Schlop

Dick looked on, as what the military is recently calling food, is added to his tray. The porridge had a dull, yellow tint to it. He is already acquainted with its bland, watered-down flavor. At least, they served decent coffee, he thought to himself.

It was finally the weekend and the whole regiment was looking forward for the light day ahead and the chance to go out later at night. It's a shame Easy company weren't that lucky but, hey, at least now they can catch a break from their CO. Now, Dick can catch up with Nixon on recent developments. Also, he's finally provided with the chance to finish up some of his own business. His mind wandered as he recalled what happened to her this week. He worried as he thought of what she must have felt. What she felt physically. What she felt emotionally. How could he just let himself stand there, watching Sobel as he belittled his wife? His fists tightened around his tray in anger before he took a deep, controlled breath. Dick turned with his tray and walked beside Nixon as they tried to find a table.

"After ordering Christenson to perform the march again, he asked me to find six men with infractions, and have their disciplinary recommendations on his desk by 0130." Dick began

"So, what did you do?" Nixon asked as he took a seat on the nearest empty table they could find.

Dick, following behind him, sitting on the seat opposite of him.

"Picked six men and gave them latrine duty."

"The lucky six?"

"McDonald, Toye, Perconte, Lipton, Muck, and Guarnere."

"Why them?"

"It was their turn." Dick shrugged.

Nixon let out a chuckle at his friend's brilliance.

"Sobel's a genius," he began, "I had a headmaster just like him in prep school; I know the type."

"Lewis, Michelangelo's a genius, Beethoven's a genius," Dick replied in disbelief. Sobel was most definitely not a genius. He was a weak, cruel man who thought the only way that he could lead his men is by fear. And that's not mentioning his frail ego, his unnecessarily spiteful remarks and his stupid lack of sense of direction. So, if that's what constitutes a genius, then yeah. Sobel's a genius.

"You know a private, male or not, in this company who wouldn't double-time Currahee with a full-pack, just to piss in that guy's morning coffee?" Nixon asked.

Dick stopped for a moment, contemplating the question. He continued staring at his friend as he was unable to answer. And that was more than enough for Nixon to count it as a win as he grinned victoriously over his plate.

"Speaking of 'not male'," Nixon continued, wanting to broach what he considered a sensitive topic "how's Easy's only female medic doing?"

Moments passed as Nixon waited patiently.

"I don't know." Dick admitted. "Me and Layl-." He paused, sighing. "We still haven't talked." He finished as he looked down at his tray.

"Well, have you actually thought about what you're gonna say to her?"

"Not really. I was hoping she would do the talking but she hasn't come to me, yet." Dick paused before continuing, "I have no idea what's going through her mind right now, if she's okay or not." He said shaking his head.

"Hey, listen to me, you have one helluva wife, ok?" Nixon tried to make direct contact with his friend's eyes. "You know any man in Easy company who went through the same shit, she had to go through? No." He smiled at Dick, proudly. "She's a tough one. So instead of worrying so much about her, give her some credit."

Dick nodded in agreement at his friend's words. Nix's right. Layla will come to him when she's ready. Until then, all he had to do was wait.

"Thanks." Dick smiled back to his friend before continuing to eat. However, he couldn't let this opportunity pass.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you give great relationship advice, Nix?" He said taking a bite from his food.

"Shut up." Nix snapped back before a letting a grin slowly overtake as they finished their meals in companionable silence.


Layla found her muscles straining as she tried her best to bring her knees up to her chest so that she can jump over the ropes. She stumbled a couple of times, but that didn't deter her. She considered it a great improvement compared to her first time running the obstacle course. Especially considering the fact that she's running it with a full pack of gear. It wasn't long before her eyes fell on his form. He was at the front, leading the men them as he easily jumped over the ropes.

Of course, Layla smiled to herself. She pushed herself faster to get to the front.

She dove into the box that acted as a 'tunnel', crawled through it, and was able to make it out on the other side. She saw her husband sit atop the wall encouraging and helping the men of Easy. She slowed down before she approached the wall, wanting to gain speed before she can jump over.

"Come on, men, over as a team! Get to the wall!"

She ran as fast as she could before taking the leap. Her hand connected with the ledge. Layla huffed as she tried to pull her weight up. Unfortunately, she felt herself slowly lose her grip. She was sure she was not going to make it over. She closed her eyes, waiting for her inevitable fall.

A hand grabbed her arm. Layla's head snapped up.

"Come on, Layla." Dick grunted with effort as he tried to help her up. "Up you go. You can do it!"

She was going to pull herself up with Richard's help when she heard a pained shout behind her. Layla stilled. Turning around she found a Private laying on the grass, clutching his leg. She recognized him. Private Wilson was a lanky man with low stamina. She knew that he was having a hard time in training. Instead of building up muscles like the rest of the guys, he was losing weight. Fast. She knew however that he was very determined to push through and not be the last.

"Everybody, stop!" Richard ordered, jumping off the wall, coming to the young Private's aid. Layla immediately followed.

