"You need a hand?" I asked at the men, seeing some of the boys below me digging into the earth with another burst of snow falling over us. We moved away now from Bastogne, no longer in that kind of hell and in another hell: Foye. We were outside a small town that was occupied with Germans who were waiting for us to make a move. Christmas came and went and we were about to go into January of 1945, though it still felt like we were at a standstill within a moment in time. War felt like a standstill like we were frozen and not moving forward, only stuck in one place. This was the same: snow and cold surrounding us, the mere quiet that would haunt us both day and night, and our thoughts playing records to taunt us. We needed moral, we needed faith again.

"No thanks, Jem. We got this." Muck replied to me in a huff, shoveling into the dirt and grunting throughout the process. He was shoveling with Popeye, and I saw some of the other men were shoveling too in order to get their holes ready for anything that was coming our way.

"Bullshit ya do." I replied back to him hopping down to grab the spare shovel and start helping them dig. Both Muck and Popeye watched me as I did this, digging with my arms both to keep myself warm and to show moral to the men. The cold was getting to them, tenfold and it was seen clearly on their faces and how they spoke. Mostly about Dike, to the lack of Dike, in the Company since he was hardly around and nowhere to be found when he would leave on long walks.

"No need to try and be one up with us, Jem." Popeye commented in a smirk though I grinned from hearing him joke with me as I dug a few more feet into the earth before looking back at the both of them.

"Don't act like you don't like what you see." I said in a coy tone to him, hearing both of the men chuckle as I placed the shoved back on the dirt above them.

"Way to be a tease there, too." Muck commented back to me as I got up from the foxhole that they were in, smoothing out my jacket that I was wearing and just winked that the both of them.

"Let me know if you need any kind of help, since clearly I can out shovel the both of you combined." I commented though they waved me off and I walked away in a smirk on my face. It was colder here for some reason, and darker since we were in more cover from the trees. The rest of the men were talking together, mostly about how Dike was nowhere to be found with the rest of the men. They asked where he was and if he was ever going to come back. I could see some of them trying to find him and bring the Company together more, and the one who did it was most of Lipton. He was acting more like the moral leader of our Company, keeping the men together and their spirits up. But it was only so much until a person can get angry with the situation.

Out of the blue there was a popping of a gun going off once, everyone around me shooting to the floor and looking around in worry that someone was about to shoot at us. I was nowhere near a hole, so I was out in the open when I heard someone to my left call out to me.

"Jemmie, get in here!" Joe called out to me in a huff, having me crawl and run at the same time over to his foxhole and roll in, looking out and seeing where the shot was forest at. No one moved from their holes, looking around in both panic and confusion as to where the gunshot came from.

"Where did it come from?" I asked Joe under my breath as he was looking with his gun out against the dirt, his brown eyes were scanning the area quickly.

"No idea, but it ain't no sniper." Joe replied back, though I stayed still for a moment. It after a few moments when we heard someone cry, "Medic!" I was about to get up when Joe grabbed my jacket, pushing me back down next to him in the foxhole and having me glare at him now in wonder and confusion. Why was he keeping me here when come one needed me.

"Look." He whispered to me, pointing with his head over to the spot where he was looking. I looked too, having me see Eugene already running over to the call for help with his hand on his satchel and the other holding his helmet to make sure it didn't fall off. I watched with my own eyes as he was off into the darkness of the forest, sighing in relief that he was taking care of it, and too that he was safe. I leaned back a bit in the foxhole as Joe eyes me carefully from next to me, lowering his gun and placing it in-between us in the hole.

"So, you two datin' yet?" He asked me casually, leaning against the foxhole at me and folding his arms in front of himself to watch me. I eyed him, mirroring him with his body language and rubbing my gloved fingers together to just do something since this conversation was about to get awkward.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Joe." I commented back, seeing a smirk on his face.

"Oh, come on, Jemmie. I know you two talk all the time." He explained.

