Eleanor exhaled deeply as she looked at the rows of men before her. She hated teaching these seminars with the others medics; even if she did know all of the men in front of her, she still didn't like speaking in front of large groups.
The last few months had shown a remarkable change in Eleanor's relationship with the men. She'd become one of them in more ways than she could count by the time they had begun jump training. They'd now begun intensive jump training, medics included. Eleanor was excited to be getting field training with the men, as joining the men for weapons and tactical training at Camp Toccoa had been her favorite parts of the week. In return, the medics had been charged with teaching the men some of the things they'd learned; the seminars were for the men to learn life-saving reactions and procedures to tide them over on the field until a medic could arrive.
As Eleanor's eyes roved over the open field lined with men, she became particularly nervous, remembering what had happened at the first seminar earlier that week. Because the seminars were held outside for need of space, men from other companies who had free time would often stop and watch; partly, Eleanor discovered, due to their curiosity about her.
Last time, a Corporal from Dog Company had, in passing, called out that he'd like Eleanor "to play doctor with him some time." The response had been instantaneous as several members of Easy Company had broken formation to lunge at the young man. The resulting tussle between Easy and Dog took ten minutes to break apart and had left Easy, unsurprisingly, without weekend passes along with a battery of other punishments. Eleanor had heard stories of the Easy men arguing with or threatening others for making lewd remarks about her, but those had always been behind her back. Apparently this man's gall for disrespecting her to her face was enough to merit action in their eyes.
While Eleanor was grateful for their loyalty, she'd been sure to speak to the men about it. If the higher-ups had any inkling that she was causing trouble or tension among the men, her presence there could be swiftly reevaluated. Not to mention, of course, that now Captain Sobel had confirmed his assumption that Eleanor was the root of everything that was wrong with Easy Company. She'd given up long ago on the illusion that she could do anything to change her CO's mind or impress him - he was always watching her closely, looking for a reason to land the final blow. This was one of many reasons why she still had never gone out with the men on the weekend. Even a wrong assumption could get her sent home. Always having this awareness in her mind meant that she was always on edge.
It was for this reason that Eleanor delighted in finding subtle ways to rub Captain Sobel the wrong way. It had become an art form for her, finding offenses that were powerful enough to knock him down a peg, but innocent enough that they were unpunishable.
Needing relief from her nerves, she decided that this sort of mischief would be the perfect distraction. She stood patiently as Roe continued to explain the procedures for putting pressure on a chest wound and pacifying a soldier until help could arrive. After a few minutes of explanation, he turned to Eleanor and gestured for her to take over the presentation. Seeing that the soldiers were quickly losing interest in the topic, she clapped her hands together to get their attention.
"Okay, enough talk. Let's see it in action!" She exclaimed cheerfully. She began to walk down the first row, faking a calculating look as she observed all of the men. "Let's see…" She contemplated "everyone, close your eyes." She commanded. Not everybody obeyed the command, but most of the men played along, closing their eyes and relaxing their shoulders.
"Now...imagine that you are on the battlefield. Bullets are whizzing past your head. One almost nicked you in the ear!" She narrated dramatically, reaching out and flicking Skip Muck's earlobe, hard.
"Ow!" he whined, jerking away from her, causing the men to erupt in chuckles, a few of them peeking through one eye.
"Keep 'em closed!" She insisted. "Now...you're not sure what to do. You've been ambushed! You look to your left. You look to your right." She continued, stifling a smile as she watched some of the men's heads turn back and forth. "You're looking for your commanding officer. Where is he?" She continued, causing a few snickers to travel through the crowd. Sobel, who'd been standing there with his eyes closed, looking bored, immediately snapped to attention, looking around the crowd for the source of the snickers. He turned a warning gaze on Eleanor who returned it with a sweet smile.
