Basic first aid training only lasted one week for the three medics.
After, they moved onto more advanced stuff. They learnt about muscles, bones, arteries and serious wounds which could happen out in combat. They learned how to stabilize a soldier who was critically wounded until they were transported to an aid station. Lieutenant Mathews was a great lecturer, who encouraged a lot of open discussions during his lessons. But the most import lessons were about how to calm a scared and wounded soldier or basic bedside manners. Lieutenant Mathews always encouraged his medics to use common sense. And to not always play by the book. He told them to trust their gut. And to always appear confident and sure towards their wounded patients.
They did a lot of research, both as a group or on their own.
The medics went over common infections, diseases or other ailments. Lieutenant Mathews would give them eight days to research that topic and at the start of a new week, they had to give a presentation or a lecture in front of a Platoon of training Officers. However, it was between the three medics who gave the lectures. And they had a very special way of doing this, so it was always fair and random.
"Alright, Stu. It's your turn to throw the dart". John said, while handing him a dart. "Aim for any piece of paper on the wall".
So far, Holly hadn't been picked.
And she was grateful for that.
Holly hated speaking in front of people.
The dart hit a piece of paper.
Stuart walked over and took the dart off the paper.
He then read the name out loud and grinned;
"your turn, Holly".
She sighed;
"shit". Holly hissed, "can't someone else do it?"
John laughed;
"no chance, Holly. You can have this one, huh?"
"But it's fucking mortifying". Holly complained, "the lads don't 'wanna hear this coming from a girl, do they?"
Stuart shrugged;
"don't think they 'wanna hear it from anyone, Holly".
Running a hand down her face, Holly sighed again;
"right…guess I better start writing out this lecture then, eh?"
John smirked;
"yeah, you should – need a hand?"
"No, you're on the graveyard shift". She said, "go and get ready for that. Stu, don't you 'wanna get some sleep, mate? You're dead on your feet".
Stuart yawned;
"good idea, Holly".
"I'll study in the library". Holly said, "I'll be quiet when I get back".
Collecting her things, she then asked Stuart;
"have you eaten?"
Stuart nodded;
"yeah…I got something at the hospital".
"Good". She mumbled, while putting her bag over her shoulder, "John, you should catch an hour sleep before your shift starts".
John smirked;
"yes, ma'am".
Snorting, Holly shook her head;
"right…I'll see you's tomorrow then. Have a good shift, John".
"See you tomorrow, Holly".
Leaving the barrack, she stepped onto the sidewalk and almost bumped into Tony Patrick. With a sigh, she stared up at him. And he stared back at her, expecting Holly to apologise. Instead, she rubbed her lips together and said;
"was I in your way, Paddy-mate?"
He glared at her;
"don't call me that, Duffy".
"Should really put a junction here or something, eh?"
Rolling his eyes, Patrick said;
"and why are you leaving your barrack, Corporal?"
Holly raised an eyebrow;
"if it's all the same to you, Paddy-mate…I can leave whenever I fucking want".
His glare hardened;
"watch it, Duffy".
Holly smirked;
"yeah? Or what? What are you 'gonna do about it, Tony?"
Patrick took a step closer to her;
"just watch it, okay?"
But she continued to smirk;
"or what, Paddy-mate? What's a sack of shit like you 'gonna do about it?"
Patrick's eyes widened again;
"how dare you!" He snapped, "I am a Sargent, you can't disrespect me like that!"
"I almost forgot". Holly sighed, "just…I've never met a Sargent like you, Paddy-mate. Especially one who stinks of asshole".
She then added;
"my pals are doing great, aren't they? See, they both went to college, Paddy-mate. They know how to study, and they know what they're doing. This is a whole new war, sunshine. You're on your way out".
"Is she bothering you, Paddy?"
Patrick's friends had soon joined them.
Two were standing behind Patrick.
And the man in question sniffed and raised his head;
"certainly not". He said, "this vile piece of shit was just leaving".
Holly gestured towards the sidewalk;
"oh, after you, your majesty".
When the three Sargent's left, Holly shook her head.
Walking across the road, she headed into the library building. And was pleasantly surprised to find Winters sitting at a table and studying hard. Smiling, she closed the door and walked over to his table. Bringing out a chair, she sat down next to him. Winters smiled and looked at her;
"hi". He whispered.
"Hey". She whispered back, "ran into Tony".
He sighed;
"what happened?"
"He was being a prick again". Holly told him quietly, "but I handled it".
Bringing out her book, a few sheets of paper and a pencil, Holly began to write out a lecture plan for tomorrow morning. Winters watched her for a few seconds, before saying;
"you're doing our lecture tomorrow?"
Holly nodded;
"yup". She mumbled, "not happy about it".
"You'll be fine, Holly". Winters assured her softly, "I bet it'll be great".
