Disclaimer: I don't own Band of Brothers, but I do love the HBO miniseries. Also, this is based purely on the miniseries, and not the lives of the actual men of Easy Company. I have nothing but admiration and respect for the men that fought so that we could live freely today.
A/N: Thanks to EmmyMK and sorry we're full for the reviews! And thanks to everyone else who's been reading!
Day of Days
In the air, Sadie was running through medical procedures in her head, much like one tries to go through all the information they know before a test. She was so nervous she quickly ran out of procedures off the top of her head and prayed she would know what to do if a situation presented itself. She then mentally went through all the sand tables and maps as best she could.
It felt like hardly any time had passed when Winters told them to stand and hook themselves in. She then checked the gear of the man in front of her. Sadie could tell they were all just as nervous as her when the man behind her didn't try to grab her ass or grope her excessively like they so often had on their practice jumps. They were to stand like that for ten to twenty minutes as the planes got closer to their DZ and dropped in altitude.
Out of no where the plane started to whip around and German antiaircraft guns could vaguely be heard over the roar of the engines. Sadie wanted nothing more than to get out the plane as fast as she could, but they weren't close enough yet. They were all stumbling around, grabbing each other and the sides of the plane for support. Finally, the green light that told them it was okay to jump went on and Winters quickly began ushering them out the door.
As Sadie got to the door she looked wide-eyed at Winters and he gave her a nod that assured her he would meet her on the ground. With that, she jumped from the plane. At first she closed her eyes, but then she opened them and tried unsuccessfully to locate any landmarks in the surrounding area. As she was falling, Sadie prayed that she wouldn't be hit with the antiaircraft artillery or falling debris that was flying down around her.
Upon successful landing, Sadie quickly got rid of her parachute and took cover in the nearby trees. She looked around frantically and saw no sign of Dick or anyone else she knew. What if they didn't make it? What if she was stuck here, behind enemy lines, all alone, with no one but the Germans for company? She decided to wander a bit, her heart beating rapidly in her ears as she breathed heavily.
Suddenly she heard, "Flash!" come from somewhere in the nearby bushes.
"Thunder!" she whispered loudly, whipping around, searching for where the voice came from.
Malarkey, Wild Bill, and couple other men emerged from the bushes. Sadie had never been more relieved in her life. She wasn't alone! She wouldn't have to try to find her way to the assembly area by herself!
"Bill!" Sadie practically pounced on the slightly shorter man. "I've never been so happy to see your ugly mug!"
"Hey! Watch who you're calling ugly," was his only reply, as he pulled her off of him.
Sadie just ignored him and continued, "I could almost kiss you!"
"So why don't you?" he raised an eyebrow suggestively as he pulled her back to him.
"I said almost," she laughed, and pushed his face away as she stepped back.
"If you two are done, we have places to go, maybe some Germans to kill," Malarkey said impatiently.
"Aw, Malark, I'm glad to see you too," Sadie pretended to be sympathetic to tease him.
Malarkey tried not to smile, but eventually gave in. "Come on, I think it's this way," he said, shaking his head as he continued to smile.
They walked a bit and found a railroad track. It seemed like a good idea to follow it since it had to lead somewhere. It wasn't long before Malarkey and Joe Toye were arguing.
"Flash!" came from the bushes once again.
"Thunder!" they all replied and crouched down slightly, wary of whom might be coming out of the bushes.
"Lieutenant, is that you?" Guarnere asked, as Winters emerged from the bushes along with a group of men. The two groups greeted each other and Sadie simply gave Dick a huge grin from across the group, which he returned with a small smile and a nod.
"Guarnere," Dick said, clearly getting back to business.
"Sir?" replied Bill.
"Up front with Hall," he instructed.
"Who the hell is Hall?" Guarnere grumbled as he moved to the front of the pack.
"Foster," Winters said a little more softly.
"Sir?" Sadie looked to her friend for a command.
"Stick with me," he ordered, and she nodded in understanding. "Do not leave my side."
"Yes, sir."
They walked along the train tracks until Hall raised his hand to stop them. They all kneeled down as Winters ran ahead to see what was going on. Faint German voices could be heard below. Winters quickly directed the men into positions and since he didn't have a weapon, he stayed behind.
"Do you have a gun, Sadie?" he asked quietly.
