"Hey, tyke".
"Moe?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Moe?"
"Lottie?"
Charlotte could hear faint noises from around her.
The sound of footsteps, men coughing.
The opening and closing of the door.
And of course, Winters voice;
"you awake, buddy?"
His hand went on her arm.
Charlotte let out a tiny moan;
"I'm tired".
A small smile reached his lips;
"really? You've been asleep for almost a day".
Charlotte's eyebrows twitched;
"how am I still tired then?"
"It's the medicine". He told her quietly, "you've been in and out of sleep for a few hours now".
She sighed softly;
"well…am awake now".
Winters gave her arm a gentle squeeze;
"I'm glad".
Licking her dry and chapped lips, Charlotte soon opened her eyes.
It wasn't extremely bright.
But after being asleep for so long, the dim light above her stung a little.
Charlotte closed her eyes again;
"aye…that's not happening the now".
Winters felt his shoulder drop in relief.
The worst was over.
Charlotte was alive and she was talking.
Looking over his shoulder, he spotted Grant, who was still sleeping soundly.
When he looked back at Charlotte, her eyes were open again.
Her lips twitched;
"hi, sir". She whispered, raising her left hand and giving him a tiny wave.
Winters huffed out a small laugh;
"morning, trooper".
Charlotte's left hand dropped to her side.
"I did okay?"
"You did brilliantly". Winters corrected softly, "you did so good in there, Lottie".
She gave a little nod;
"that's grand, sir".
He smiled;
"it is – can I get you anything?"
"Water maybe?"
"Alright". Winters said, "take it easy with the water, alright? Your body didn't react well last time after getting put to sleep".
Giving the man a tiny smile, she nodded;
"I will, sir".
Winters squeezed her arm one last time before he got up and left the wing.
Charlotte's smile left her face.
Her eyes moved towards her legs.
She couldn't feel them.
Which meant, she couldn't move them.
Charlotte felt a sense of disappointment and a sense of loss.
Similar feelings to grief. Her eyes stung with tears. She just wanted to feel them again. Blinking a few times, her head turned to the bed next to her. And her face dropped;
"Chuck?" She whispered.
Panicking now, Charlotte took off all the wires and tubes, which were buried under her skin. She rolled off the bed, landing on her stomach. Using her arms, she managed to slowly and weakly drag herself towards her friend;
"Chuck?" She called out again, "hey, wake up, man".
The door to their wing opened and Winters appeared.
Dropping the cup of water, he called out into the corridor;
"I need a nurse!"
Charlotte looked over at him, shaking her head;
"it's fine, sir".
Winters jogged over to the girl.
She had ripped out her fluid bags, her catheter, plasma and pools of liquid and spots of blood gathered below her, making a trail towards Grant's bed. Winters, not knowing whether to feel angry, concerned, or understanding, picked Charlotte up.
"Don't do that again". He told her off, voice barely firm.
Placing her back into bed, two nurses arrived on sight.
One of them cursed in German, while the other approached Charlotte.
"I hope you don't cause me too much trouble". She told her, with a stern look, "do not remove these – especially these".
And Charlotte did feel a little bad for causing a scene.
She should have realised she was hooked up to so much.
Sending Winters an apologetic frown, Charlotte asked him;
"what happened to Chuck?"
Frowning, he placed his hand on her shoulder;
"the replacement who shot you, shot Chuck in the head first".
Her eyes widened;
"the head?" Charlotte whispered, "is he…is he-"
"he's okay". Winters assured her, "he's got a long recovery ahead of him, but he'll get through it".
The nicer nurse, injected Charlotte with more morphine once she cleaned up the floor;
"you will drink water". She instructed Charlotte, "then we will try and eat, ja?"
"Sure". Charlotte mumbled.
The nurse then brought out a tiny pin.
Moving to the edge of the bed, she pulled back Charlotte's blankets, revealing her legs.
Charlotte watched, while the nurse stuck the sharp pin into her toe.
"You feel?" The nurse asked.
"No". Charlotte whispered. "I don't feel anything below my waist". She said, "not even my arse. It feels like I'm sitting on air, nurse".
The nurse covered Charlotte's legs back up;
"there is time". She said, "we will try therapy".
Charlotte pulled a face;
"I don't need to be sharing my feelings".
Winters gave Charlotte's shoulder a squeeze;
"she means physical therapy, Lottie". He explained, "to help with the damage in your spine".
She frowned and looked up at him;
"the bullet hit my spine?"
Winters nodded;
"yeah". He whispered, "Lottie, the chances….". Winters sighed, "you have a small chance of walking again. But there is still a chance".
Charlotte knew that was going to be the case.
But it didn't make it hurt any less.
…
Charlotte suffered from extreme back pain every day.
The nurses kept on giving her morphine, but the side effects made her tired and she slept most of the day. She would end up screaming in the wing. It got so bad one day, that she ended up falling out of the bed. Charlotte landed on her back and the doctor put her to sleep, just to calm her down.
She missed most of her visits, due to her being asleep.
Charlotte had a lot of visitors.
