death bed (coffee for your head)

don't stay awake for too long,

don't go to bed, I'll make a cup of coffee for your head

I'll get you up and going out of bed.

D+6 - Carentan

Everything was eerily silent over that hill into Carentan. Something was strange, off even. It was almost like it was deserted but Admiral Akbar's voice screamed in the back of my head, it's a trap. It was strategically important, the Germos wouldn't just leave it undefended; if there weren't anyone there, the people would be out walking about, there was nowhere around that would have been safe for the people to go. I knew King could hear people, he'd got ears like radar dishes and they weren't that big for no reason. I didn't like the look of that bakery either; it was an absolute choice position for an MG or a sniper; anyone going down that road would be picked off quickly.

"I fucking knew it!" I yelled more to myself than to Welsh or George, the three of us stuck behind a crumbling outhouse, pinned there by the machine gun I just knew had to be there.

"Where the fuck is everybody?!" Welsh yelled to the two of us. George and I looked at each other, incredulous and briefly forgetting the friction between us. Did he really not fucking know?

"I have no idea!" George shouted over the gun fire, turning around in between firing at the nest. Suddenly, the gunner switched his attention to something down the alley way and I took the opportunity to move. King sprang into action, running ahead of me and diving through the window, dragging the gunner out for me to take down. Nest neutralised. Now we could get into the town. I followed Welsh, as did George, Joe, Tipper and Hoobler.

"Tipper, you take Liebgott; start clearing houses; Hoobler and Luz, take the other side. Collier, take King, go find that Resistance fighter!"

Shots were being fired from all directions, there was smoke and dust, the taste of gun powder stung my tongue and somewhere along the line, I heard Lip shouting that they'd got us zeroed. The house must be somewhere around here, right? I thought to myself, as I ran through the streets. King and I stopped around the corner of an empty street, and that's when I heard footfall behind me and someone calling my name. Jones?

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I snapped, pressing both our backs to the wall of a house.

"I'm your medic, you might need me!" Jones replied and I looked at her incredulously; the woman was off her tits.

"You're going to need a medic if you follow me around! I don't need your help!"

"Let me help! Please, I owe you that much." She argued back and I groaned; I had not the time nor energy to argue with Miss Hollywood.

"Fine, but don't get in my way; stay behind me." I warned, then nodded for her to follow me.

Finally, I found the house Michelle said belonged to her contact, but as we approached one door, I paused; I couldn't hear a thing. King was barking like mad as I booted the door in, stepping in with him walking between my legs as we began to clear the house. Jones cautiously followed me, her breath shaky.

"Do you hear that?" She whispered in my ear, as we hesitated at the bottom of the stairs. There was no one around, not in the downstairs rooms at least, and King had been and checked the cellar and found sweet fuck all. I nodded, holding my finger to my lips and motioned for her to follow me, handing her my pistol for her own safety (that and just in case someone surprised us). King went up first, then me and then Jones, we went room to room, coming to the final room. There was an old-fashioned brass bed (eerily similar to my own bed at home) and a cast iron child's cot/crib thing (also eerily similar to the one mum had for me and Jammo). It looked normal; when you didn't factor in the screaming child in the crib, spattered lightly with blood and the body of its mother curled up in front of the crib. It looked like someone had been in and shot her, but couldn't bring themselves to kill the child. And who could? Poor thing probably wasn't a year old, probably 7 or 8 months old at most, blond hair, bright blue eyes and a cherub like round face. No diggiddy no doubt that the father must have been one of these SS soldiers. While Jones knelt to check the mother, hoping to find some signs of life, I hoisted the babe from its crib, holding it to my chest and trying to comfort it.

"Oh mon pauvre petit enfant!" I kissed its head, talking gently to the child. "Tu es tout seul, n'est-ce pas?"

"You speak French?" Jones asked, standing up after finding no signs of life from the mother. It looked to me like this was the contact Michelle was talking about; if the father was an SS soldier and he found out that his Mrs was a member of the French resistance, well…no wonder he shot her.

"And German and Italian and Spanish and Scottish Gaelic."

"Really? I didn't know…"

"You wouldn't, would you? Because you didn't take the time to get to know any of us; you hung around with me, just so you could tell that Chickenshit what we were doing and getting us all in the shit."

"I'm sorry for what I did, but I had my reasons!"

Am I really having this conversation? The fuck? I was about to go into it, when a nearby whistle and explosion shook the house we were in; Lip wasn't kidding when he said they had us zeroed. I shoved Jones to the door and yelled for King to go, as the baby started to wail in my arms again.

"Look, who cares now; just run!" I snapped, the two of us peeling down the stairs at an unnatural pace. I noticed, just as we got to the hallway downstairs, that the little girl had dropped her teddy. I thrust the child into Jones' arms and told her to run, while I turned back to get the stuffed bear. I was just turning to run back, having got the teddy, when an almighty boom sounded above me and everything suddenly went black.

I been praying for forgiveness, you've been praying for my health

When I leave this Earth, hopin' you'll find someone else

'Cause yeah, we still young, there's so much we haven't done

Getting married, start a family, watch your husband with his son

I stood there, staring numbly at what used to be a house, for what felt like hours. All I could do, was gape open mouthed at the pile of rubble. In my ears, all I could heard was a high pitched screaming, everything else sounded like it was completely muffled; the gun shots, explosions, the child wailing in my arms, the dog barking and howling on the steps of the former building.

She was right there. She had been right there. I could see still see her; that teddy bear in her hand as the ceilings came crashing down on her head. What…what if she was still alive?