"No, sir," she replied innocently. The nurses hadn't been given any sort of weapon before the jump, but now she was beginning to think a gun might have been a good idea.
"Stay behind me," he nudged her behind him, protecting her in case any bullets or other rubble ricocheted. "Wait for my command," Winters said to the rest of the men.
The men got into position and waited for the German soldiers to walk under the bridge. Before Winters said anything Guarnere started shooting and the rest men in their group had no choice but to join him. Sadie gripped the back of Dick's uniform tightly and tried to figure out what was going on, even though she couldn't see anything.
In a matter of seconds there was only one gun left firing and then Germans were all laying on the ground, dead.
Winters jumped down and shoved Guarnere to make him stop, "That's enough, Guarnere!" Guarnere turned around with a menacing look on his face that he directed at his superior. "Everyone okay?" Winters asked the rest of the group, his eyes not leaving Wild Bill.
There was a couple mumblings of "Yes, sir," as the men started to move.
"Next time I say 'wait for my command', you wait for my command, Sergeant," Winters ordered Guarnere.
"Yes, sir," Guarnere replied through a clenched jaw.
Sadie was watching the whole exchange until Lipton tugged on her shoulder to turn her around. She was shaking pretty badly from the first German encounter they had just experienced.
"You alright, Sadie?" Lipton asked gently.
"Yeah, Lip. Just a little shaken up is all," she tried to calm her heart. "Haven't really been this close to a firing gun before," she tried to laugh it off lightly.
"Unfortunately, I think you're going to have to get used to it," Lipton gave her a sad smile. "Come on, we better get walking," he said comfortingly, as he put his arm around her shoulders and directed her down the road.
She stepped over bodies as they went. Glancing down at the men, Sadie couldn't help but think that this was only the beginning of the death she would see.
The group continued on until they came across the remains of small cabin and a truck sometime around sunrise. There looked to be a dead paratrooper caught in the trees as well. After Lipton and Wynn deemed the area safe, the men moved in to take a look for themselves.
Dick immediately ditched his German weapon and started untangling a rifle from the dead paratrooper caught in a tree as everyone looked on. "Anybody need supplies or ammo, now's the time to get it," he hollered.
Everyone scattered to see what they could find, except for Sadie. She simply stood and observed.
"Here," Dick offered a pistol to her that he had taken off the body.
"Kinda morbid, don't cha think?" she shied away from the weapon.
"Do you want to protect yourself or not?" he looked at her like she was being stupid, which she was. Where else was she supposed to get a gun?
"Yes," she responded quickly and snatched the handgun out of his hand.
Dick just chuckled and asked, "Do you know how to use it?"
"Aim and shoot right?"
"Yep. Safety on, safety off," Dick clicked the safety on the gun on and off to demonstrate. "Now pray you won't have to use it."
There was a rush of what sounded like fighter pilots and bombs suddenly passing overhead. Sadie dropped to her knees and looked around frantically.
"It's the Navy," Lipton stated.
That meant only one thing:
"The landings have started," Winters said it before Sadie could. "Let's go," he ordered.
Guarnere continued to be an asshole as they trudged on. She couldn't blame him for being moody, after all he just found out his brother died. But he could shut his mouth and grieve to himself. But that was just not the Bill Guarnere way it seemed.
They reached the assembly area not long after and it appeared that many other men had as well. Sadie wandered a bit, not paying attention to much as she looked for a potential field hospital. When looking around, she saw Winters talking to Buck.
"Buck!" Sadie practically skipped over to the two.
"Sadie!" Buck's blues eyes lit up as he scooped the shorter nurse up into a hug. "It's good to see you!" He gently set her down and returned his attention to Dick, realizing he hadn't properly greeted him. "It's good to see you too, Dick."
"Yeah, you too, Buck," Dick replied, shaking the other Lieutenants hand. "What's the situation?" he asked, getting back to business.
"Not good. Ninety percent of the men are still unaccounted for."
"Lieutenant Meehan?"
"No one's seen him, or anyone from his plane. You know, if he's missing, wouldn't that put you in line to be the next commander of Easy?" Buck suggested. Sadie looked at Dick with an impressed smirk on her face.
Winters just ignored them and turned to a soldier walking by, "Hey, Lieutenant Speirs, how many of Dog Company got assembled?"