"Suddenly, you hear a cry." She continued. "Medic! Medic! You crawl toward the sound, finding our beloved commanding officer has been wounded and needs medical attention immediately. But no medic has responded to the call. Just you. You see a flash of camouflage in the distance and glance over, hoping that it's someone coming for help, only to find that it's one of the men who's been shooting at you." She continued, her voice raising in tempo and volume. She paused, the air tense.
"Uniformed in U.S. Army fatigues. That's right." She confirmed. "Our Captain Sobel has succumbed to a very common and tragic military incident that makes up 21% of all war casualties. Friendly fire."
The men couldn't have controlled their snickers if they wanted to and Sobel's stare was the nail in Eleanor's coffin. Eleanor felt that she'd outdone herself with this one. The implication that Sobel would be assaulted by friendly fire was certainly an affront to his character. But what could he do about it, really? Eleanor felt confident that he wouldn't go running to Colonel Sink about this - what would he say? That she'd used him as an example during a seminar to teach soldiers about incidents of friendly fire? It wasn't worth Sink's time and it would make Sobel look weak.
"Open your eyes." She told the men, ignoring Sobel's heated glare. "Now, Captain Sobel, if you'd do me the honor of helping me with the visual demonstration, we can get you all patched up and back in command in no time."
Sobel stayed where he was for a moment, and she could tell he was heavily contemplating his next move. Eventually, he decided to pretend like it didn't bother him, opting not to look weak in front of the other men. He walked to the front of group and hopped up on the table next to where Eleanor stood - they'd set a table up for their demonstrations so that all of the men would be able to better see what she was doing. Generally, these seminars began with explanations/lectures, moved on to demonstrations, and then the men would practice with partners on the ground. Sobel laid down on the table, peering up at her through narrowed eyes.
"Get on with it, Lieutenant." He practically growled and Eleanor bit her lip to hide her smirk, sharing a knowing glance with Roe.
"We're starting with wounds that aren't likely to be fatal." She told Sobel. He didn't seem to understand at first. "Million-dollar wounds." She added, making a spinning motion with her finger, gesturing for him to turn over. Hoots and hollers erupted from the crowd and Sobel rolled his eyes, turning onto his stomach.
"Is this absolutely necessary, Lieutenant?" He asked, shooting a glare at the men.
"If you'd rather practice it yourself, I could be the one with the ass wound." She offered, effectively getting him to shut up. "Alright, boys." She called, looking back out at the group. The men were trying their hardest not to beam, their eyes filled with overwhelming approval. Yes, she had definitely created her place here.
"Step one. Apply pressure."
Eleanor's leg jiggled anxiously as she sat on one of the benches of an airplane, waiting for it to take off. Easy Company had been jumping off of platforms for weeks to practice for this day and her shins had developed an uncomfortable twinge when she walked on them. Some of the men were talking to those around them, but she couldn't hear over the roar of the plane's engines.
She felt a hand rest on her bouncing knee and looked over to see Joe Toye giving her a reassuring smile.
"Feelin' okay?" He shouted over the noise and Eleanor watched his lips closely in order to interpret it.
"Yeah! Just wanna do it already!" She called back. It was true; she was nervous, sure. Everyone was. But more than anything, she just wanted to rip it off like a bandaid. Toye nodded understandingly and the plane finally left the ground.
"Stand up and hook up!" Dick was yelling before she knew it. She obeyed, standing and reaching up to secure her line. Her adrenaline was rushing now as wind was whipping into the plane from the open door. She continued to bounce around from heel to heel in as contained a manner as she could, revving herself up. Whatever you do, don't hesitate. She told herself. Once you start moving, just don't stop at all. The thought of jumping out of a plane with a parachute wasn't the scariest one she'd conjured up, but she still worried that some sort of physical reflex or instinct would cause her to hesitate at the door and get kicked out of the airborne.
The count-off began and because she was second to last, her shoulder was tapped on right away.
