January 2, 1945
I spent a good four hours curled up in Buck's side asleep before being forced into the waking world.
Easy's new orders were to push the Germans back through the Bulge.
"Hey, Malark, c'mere." I called out.
"What?" He asked as he came to a rest in front of Buck and me.
"Turn around and squat." I told him. He raised an eyebrows at me.
"Thanks, Jo, but I've already had my physical." I rolled my eyes as Buck sniggered.
"We need a table." I replied.
"Why me?" He whined and I grinned.
"Because tables are made of wood and so is your head… simple logic, really." Buck laughed and Malarkey glared at me but did as I said anyway. Buck called Lipton over as the rest of Second Platoon's non-coms crowded around the map that was laid out across Malarkey's head and back.
"We were here this morning and then we came this way." Lip said as he traced our route in the map.
"Right, so right here's gotta be the logging road coming into here…" Buck said as he traced the road. I let out a yawn and rubbed my bare hands over my arms, trying to battle off the cold. "Which means we get right there." Buck grinned and poked hard at the location which so happened to lie on Malarkey's head.
"Hey," The red-haired Sergeant complained. "Take it easy."
"Stop crying, Malark, or I'll nail it to your head." Buck grinned as Lipton folded up the map.
"Hey, you should, it's made of wood." Guarnere said.
"That's what I'm saying." I mumbled as I pulled my hands into my sleeves and Malarkey turned his head to glare at me.
"Guarnere, Benny, move 'em out, let's go." Buck ordered us. I popped up from beside Buck so fast that I got an instant head rush and had to grab his shoulder to keep from falling over. My body was still in the process of recovering from the torturous lack of both sleep and food I had put it through while working in Bastogne. I groaned and shook my head, trying to regain my equilibrium. Buck looked up at me with a worried crease in his brow. I managed a weak smile as I released his shoulder.
"Let's get a move on, 2nd Platoon!" I cried. We were on the move and headed to the Bois Jacques, the forest that sat outside of the town of Foy in preparation for an attack on the town itself.
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"Have you seen Dike?" Buck asked me as I finished digging our foxhole... alone. I glared at him while I tried to catch my breath.
"Yeah," I muttered as I stuck my shovel into the frozen ground.
"Where?" He asked.
"Up yours." I growled and continued to dig.
"In a bad mood, are we?" Buck grinned. My glare hardened and I mumbled a few incoherent words. "Well, if you're done medding around with the foxhole, could you help me find him?" I resisted the urge to flip him the bird.
"Sure, nothing better to do. I mean, I did just finish our foxhole." I stressed 'our' with a bitter tone.
"Thanks Benny." He grinned and walked off. I had to stop myself from throwing my shovel at his back. I sighed as I climbed from the hole and set off in search of our Company CO, muttering to myself as I went.
"You ok, Jo?" George asked as he caught sight of me from his and Talbert's foxhole.
"Mmmrrrmmm, mmmhhmmm, hrrrmmm." George and Tab laughed at my moaned anguish. I sighed and rubbed my hand across my face. "You seen Dike?" I asked.
"No." He answered.
"Uuunnnnhhh." I groaned and flopped down on the side of the foxhole. George laughed and sat down next to me and I sighed as I dropped my head to his shoulder.
"You alright?" He inquired.
"Tired." Was all I managed to grumble. He sniggered and I yawned as I lifted my head and forced myself to stand. "I have to go find Dike" I grumbled.
"I'll come with ya." George said as he stabbed his shovel into the frozen ground and jumped out of the hole. "Tab can finish." Tab sent a glare at George but Luz brushed it off and we made our way through the forest, talking to and asking every soldier we came upon if they had seen Dike.
Nobody had.
"Benny!" Muck yelled as he came running up. "Benny, it's Hoobs, he's been shot!" I was immediately alert and at his side.
"Where is he?" I asked, "How long ago?"
"About a minute ago, Doc sent me to find you." He said as he turned and started to run. "This way." I followed after the Sergeant as we rushed passed men questioning where we were off to in such a hurry.