"Handful, maybe twenty," the good-looking lieutenant shrugged.
"You're the only officer that made it?"
"So far…still waiting for officers," he answered Winters, then turned to Buck to ask, "You got some cigarettes?"
"Yeah," Buck responded and handed him a pack. Speirs just walked off with it and Buck called after him, "Hey, keep the pack!"
Sadie just chuckled and clapped both her friends on the shoulder. "Well, I should get going, find that aid station, save some lives. You two have fun."
The men both smiled and laughed at the younger woman and bid her goodbye.
As an afterthought she turned around and called back to them, "And stay safe! I don't need to be saving your sorry asses as well!"
"Yeah, yeah, get going!" Buck waved her off, and Dick simply shook his head and waved.
Sadie followed some wounded soldiers into the local church. After walking inside, she could tell she was in the right spot. The pews of the little church had been pushed to side to make way for the seriously wounded. There were men bleeding to death, some barely conscious while others were screaming in agony lying in the middle of building. Some tables had been brought in, but it was clear there were not enough as some men were laid out on the ground. The less seriously wounded men surrounded them, some sitting on the pews, others standing and waiting their turn. It seemed wherever Sadie turned there was blood.
"Sadie!" Megan yelled, snapping Sadie out of her daze.
"Megan! You made it!" Sadie exclaimed, happy that her best friend had made it safely enough. She looked exhausted and was covered in blood, it was clear that she'd been there for a while.
"I'm so happy you're here! We don't have enough hands," she quickly directed the taller nurse over to a place to leave her pack.
"Is there no one else here?" inquired Sadie as she unpacked supplies from her bag.
"There's a couple of us, but not everyone's here yet."
"Okay," Sadie exhaled to focus, "where do you need me?"
"Why don't you start with some of the more minor wounds? You were always faster at assessments and stitches than I was."
"Sounds good," Sadie grabbed the supplies she would need.
"I'll just be helping the doctors with the men in the middle, making them comfortable," Megan explained. She was always good at calming the men. Sadie was too, but a pretty, little blonde girl like Megan had always comforted the severely hurt. There was an innocence about her that was soothing and her smile was consoling even in the worst of times.
Sadie moved on to help the numerous men littering the small church. Her training took over, just as Lew had said it would. She couldn't count the number of men she'd helped. She hardly had to think as she stitched and bandaged men up like new. A few men had been sent back to Aldbourne, having seen all the action they needed for a lifetime. She'd even helped her friend, Popeye, when he'd come in with a bullet in his ass, luckily it hadn't hit anything major, but he wouldn't be sitting properly for quite some time. It was late afternoon before she realized it.
They got orders that they were moving out to Sainte-Marie-Du-Mont. Sadie and the other nurses quickly packed up their supplies and loaded up the seriously wounded men. Sadie was the last to leave as she finished bandaging up a soldier's arm where a German bullet had grazed him. She sent him off with directions to keep it as clean and dry as possible, then wandered out of the now vacant church.
The men were all headed to the road that led out of town. Sadie headed over herself to see if there was anyone she knew that she could hitch a ride with. As luck would have it, Nix and Winters pulled up on a tank. Winters moved higher up on the tank so there was room for the young nurse.
"Your carriage m'lady," Nixon joked and offered her a hand up.
"Why thank you, kind sir," Sadie took his hand.
"Watch your step, it's slippery," he said as he pulled her up.
At the last second Sadie slipped, yelping as she landed half on Nixon, half on her intended seat.
"Whoa there, you alright?" Lew asked as he laughed and tried to pull her up into her proper spot.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sadie was laughing and blushing as she tried to climb off Nixon in the least awkward way possible.
"I told you it was slippery," he shook his head, still smiling at the blushing woman.
Sadie sighed as she finally got situated. "I forgot how nice it was to sit."
"Did the aid station work out?" Winters inquired from his new perch. He was curious to see if the experimental idea had worked to their benefit.
Sadie twisted around to see who was speaking, "Oh hey Dick! Yeah, I think it worked really well." Then a realization dawned on her, "Oh, did I take your spot? I'm so sorry."
"It's okay. I like the view better from up here," he responded kindly, looking out over the horizon.
"Yeah, I like the view much better with you up there too," Nixon put in while gazing over at Sadie. Luckily no one had heard him but the woman sitting next to him.
