A very heartfelt thanks goes first to my reviewers:
BatOutOfHell-Madness (Hehe, you're sooo impatient for Dick to get back to his men! The poor man is still sick, you know... :-)) Haha, I loved that you thought of Greta as Courtney Cox, it's actually not all that far away from how I pictured her in my head. Well, Greta's blond, but Cox has the same settled, intelligent character as Greta. When I created her, I thought mostly about Julianne Moore... :-)))), beth-rodrigues.77 (Hey! Glad you're interested in learning more about Lizzie's past, because we go there now in this chapter... ;-) And yeah, I think the guys really like Dick, he's keeping everything together. And yes, Lizzie and Dick will understand each other very soon, I promise. :-))), ScarlettLeon (Very happy you love Greta! There are always some insecurities when it comes to original characters, so I'm absolutely thrilled you like her. And yeah, the Easy boys are really just a lovely bunch... :-)))) and ChocAndSnow19 (So glad you liked the last chapter so much! Yeah, I actually missed the Easy boys, too. It's just not the same when they're not around. At least they'll make another appearance in this chapter and I promise they'll be around for the rest of the story. Hehe, it's so funny that everyone says how they can't wait for Dick to be back with his men, you guys are sooo impatient... :-)))) He needs to take his time or he won't really have the chance to get to know Lizzie. ;-)).
And folks, don't get used to the length of the chapter, alright? :-)
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"What do you think you're doing?", Lizzie demanded pointedly, not believing her eyes.
Dick snapped up his head, looking at her sheepishly from where he stood beside his bed, one hand protectively around his middle, the other placed against the wall in support. There was no one else with him, so she guessed that he had got up all by himself.
"Just stretching my legs", he replied a bit breathlessly, taking a small step away from his bed, then rested against the wall.
"What a splendid idea", she commented sarcastically, coming closer. She could see that he was hunched over slightly, probably from the uncomfortable pull of the stitches in his side, but that did not stop him from taking another step away from his bed.
"The doctor said that I need to be up and moving", he told her innocuously.
"Yes, but he didn't say that you're allowed to tear your stitches in case you fall flat on your face when no one is there to support you", she replied meaningfully.
"It's fine, I can manage", he told her shortly, trying to mask a wince.
"Yes, of course", Lizzie replied ironically. "But sadly enough, your trek is ending here, because you're now returning to your bed."
There it was again, that stormy look on his face she had already encountered a few times before. She could see that he was normally used to get his way, showing a determination that probably made him a good leader. He was not someone you defied lightly and even at his most stubborn, he still held himself with a certain grace that made it quite hard to be angry with him, now that she knew him a bit better.
"You need a hand?", she asked, not at all surprised when he shook his head.
He took another two or three steps away from her, probably just to show her that he could do it, only then turning around and slowly walking back to his bed. A faint sheen of sweat was showing on his forehead and the hand with which he supported himself against the wall started trembling.
Lizzie was at his side in the blink of an eye, which was not a moment too soon, because his hand suddenly slipped on the wall and without thinking she slung both her arms around him to keep him upright. She found herself almost nose to nose with him and felt his breath swaying her bangs softly. His face was so close to hers that she could count the freckles on his cheeks and her arms around him absorbed the warmth of his firm body.
Taking a shuddering breath and telling herself that her heart was only racing because of the near-accident, she looked up at him and saw his blue eyes staring at hers in amazement. His lips were slightly open and she suddenly found herself wondering what they tasted like. Maybe if she just closed her eyes and pretended they had met under total different circumstances, then perhaps...
"Sorry", he stuttered breathlessly, jerking her out of her imagination, but made no move to separate himself from her. He was blinking rapidly, tearing his eyes away from her face, looking flustered. Through the thin fabric of their clothes she could feel his heart beating madly against her chest.
"Yeah... well...", Lizzie stammered, his body so close to hers making clear thoughts almost impossible. She slowly pulled back one of her arms and shifted to his side, supporting him with his left arm slung over her shoulder. This position was less dangerous, since his lips were not anymore in reach to provoke something rash, but she was still acutely aware of where she touched him, her treacherous body pulsating with each shuddering breath she took. He was taut as a bow string under her hands, she could feel his muscles quivering beneath her fingers.
