A/N:

Thank you kEs-2717 for the two reviews! Malarkey actually recited the John Milton poem in his book; he does enjoy poetry and literature. Same with the letters to Faye, those were also the real letters he wrote to her that were featured in the book. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapters! :)

Thank you Finnobhair for another review! I'm glad you liked Malarkey's reflection on their relationship! We'll see where it leads when the two of them sit down and actually have a talk about what they're exactly doing. Where'll see where it goes from here!

Thank you drovingallday96 for the review! The recovery process is going to take a long time, so I'm trying my best to keep things as realistically paced as I can. I'm glad you enjoyed Malarkey's point of view, I should do that more often because it's quite fun to write through his eyes. And yes, if there's one thing I can't stand in stories is when two characters "automatically" love each other, I prefer slow and steady :)

Thank you Byron W.4 for the review! Also thanks for the conformation on Easy Company's return date.

Thank you LauRa-ReaDinG-XoX for the review! Their intimacy at this point needs to be brought up, but I'm glad you liked the different insights on it!

Thank you BobtheFrog for the review! I'm glad you like Abernathy more! I'm excited about revealing more about her along the way. Malarkey mentioned Bernice during the chapter, so I thought it would make sense to bring her up since he didn't just forget about her. Although their relationship had been pretty one-sided the past few months, maybe even since he went to war.

Thank you for all the reviews, guys! Reading them really brightens up my day! For those who had other suggestions about Marie's stomach aches, I wish I could tell you guys more but I don't want to spoil the plot! Stay tuned! This chapter mainly focuses on Malarkey's book, with dialogue from the book as well. Enjoy! :)


Dormagen, Germany

April 1945

Easy Company had entered Germany at last, and it was by far the most beautiful country that they've ever set foot in since they arrived in Europe. The rolling hills and landscape was covered with lush green, enriched grass that looked like something out of a painting. The villages they passed were clean and the architecture was simple yet breathtaking. The truck ride had been a pleasant one as the company of eager soldiers gawked at the beauty of the enemy nation. The trucks headed west, past the Lower Rhine as a way to block any escapes out of the Ruhr region; now that the Allied forces were closing in around Germany, many Nazis and German infantry would try to get out while they could. They knew that the war was coming to an end and that the odds weren't in their favor.

Marie was extremely fatigued most of the ride, she'd nod off then be jerked awake again by a bump in the road or from Malarkey gently elbowing her to keep her from falling asleep. He didn't want her to miss Germany and all its glory, but the exhausted medic could barely keep her eyelids open. Her energy had gone way down the past few weeks, though she didn't understand why. She thought it was battle fatigue or that she'd caught some kind of bug. As Malarkey was busy hollering with the rest of the men in glee, Marie could only think about how wonderful it would feel to sleep for a full eight hours.

As they inched deeper into Germany, the once pristine villages started to appear to be crippled from the war. Citizens still lived in the war-damaged, shambled buildings. Easy Company drove by, watching the sullen faced Germans try to go on as if their lives remained prosperous, even when everything they had known had come crumbling down. It was Easy Company's job to make sure none of these citizens fled, and that's exactly what the plan was as the company made themselves at home in a village named Dormagen. Easy Company unloaded from the trucks and gathered into their respected platoons to hear what the plan was. The most surprising thing about Dormagen was the number of factories that were compact into the village. So far there wasn't much to do, no one really had anything organized at this point, everything was still kind of in awe that they even crossed German territory. They'd all been hearing about he end since they began, but no one truly felt prepared for it.

Barbara was the first one to break the silence as they stood around the unloaded trucks, carrying their equipment like chumps in the middle of the village.

"So our job here is to babysit the krauts and make sure they don't run off like the cowards they are?" Barbara asked, her voice flat.

"Would you rather us be in a war zone full of combat?" Webster asked, skeptical of her tone.

"We are in a war zone, we just need to find where the krauts are hiding." Bain replied.

Marie rubbed her tired eyes as her platoon carried on about what their objective exactly was, bickering about what was more appealing. She swayed slightly as standing up felt like a chore to her, like she'd just finished running Currahee. She just wished that they could scope out an old building to call their own so she could find a place to sleep peacefully.

