules this year! BUT IT'S TAKING OVER MY LIFE! And with Theatre starting up again. And all this "Boy drama" starting up again. I just didn't have time. But today...OH GLORIOUS TODAY, I DID have time! So I hope you all enjoy, since it took many weeks, brainstorming sessions with Shannon and several cups of coffee to write this freakin thing.
Oh, and I might as well post this now. I don't know, how many of you out there watch a little known show called "Grey's Anatomy", but in this chapter, there's gonna be some lines in the story that are similar to one of the show's episode. If you've seen the show religiously, like me, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, then just get reading. Oh, and at the end, I have a little treat for all of you. It's the song "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. I feel that it sets the mood for the entire story. So, enjoy everyone. :D
By the way, Ya'll are probably gonna hate me after this chapter. I just know it...
The following morning, to my dismay, I awoke early. I planned on seeing the practice jump, since Dick asked me to watch it. Like all the other times I've been woken up early, I was crabby, but since he asked me I felt obligated to go see it. The other girls wanted to go too. Well, most of the girls. Loraine, still being anti-social, decided to sleep in.
We all walked as a group to where most of the crowd was gathering. Civilians weren't allowed on the base, since Churchill and Eisenhower were all there. But, you could still see pretty much everything, from every single angle. The girls tried to stay together, but each girl broke away to get a better view. I wandered around to try and find the best spot.
"Meg!" a squeaky voice yelled. I whipped around to see who yelled. I couldn't find anyone, so I looked down.
"Up here!" It yelled again. I looked up, still found nothing. "Up here! Up..." It huffed, "Look on the roof!" It cried. I looked up, and used my hand to shield my eyes from the glittering sun. Through squinted eyes, I could make out a girl sitting off the side of a rooftop. It was the place Dick was staying at.
"Elaine?" I asked, "What are you doing up there?"
"The view is beautiful up here, and you get away from all the smelly people. Well, are you going to join me or not?" Elaine declared.
"How do I get up there?"
"There's a ladder around the side of the building. Climb up that." I started to walk over to the side of the building, and found a cast iron ladder leading up to the roof. I started to climb, and I got to about 4 steps away from the top, when I realized that...I'm afraid of heights.
I made the biggest mistake, and looked down. I was a story in the air, not very far up. But it still made my sweat heavily. My palms began to slip off the step, so I gripped it as hard as I could. I took a deep breath and slowly climbed up to the next step. My hands made it to the next step, but as I drug my feet up I tried not to think about my fear. I tried to think about random things, like food or dogs. I made it to the next step perfectly fine. So, my confidence built up. I moved to the next step with more haste, but I guess I went a little too fast. Since my foot slipped and I lost my shoe.
I screamed. Elaine came running over to the ladder and looked down.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Oh, nothing." I trembled, "Just lost my shoe, that's all."
"Well, hurry up, they're about to start jumping." Elaine walked away, rolling her eyes. I started again, since I only had one more step to go, but I went more slowly. I threw my leg over the side of the wall, and walked over to Elaine. She gave me a good up down, and started to shake her head. I sat down next to her.
"You don't like heights do you?" She asked. I shook my head shamefully. She started to laugh.
"So why did you choose this building?" I asked.
"Choose? I live here."
"Really? Huh..." I shrugged, suddenly I remembered something, "Wait, is that why you always said 'He was right about you'? Because you talked to Dick all the time, didn't you?" Elaine started to grin madly.
"Took you long enough." I looked at her intently. She shifted her eyes back and forth. "What?" she cried.
"What else did he say about me?" I asked. Elaine started to laugh.
"Oh lord..." She chuckled, a roaring sound started to fill the air. "Oh look it's starting." Over in the distance, there were several C-47's lined up and they started to fly up into the air. They made a circle, until they reached the proper height for jumping. Soon, the sky was filled with perfect V shaped formations of men falling from planes.
I watched in amazement, thinking it was the coolest thing ever. I even thought that I wanted to do it once. But then I remembered the height thing, and threw that out of my mind quickly. Soon, the festivities were over, and the crowd started to dissipate back to their normal everyday doings. Elaine started to go down the ladder. She looked back at me.
"Well, aren't you coming? There's still a lot to be done today, it is only 9." She said, walking down the ladder. I got up and looked over the side, Elaine had already made it down, and she was holding my shoe. I sighed, and started to slowly go down the ladder. I guess I was going to slow for miss Elaine, since she kept sighing and grumbling.
"Any day now.." Elaine huffed. I looked down and gave her a scathing look.