Only when she had managed to sit him down on the bed and took a step back from him, she was again able to form coherent thoughts, realizing he deserved a scolding for his carelessness.
"That was a stupid thing to do, wandering off on your own", she chided him, but somehow could not get herself to put real emphasis behind it. Damn it, she was still thinking of his lips!
"I'm sorry", he muttered again, looking more confused than she had ever seen him before. Well, maybe not counting that few hours directly after surgery. His eyes were cast down to the floor, he was definitely evading her gaze. His brow was drawn together in a frown and she could hear him slowly release a pent up breath. For a short moment she wondered if he had felt it, too, but then told herself that he was probably just embarrassed because he had almost fallen flat on his nose like she had predicted.
"Did you hurt yourself?", Lizzie asked more gently, glad for the space in between them that made rational thoughts much more easy. God, what was the matter with her? She was a nurse and very much used to touching male bodies, not some hormonal teenager that started giggling madly as soon as a handsome boy only gave her a fleeting look. He was not even all that attractive, he was red haired (who liked gingers anyway?) and his face was too long, his mouth too small. And she had nothing left at all for uptight cases like him, it was after all what had got them into a spat in the first place. It took some more effort to convince her jittery thoughts back on sensible grounds.
"No", Dick answered, visibly pulling himself together and tearing his gaze away from the floor to look at her with deep, soulful eyes that melted Lizzie's resolution to be reasonable in less than an instant. "I'm fine." Then he added with a faint quirk of a smile, "Thanks for saving me."
"No problem, just tell me next time before you go wandering off again", she replied, being unable to be cross with him when he looked at her like that. She slowly came closer again, trying to put the way his body had felt in her arms out of her head, then lowered herself into the chair beside his bed.
"I'm sorry if I said something wrong yesterday evening", he began softly, leaning back in bed and slowly relaxing, the rigid posture of his body slackening slightly. "I didn't mean to pry."
"It's fine, you don't have to apologize for it", Lizzie replied, playing with a strand of her hair. She had thought about her reaction for the last 24 hours and she had to confess that he was totally blameless for bringing it up. Nevertheless, it was sweet of him to apologize and try to set things right between them. "It was my fault, I overreacted. Has to do with my family and stuff, it's really complicated."
"You can tell me, if you want to…", he said slowly, then cut himself off, looking unsure. She could see that he was not used to take over the role of the confidant, at least not for women he hardly knew. "I mean, if it would help to talk about it. You don't have to, but it would stay safe with me."
"Oh Sigmund, when have we changed places, with you treating me now?", she asked, trying to make light of the situation. But his face was so open right now, his eyes so understanding and determined to help her, that they almost begged her to trust him, and trust him fully at that.
"Alright", she sighed, shrugging her shoulders in defeat. "I really don't want to burden you, but since you asked for it and I behaved like a total ass yesterday, you deserve to know. Just be ready to have me knocking at your door in the middle of the night from now on, bawling my eyes out in front of you whenever something bothers me."
"Deal", he replied, smiling gently at her.
"You asked me yesterday how it comes that I know German", she slowly started. "I learned it at home, my father is German. He came to the US almost twenty-five ago. He was in World War I, serving in the German Army, and as soon as the war was over, he left for the US, never going back again. I think it has something to do with the horrors of war, I'm not sure, he never really talked about it. He worked as a private lecturer of German language and literature at Westfield State University in Massachusetts. So, as you can see, he was quite strict in teaching me and my brothers what he called an 'anständiges Deutsch', well, a 'decent German', not just the basics."
When she took a short break, she saw that Dick was listening intently, giving her an encouraging nod to continue. He was all forehead now and for a moment she could picture him in headquarters, studying the different options of operations for his troops.