"Eight okay!" She shouted, checking Toye's equipment and slapping a hand on his shoulder. After the count-off finished, the light turned green and the men began disappearing out the door. She stepped forward each time - she was so deep in her head at this point, nothing else could've snagged her attention for anything in the world. When Toye disappeared outside of the door, she waited the prescribed amount of seconds for his chute to deploy and then, her mind as empty as the sky outside, she walked right off the plane.
The strange sensation of expecting resistance in the free fall and not feeling any made Eleanor's heart leap into her throat, but after her chute deployed and she began to glide, she couldn't stop the shout of pure joy that erupted from her throat. She laughed almost hysterically as she floated toward earth, unable to handle the endorphins that the jump had released in her. It was the single most amazing thing she'd experienced in her life so far. Her laughter subsided as she neared the earth and realized how quickly she was coming in. Bracing herself, she grunted as she hit the ground hard and rolled into the landing she'd practiced dozens of times with Sobel screaming in her ear. She quickly sat up to begin gathering her chute, but the wind pulled at it and knocked her back to the ground, pulling her along with it. She let out a series of "ah"s and "oh"s as the chute dragged her struggling figure along the ground. Liebgott and Lipton, who had landed near her, moved to help her, but her grunts of "No, don't help!" mixed in with the dirt she was kicking up as she was dragged right past them. All of the men within a quarter-mile radius laughed at the sight.
Before too long, Eleanor managed to roll onto her feet and plant them on the ground, taking a strong hold on the ropes of her chute. She began pulling it in and her struggle became easier as the wind died down.
"We did it, Nora." Liebgott called out to her. "Made our first jump!" Eleanor threw her arms up in the air and let out a victory cry which a few men around her imitated. Eleanor Price had flown.
The next four jumps, thankfully, were a lot like the first. Only a couple of Easy Company soldiers had refused any jumps and Eleanor Price was not one of them. When all five jumps had been completed, it was time for the company to receive their jump wings. After the ceremony in which each set of wings was awarded, there was a celebration that was practically mandatory. Even Winters, who didn't drink, would be in attendance at the pub for a while to celebrate the achievement. That being said, it took only a little bit of pleading from the men before Eleanor promised her own attendance.
The men were, of course, ecstatic about this because Eleanor had never joined them for social purposes before. Eleanor had been itching to wear a dress, but she didn't want to set herself apart from the men too much on this special occasion. For this reason, she displayed her jump wings proudly on her dress uniform (the skirt and blazer had needed ironing badly when she finally pulled them from her trunk) as she stepped into the darkened pub. Despite not being able to dress the way she wanted to, it felt good to put makeup on and she'd perhaps gone a little bit overboard for the occasion with bright red lipstick. Her chestnut hair had also been let down, perhaps for the first time since she'd met the men, laying under her cap in loose pageboy waves that cascaded over her shoulders in a highly-controlled shape.
"Hey hey, would you get a load of this bird!" Luz called out as she walked in the door, causing a room full of heads to turn toward her. Eleanor rolled her eyes in distaste as the men hooted and hollered at her, though a mild blush rose into her cheeks.
"Thank you, Luz." She teased as she approached him at the bar after weaving through the crowd.
"You look gorgeous, doll." Toye told her, throwing an arm around her shoulders. Eleanor gave him a lopsided smile. It was clear from the sheen of Toye's eyes that the men had already begun to partake in the night's festivities.
"Here you go, Nora. I've been saving this one just for you." Luz insisted, pushing a pint of beer across the wooden surface toward her.
"Oh no, I couldn't possibly." She called over the noise, pushing it away from her slightly. She wanted to, but she wasn't sure about drinking with the men - she'd been very careful to keep herself from doing anything too foolish or inappropriate and just a tad too much alcohol would certainly ruin that. She didn't need a reason to be sent home; especially not after coming this far.
"Come on, Nora." Liebgott coaxed, appearing behind her and placing his arm around Eleanor's shoulders after pulling Toye's arm off. "Let loose a little bit. You never hang out with us. Come sit. Here, I'll get your drink. Come sit." He insisted, picking up her drink and guiding her in the direction of a table.