"Oh, I talk to a lot of the men here plenty, but that doesn't mean I'm dating anyone of them anytime soon." I replied back in my own cockiness to it.

"You know what I mean, Jemmie. You guys always sneak off to talk to each otter. It's cute, like little teenagers who are in love." Joe said back in a remark, though I said nothing and thought about it more and more. We would sneak off in the snow to just talk, to get things off our chests and to just be together through the chaos of war. Even after our own fight about Eugene knowing about my disability and how it was affecting me, we were on good terms again. Although, for the most part, Eugene would want me to be away from anything stressful and harmful since anything could now set me off. I cared for the boy, I really did, but it was getting to the point where I figured he would want to be place me in a some kind of box where nothing was going to hurt me.

"Yeah well, Winters is already down my back for not telling him about the Epilepsy and I don't want him on my case for another thing." I huffed out at him, rolling my shoulders to get the cold off. Joe gave me a mischievous grin then, though I eyed him in annoyance since he was clearly being the annoying brother at this point.

"So you do admit that you like him." He proclaimed, having me hear him laugh a bit as I rolled my eyes and saw the other men hop up from their holes to move around since it was now nothing to worry about. I got out too, not giving my brother the light of day at this point since he was trying to push my buttons.

"Zip the lip, Joe." I warned him, but he kept laughing as I walked away from him. Now I had my brother to deal with since he was getting on my case with Eugene. I knew how Joe worked with me when it came to other boys liking me, it's always been that way and that's how it was going right now. It annoyed me, though I did the same with him too. We were still kind enough to one another that we would let things happen with the other shifting it around.

When were we going to snap?

I waited outside the makeshift tent that Nixon, Winters, and Lipton were inside of, though I could hear some of the conversation that was happening. Apparently it was Hobbler that was shot, though it was his own gun on his pocket that went off and got him in the leg, fatally. He ended up dead because the bullet hit the artery, a big mistake since that was an instant death sentence. So now Lipton had to explain it to Winters and Nixon, apparently so since Dike was once again nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, hell, Lip. It wouldn't have made a difference if you had known. Cut that main artery in the leg, that's—that's it." Nixon said inside the tent as I was shuffling around outside, waiting or my turn to go inside and hear what Winters wanted to talk to me about. Luz was walking by, along with Guarnene and they were seeing me outside the tent, walking over with confused looks on their faces. Both of them were growing facial hair at this point, though Guarnene had Luz beat with a beard now on his face and Luz's own hair was growing up to me more floppy than clean cut like before.

"Whatcha doin' outside the tent, Jem?" Guarnene asked me in curiosity, having me look up and see him give me a curious eye.

"Winters wants to talk to me." I replied, seeing my breath hang in the air as he then smirked at me.

"He always wants to talk to you these days. You gettin' in trouble?" He asked in a joking manner.

"You know how I am, Bill. I'm reckless and too crazy to handle." I joked back, Luz giving me his signature grin.

"You are pretty reckless, Jem. I'm surprised that you're still alive by this point in the war." Luz commented back, having me just shake my head from the thought of me being too damn reckless for the whole group to handle.

"I feel so much better now." I sarcastically replied back to him.

"Would you prefer I use this voice to tell you how reckless you are, too damn reckless for this Company?" Luz asked, now using his Sobel impersonation on me. I grinned from ear to ear then, since he was trying hard to make me smile and warm up in this bitter cold.

"Well, I was—I was there, sir. Figured it might as well be me." Lipton voice from inside, then coming out of the tent. Luz and Guarnene made eye contact with him, then quickly moving away from the area and Lipton looking over at me. I just smiled at him as he shifted his collar on his jacket.

"Jem, you can come in now." I heard Winters inside, having me immediately move into the tent to not being with Lipton and make it more awkward. Once I was inside, I saw Winters sitting there, shivering in his own peacoat and looking miserable as Nixon was sitting off to the side, not shaking like Winters but also not looking optimistic.