"Watch the road, Lew," Sadie responded, a warning tone in her voice.
They all turned back to the road, Sadie and Nixon sitting close enough together that their legs were touching. Sadie nudged Lew with her shoulder to know that she wasn't actually pissed, but he couldn't go around saying those things in public. He simply elbowed her back, which made her giggle quietly as she looked at him. Winters saw the whole exchange and had a pretty good idea as to what was going on. It was something he'd come to expect of Lew, but definitely not of Sadie. Not that he should be overly surprised, Lew was a charming man. How else had he remained in 101st?
Darkness fell on their trip and fatigue set in. Being on her feet all day and having her adrenaline pumping, Sadie hadn't realized how exhausted she was. She yawned and snuggled into her seat just a little bit more. In response, Nixon placed a hand on her thigh and gave it a comforting rub. Normally Sadie wouldn't stand for it, but it was dark and she was tired and his touch seemed to make everything better for the time being. She looked over and gave him a small bleary-eyed smile, which he returned.
It seemed like no time had passed and they'd arrived at their destination. The Americans had secured the town and it was evident that supplies and men from all over were moving there. Sadie thanked the men for the lift and scurried off to find out where help was needed. She'd only helped a few men when Nixon came looking for her. He pulled her outside into a side alleyway, where they wouldn't be seen.
"Is everything okay?" Sadie asked, her eyebrows knotted in worry. Her face was covered in dirt and a little bit of blood. The hair that had come lose from her braid was now sticking to the sweat on her forehead. Overall, she probably looked pretty disgusting, but Nixon couldn't deny that he was slowly growing more and more attracted to the nurse standing before him.
"Easy's moving out in less than an hour," he responded dumbly.
"I heard. But you know I'm not going with you, right? I'm staying at the aid station," Sadie tried to explain, clearly confused as to why he had pulled her away.
"I just…I needed to see you before we left," Lewis bluntly stated.
"Look Lew, I told you-"
"No, not that," Nixon cut her off after it was clear that she was taking it the wrong way. "I just needed to see that you were alright one last time."
"Don't talk like that. You'll be back. We're supposed to be shipping back to England in a couple days," Sadie tried to reassure him.
"Yeah, well it's looking like it's going to be longer than that."
"Oh," was her only reply and she crossed her arms. They stood there in silence and not making eye contact, lost in their own thoughts until Sadie directly asked, "What are we doing, Lew?"
"What?" he asked, snapping his attention back to the woman before him.
"This," Sadie pointed between him and herself, "You and me?"
"I don't know," Nixon answered honestly.
"You're married, Lew," she brought up once again.
"Would you calm down about that?" Nixon raised his voice. Luckily there was too much going on for people close-by to hear. "Yes, I'm married…to a woman I haven't spoken to in years and right now I don't really give a damn about her. All I know is that I like spending time with you and I don't really wanna stop."
"Okay," said Sadie plainly.
"Okay?" Nixon smiled.
"Okay," Sadie smiled back as she leaned in to kiss him on the lips softly, yet deeply. Nixon returned the kiss. Sadie broke away and buried her face in his shoulder. She gripped the back of his shirt like she would never let go.
Thinking she was upset and knowing she must've had a rough day, Nixon rubbed her back and whispered, "Hey, it's okay."
"I know, I'm just glad you're okay," Sadie mumbled into the side of his neck. She leaned back to look him in the eye as she smiled. Without letting go of him she said, "After all the death I've seen today, I'm just glad you're okay."
Nixon's only response was to cup her cheek as he gave her a caring smile.
"I have to get back. And then I need to clean up and take a nap," Sadie said kind of suddenly.
"I wasn't gonna say anything…but you look pretty awful," Nixon flirted with the brunette.
"Fuck you!" exclaimed Sadie as she smiled in disbelief, "I look great."
Nixon just rubbed her arms and pecked her on the lips. He then asked, "So I guess I'll see you…some time at…some place?"
"I guess so," Sadie responded and started to walk away. "Stay safe, okay?"
"I always do," he called after her.
A/N: Another chapter up! I'm kinda stuck on the next chapter so I thought I would share this since it might be a little while for the next one! But I promise the couple of chapters after that will flow more easily. Thanks again for reading! And please review if you would like! I would LOVE to know what you think!