"Doc!" Muck yelled as we came to a group of men crowded around the prone form of who I could only guess was Hoobler. I stopped short as I saw the mournful gazes of the men turn to me and noticed how deathly still Hoobler's body was. I caught Buck's gaze and saw the haunted, icy blue of his eyes glazed over. He stood up and walked over to me.
"Did you find Dike?" He asked in a strained voice.
"Negative." He cursed and stomped off into the snow. I walked over to a silent Gene and helped him prepare the body to be picked up.
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I sat opposite of Gene in his foxhole as the silent Medic sat staring off into space.
"There's nothing more you could have done for him." I sighed. Gene raised his head to look at me.
"But you, you saved dat private from Dog. I should have been able ta save Hoobler." He muttered.
"It's not the same." I said, catching his eyes with mine. "Look, the largest artery in the body is the aorta around here," I placed my finger on the left side of his chest. "Under the clavicle, it takes three beats of the heart for a person to die after it's severed. Next is the carotid, here." I placed two fingers on his neck and felt his pulse jump under them. "Here, feel." I brought his hand up and placed his fingers over mine. "You feel that?" He nodded. "That's the carotid. It branches out into one on either side of the neck." I removed my hand and let him feel the pulse in his neck. "Sever that and it takes minutes to bleed out, sever both and…" I trailed off, letting him get the picture himself.
"And then there is the femoral." I placed my hand on his thigh. "It is in actuality a bundle of arteries. Once this is severed, it takes minutes." I sighed and sat back.
"But it was so… fast." He sighed.
"There are many factors that could have affected that."I replied. "None of us have had much to eat, and that can cause anemia. Anemia can cause a decrease in the viscosity of the blood. He could have had alcohol that could have thinned his blood. Hell, he could have done something as innocent as taking aspirin and that could have thinned his blood." I looked at his blue-grey eyes. "He was more than likely panicking." Gene nodded. "That would have caused his heart to beat faster and pump more blood through his arteries." I said and moved closer so I could rest my hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"You put a tourniquet on him, you put pressure on the wound, and you tried to clamp off the artery." I nudged his shoulder so he would look me in the eyes. "You did everything I would have done. You did everything you could. Without-" I stopped as I remembered where and when I was and what the current technology was "… The proper equipment, there was nothing else you could do."
"I know, but…" He sighed deeply. "He was a Toccoa man."
"I know. And that makes losing him all the more painful." I sighed and squeezed his shoulder. "But we will move on, because we have a job to do. And you have other men that depend on you to be there when they need you." I gave him a quick smile and stood as Babe walked up.
"Hey, Doc. How ya doin?" Babe asked.
"I'm okay." Gene forced a smile. I nodded to the two men and jumped out of the foxhole.
"Hey, Jo." Gene called and I turned back to him.
"It's nice having someone ta talk to about all this." I smiled at him and nodded before turning making my way back to my own foxhole.
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"Buck." I greeted around the cigarette in my mouth as I added more cover to our foxhole. "How's it hanging?"
"I don't think I should answer that." He raised an eyebrow. I shrugged and continued arranging the branches. "You know, this hole isn't going to be pictured in Better Homes and Garden." He smirked.
"Bite me." I muttered as I stood up and pulled the cigarette from my lips.
"Tempting." Buck laughed and I glared at him.
"You find Dike yet?" I handed him the cigarette and sat down on the edge of the hole.
"Yeah," He took a puff and glowered. "He said we are to maintain present formation as per usual, But he'll clarify that with us as a later date."
"Um, sure?" I raised an eyebrow. "Clear as mud." Buck chuckled humorlessly.
"Yeah, no kidding." He rolled his eyes.
"Did he happen to yawn after he said that?" I asked.
"Yeah, how'd ya know?" He passed the cigarette back to me.
"I think is an involuntary reaction of his body to stress. Fight or flight response." I grinned. "Congratulations, Buck, you stress the CO!" I said in mock excitement before dropping the smile from my face.
"Yay." Buck droned. "C'mon." He sighed as he helped me up. "We got a patrol to run."
I groaned in frustration but grabbed my kit anyway and called out to 2nd.
"On your feet boys! We're moving out!"
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"Hey, B-Buck." I shivered as the Lieutenant dropped down onto the edge of the foxhole. "Where ya been?"