I pushed my shaking body to move and I took off running down the street, until I came to a T-junction. Welsh and some of Collier's close friends, including Luz, were on the other side.

"Lieutenant!" I screamed, getting his attention. He looked at me, stunned and then at the baby Collier had saved, even more stunned.

"Where the fuck did that kid come from?"

"Collier, she-"

"Where's Collier?" His focus quickly changed once he saw the red head wasn't with me.

"She's trapped!"

"What? Where?"

"A building…it collapsed…"

Their faces became pale, especially Luz's. He could tell everyone all day that he didn't feel anything for her anymore, didn't care what she wanted to do, who she wanted to do and try to lose himself in a million different women any time he went out, but the truth was, he was nowhere near over her. He'd missed her terribly since she'd been gone, even while she'd been with us, after they stopped talking, he still felt so strongly about her. He just couldn't bring himself to be angry at her; she might have broken his heart, but he still loved her.

"Is she hurt?" Luz called.

"I don't know!"

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't fucking know!" I yelled. "The whole fucking building came down on her!"

I've never seen anyone move so fast, let alone a group of men. Welsh told me to leave the baby with Gene and take them to where the house had collapsed. King, ever the loyal dog, was searching already for his mistress; he must have had some idea where she was, because he seemed to focus on one spot. Luz was the first one up, followed by Hoobler, Talbert, Perconte and Welsh. All began to heave rubble and dig as fast as they could. Would they still find her alive?

"Fuck, I shoulda just said I was sorry." I heard Luz grumble, as he threw a floorboard my way. "Maybe she wouldn't have gone without saying anything."

"You can apologise when we dig her out." Welsh told him, lifting a chunk of stone.

"Maybe if I hadn't been such an ass, she wouldn't have asked to move."

I looked up from the rubble they were throwing, to watch Luz's back. I could see his face, just slightly; I couldn't tell if he was in physical pain or mental anguish. If I hadn't said anything to Sobel, they might still be together. Had she pushed him away so that he wouldn't get in trouble? She'd protected him, when she'd been dragged into Sobel's office, not letting on that it was him who she'd been caught with. She protected me, when she told the NCOs that she'd decided to take a temporary transfer, when she knew it had been me that'd told Sobel she was fraternising. It was her that had saved that child, it was her that had gotten us out of that house before it fell down on us. It was her that had tried to tell me not to follow her, so that I'd be safe, despite what I'd done to her.

"It was me." I mumbled. The others glanced at me for a moment, as they got through the second floor; they should see her soon.

"What; you drop the house on her head?" Perconte retorted, but there was no sign of humour in his voice.

"No, I-"

Everything suddenly stopped, for a few reasons; the town had been taken by us, so the fighting stopped and the digging and talking stopped, as Welsh moved a chunk of wood. Below it, was a broken and bloodied hand, still clutching a child's stuffed bear. No one moved, no one spoke and I'm sure that for a few moments, no one breathed.

And I promise that one day I'll feel fine.

And I promise that one day I'll feel alright.

It wasn't until the hand twitched, that everything resumed. Thank God! Life suddenly flowed through Luz's face.

"C'mon you, beautiful baby you!" Welsh cried, as they uncovered more of her. Collier was a mess; there was blood pouring from her head, matting her hair, there was blood coming from a cut on her face, her right hand and arm was broken and twisted, her left leg didn't look so good either. The poor girl looked like a smashed up puppet covered in paint. Luz pulled her into his arms and for a minute, we all stood staring at her.

My nurse's instincts finally kicked in and I shot to her side, demanding a canteen from someone, as Compton appeared, having come looking for Welsh. I pulled her mouth open, pouring water into her mouth to try and wash the dust from the rubble, so she wouldn't breathe anymore of it in. After what felt like years, she coughed and spluttered, gulping in air like there was no tomorrow and her brow knitted and those pretty, mismatched, gemstone like eyes opened, darting around and trying to focus on us.

"Hey Ed." Luz tried out a smile, but he really looked like he wanted to cry.

"Hello George." She croaked, in a voice I knew but couldn't place; it almost sounded like Gracie Allen.

"You alright, Charlie?" Welsh asked. It was a stupid question, but then again, what would one do in a situation like this?

There was a long pause, while Collier stared back up at him, before a look of incredulity mixed with pain and relief, graced her face.

"I had an entire building fell on my head sir; that sort of thing really puts a crimp on your day."

"Don't it just." Perconte smirked.

"We should get you to the aid-station, Collier; see to those injuries." I told her, already assessing the damage in my head.

"No, no; I think I'll just stay here." She groaned, as Luz shifted, ready to carry her.

"You can't stay here!" I protested. "Why do you think you've got a say in this? Would someone just take her?"

She cried out in agony, when Luz lifted her up and she did her best to keep as quiet as she could while she was carried and put down in the aid-station. Luz waited with her, holding the hand that wasn't broken, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb, while she slipped into a morphine induced sleep.

"She'll be fine; you should get some rest." I said to him, while I cleaned her wound. They'd take care of the rest at the field hospital, but I had to triage first.

"How do you know that? She's a mess." He muttered, kissing the back of her hand as he held it to his face.

"I'm the nurse, not you." I muttered, wrapping a bandaged around her head. "She'll be okay, but she won't be back anytime soon." I glanced up at him, wearily watching the banged up woman lying on the table and sighed, reaching over and putting my hand on his shoulder. "She'll be alright; tell her you missed her when she comes back, huh?"