"Then he met my mom, a true Massachusite, they got married and well… had children, obviously, or I wouldn't be here. I'm the oldest of four, the other three all brothers. Everything went fine, then my mom died when I was thirteen. My father had to give up his job as a lecturer and went into private business as a translator of advertising catalogues for the German customers of a firm selling bathtubs. Then Hitler came to power in 1933 and the firm cut business relations with Germany. My father could stay with the firm, but he was since then working as a foreman. He really hates that job, you know."
"Must have been hard for him and for you", Dick murmured thoughtfully, when she stopped talking. He looked so serious and dedicated to support her, if only with a gentle word. It moved her.
"Yeah, it was", she acknowledged, clearing her throat. "But the hardest part is yet to come. I always wanted to become a historian or an art historian, probably because my father often told us about these ancient European myths and all the stories of kings and queens. But that was out of question then, I had to take care of my little brothers, and so I decided to become a teacher. This way, I was quite well-paid and could stay close to my family."
Lizzie took a deep breath, playing with the thought of stopping there, but decided to just tell him.
"Then my brother, Johann or just Joe, chose to enlist in the army", she forced the words out, almost choking on them.
She could see the puzzled look on Dick's face, then he hesitantly asked, "Well, that's not too bad, is it?"
"In the German Army, as a Volksdeutscher in the Waffen-SS", she revealed in a strained voice, battling for calm. No matter how long she mulled this over in her head, it still hurt so much and it still made her angry.
She could see Dick raise his eyebrows in disbelief, then a deep frown took hold of his face. It was only a matter of seconds before she would hear his reproach and what she could have done to prevent that.
"How could he do that to you?", he asked in a low voice, looking at her closely, but without even a hint of a reprimand towards her in his voice. He was still firmly on her side, she realized with deep relief. "After all that you've done for him and your family?"
It felt so good, right then, to have Dick's understanding and his compassion. Honestly, she could have hugged him for it. There was hardly anyone who knew this about her family, because she had been afraid of the questions to come. Is your father a Nazi then? Didn't you notice your brother turning to Hitler's lapdog? Is this just a German thing, to turn Nazi even when growing up in another country? When are you leaving for Germany?
"I don't know", she replied, struggling for the second time that day against tears. She blinked a few times, trying to force them away without Dick noticing. God, he must think her a crybaby now. "It was even worse for my father. He has such a different access to what German culture is than these fucking Nazis. When he told us about Germany, he always talked about the enlightenment, the philosophers, literature, art and music. Did you know that one of the first edicts for toleration of different religions in Europe was established in Germany in the 16th century? My father's view on all of these things has nothing to do with the corrupt ideas of Hitler."
Lizzie paused again, then continued softly, "Joe had been away on college for about a year, and when he came back, he was different. We don't know what happened, or who brought him into contact with these Nazi ideas. It was not long after coming back that he enlisted. I've not seen him since."
Dick looked at her for a long time, his head tilted a bit to the side, then he asked gently, "Is this why you became a nurse?"
This took her aback, realizing that he had put two and two together very quickly. She nodded.
"Yes, it is. I had this urge to somehow wipe out my brother's stain. I wanted to become a spy first, you know. Actually killing some Nazis with my own hands."
"You wanted to become a spy?", Dick asked her for confirmation, his eyebrows climbing high up on his forehead. Despite their bleak topic, she felt at the same time insulted and faintly amused at his incredulity.
"Yeah, but it seems like the guys at intelligence were about as thrilled as you with the idea of me becoming a spy", she told him wryly, glad that he gave her the opening for some alleviating teasing, and watching him school his face into something more neutral. "Officially, they told me that I'm too young, but I probably just wasn't suited at all. They said my German was good, but the Krauts would still know that I'm not one of theirs. And I've never been to Germany, so I don't actually know what it's like to live there. They told me that I should apply as a nurse, if I wanted to do some good for my country. First, I was too offended to actually think about it, but after going over that idea in my head a few times, I actually took a liking to it."
"I think it fits you better", Dick told her with a faint smile. "You're hands are more dedicated to relieve than to deal out pain."
It was such a sweet little thing to say of him, that Lizzie was for once at a loss of what to reply.