"I was out talking to the guys." He replied as he rubbed his hand together in an attempt to warm them.
"Yeah, what about?" I asked as I wrapped my coat around me tighter.
"Oh, you know. Just shootin' the shit." He grinned. "Telling them not to do anything stupid." I raised an eyebrow.
"There's something you should know," I said in the most serious tone I could muster. He looked concerned and motioned for me to continue. "I'm not sure if you realize this or not," I looked around as if I was about to reveal a huge secret. I leaned in further towards him and he did likewise. "But, we jump out of planes into some of the most hostile territory in the world, to fight an Army we can't see who are better supplied than us and have plenty of cold weather clothes. You really can't get much dumber than that."
He rolled his eyes and smacked me on the back of the head. I readjusted my helmet and grinned at him as I slid into the foxhole. Buck followed and I curled into his side as I felt the warmth from his huge frame envelope me and stop the shivers that wracked my body. I sighed in content and heard Buck chuckle in amusement before I fell into a blissfully peaceful slumber.
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I nudged Buck and pointed with my fork to the man who was strolling his way up to the chow line.
"Well I'll be damned." Buck grinned. "Should he be out of the hospital yet?"
"Dunno." I shrugged. "I was so busy I didn't even know he was there until I came back to the line." Buck shook his head and grinned at me. I slowly picked at my plate full of… something... and felt my stomach turn. The thought of all the wounded men I had treated, the thought of all of them that had died while my hands were inside of them, trying to save them…
It made me sick. I swallowed hard, forcing the food in my mouth down to my stomach and closed my eyes as I attempted to keep it from coming back up. I sighed and scraped the rest of my food onto Buck's plate. He eyed it before turning his questioning eyes to me.
"Not hungry," I mumbled. He shrugged and scooped up a large portion of food into his mouth. I scrunched my nose in disgust and turned my head away.
"And, uh, Buck got shot in his rather large butt in Holland." Muck mention to one of the new replacement. Buck stuck his huge ass out and pointed to the bullet wound. I rolled my eyes and grinned.
"Sorry again about not savin' your ass, Buck." I said and he chuckled.
"Like I said, you just owe me four now." He grinned.
"Three." I corrected.
"It still doesn't count, Benny." He argued.
"It does." I countered.
"What the hell are you two going on about?" Martin looked between us in confusion. Buck and I grinned at each other.
"Nothing." We answered at the same time. Martin rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like, 'fucking idiots.'
"Hey, Jo! You ain't been hit either, have you?" Muck called out.
"Nope. My ass is intact." I replied and stuck it out as if to prove my point.
"What ass?" Luz called out. "You have to have an ass to be hit in one." The men chuckled.
"Hey!" I cried. "Popeye ain't got an ass either and he sure as shit got shot in it."
"Touche'."
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January 3, 1945
"Benny, you take the six, make sure we don't lose anyone in this God damn snow." Buck ordered me.
"Yes, sir." I nodded. "We're on the move, boys!" I called out.
Dike had ordered East to take up our original position overlooking the town of Foy and were in the process of moving using the thick, heavy snowfall as cover.
"Shouldn't you guys reinforce your cover?" I asked Christenson, Webb and Perconte as I came up on their foxhole. They had been ordered to stay with D company to maintain the line.
"Dike said we were fine." Perco answered.
"Well, if Dike said," I rolled my eyes. Perco and Christenson chuckled while Webb looked on in confusion. "Jesus, Perco, who you tryin' to impress with those teeth, the Germans? You get them too white and you'll catch the attention of the snipers." I teased as I mimicked pulling a trigger. He glared and flipped me off.
"Christenson." A voice called from behind me. I turned my head and saw Speirs appear out of the snow. He stopped and gave me a brief glance as he came to rest beside me.
"Lieutenant Speirs." Christenson answered.
"I got the name right, didn't I, it is Christenson?" The Lt. asked as he knelt down by the foxhole.
"Yes, sir." Christenson answered and I fought a grin that started to form on my face. Christenson's eyes were wide with terror aa the color drained from his already pale face.
"What are you men doing out here?" Speirs questioned.
"We're watching the line, sir." He answered.