"Give me a freaking minute. Christ." I hissed. I finally made it down, and Elaine looked bored.
"Finally." She sighed, pushing my shoe into my hands. I put the shoe back on, and we walked away. We said our goodbyes, and walked our separate ways. I reached the base, and tried to get back to the hospital. But there was a crowd blocking the entrance. I walked closer, and moved around the people as best I could. I said excuse me at first, but people weren't moving. So I did what any normal teenager would do, I plowed through the crowd, until I got to the door.
"Ah, and here she is." Colonel Sink said loudly. He motioned to me, as the three men with him turned around. I went wide-eyed. Here I was, face to face with three of history's most prominent people. Winston Churchill, General Eisenhower, and General Taylor. Man, I wish I'd have worn better clothes.
"Sirs, this is Megan Stein. One of the best nurses the Red Cross has to offer." Colonel Sink declared.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Stein." Ike smiled, holding out his hand. I think I was star struck or something, since I wasn't saying anything. I shook Churchill and Taylor's hands also. Sink continued to go on and on about Marge and me. I was so fascinated, since the only place I've ever seen these guys before is in my textbooks or History books. Now I was meeting them face-to-face. Of course, if I ever told anybody back home, I'd probably be called crazy face and no one would talk to me. But yeah.
"Where are you from, girl?" General Taylor asked. I shook myself and tried to remember where Stein lived.
"Um, Mount Airy, North Carolina, sir." I answered.
"Really? So how's the sport's season been going?" Ike asked. I tried not to laugh.
"Uh, I really don't know, sir. Sports isn't one of my forte's." I laughed, "No wait, I take that back. I do enjoy playing baseball once in a while. But that's the extent of my sports knowledge."
"Uh huh, that's nice." Then a cameraman showed up and the four men posed. I was confused, but then the man told me to smile. Photo Op's are so funny.
"Well, if you'll excuse me. I have a lot left to do this morning. It was nice meeting all of you." I said, and I ventured inside the hospital. Standing behind the door, looking out the window was Loraine and Doreen admiring the crowd.
"You'd think it was Cary Grant standing out there." Doreen said, walking away from the window.
"It's only bloody Churchill." Loraine sighed, leaning against the window.
"Oh by the way, Meg. One of Sink's orderlies left something for you and Marge. It's on your bed." Doreen noted. I nodded, and walked to my bed. I looked around and saw the package. I opened it quickly, and found a military green authorized uniform. Which consisted of a green button up, pants (PANTS!), and boots with a pair of socks.
"Do you think they'll let us blouse our boots too, just like the boys?" Marge asked, biting into an apple. She was standing right behind me. I didn't even hear her come in.
"I hope so. We'd look kinda stupid with a bunch of guys whose pants were bloused, and ours weren't." I said weakly. Marge shrugged, and walked over to her bed. She fingered the homemade sign that designated our beds.
"They sure have made themselves at home." She said harshly, continuing to finger the sign. I looked at the one at the end of my bed. What was there before, a sign that plainly said Ms. Megan Stein of North Carolina now was a loopy lettered sign that read, Mrs. Loraine Bigsby of Oxford. We haven't even left the place, and they've already taken our beds...mangy bitches.
"Hey guys, uh Sink wants you back at his office ASAP." Cindy said, leaning into the room. We nodded, and walked down to Sink's place. We arrived in the usual boring headquarters, the usual orderly sitting behind his desk, the usual oak hardwood chairs seating me and Marge, and the usual Sink sitting behind the desk.
"Good afternoon, ladies." Sink proclaimed.
"Good afternoon, sir." We said in unison.
"So, how have the two new nurses been getting along?"
"Well, they've already taken our beds" I muttered softly. Marge elbowed me in the arm.
"Moving along, now we are to discuss your departure to aid our men, or rather the heroic undertaking that will hopefully liberate those under Hitler's power. I know it sounds daunting but you two will be surrounded by some of the best trained soldiers the U.S. has to offer, after all I should know I trained them to be the best of the best!" Sink declared. I snorted loudly, Marge and Sink glared.
"Now, Megan. You know as well as I do that this is dangerous. So I expect that you two have written, as much as they are depressing, your wills. Just incase you don't come back." Sink commented darkly. Marge took in a sharp breath, and started to silently cry. "Now don't get teary, Marge, it's only necessary."
I started to pat on Marge's shoulder.