Harry Welsh strode by, bellowing out a message for some volunteers to check out a factory on the Rhine that supposedly had German soldiers hiding out. The company remained silent, unenthusiastic to jump right back into the fray after being at peace for over a month. Malarkey finally volunteered, and so far he was the only one who said he'd do it. Marie could feel her tiredness waver for a moment, hearing that he, and he alone, was going to go explore a factory where the enemy could be hiding. His voice had stunned the crowd as he stepped forward, joining the lieutenant while everyone continued to watch.

Marie's hand shot up amongst the crowd. "I'll go too, sir." Welsh nodded, indicated that she could go. As she stepped in line with Malarkey he gave her a worried glance. It was obvious that he didn't want her coming along.

"This could be dangerous." He muttered to her.

She snickered. "Compared to everything else we went through? I'm not going to let you venture into that factory alone."

They waited for anyone else to step up, but as time ticked on, the less likely it seemed that they'd have good numbers to be going through a factory (and a potential ambush) filled with German soldiers. Eventually a rifleman by the name of Ralph Orth came forward. The three of them were set to go through the "abandoned" factory at 1200 hours, right in the middle of the day. Even though it was three soldiers with only two of them armed up against the unknown, Marie didn't feel that anxious at all.

Around noon the three alert soldiers slowly crept through the large building, making their way past overturned equipment. The entire hunt had a spooky air about it, Marie felt like someone was going to pop out and surprise them around every corner, a gun fully loaded and pointed right at their faces. So far they haven't found a soul in this place, but given the size of the factory there could be a German hiding anywhere.

"Hey, Orth. How long's it been since you fired that rifle?" Malarkey asked, a hint of impishness in his voice. Marie knew where this was headed.

"I dunno, Sarge. A long time, I guess." Orth answered.

Malarkey pointed to a stack of discarded railroad rails that were on the other side of the factory, leaned up against a wall.

"Why don't you fire into that stack?"

Marie noticed Orth take aim at the stack, feeling paranoia set in. They were almost done covering the factory, but there was still a possibility that a German soldier could be hiding out! Orth fired his rifle, making Marie's heart skip a beat as the bullet struck the rails, booming with a "pang". Suddenly Orth yelled out in panic, making both Marie and Malarkey jump from fright.

"I'm hit!" He exclaimed, collapsing to the ground and rolling around as he howled in pain. He held his onto his knee, his teeth gritted.

"Marie, get down." Malarkey ordered in a hushed voice, gesturing with his hands that she lower herself to the floor. Malarkey thought Orth was joking for a moment, but he could see that he genuinely appeared to be in a lot of pain. Marie crawled over to Orth, trying to pry his hands off his knee. She glanced wildly around the room for any German snipers, but there was no one around. Just the three of them all huddled together. Where the hell did that shot come from?

"It wasn't a kraut." Orth hissed between his grunts. "It was my bullet." A fragment of his own bullet that had made contact with the steel had ricocheted and hit his kneecap. Marie checked it over, seeing that the bullet hadn't lodged itself too far into the bone, but it was enough that he would be out of commission for a while.

"Thanks, Sarge." Orth said, staring fearfully up toward Marie and Malarkey. Malarkey looked guiltily down at Orth, but Orth's suddenly broke out into a smile. "You just earned me a ticket home." It was clear now, they were their own worst enemies.


Life in Dormagen didn't consist of firing weapons and combat, it consisted of mop-up duty and scattered patrols to check for enemies around various places around the Rhine. It was easy work, watching citizens clean up debris and keep a look out for possible Nazis and soldiers hiding out amongst the crowds. Marie slept a lot since the aide station wasn't really being used to its full capacity. There weren't any injuries other than Orth's mishap that have been reported, so the medics were taking it easy for a while. Eating what she could stomach, sleeping, and using the restroom had become her routine. She still wasn't sure why she seemed to be so tired, she wasn't sick as far as she knew. She figured it was the battle fatigue that had finally caught up with her and decided to let that rest as the conclusion.