"Nora!" The men called in greeting as they reached the table. Eleanor gave an uncertain smile and struggled to climb onto the middle of a bench seat in her uniform skirt as the men parted and gave her a space. Lipton grabbed her hand to steady her and she thanked him as she managed to seat herself between him and Malarkey. Among those sitting at the long table were Guarnere, Perconte, Randleman, Muck, and Talbert.
"Here's your drink, Nora!" Liebgott reminded her as he settled back into his seat across the table. The men slid the drink over in front of her and waited, watching her in anticipation. Eleanor straightened her back and picked the pint up, toasting them briefly before lifting it to her lips. She took a few long swigs before placing it back down on the table with a "clink." The men cheered. She decided that, given that she could hold her alcohol pretty well, she could limit herself to this one pint and be fine. By halfway through the pint, she was the life of the party, in the perfect place between losing her inhibitions and losing control of her faculties. Her table, much like the others, was constantly erupting in shouts and laughter.
Sobel, Winters, and the higher command, including Colonel Sink, showed up to make an appearance and Colonel Sink gave a congratulatory speech before turning the party back over to Easy Company. When Eleanor saw that Winters and Nixon had settled at a small table in the corner, she excused herself to go and sit with them for a while. While she'd become fast friends with the the other men, she still felt most comfortable with her two fellow lieutenants - the ones who had accepted her from the beginning. Winters' cool, quiet presence was comforting and Nixon's mischievous and laid back qualities made him easy to have a conversation with.
"Look at you, Nora!" Nixon exclaimed as she approached them. "You look great!"
"Oh, come on. I'm practically wearing the same thing as everyone else." She replied, down-playing the compliment as she sat down.
"You look lovely, Nora." Winters agreed quietly. Eleanor did not expect the reassurance from Dick Winters and felt her face heat up. In the case of everyone else, she could at least brush it off as teasing. But Dick wouldn't tease her in such a way - faced with a genuine compliment that she couldn't brush off, she tried to respond gracefully.
"Thank you, gentlemen." She murmured, allowing the conversation to move on.
"Say, do you think you're the first woman to jump out of a plane?" Nixon asked. Nora shrugged a shoulder and took a sip of her drink, which she now silently wished she'd left behind, seeing Winters' empty hands.
"I don't know. Maybe." She replied, eying the familiar flask he was drinking from. "I could get you a beer if you want one, Nix." She offered, gesturing behind her to the bar on the other side of the room where Luz was still making a fool of himself. Nixon gave a strained smile and shook his head politely.
"Thanks, Nora. I think I'll stick with my own." He replied, holding up the flask as if to toast her. Of course you will, she thought to herself. She exchanged a knowing glance with Dick and knew that he was thinking the same thing. Pushing her concerns about Nixon from her mind, she threw back what was left of her own drink and changed the subject.
"When do we leave for Camp MacKall?" She asked.
"Next Monday." Winters replied. "Pretty much right after we return from leave. We'll be working on mostly tactical stuff there. Probably won't be long after that we ship out." He added. Eleanor nodded; she was still in control of her actions and her motor skills, but she was beginning to have trouble grasping at her thoughts and recognized the beginnings of tipsiness. The table had grown quiet at Winters' mention of shipping out, each person deep in their own thoughts. Nora stood up suddenly, placing her hands on the table to steady herself, just in case.
"Which one of you wants to walk me home?" She asked, earning a snicker from both men. Nixon gave a look as if to say he didn't mind, but Winters stood before he said anything.
"I'll take her." He offered. "I wasn't planning to stay long anyway."
"Alright, goodnight you two." Nixon called with a good-natured laugh. Dick came around the table and offered his arm to Nora who was thankful to take it, just in case her motor skills weren't quite what she'd thought. After saying goodnight to the men of Easy, Nora returned to her quarters. Despite the cloudiness in her brain, the last thing that crossed her mind before she slept was a solemn question: how long would it be before she was in combat?