" Look, I'm really sorry I have to put you through this right now, but your husband made a commitment, when he agreed to go into basic training and by God he is an amazing soldier, I know he'd be proud of you. It's not everyday, women get to go out and kick some Kraut ass, you know." He smiled, " Your husband requested that I'd keep you as safe as possible but allow you to do your job, but I can't always follow through to that. You're one of the best nurses we've got, Berch, we can't have some inexperienced, replacement, hastily patchin' up our men. Now I don't want to be gettin' all teary, now, so I'll finish up here. Good Luck and God Bless you both. You're dismissed"
"Yes sir." We said sadly, rising from our chairs. We walked out of the hall into the open sunlight
So tomorrow, I'll be leaving this place, possibly, forever.
"Might as well start packing, huh?" Marge commented. I thought about going with her. But I needed to talk to Dick. I don't know why. I just have this gut feeling that I just had to talk to him, and it had to be right now.
"No, I'ma...go for a walk, I'll catch you later." I trailed.
"Ok." She shrugged. She walked away, and I started to head down the opposite direction. I made it halfway down a street, not knowing where I was going.
"Hey" a man jumped out. I jumped about ninety feet in the air, and screamed. The man grabbed me. It was Nick. I grabbed my heart.
"Oh," I gulped," God, you scared the crap outta me." Nick let go of me.
"Sorry, I just saw you coming down the road. So I thought it was a good opportunity to talk about our leaving." Nick said.
"Our leaving? What the hell are you talking about? I leave tomorrow." I said, agitated.
"No, I don't mean that. I mean when we leave here. For good. You know, back to..."He whispered, "2006.". I fell silent. I completely blanked out. I've just been so caught up with everything else that's been going on, that I've totally forgotten about actually going back home.
"Well " I looked around; it looked like no one else was around, "Nick, these things take time. There's so many calculations that need to be made, and it has to be done at the right time." That was total BS right there. Nick gave me a good look up and down. Then he snorted loudly.
"You do realize what month it is right?" He scoffed.
"Yeah, It's March." I wiggled my nose.
"And what major invasion occurs in exactly four months?"
"D-day."
"Ah good, you're not as retarded as I thought you were," I gave him the look from hell, "Well, see this little invasion thing? Yeah, I'm not doing it. Because you're gonna get me outta here just in time for me to head back home and catch the next flight to New York. So if you leave tomorrow, I'll be stuck here. And I'll tell them that I refuse to partake in any sort of invasion. Then they'll try me for treason, and shoot me right between the eyes."
"You can't do that, that'll change history. And it'll screw up the future for the both of us." I scowled.
"Really? And how are you so sure?"
"I don't know...I've just seen Back to The Future about 38 times. But your plan sounds completely idiotic. I have to leave tomorrow, I can't just choose to stay behind." He started to laugh evilly.
"Oh, dear. Now see I wasn't asking you to stay behind. I'm making you stay behind to help me." I backed away about 10 feet.
"What's gotten into you, Nick? You weren't like this before.." I said baffled by his behavior.
"Oh see, that's where you wrong once again. That whole innocent, wounded animal trip I was putting on you, was all an act. Just to get you to do what I want. But I see my plan has backfired, so now I have to resort to force." Nick said. I gulped.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Its quite simple, I hate it here. These men are so incompetent. The women make me gag. And, I absolutely despise running. Back home, my parents were forcing me into the military. Because my grades were good enough to get into any college I wanted. But they didn't have the money. As it turns out though, they did have the money to send me to college, with plenty left over. They lied to me, and they were gonna pawn me off to the freakin' military. But, I wasn't going to stand for it. So, I had them...oh what's a good word for this?.. 'Off-ed'" He laughed devilishly, I gasped. "Oh don't look so surprised. I was bound to kill my parents, or at least that's what that fortune teller said back where I was 8. Anyways, I went to the bank, posing as my father, cashed out both of their accounts. Took the money to Chicago, and spent about two weeks there. My plane to New York was gonna leave the next day. But I ended up going to a show, and coming here to the past."
"You're...you're a monster." I gapped. He grinned madly.
"So now, my dear Megan, you're gonna stay behind and figure out a way for me to get my ass outta here. Or, I'll kill you." I gasped, covering my mouth. "Oh and don't even think about telling your "wonder boy" Winters, or I'll kill him too. Clear?" He warned. I nodded, shaking. "Good. See you tomorrow." And he walked away. I began to heave.
Oh my god, this is insane. How could someone do this? I knew there were some insane people out there, but I didn't expect one of them to be transferred back in time. That's just my luck. How dare he threaten me? How dare he threaten Dick? Oh my god, he threatened me. He's gonna kill me. He's just insane enough to do it. He killed his own goddamn parents for Christ's sake. This man has no regard for human life. I have to sit down.