"I'm sorry to hear about Hobbler, sir." I apologized to Winters as I took off my helmet, facing Winters and holding the helmet in front of me.

"It was a hard loss out here for some of the men," Winters commented in a shiver, "But none the less, thank you. I called you here to give you a new assignment."

"New assignment, sir?" I asked him trying to get it right. Did he want to assign me something? Something didn't feel right, yet again nothing felt right anymore. Well, what I was feeling with Eugene was the only thing that was right.

"There's a new Aid Station being set up about a mile or two out East in the forest, away from the town and from the battle lines. Since we moved over here to Foye, we've been having injuries and losses left and right, and Colonel Sink does not want to lose any more men. So I have decided to send you to work at the Aid Station for now, help out with the flow with the injured there and any more that will be coming that way." Winters explained, having me drink it all in. He was sending me away from the men to work at a new Aid Station, which made me think that he was sending me away from the danger. There had to be a real reason behind it?

"Are they lacking any medical workers there, sir?" I asked him, trying to figure out the real reasoning behind why I was being sent away.

"There isn't enough, only barely any Combat medics and nurses there. The combat medics that would be available are still with their Companies and are too occupied to help at the Aid Station." Winters answered me, though I shifted a bit and still felt uneasy for leaving Easy Company.

"Sir, although I know what I'm about to say may be stepping out of line, but is this because of my Epilepsy?" I asked him carefully now, seeing him now eye me, He knew where I was going with this, and he knew I was wondering why he was sending me off the line. This could become something personal, it all depended on his answer as he then took in a deep breath, having me wait for him to tell me the real reason.

"It has some part of it, yes," Winters replied, having me release a shaky breath, "However, I realize that the medics in the Aid Station are not as experienced in working with the severe injuries that are there like you are. Compared to the rest of them, you have the most years under your belt as a nurse, and that is needed the most there." I nodded my head then, although it was still giving a bit of a pain in my heart that he was trying to protect me with my Epilepsy, he water to have me use my real knowledge of medicine at the Aid Station.

"Thank you, sir." I thanked him, giving him a small smile and seeing him eye me from his sitting position and then letting out a shaky breath of his own. I looked at my own boots, feeling another wave of defeat and shame come over me like a wave.

"Look, Jem, I know that it looks like I punishing you for this," Winters explained in a calmer tone, having me look up at him from looking down at my own boots in defeat, "But I do want to look out for you and what could happen to you. There is medicine for you there at the Aid Station, medicine that you can use. It's far too much for you to be out here with what you have." I then knew where he was coming from. He not only gave me the book on Christmas, but he was trying to get me to medicine for the Epilepsy and away from anything stressful. How could I be angry with him now? He was a good leader, trying to look out for me and make sure that I would live another day. There was nothing else to be said to question.

I was leaving the line.

"Get him one some more of his IV and the morphine for the pain," I instructed the replacement combat medic who was watching me work on the recent soldier that was brought into the tent with a busted kneecap, "As soon as you give him the morphine, we will get him cleared for departure back stateside."

"Yes, ma'am." He replied, going to work as I moved away from the solider and looking over my shoulder. The Aid Station was a huge tent that was still in the forest, about two miles east from the line that I was taken off of. There was four rows of cots, all of them were occupied by soldiers who were being sent back to America or somewhere else that was not there in Foye. We only had so many medics there, and the conditions of the bitter winter were making it hard for us to work with since we needed heat for some of the men to survive the night. But we were getting by. At the Aid Station, I had the most experience there, and they were having me clear the most of them out with my own own signature on the paper. I had medicine again, and I was taking it every day. It had to be special ordered, and I had enough to last me a month of two. I kept the medicine in my pocket from then on, never having it leave me sight since it was now my anchor.