Marie would volunteer for some of the patrols, but Speirs would tell her to stay behind since there wasn't really any need for a medic. Abernathy would talk to the locals to find any information she could about where enemies could be hiding, while Barbara would head out and kill those who were hiding, not that there was an abundance of enemies that needed to be slain out here.

"Remember this, no prisoners. Shoot 'em all." Speirs had told Easy Company. Everyone took his words to heart, although no krauts were found yet. Marie was starting to believe that all the soldiers had vanished, but she knew that was too good to be true.

The girls had managed to find a building that was still intact and had taken over the upstairs area. There were still citizens living inside the building, so sharing was awkward but they learned to adjust to it, ignoring the nasty glares that were shot at them whenever they entered. Marie sat on an old mattress, attempting to write letters home and to Faye. She received some concerned letters from her father, regarding the letter she sent them back in February. Jane and Florence hadn't written her back since, but part of her didn't really care. Perhaps the truth about war had frightened them off. Sissies.

"Hey, look what I got!" Barbara suddenly announced, bursting through the bedroom door. Her dopey smile reached ear to ear, as she was hardly able to contain her excitement. She held out a book that had an image of Adolf Hitler plastered on the cover. A red banner stretched across the book, the words reading Mein Kampf. The black and white picture contrasted boldly against the crimson lettering.

"My Struggle?" Abernathy translated as she curiously peered at the cover. "I had no idea Hitler wrote his own book. What could it be about?"

"Where'd you get that?" Marie asked.

"One of the krauts had it, was readin' it out in the open on the street. I told him to fork it over. You should've seen his face, but one look at my rifle told him to listen." She opened the book, quickly flipping through the pages, still wearing a smile. "This'll be a hell of a souvenir."

"It also tells us that there's still people whom follow Hitler." Marie added.

Barbara shrugged. "I guess, but they won't be for long. I wish I could read this."

"Why would you want to read that drivel? There can't possibly be anything useful in it." Marie replied.

"Well Abbie will read it for me, won't you Abbie?" Barbara suggested with emphasis, tossing the book over to where Abernathy was sitting. "You never know, maybe it'll help us get to learn more about the krauts, like Marie said."

Abernathy opened the cover of the book delicately as she looked through the printed pages, not really fond that she was elected to read Hitler's book. Barbara sat crisscrossed on the bed, waiting like an eager child for Abernathy to start reading. Marie just rolled her eyes, peering back down at her letter, but she had little enthusiasm for writing at this moment. She pushed herself off the mattress.

"I'm going to take a walk." Marie announced, not excited to hear Hitler's tale in the least.

Walking around the ruins of the village wasn't a peaceful experience by any means. Drunken, rowdy soldiers and angry Germans were confined into one ruined space and it wasn't a good mix. Shouts and laughter filled the streets as Marie weaved her way around the crowds of people, all heading in different directions. She followed the obnoxious cheering to the building that was claimed to be the temporary CP. She found Malarkey laughing to the point where tears streamed his face. His cheeks were pink as he fought to keep himself standing. He held a slightly drained bottle of schnapps in his hands as Bain and Babe joined him in the belly-laughter. There was no doubt that they were completely wasted.

Their bodies were sopping wet, their uniforms dripping and their hair sticking to the sides of their heads. They had went swimming, most likely jumping into the Rhine out of some dare, or just for the hell of it. She rolled her eyes at them, feeling slightly frustrated at the unprofessional state they were in. The drunken high jinks were getting out of hand, and the alcohol-induced antics were beginning to get dangerous. Floyd Talbert was the only one standing around them not laughing; he watched their intoxicated celebration with heavy eyes.

"Really? It's getting late." Marie scolded, her hands on her hips as she stood before Malarkey.

"Marie!" Malarkey slurred in pure blissful giddiness. He took a few staggering steps in her direction, catching her in a tight embrace, and because he needed her to balance on. He attempted to passionately kiss her, but he was so drunk he missed her lips. Marie shied away from him, not feeling comfortable the public display of affection. She could smell booze on his breath, but it seemed too strong to be schnapps.

"Are you sure that's schnapps you're drinking?" Marie murmured to him in question.

