Chapter
II:
The first thing he noticed was the silence. The
second, the undeniable fact that he was in an infirmary of some
kind. He knew that because of the god awful stench of medicines
and latex filled his nose, causing him to cringe in disgust.
Opening his eyes, after a few moments of coaxing, he looked
around to see if he could recognize exactly where he was. It was
old... there were cobwebs in all the corners. Long rows of cots
filled with groaning, moaning men filled the room he was in. It
reminded him of a church. Glancing at the walls and spotting
windows with partial pieces of stained glass still intact proved
his theory true. Most of the windows, however, had to be boarded
up to keep the cold air out. There was a large fire place on both
ends of the room, adding a little bit of heat to the otherwise
damp, chilly building.
Wolverine sat up slowly, a slight dizzying
sensation filling his head and causing him trouble. He held his
head tightly, and closed his eyes a moment to let the feeling
pass. Once it did, he continued his study of the room. A nurse
had entered just then, and boy was she a sight! He remembered
hearing about women who came here to help injured men in the war.
They were given regulation uniforms that were obviously created
by men, since the skirts were just a little too high and the tops
just a little too low. He figured it was to keep the guys'
spirits up, even if their outlook was bad.
"She's pretty, ain't she?" His head
turned sharply to the left, toward the person who interrupted his
study. He was face to face with an equally pretty girl, who was
kneeling beside his cot, balancing a tray on her knee. Long,
auburn locks were covered by a white nurse's hat, but a shock of
white hair fell out from it's hold and dangled in front of her
large green eyes. "Her name's Jean..." While she
talked, she carefully helped him to lay back down. "All the
men around here ask for her... but she'll usually only go to the
dyin' ones." Peeling away his old bandages, she couldn't
hide the look of surprise that suddenly crossed her face.
"What?" He hadn't meant to sound so
gruff... but a few years in the army will do that to you. You're
trained to yell, trained to be mean, and trained to be merciless.
No where did you learn how to act around women. He reminded
himself to watch his tongue from now on.
"Ah guess you're outta luck."
"How's that?"
"With Jean. Looks to me like you'll be
back up in no time." Still, despite her cheerfulness, a
concerned look passed over her brow as she continued
removing his bandages.
"What?"
"Can't you do anythin' else 'sides ask
questions? Relax... this is like a time off for you." She
cautiously ran her fingertips over his ribs and down across his
stomach. "Does that hurt?"
"No, but it tickles, so watch it!"
She laughed, despite his rough warning, and continued her search
along his skin for any of the burn marks she'd seen just the day
before. "So..." He was feeling a little uncomfortable,
what with this strange woman touching him like that. He wasn't
like the other army men. When they got their leave and went into
town, they went to meet women. He went to get a good beer and a
quiet table in the back where he could smoke a cigar in peace.
"You told me her name, but you didn't tell me yours."
Her laugh was euphonious, especially in comparison to the cries
of pain that'd been ringing in his ear ever since they landed on
Normandy. And she wasn't so bad to look at either. Course she
probably didn't have the killer legs Jean did, but he wasn't here
for that sort of thing anyway.
"That's right... Ah didn't. You c'n call
me... well... whatever you like. Nurse is preferable... we aren't
supposed to give out our names, aftah all."
"I won't tell if you don't." This
wasn't like him at all. Suddenly he realized, he must have been
on some kind of medication. Maybe it was best to find out what
exactly had happened... "So, Nurse," she laughed again,
and it almost brought a smile to his face. Almost. "What
happened to me?"
"Well... from what Ah remember bein'
told..." She paused a moment to think things through. She
didn't want to give him false details, after all. "You were
just about to claim Normandy." The moment she mentioned it,
it came rushing back to him. He'd sent the boys ahead and had
turned to another sergeant and said... but wait...
"I remember that... but... what was the
flash?" He noticed her turn away a moment to look down the
row a little ways. He followed her eyes and his own landed upon
two men, bandaged from head to toe, moaning and shifting as
though nothing they did could provide comfort.
"Someone set off a mine as they were
coming up the cliff..."
"Damn Germans-" He paused, suddenly,
as though he remembered something. Glancing back around the room
quickly, he let his eyes fall back on his Nurse. "Darn
Germans had that beach crawling with different kinds of
mines..."
"So Ah heard... Those men down there were
as close as you were to the mine when it went off. Can you
understand mah surprise now? Look at 'em... they're covered from
head to toe in bandages... an' you... you haven't got a scratch
on you..."
"Just lucky I guess." He turned away,
not meeting her eyes anymore. He knew what she was thinking.
Monster. Freak. Mutie.
"You're a mutant, aren't you?" She
said the words low, quietly, not risking anyone else hearing her.
"You gotta problem with that? Not gonna
treat me anymore?"
"Those're your words an' ideas, not mine,
Sugah. Ah'm not afraid of treatin' you. Ah'm just... Ah..."
She sighed, having a rather hard time finding her words.
"Others might not feel tha same... look... Ah'm just sayin',
there are two other men here who are gonna die, who weren't any
different from you 24 hours ago. People are gonna start askin'
questions if you are healed so quickly. Ah figure... Ah'll just
wrap you back up an' let you rest. Aftah a few days, you can get
outta here, an' return to the war. Ah'll jus' tell them all that
you went home."
"What's in it for you?" Wolverine's
eyes were narrowed in suspicion as he watched her pull out her
gauze and other bandages and begin to wrap him back up, starting
at his waist and moving upward.
"Why... tha pleasure of your oh-so-sweet
company for tha next few days."
"About that... the attitude I mean... I
didn't mean ta be so..."
"No need to explain, sergeant, sir! Mah
daddy is an army officer. Ah'm used to it."
"Your father's in the army?" At her
nod, he frowned a moment, trying to think of anyone who might
have mentioned having a daughter. "Who is he?" Picking
up her tray, the nurse stood to her feet, smiling down at him.
"If Ah told you, Ah'd have to kill you.
An' Ah'm guessin' that's a pretty hard task. Now, get some rest.
Ah'll be back to check on you in tha mornin'." Turning
slowly, she walked in the opposite direction of his bed. He felt
a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, and he shook
his head. She certainly was a piece of work. Well, if there was
one thing she said that he could listen to, it was her suggestion
to rest. It'd been months, maybe even a full year, since he'd had
anything remotely resembling a bed, and he wasn't one to miss out
on an opportunity like this. Shifting slightly and pulling his
blanket up over himself, he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.