I missed the boys already, though I was only here for a couple of hours now and I was already swamped in getting wounded soldiers shifted around and out of the station back to America. The ones I missed the most were giving me an ache in my own heart because I was no longer going to see them every day. Eugene was the worst, since I was no longer seeing him and be able to be close enough to just hold his hand. Was it hurting as much as I was? It must have been, since I remembered seeing the pain on his face when I explained to him the situation. But he just gave me a kiss, reminding me that we were going to be back together again and this was not permanent.

"Come on in, we need more nurses in here anyways." I heard to the main opening outside into the woods. I was walking over to the next wounded man from another Company, who was trying to breathe although his arm was blown clean off. It wasn't until I heard someone call out to me in a familiar voice, having me freeze in my spot.

"Jemima?" I looked up and over within a second, seeing none other than Alice there at the flap of the tent in her own nursing uniform. She looked older but just as beautiful and just as radiant as when we were in training. I smiled widely, walking over in a brisk pace as I then hugged her close, hearing her giggle as she hugged me back.

"You are a sight for sore eyes." I said to her in laughter as we were looking at each other. It seemed like she got taller, though she wore her nurses' outfit real nicely.

"Well, look at you. You're in charge around here?" Alice asked me in wonder and in a giggle. I shrugged my shoulders, looking around me at the chaos in the tent and giving her a small grin.

"I guess so, since I know the most in here when it comes to medicine. Although I'm not surprised, I know I'm pretty good." I joked with her, seeing her grin with her perfect teeth and then fold her hands in front of me.

"Well, I guess I am at your command now." She informed me, having me then nod my head at her and give her a challenging look.

"Let's get to work then."

"Where have you been since D-Day?" I asked Alice as we were both sitting outside the Aid Station on a break since it was going nice and slow on the inside. We both were sitting on top of empty crate boxes that bought more supplies that we needed, our feet dangling and just staring off into the forest that was in front of us, getting a break from snowfall.

"Mostly in France, I had to learn how to speak French while I was over there. Helped out in a couple of the hospitals and then I was transferred over here in another part of a battle." Alice explained as she moved some of her hair from her eyes with her delicate fingers, "Most of the time it's just changing sheets and getting old bandages off and putting on new ones. It's nothing like what you've been going through as a combat medic."

"Yeah, well," I started, taking in a deep breath and shuffling a bit in my peacoat that I got there, "It's nothing that I ever imagined."

"Tell me about it." Alice urged me, clearly wanting to know what I saw and what I was going through. I was quiet for a moment, thinking of what to say to her.

"It's scary. One of the scares things I have ever done in my life. I thought to be a soldier was scary enough, but being a combat medic makes me petrified at night sometimes. If you don't run fast enough, someone could die from bleeding out from the neck, and you have to think on your toes much more than nurses have even done. I never thought I would see death the way that I have with these men here, one minute they're there and the next..they're gone." I explained calmly, though when I said it, it was driving me insane on the inside. It was all true, what I said. This job that I had was far more exhausting and scary, almost proving to be too much once in awhile. It was still a pure miracle that I was still alive and not dead yet, either from being killed in battle or from the Epilepsy.

"I think you're doing a good job, from what I could see." Alice said to me in a gentle manner, having me look back at her and see her give me a soft smile. I missed that smile, since she would give it to me so many times when we were back in training and hearing her giggle also reminded me of home. I have missed her so, having a friend who was not a male was something I really needed these past months.

"Thanks, Alice. I'm glad you're here. Who else am I going to gossip to?" I asked her in a light tone.

"Since when do you gossip, and what do you have gossip about?" she asked me. I just grinned at her, though he read me like a book and then giggled, scooting a bit closer to me.

"Who is it? You have to tell me!" She urged me in urgency and with a teenage like a spirit to her.

"What makes you think that it's a who?" I asked her back, not showing any sign of defeat.

"I can see it all over your face. There is a guy, isn't there? What's his name?" She asked me again, clearly not going to give up on the subject until I told her what she wanted to hear. I just rolled my eyes at her, seeing her still give me the same stare of a teenager waiting for gossip. OI might as well tell her since she was digging her heels in.