Malarkey looked at her cluelessness, and then took another heavy swig of the bottle. She studied the bottle, knowing that whatever he was drinking was far too strong to be a simple bottle of schnapps. Marie took the bottle from his hands to get a better look at the label, but the print was in German. She sniffed the rim of the bottle and was taken aback. She knew what this liquid was by the toxic smell it produced.

He was drinking straight methanol.

Marie looked up at Malarkey to see him clutching at his throat and his chest in desperation, his face turning violently red as he started to gasp for air. He flailed his arms around in anguish in a silent cry for help, but his drunken friends didn't realize what was happening, they thought it was another joke. They carried on laughing without a care in the world as Malarkey was struggling to breathe right before their eyes. Marie dropped the bottle of wood alcohol and sprang to his side, followed by Talbert whom had also noticed something was wrong. Talbert tackled him down to the ground as Marie followed the two of them down. He took a fist and steadily beat methodically at his chest before Marie pulled him off for not doing compressions correctly. Her hands trembled in fear as she pumped at his diaphragm, then at his chest, trying to get him to breathe again. She could feel tears stinging her eyes; she knew how dangerous methanol was, it only took 10mL of ingested methanol to destroy the optic nerves. Between 30-100 mL was the fatal limits that meant potential death. She had no idea how much of it Malarkey had drank.

Malarkey took in a sharp breath, his glassy eyes widening as the oxygen hit his lungs again. He started to breathe steadily on his own, the normal color returning to his face. He stared up at the two worried soldiers crouching before him, his drunken stupor from before was now almost completely lifted by his scare. His heart rate beat rapidly, realizing that his respiratory system had been blocked by whatever the hell he'd just been drinking.

"Oh my God!" Marie cried, overwhelmed with relief as tears spilled from her eyes. She leaned over and hugged him, unable to control her worried sobs. She kept repeating 'oh my God' under her breath as Malarkey started to regain awareness.

He sat up, one hand supporting his weight on the ground, the other holding Marie. His body buzzed in a deep sickly feeling, one he couldn't shake although he tried his best to ignore it. Tab sat beside the two of them, muted from the scary event, but still worried.

"You could've died! You idiot!" Marie suddenly lashed out, her face contorted with rage. She drew back her fist and punched him in the shoulder, hard. Malarkey could feel the burning pain erupt from where she struck him, spreading into a dull ache that worked into his muscles. "You weren't drinking liquor, you were drinking methanol!" She erupted. Her shrill yelling had drawn attention around them; even Bain and Babe had stopped laughing to see what was going on.

Malarkey's face went white at the realization that he was drinking what could be classified as poison. He pushed himself up, trying to avoid Marie's furious eyes that were heavily focused on his ashamed figure. He wanted to divert the attention away from himself, not wanting the higher ups to become curious to what was happening. He took out a packet of matches from his pocket, lit a match, and then threw the match onto the spilled alcohol on the ground. Flames were instantly ignited from the chemical surface, reaching high into the air. The men (being too drunk to know any better) cheered, seeing the bonfire that Malarkey had just created. It had the appearance of a homecoming bonfire, successfully averting the crowd away from what was going on between him and Marie. Marie stood by, holding herself tightly as angry tears rolled down her red cheeks. He felt awful, making her scared and cry like that. He approached her slowly, extending his hand but she turned away in rejection. She faced away from him, her lip still quivering from the close call. He took another step toward her, wanting to apologize, take her in his arms and just hold her until the flames of the bonfire died out. But Marie had fully turned her back to him, hunched over as a sob shook her entire body. She walked away, leaving Malarkey standing with an arm still outstretched toward her. Tab gave him a pitied look but he left, too.

Malarkey kicked himself for screwing up, big time.


Couple days had gone by and Marie's emotions continued to be a hurricane of ups and downs. Everyone had noticed her moodiness and drastic change of attitude, but it wasn't long before the company knew about Malarkey's accidental ingestion of wood alcohol. Everyone knew to give her space and understood how she felt; she'd almost lost a third best friend. But Marie couldn't understand why she couldn't get a grip on herself. Her emotions seemed to have a mind of their own, spinning out of control and taking over without her having a say. She knew she wanted to be spending time with Malarkey; she knew he must have been feeling awful and guilty about what happened.

