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.