Sighing, she shook her head;
"I'm not so sure, Dick".
Making sure no one was looking, Winters kissed her quickly on the cheek and whispered into her ear;
"love you, Holly".
Smiling, she looked at him;
"you too, Dick".
Getting back to her studies, they fell into a comfortable silence while they worked.
Using the book, Holly used what information she had in there and used it for her lecture. Holly found all this stuff fascinating, but she wasn't sure how the men would react. Especially men like Patrick, who would probably have something to complain about. But Lieutenant Mathews had informed his three medics that this disease was extremely important to raise awareness about. Holly just had to remind herself of that, to get her through the lecture.
However, when Nixon soon walked into the library and stood behind Holly, he laughed;
"oh, God!" He exclaimed, "really?!"
Both Winters and Holly flinched.
It had been so quiet inside the library up until that point.
Grinning, Nixon took a seat next to them;
"trust you to get this for your first lecture, Holly".
Looking at him, she said;
"I know…it's proper crap luck but…it's good to raise awareness".
Nixon chuckled;
"it's still funny".
Smiling still, he asked her;
"how's training going, Holly?"
She shrugged;
"it's fine. Stu and John are nice. Both of them wake up proper early on a Sunday for the service".
"I know". Winters said, "I sit next to them".
Holly smiled a little;
"maybe I'll go along".
Winters looked at her;
"you never go to Church".
Holly shrugged;
"it means a lot to you, Dick". She pointed out, "guess I should give it a go".
Winters smiled;
"really?"
She nodded;
"I mean…I've been before with you and your family on Christmas. It wasn't that bad, was it? And it might be nice to have that big guy in the sky looking over me from time to time".
Nixon grinned at her;
"wanna do a bet?"
She looked at him;
"depends".
"I bet…you can't go one week without cursing".
Winters smirked;
"oh, that's interesting".
Holly pulled a face;
"why would I do that?"
"A good Christian never curses". Nixon told her, "let's see if you can go one week with being a good Christian".
She frowned a little;
"does that mean I have to be nice to Tony?"
Nixon chuckled;
"yup". He said, "no matter what he says, you have to be nice".
Holly groaned;
"how much?"
"Twenty bucks".
She shook her head;
"make it fifty".
"I'd make it seventy-"
"nah, go to one hundred-"
"yeah? How about-"
"that's enough". Winters cut them both off, "fifty is fine".
Grinning, Nixon reached for her hand;
"deal?"
Nodding, Holly shook his hand;
"deal, brother".
He chuckled;
"oh, starting now, huh?"
Holly nodded;
"yup…starting now".
…
Standing in front of a hall full of potential officers, Holly rubbed her hands together nervously. She was standing in front of a podium, her notes out in front of her. Behind her, was a large chalkboard, with nothing written on it at the moment. The men sat down on their seats, notepads and pencils at the ready to take notes.
They were quiet and waited for Holly to start speaking.
Taking in a shaky breath, she said;
"can you all hear me?"
The men only nodded in return, while their Master Sargent watched them all carefully. And standing next to the Sargent was Lieutenant Mathews, who would grade Holly's lecture. Staring down at her notes, she took in another deep breath. Looking up, she said;
"syphilis".
Nixon hid a smile.
"Here's what we know about syphilis". Holly continued to say, "it's a bacterial infection that's usually caught by having sex with someone's who's infected. It can be cured with penicillin and you can re-catch it again, even after being cured".
Her eyes looked around the room.
The men were paying attention. Though she could see Nixon near the back, trying hard not to smile. Swallowing back her own smile, she looked back at her notes and said;
"it's important to get tested and treated as soon as possible if you think you might have syphilis. It can cause serious problems if you leave it untreated. We'll get into that later. For now, let's go over your first symptom".
Holly flipped over her next note and almost groaned.
"Right". She said, while lifting her head to stare at the men, "the symptoms of syphilis are not always obvious and may eventually disappear, but you'll always remain infected unless you get treated".
Stepping away from the podium she said;
"so, let's say you go out, you're drunk, and you meet a girl. You're both too drunk to use protection and then a few days later you look down and see a painless sore or ulcer on your penis. But it can also occur in other places…such as your mouth".
Most of the men looked uncomfortable and embarrassed. Holly could understand, she too, felt embarrassed and uncomfortable. Sighing, she then said;
"it's a sensitive topic to talk about". Holly told them, "I understand. And with all this coming from me, it makes it ten times worse. But if you all have the knowledge of this sexually transmitted disease, then you can share this information with a Platoon you might be leading. It's not a laughing matter and it shouldn't be this embarrassing to talk about".
That seemed to settle the embarrassment.
Just slightly.