When night came she left the shared building, rushing out the door and making her way over toward where Malarkey was sleeping. She planned out everything she wanted to say, wanting to apologize for being mad at him and for avoiding him all this time. As she opened the door to his bunk, not caring who she disrupted from sleep, she saw Malarkey lying wide-awake on his bunk.

"Hey." She whispered, coming over and sitting on his bunk.

Malarkey's lips twisted into a rough smile, but Marie could tell something wasn't right. He was sweating profusely and was shivering rapidly as he pulled the blanket up on him. She frowned, placing her cool hand on his forehead, feeling that he was burning up. The heat radiating off of him was astounding.

"Don-"

"I'm fine." Malarkey instantly answered, brining up a shivering hand to gently caress the side of her face. His clammy and sticky hand just made Marie more afraid. The effects of the methanol were now cycling through his body. Marie knew that this was serious and that she couldn't do this alone. Working on Malarkey giving their relationship would be too difficult for her. She had to get help and fast.

"I'm going to get Roe." She told him.

"Why? I'm okay." Malarkey tried to retort, but his reply was weak.

"You're not, Don." She said in a firm voice. She hurried and found Roe and brought him to where Malarkey was laying. With one look Roe felt the same way as he observed Malarkey's sweaty, pale, and shivering state.

"We're gettin' you the hell out of here, Malark." Roe told him, taking his temperature as Marie watched from over his shoulder. The concern in Roe's tone made Marie feel even more uneasy.

"No, no, no. I'll be okay." Malarkey tried to reassure the two medics desperately. Marie knew he wanted to stay because he had the most consecutive days in combat than anyone else in Easy Company, and didn't want that to be ruined because of what he presumed to be the flu.

"I'm getting Speirs." Roe told Marie, ignoring Malarkey's pleas.

"Doc, no-"

"Shut up, Malark. You're sick." Roe snapped before leaving the room.

Malarkey looked up helplessly at Marie, the sincerity in his face faltering. "I'm fine."

Marie shook her head, biting her lip as she felt him tremble. She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the lips. She placed her forehead against his, feeling his fever taking its full effect on his skin. She gripped his weak hand, and stayed in that position until she heard echoing footsteps headed toward the room.

Roe and Speirs entered and wasted no time going over to check on Malarkey. Speirs did a quick assessment over Malarkey, seeing his paling skin, reddened cheeks, and sweating body. His eyes were droopy as he fought to keep them from losing focus from ill fatigue. Speirs glanced over at Marie and Roe, giving them a brisk nod.

"We're pulling out in the morning, Malark. You're not fit to come. Get well and rejoin us for the victory celebration in Hitler's place in the mountains." Speirs explained.

Marie stared at Speirs in shock; the news of Easy Company moving out was new to her. Plus hearing that Malarkey wouldn't be back until the war was over? Although it was important for his health, she didn't want Malarkey to leave her. Malarkey appeared to be just as surprised by Speirs' news, but he didn't argue with the CO. Speirs ordered Malarkey to be sent to a hospital where he'd stay for further notice. As he left with Roe following him, Marie still wasn't able to speak.

"What hospital?" Malarkey asked her.

Marie swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to force her voice to remain even. "The nearest Army hospital is at the University of Liège in Belgium."

Malarkey's hand found hers again, gripping her hand as tight as his current strength would allow. He didn't want to leave, but given his condition the possibility of him going AWOL was slim. Soon men would enter the room and help Malarkey to a jeep where they would drive to Antwerp then to Liège. She wanted to go with him so badly, but Speirs wasn't going to approve of that, especially since their relationship was still a secret.

"I'll be back before you know it. There's no way I'm going to stay in some freakin' hospital until the war is over." Malarkey told her sincerely.

"Promise me." Marie began, having a hard time finishing her sentence. "Promise me you won't leave until you're feeling better, and I mean better."

"I promise." He said in a hoarse croak.


The story about Malarkey accidentally drinking methanol was true. It made him really sick and he was detained in the hospital for almost the entire rest of the campaign.