"You know him, that's all I'm telling you." I replied back simply, looking back at the forest in front of me. She didn't move, not for a moment until it clicked in her head and she squealed.

"Eugene?!"

Damnit.

"You got mail, Sergeant." I was working on the leg of another soldier that was about to be sent out to the boat that would take him back to the states. That day was nothing more than hell, since we were getting wounded soldiers left and right from an attack that was happening right out on the line. I was worried about the boys there, since they were going to be hit the hardest. The scout that was there adding out mail came over to me as I was getting the leg on the soldier in front of me patched up and ready for departure. I grabbed the latter, feeling something heavy in the envelope as I move away from the soldier that I finished on. Opening it, I peered inside and saw two chains in there, they are thin enough to be passed as necklaces. I took out the two chains, though the rest of the world was moving around me within seconds I saw that there were two pendants on the two necklaces.

The Star of David.

I smiled slightly, putting one over my head to wear and the other back in the envelope. It must have been a Christmas present from home, something our mother thought we needed whiel we were fighting over her in the war. I knew the second necklace was meant for Joe, having me shove the envelope in my jacket pocket as I heard a bustle of people coming in front the from flap. Looking up, I saw in horror who it was since it made my heart drop and my eyes go wide in fear.

Eugene, and he was helping carry in Guarnene on a stretcher.

"Over here." I said to him as he was bringing in Guarnene with another soldier. They were bringing him in, though others were rushing back and forth to aid to the newly broken soldiers. Eugene and the others got him on a cot, having me look at Guarnene who was in more pain that imaginable.

"Hey buddy," I said to him in a soothing tone, seeing him look up at me,"Let's take a look at you." I peered down at his leg, having me loose my breath and freeze. There was no leg, it was blown off clean and it made me almost loose my own tone of voice as Guarnene spoke up.

"I know it's bad," he grunted out through gritted teeth, having me look back up at him and see him look right at me with a hint of glimmer back on his face, "But give it to me straight: am I going to loose the leg?" I reached over and grabbed his hand, feeling him clutch it tightly in my own.

"I can't save the leg," I said to him honestly, but I smiled at him, "But I am told that girls go for the one-legged men. They think it's sexy." After I said that I winked, seeing him crack a grin at me as Alice walked over.

"What can I do, Jemima?" She asked me, having me look at both her at Eugene. He was waiting for me to do something for Bill, anything that would help him.

"Get him prepped for an IV and morphine, along with some more dressing on the leg and ready for departure on the next jeep that's leaving in a few minutes." I explained to her calmly, seeing her nod her head earnestly as I looked back at Bill.

"Alice is going to take care of ya, Bill. You're in great hands, okay?" I asked him, seeing him nod his head and grin at me.

"Thanks a million, Jem. You better say goodbye to me before I go." He reminded me, having me nod my head and kiss his hand as I looked to Eugene now, Alice not taking care of his leg and getting to work.

"Anyone else?" I asked him in worry. He was about to answer when the flapped open again and we both looked. I cringed, seeing Joy Toye, having no leg like Bill, but he was screaming and was crying now as he was brought in on his own stretcher. I placed a hand over my mouth, since two of my friends just lost one of their legs and were no leaving us forever. This was too much for me, far too much.

"Holy shit." I gasped out, moving over to Eugene now in pain as Toye was being place on his own cot, "What is going on out there, Eugene?"

"We're getting hit hard." He merely replied as I watched with my eyes Toye being taking care of to by another medic. It still pained me, knowing that they were going to be sent home and no longer here with us. I never wanted this much pain for them, losing a leg and then having to rearrange their lives. I looked back at Eugene, seeing him give me a reassuring smile that it was going to be okay.

"Roe! Come on, Doc, we need to get back to the line!" A soldier called out to him by the opening flap. Eugene and I looked, Eugene starting to walk over and having me follow him. I didn't want him to go out there, since the same thing that happen to both Bill and Joe would happen to him too, if not then worse. As we approached the open flap, the jeep that were ready for Eugene as he then looked back over at me.