A crowd started to form around the poor guy. Layla pushed herself to the front so that she could see. She froze. Oh no. Wilson's eyes were blown wide, pupils so dilated from the pain that they were practically black. The kid's leg was completely twisted to the opposite direction, a very disturbing angle to see. Layla could see a bone poking out of the teared skin.

Silence surrounded the forming crowd. Not a single word was spoken. Nobody stepped up to help him. It was the Private's grunts of pain turning into full-on shouting and screaming that snapped them out of their shock.

"Oh fuck! My leg! I can't feel it!"

Layla snapped back to reality. Looking to her side, she saw Richard frozen on his feet. Shit

"Jesus! I can't feel my fucking leg!" The private cried out.

She rushed to him, kneeling. Layla took off her helmet, looked at her hands for a second and wiped them quickly on her pants. Pig's blood and guts were not going to help. She immediately got to work, trying to assess the damage done as carefully as possible. There was no damage to the main arteries which was a good sign. She tried to be as gentle as possible as she brought her hand to Wilson's leg but that only caused the man to writhe in pain.

"Fuck!"

There was no way she can hold him down on her own. Layla needed help.

"Richard, I need help!" Layla turned around to shout. Oh fuck, she's not supposed to call him that in front of the men but right now she couldn't find it in herself to care. Richard hurried to the Private's other side and held his shoulders, pinning them to the ground.

"Wilson," Layla started calmly. "I need you to calm down. Ok?" She reached her hand in her bag, scoured for the pack of sulfa that she knew was in there along with some bandages.

"Can you do that for me, Wilson?"

"It hurts so much." The Private whimpered, clenching his eyes.

"I know. I know but everything is gonna be alright" She consoled as she ripped open the pack of sulfa and unloaded its contents on his injured leg. Layla realized that the Private is going to need more help than what she can possibly offer. She looked up finding her husband already looking at her. She took a breath before asking.

"Sir, I need a stretcher. He needs to go quick before he loses any more blood." She spoke lowly, not wanting to frighten the Private more than he already was. Richard nodded at her before turning back to the men.

"Malarkey, Muck! Go and get a stretcher from the Infirmary."

"Yes, sir." They replied as they went off.

Layla turned her attention back to the injury. She took the bandages between her hands, bringing it closer to the wound. She looked up to her husband. Layla sent him a nod towards the Private. Hold him down. He nodded back and tightened his grip

"Hey, Wilson. I'm gonna bandage your leg up now." She sent what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "It's gonna hurt but I'm gonna need you to hold on for me. Can you do that?"

She saw him give her a nod, acceptance in his eyes, already giving up at his situation. Without any hesitation, she pulled the bandage around his leg tight. Wilson threw his head back, screaming at the pressure. As she waited for the stretcher to come, she tried to calm him down, telling him everything will be alright and that he will be up on his feet in no time.

In record time, Malarkey and Muck were back with two medics that were carrying a stretcher between them.

They knelt next to the injured private assessing him before addressing her.

"What happened to him?"

"I think he fractured his Tibia."

"What was the medical care administered?"

"Only a packet of sulfa on the wound before bandaging it up. I didn't want to give him anything until he got to the Infirmary"

The medic nodded back to her, impressed. "Good job, Private. We'll take over from here."

They knelt into position, waited until the count of three before they picked up the wounded man and placed him on the stretcher.

Layla could only stare at them. She didn't feel herself stand up and move. She didn't break her gaze until the group was out of her sight. She could only sigh to herself, closing her eyes as she leaned her head on-

Her eyes snapped open. She looked beside her, finding a firm chest in front of her eyes. Turning her head up slowly, she found Richard looking down at her. Oh, that's embarrassing. She had subconsciously drifted towards him for comfort. Layla quickly distanced herself from him, face heating up as she got flustered trying to explain herself-

"Layla?" Oh, god. He looked worried. "Are you okay?"

"Yep. I'm absolutely fine." She replied, looking down at her feet, not wanting to meet his eyes. "I think I should go back to the men." She pointed behind her. He nodded, even though it was obvious in his face that he was worried.

"Ok, everybody! Get back to training!" Richard ordered.

Layla turned to go back with her company. She froze for a second. Everybody was staring at her, whispering amongst themselves. Her heckles raised, thinking they were talking about her and her husband before hearing some of their-

"You guys saw that, right? It's not just me."

"Woah, she just took control of the situation."

"Lady Winters got them healin' hands."

"I told ya'll, she was good."

"Easy sure does have one helluva of a medic, huh?"

The whispers around her soon turned into full blown conversation about their 'amazing medic'. Regardless of the conversations, Easy soon followed the order, everyone moving to the beginning of the course to start over again.

Layla smirked to herself. She hoped that the men would at least trust her skills from now on.


Aaaah I know. I'm such a tease.

What did you think about Layla's and Richard's moment? Boy, am I thirsting for them. I can't wait to see ya'll reactions when they finally talk.

P.S. There is an Eminem song reference in this chapter. Whoever finds it and comments it first, will get directly mentioned and thanked in the next chapter.

P.S.S I want everyone who's reading this to know that even if you think your comment might be simple. It is literally a writer's fuel for writing.