"Well, keep up the good work."Speirs said. "While you're at it, you might wanna reinforce your cover." I sent a smug grin over to Perco and he glared at me briefly before turning his attention to the Lieutenant.
"Oh, well actually sir, Lt. Dike said not even to bother. That we're only going to be here one day." Perco had stopped the incessant brushing of his teeth to poke the resident tiger of D company.
"Lt. Dike said that, huh?" Speirs asked and Perco nodded. "Then forget what I said." He looked at me. "What are you doing here, Sgt. Banally?"
"Herding replacements, sir. Gotta make sure all our ducks stay in a row. Would want Patton's reputation to be tarnished because some kid decided it would be better to become the world's first human popsicle than to actually keep up with the rest of the company." I answered flippantly. He stared at me a moment, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly before he turned his attention back to the men in the poorly concealed foxhole.
"Carry on." He stood up and started to walk off.
"Oh," He stopped and turned around. "Anyone care for a smoke?" He held the pack out the the three men in the foxhole.
I choked back a laugh as the men stared at him in stunned silence. Perco started brushing his teeth in an attempt to keep from having to say anything as the others looked on in abject horror.
"You?" Speirs asked Webb who swallowed hard and shook his head frantically. He turned and offered it to me. I shrugged and nonchalantly grabbed one, not willing to pass up a free cigarette when offered.
"Thanks, sir." I placed it behind my ear for later. He returned my thanks with a nod and continued his trek, disappearing in the snow like a ghost.
"You must have a death wish, Benny." Perco said as soon as he was sure that the Lt. was out of earshot.
"He's not that bad." I answered with a shrug.
"You're fuckin' nuts, Benny." Christenson replied. I grinned and went to look for any stragglers in the snow, wishing I could make an exit half as awesome as Speirs could.
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"Wud I miss?" I asked as I came to stand next to Buck.
"Toye's going to kill somebody." He replied.
"So… nothing out of the norm." I shot back and he grinned at me.
"Anyone get lost?" He asked.
"Few replacements." I shrugged. "Pretty easy to find and point on the right track, though. I swear, keeping those replacements in line is about as easy as herding cats." I rolled my eyes and Buck chuckled.
I sighed as I observed the forest around us. The tall beautiful trees that had once stood there for countless generation were nothing but stumps and the land was pitted with holes where mortar rounds hand landed. First Battalion had the crap shelled out of them and that didn't bode well for us. My thoughts traveled back to the men at the evac hospital and I tried to remember how many men I had treated that had come from first Battalion. Visions of blood, internal organs and severed limbs filled my head and I swallowed thickly, pushing the bile that started to rise back down. I shook my head and tried to clear it, knowing my focus needed to be on the here and now.
"Enemy movement?" I asked as I flipped a switch in my brain and went into soldier mode.
"Light, anything out there is hidden." Buck replied. I fixed my eyes to the town where I saw white spots that almost blended in with the snow move about.
"They're waiting for us to make a move and give away our position " I sighed and rubbed the back of my head.
"Yeah." Buck looked out over the town. "That they are." He turned back to me. "Get the men prepared for one hell of a night." I nodded and watched as he headed off to powwow with the rest of the E Company officers and Sgt. Lipton.
If only I had known that there was nothing in the world that was going to prepare me for what was going to happen next.
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Thank you to all my reviews britt, Azrael's Darkest Secrets, Ashlynn, and my new reviewer EmmyMK. Thank you all so much for reviewing!
britt- So, this is the first part of Breaking Point. I know Buck has so many emotions going on in this episode, I tried to just show them from the viewpoint of Jo who just really wants her friend to be okay, but the next chapter was really hard to write. I got a chance to talk to a woman who was alive during WWII at my church picnic, she was in a college class full of soldier and there was only one other girl there, it was really very interesting. You could call the geriatric people, that's what we call them in the medical world.
Ashlynn- I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I just wanted to do something to wrap up the end of Bastogne. I kinda liked writing the Major, it was fun letting her space off while he was yelling at her. And writing Buck and Luz back into the story was great! I had missed them more than I thought I would.
Thank you to everyone who has read this story. Please let me know what you think about it!
Please Review!
Amanda