"Here's why it's important to spread awareness. If left untreated, the disease will turn into the second stage of syphilis. We call this; secondary syphilis. Through research, we found that a blotchy red rash can appear anywhere on the body. But often develops on the palms of your hands or the soles of your feet. You'll also begin to feel unwell, with flu-like symptoms. Such as tiredness, headaches, joint pains and high temperatures. Your glands will swell up and you might start noticing bald patches, due to hair loss. Another thing you'll notice is white patches inside the mouth and small skin growths, which are similar to genital warts". Holly said, "these symptoms usually pass within a few weeks, though they may come and go over several months before they disappear. But you'll still be infected even if you don't have the symptoms. Treatment is still available for the secondary stage, but it requires a lot more treatment than the first stage".
Holly took another step forward;
"which leads us to the serious stage of syphilis. You've ignored the first sign and the second. You were either unaware of these symptoms or too embarrassed to tell a doctor. Now that you've left it, you're infected. And this can last for decades and it's now led to more serious problems. Eventually, the disease can travel to parts of the body such as the brain or nerves. This is known as; tertiary syphilis and it is life-threatening".
The men no longer looked embarrassed by this point.
And neither did Holly.
"Here is a list of conditions you may experience with tertiary syphilis. Meningitis. Strokes. Memory loss. Loss of coordination. Numbness. Blindness or vision problems and heart problems. Syphilis is still treatable, the disease itself. But it's sometimes not possible to reverse the damage that has already been done. If we don't raise awareness for this disease, then your men will never know that first symptom. And it's up to you, to make sure they are informed. You'll fail your men if you don't inform them".
With a tiny sigh, she looked around the room;
"any questions?"
When no one raised their hand, Holly nodded;
"okay…well, thanks for listening. If you have any concerns, then pop in the medic barrack. Me, Stu and John are always there to listen. Doesn't have to be about syphilis, could be about anything".
Someone eventually raised their hand.
Holly didn't recognize the man.
Giving him a nod, she asked;
"yeah?"
"How do you protect yourself from syphilis?"
Holly thought she made that pretty clear.
But she answered him anyway;
"in the army, we provide free condoms. Take as many as you want, we've got loads left".
Another man raised their hand;
"has anyone in camp had syphilis?"
Holly's eyes moved towards Lieutenant Mathews.
He gave her a nod, allowing her to discuss that answer.
"Yes". She replied, "we've had over twenty cases so far". She said, "luckily, none of them had reached the second stage and the men are cured now".
"Can you catch it by shaking someone's hand?" Another one asked.
Holly felt her lips twitch slightly;
"no". She said, "then we'd all have to wear gloves, wouldn't we?"
Nixon and a few other men chuckled quietly.
"Sexually transmitted diseases are spread through intercourse. Not by shaking a man's hand. And it's not something to be scared of, not when we have treatment. But this was just a warning, not to leave it until we reach the second stage".
"Are there any other harmful diseases like syphilis?" Another one asked.
"Anything can turn harmful if left untreated". Holly said, "gonorrhoea is another sexually transmitted disease which is on the rise. It's not as harmful as syphilis but the later symptoms can be unpleasant if not treated. For men, your first noticeable symptom is a burning sensation when you urinate".
Holly could see a few eyes widen;
"but". She quickly added, "it's doesn't always have to be gonorrhoea. Could be a urinary infection, if followed by back pain. Or something with your kidneys. Just – don't think too much into it, alright? I'm not saying you all have a sexually transmitted disease. But you should all be aware of it and not brush a symptom under the rug".
Clearing her throat, she walked back over to the podium and collected her notes;
"anyway, that's all". She said, "cheers for listening".
Giving the men a nod, Holly then left the stage.
And that was that. Her first lecture.
Five or so minutes after, Lieutenant Mathews gave her a good mark;
"you did great, Duffy". He told her with a smile, "you delivered your lecture perfectly. And it wasn't an easy topic".
Holly smiled;
"yeah…but I hope the men take what I said seriously, sir".
"Oh, I'm sure they did". Mathews assured her, "well done, Corporal. You should be proud".
When Holly walked back into the barrack, she got ready for her graveyard shift at the hospital. She packed up what she'd need for the evening and cleaned up her side of the barrack quickly. Stuart and John were happy the lecture went well. But they didn't stick around for a long talk;
"we're heading into the clinic". Stuart said, "got a lot of men lining up outside".
John smiled at her;
"you made a good impression, kid. The men are listening".
Smiling small, Holly asked;
"need a hand?"
John shook his head;
"no, we'll be fine". He assured her, "get a little sleep before your shift, huh?"
"And make sure to eat something". Stuart added, "we'll see you tomorrow, Holly".
"See you, kid".
Holly smiled at them;
"see you, lads".
Taking in a deep breath, the smile remained on Holly's face.
And she felt proud of her first lecture.