"You going to be okay here?" He asked me carefully, though I shook my head from the mere question.

"I should be asking you the same." I reminded him, watching as he was giving me a look of grimace.

"Doc, we have to leave now!" The soldier called out again, Eugene was about to head over and I grabbed his sleeve. He looked back at me as I fished out the envelope with Joe's necklace and handed it to him.

"Give this to Joe for me, will you? It's from home." I said to me, seeing him take it and place it in his own pocket. I looked around, seeing no one was looking, and I snuck in a kiss on his cheek before moving away from him so that it would be not worse for the both of us. He moved away from me too, back to the jeep. But as he got in, he looked at me one more time as I waited by the opening. He smiled at me as they were driving away, having me smile back.

I failed to realize that this would be the last time I would see Eugene in a long time.

That night, in the cool darkness of the January evening, I took a step outside of the tent since I needed to breathe. The rest of the day was beyond hectic and busy for me, since more and more men were coming in and I had to help them through all the pains and lost limbs and fingers. Once I said goodbye to Toye and Bill, they were sent off and away from the area with the rest of the severely wounded. The only ones left were the ones that were asleep that were minor enough to leave in the morning. Everyone else was resting in the tent as I was trying to crack my back and get some fresh air in the dead of night.

"Heya Jem." I looked over to my left, seeing someone walk over from the left where the road to the line was. It was Popeye, and he grinned at me from walking in the snowy darkness.

"Since when is it okay that you walk alone here?" I asked him in wonder as he pointing behind him.

"I'm not alone." He explained simply, having me peer over his shoulder and seeing Luz walking up in a brisk walk, hands in his pockets and gruff look on his face.

"He wanted to come by to see how you were doing, and Winters wouldn't let him walk by himself and asked me to join him. Since apparently he needed someone to hold his hand." Popeye replied in his cocky grin though Luz rolled his eyes from his explanation.

"Don't be a dick, Popeye," Luz said as they both approached me and he grinned at me, "Just checking up on you. Joe got his envelope and he says thanks."

"Thanks for the message, Luz." I thanked him, seeing him look behind me at the Aid Station and then point with his finger.

"How are you liking working here and not being on the line?" He asked me in amusement.

"It's hectic, but Winter's would rather have me here than out there." I explained to him, seeing him give me a smug look on his face.

"Looks nice, though I doubt it's nothing like us boys. We do miss your cockiness." Luz confessed in a mocking tone, having me giggle and then hear something go off in the far distance. The three of us stopped in our tracks and looked around, hearing it again. It almost sounded like a cannon, and we all froze. Something was off, and we were about to get into serious trouble.

"Boys," I called out to the both of them, hearing it once more as they looked over at me though my eyes were on the sky above us, "Get in the tent. Now."

"You don't need to tell me twice." Popeye said in a gruff as the three of us were about to head to the tent when it happened. The tent was hit by an explosion, bursting into flames as the three of us were shaking to the core, frozen in front of the part of the tent that was now in flames. This could not be happening, it was more like a nightmare than reality. But it was, and it made me feel the first trickle of blood from my nose touch my lips. I was about to run towards the tent, since there were people in there including Alice but Luz wrapped an arm around me to pull me back. I thrashed against him, but he was stronger then since I wanted to save who was in here.

"NO!" I screamed, another explosion happening and it was on the other part of the tent again.

"We need to find a foxhole! Now!" Popeye said to the both of us as the three of us ran off from the area. I found the first foxhole that was closest to me, though my nosebleed was happening and I had to ride it out in there. As soon as I was in the foxhole, another explosion happened over me and I screamed, feeling my boded being pushed side to side by the force as a tree fell right over me. My face was torn up, my side was bursting in pain and my mind was now blank as blood was all over me now.

All I saw, as darkness, and I breathed out before closing my eyes.

Death called my name, at least that's what it felt like.