And whenever she woke up, there was a new bunch of flowers by her bed, another packet of cigarettes or a box of chocolates. One day she woke up with a teddy tucked under her arm. She didn't know who gave it to her, but Charlotte kept the teddy by her side at all times.
Though Grant wasn't awake, Charlotte felt comforted by her friend's presence.
Every day she woke up and hoped Grant would do the same.
But he never did.
When Charlotte wasn't sleeping, she was in pain.
And if she wasn't in pain, then she wasn't feeling well.
Charlotte blamed being inside the hospital for feeling under the weather.
The smell was getting to her. And seeing all the sick and wounded patients. There was a woman in the bed next to her, who wouldn't stop puking her guts up. If she wasn't puking, then she was in the bathroom. Whatever she had; it didn't look nice.
When the woman rushed to the toilets for the fifth time that day, Charlotte looked over at Grant.
"Chuck". She whispered, "wish I was asleep like you, man".
The nice nurse soon came into the ward.
Holding a few more sick bowls, she placed them by the vomiting woman's bed first, before walking over to Charlotte. She had a thermometer. Charlotte was always glad that Grant was asleep whenever they checked her temperate.
The nurse rolled her onto her side, pulled up Charlotte's knees and stuck the thermometer in.
Charlotte couldn't feel it.
Bringing the thermometer out, the nurse placed Charlotte back to her lying position.
She gave the device a shake, before checking it.
The nurse sighed;
"fever".
Charlotte nodded; she already knew that.
"You need more fluids and medicine". The nurse said.
Charlotte pulled a face;
"I hate the medicine".
"I don't care". The nurse placed another blanket over Charlotte's shivering body, "you will take it, if you want to feel better".
"I want to go home".
The nurse frowned;
"you tell me that every day". She said, "and you will, when you are better".
Charlotte frowned;
"where's Major Winters? I want to see him".
"Hush". The nurse soothed Charlotte, "I will bring you water and medicine. Then, you will sleep after vegetable soup".
When the nurse left Charlotte's wing, the puking woman returned.
She got back into her bed and grabbed a new sick bowl.
Charlotte looked at her;
"feeling any better?"
The woman shook her head;
"no".
Charlotte sighed and looked away from her;
"me neither".
…
After another dose of morphine, Charlotte had fallen asleep.
And when her eyes opened next, it was dark.
Charlotte's heart had woken her up.
It was beating fast, as if she had just run up Currahee ten times. Or was about to head into an attack. Hand going onto her heart, she gasped;
"fuck". She whispered, "fuck – help!"
Charlotte thought she was about to have a heart attack.
"Shit – help me!"
She yelled again, wishing that someone would come in and stop her heart from bursting out from her chest. The nurses on call ran to her aid. After checking her pulse, they soon called for a doctor. Charlotte was sitting up, with the help from one of the nurses. Tears were running down her cheeks, out of pure fear. And it was even more scary, when she had no idea what the nurses or the doctor was saying at first.
Feeling a sharp prick, Charlotte looked down and saw a nurse drawing blood from the veins in her arm.
Things were blurry.
Her heart was beating too quickly.
And her body didn't know how to respond to that.
Her fever was high, and her body was busy trying to fight off whatever was causing the fever. But the doctor looked a little confused. It was the last thing Charlotte saw before her body stiffened and jerked in quick and frightening movements. She was biting down on her tongue, though, not aware of the pain or blood in her mouth. Nurses rolled her onto her side, while they waited until this moment passed.
It didn't last long.
And when it ended, Charlotte felt confused and sore.
Feeling more miserable than ever, she spat the blood out from her mouth.
The nurse wiped the rest away with a tissue.
"Call him". Charlotte weakly begged, "please?"
The nurse looked at the doctor, who stared back confused;
"who?" He asked.
"The Battalion Commander". She told the doctor quietly, "he lives in Zell am See hotel".
Clearing his throat, the doctor gave one of the nurses a nod.
While she went off to fetch the Major, the doctor placed a cool hand on her forehead.
He frowned;
"I have to run some tests". He said under his breath, "this is…serious".
The nurse smoothed back Charlotte's sweety forehead;
"hush now…Winters is coming".
Carefully, the nurse and doctor laid Charlotte back down on the bed.
"Try and lower her fever". The doctor ordered, "medicine, cool water. Ja?"
"Yes". The nurse complied, "right away, doctor".
The nurse had to get her fever down.
She knew this was bad. Perhaps deadly.
Leaving Charlotte's side, she went off to fetch medicine and a cool cloth.
…
Standing outside of the grand hotel, the nurse pulled the doorbell.
It rang loudly.
And the hall light turned on.
Taking a step back, a man soon answered.
He looked half asleep.
"Yup?" He mumbled.
"Major Winters, I must see him".
Rubbing his eyes, the young officer looked her up and down.
"Who are you?"
"I am the nurse from the hospital". She told him, "Charlotte must see Major Winters".
Nodding, the officer quickly invited her inside.
"I'll wake him up". He told her, already heading for the stairs, "I won't be long".
Lieutenant Cowell raced up the stairs and headed for the Major's door.