I walked, or stumbled, back to the hospital deathly pale. I walked inside, and passed the girls. They looked me up and down, and followed behind me. I walked into the bedroom, and clonked down on my bed.
"Uh, Megan?" Doreen asked, "Megan?" I didn't look up. I stayed focused on one central spot in the room. I thought about everything that had just happened. Dick is in danger. I'm in even more danger. I have a huge decision to make. Do I stay and help out this animal of a man? Or do I tell Dick or Colonel Sink and have Nick taken care of?
I will not subject myself to that man. I will not help him. But I wont tell Dick, cause that only puts him in more risk than he already is. So, I have to do something. Something that I don't want to do.
"I have to talk to him," I said hoarsely.
"What was that?" Lily asked. I stood up.
"I'll be back soon." I said darkly.
I went back to the house where Dick and Harry were housed up in. The lights were still on, so I knocked on the door. Elaine opened the door.
"Oh hi Megan." Elaine opened.
"Can I see Dick?" I asked weakly. Elaine made a face.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Just please, let me see Dick." Elaine shrugged, and walked upstairs. I stood outside the door, trembling not from the cold. Dick walked out the door, greeting me with a smile.
"Hi." His smiled diminished away, when he saw my face. I think I must have gone, if it was humanly possible, paler. "What's wrong?" I heaved a deep breath.
"Dick," I trembled, "we...we..we have to stop seeing each other." I didn't dare look him in the eyes.
"What?" He hissed.
"I can't tell you why. We just have to stop seeing each other." I still didn't look up at him.
"If you really mean what you're saying, then you'll look me in the eyes." He affirmed. I didn't look up. "Megan, look me in the eyes." He ordered. I still didn't. "Megan." I finally looked up.
"Dick, we have to stop seeing each other. We have to break up." I said shakily.
"Why? Give me a logical reason."
"I can't tell you."
"What? Why?"
"Because, if I do, you'll die." I said loudly.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that if we stay together, your gonna get hurt. Horribly hurt, and I don't want that."
"What, is there another man, or something?" Dick said madly.
"No, there's no other man. There's a whole story behind this, but I can't tell you. Because, if I do, then we'll both be killed. " I told sadly, "Just forget about me, ok? It's in our best interest if we both just stop thinking about each other. Or doing anything that involves the other person. This is only for the best." Dick was quiet for a long time. Finally he sighed heavily.
"If you just wanted to leave me, all you had to do was say so. You didn't have to make up some crazy story about you and me being killed." Dick said hatefully.
"I didn't make it up. Honestly, I didn't. You'll know the truth soon, but for now the truth is dangerous. I'm dangerous. I don't want to see you dead, Dick. Because that'll, that'll kill me." I stated, tears forming behind my eyes.
"Megan, I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself. If I die, then that's god's plan for me. I'll be alright, you don't have to worry." Dick cooed. I huffed.
"What about me?" I started angrily, tears falling from my eyes, "what about me?"
"Megan.." Dick started, sadly.
"No, I get it. You'll be fine. You'll be ok. But what about me, when you die?" I cried, "So please, for me? Will you just please stay away from me, for me? Because if you die, Dick, I'll never be able to forgive you."
"For being killed?" He asked.
"No! For making me love you!" I cried.
"Oh Megan." Dick miserably stated.
"Please Dick? Please stop seeing me? Please?" I cried.
"..Ok, Ok, I'll stop seeing you."
"Dick, I'm so sorry. I hope one day you'll forgive me for this," I kissed him softly, one last time, "Goodbye Dick." I sobbed. I turned around and ran away. I ran and ran, till I couldn't stand it anymore. I stopped next to a building and cried. I cried myself away, underneath the pale moonlight, next to several dirty trashcans and rats.
"That was a wise decision you made." A voice said behind a shadow. He stepped out of the darkness, to reveal that it was Nick. "But, I'll never be able to understand this emotion that you people call 'compassion'." I sniffed, and wiped away the tears. He walked closer towards me, knelt down to my level, and helped me wipe away my tears. I flinched at his touch. He stood up, and held out his hand.
"Come, we have work to do."
We'll do it all
Everything
On our own
We don't need
Anything
Or anyone
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
I don't quite know
How to say
How I feel
Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life
Let's waste time
Chasing cars
Around our heads
I need your grace
To remind me
To find my own
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life
All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes, They're all I can see
I don't know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never change for us at all
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
OMG, THAT CHAPTER TOOK ME FOREVER! I hope you all don't kill me!
MAJOR CREDIT AND PROPS OUT TO MAH GIRL Dancing En Pointe! woo!