Not even knocking, he entered the bedroom and turned on the light;
"sir". He called out, with a hint of urgency.
Being used to waking up so suddenly, Winters eyes snapped open.
Sitting up, he looked over at Cowell;
"what is it, son?"
"It's Sargent Gallagher, sir". He told him, "she needs you".
Winters quickly got out of bed and pulled up his trousers, while shoving on his jacket and boots. Running a hand through his hair, he left his bedroom and ran down the stairs. The nurse was still standing by the door, watching him anxiously.
"What happened?" Winters asked her.
The pair of them left the hotel, while she told him;
"she is not well, Major". She said, "she had a…a seizure, Major".
Winters frowned;
"what?" He whispered, while heading towards his jeep.
The nurse followed after him;
"her heart beats too fast…her fever is too high". She explained, "her body…didn't know what else to do, Major".
Getting into the jeep, he started the engine.
"Why is she unwell, nurse?" Winters demanded.
Slamming his foot down on the gas, the jeep took off down the road.
The nurse shook her head;
"we are not sure". She replied softly, "the doctor will run tests".
Winters sped through the town and reached the hospital in under eight minutes.
Stopping outside, he jumped down from the jeep and raced into the hospital.
His boots slammed against the ground, echoing down the corridor.
When he reached Charlotte's wing, he pulled the door open.
It slammed gently behind him.
The nurse tending to Charlotte looked his way.
A tiny smile reached her lips;
"she sleeps".
Winters walked towards his troopers' bed.
Charlotte was in a deep sleep.
Hands locked around the teddy, she breathed evenly and deeply.
Winters felt his shoulders drop in relief.
Sitting on the edge of her bed, he took her hand.
The nurse smiled at him;
"you are a good man, Major Winters".
Biting on his lip briefly, he told her;
"she's family. And I'll always be there when she needs me".
While tears reached her eyes, the nurse placed the cold and wet cloth into Winters hands;
"place it over her forehead". She instructed softly, "there is one behind her neck".
Winters gently sat the cloth on Charlotte's warm forehead.
The nurse placed a quiet hand on the Major's arm;
"she is very homesick".
Winters nodded a little;
"I know". He whispered.
"She asks…for you, always".
Sighing shakily, Winters leaned towards Charlotte;
"I'm here, Lottie".
Charlotte let out a tiny and soft noise.
The Major felt his lips twitch;
"you gave me quite the scare, buddy".
The nurse told him;
"you sleep here too?"
Winters nodded;
"I'll take the chair, nurse. Thank you".
The nurse placed on Charlotte's little oil lamp, which sat on the table beside her bed. She kept it on for her all night, for it seemed to calm Charlotte down. Getting up from the bed, she then told him;
"shout me if anything changes, Major".
Winters nodded;
"I will, nurse".
Before leaving the wing, the nurse turned off the main light and left.
Winters quietly tended to Charlotte.
She was still fast asleep, which was probably for the best.
Soon, a noise from behind him reached his ears.
Winters sharply turned around.
Grant groaned again.
Eyes widening, he got onto his feet and made his way towards the Sargent's bed;
"Chuck?" He called out.
Grant's eyes were open.
He was staring back at Winters.
"Hey, trooper". Winters greeted, "can you hear me?"
Grant blinked a few times, though didn't respond.
"Stay awake". The Major told him, "I'm getting some help".
Grant was awake.
He was aware of his surroundings and could follow the light from the doctor's torch.
However, he couldn't speak.
And he couldn't feel his left arm.
While Winters and the doctor stood around Grant's bed, Charlotte chose that exact moment to wake up. Slowly, her glassy eyes looked towards Grant's bed, just out of habit. She could see his eyes staring back at her.
Grant's lips twitched.
As did Charlotte's.
Reaching out for his hand, Grant did the same with his right hand.
Their fingers couldn't touch each other.
Charlotte sighed quietly.
"Still up for that drink, man?" She croaked.
Grant's eyes lightened.
His lips twitched again.
Charlotte huffed out a tiny laugh;
"same". She mumbled.
She then added;
"glad you're awake". She said, "been waiting for you, pal".
Grant's jaw moved and his lips parted.
He was trying to speak.
But he couldn't.
Charlotte could see him getting frustrated;
"come on, pal". She whispered, "you're still 'gonna catch all the birds".
While a tear rolled down his cheek, Grant's lips formed a tiny smile.
Winters turned around and faced her.
Giving her a warm smile, he sat on the edge of her bed;
"how're you feeling?"
Charlotte sighed quietly;
"bad". She croaked.
Frowning, Winters placed his hand on her forehead.
"You're still warm". He mumbled.
The doctor was soon standing at the foot of her bed;
"I have a theory". He announced to the pair of them.
Winters look his way;
"what is it?" He asked.
Taking off his glasses, the doctor told him;
"perhaps…Charlotte had blood poisoning. Which left untreated, can turn into sepsis".
Winters felt his face drop;
"she has sepsis?"
The doctor nodded;
"I believe it to be true". He whispered, while staring at the girl. "I will and fix her, Major. And if I cannot…then we will make her as comfortable as possible".