"Thanks, I guess", she answered hesitantly, then could not hold herself back from adding, "Although these hands still itch to do some real damage to those Kraut fuckers."
He looked surprised at her swearing, but then nodded his head.
"Yeah, I think I can understand, although you need to know that it is vital to go into battle with a clear head", he lectured, making her roll her eyes at him.
"Didn't I just say that I'm probably unsuited as a spy?", she replied long-sufferingly. "You don't need to rub it in, you know."
"Alright, I'll stop", he conceded wryly, then became more solemn. "Thanks for trusting me with this. You have some tough times behind you, but I'm sure you did everything right so far. Nothing of what happened is your fault."
"Thanks", Lizzie whispered, not having realized how good it felt to have someone telling her that she was blameless for her brother's treason. She had spent nights at an end thinking about where she went wrong with Joe. It was so easy to judge everything from hindsight. She had wanted to visit him during his time in college, but she had never found the time. Could she have prevented him from joining the German Army if she had given him a good piece of her mind when finding out whom he spent his time with? Probably not, but there were still some what-ifs.
"So", she said, pulling herself out of the tendrils of the past and changing the topic to some safer ground, "what do you say to a lovely dinner of chicken soup and tea?"
"Last time I didn't have much choice, the Valkyrie practically forced the soup down my throat", Dick replied, trying to frown, but the twitch of his lips gave him away.
"The Valkyrie?", Lizzie asked, puzzled.
"Well, Betty", he provided, shrugging his shoulders.
Now Lizzie burst out laughing, the laughter maybe a tad louder than normal, but helping her overcoming her pent up emotions from telling him about her family. It was either laughing or crying, but since Dick gave her the opportunity, she rather chose to laugh.
"How fitting", she replied, still giggling to herself, seeing Dick giving her a full-fledged grin. "And here I thought you had no humor."
"That's a common misunderstanding", he replied drily and with just the right dose of snobbery to his voice, setting Lizzie off laughing again. She noticed a figure approaching from the corner of her eyes, but before she could turn her head, she already heard the by now familiar drawl.
"You forgot to invite me to the party", Lieutenant Nixon commented with a smirk, stemming his hands into his hips and looking from Lizzie to Dick and back again.
Lizzie struggled to compose herself, patting down her hair, then getting up and offering Nixon the visitor's chair.
"Lieutenant", she said in a mock-professional voice, seeing Dick give her another smile, "this is a vital part of patient's treatment. You need to cheer them up from time to time."
"Well, to me it looked more like the patient was cheering you up, my dear Florence Nightingale", Nixon put in lazily, but with a mind keen as a razor. Lizzie told herself then and there never to underestimate him.
"Let's just say we cheered ourselves up mutually", Dick proposed smilingly.
"Yeah, but that sounds slightly... improper", Nixon quipped with a grin like a Cheshire cat.
"Get your mind out of the gutter", Lizzie told him, playfully swatting at him. She saw that Dick already looked flustered again at the teasing. That one was a hopeless case, if only it would not endear him to her all the more. "Since you're here now, Lieutenant Casanova, you can help me and feed him. Make sure he eats up and doesn't throw the dishes around."
She gave Dick a wink at that, but there was a short flicker of disappointment flitting over his face, before he masked it with a smile.
"That was an accident", he told her long-sufferingly, but then was interrupted by Nixon asking him what had happened.
Lizzie shook her head to herself, then went to find some food for Dick.
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The long conversation with Lizzie had kept Dick's mind occupied for a good part of the next day. He was not all that sure why she had opened up towards him, considering their rather bumpy start. But she seemed to trust him, he was sure she usually would not just tell any patient about her difficult background. When all her prickly armor had been stripped away, he had been able to see the woman beneath: as frail, hurt and lost in this war as everyone else. But she had not been broken by it, she had decided to take up the fight and she had his respect for that. She had an energy to herself, a fire that would help her through the tough times ahead.
He tried to put his mind back to the book on his lap, but he found himself staring into space again after only a few moments, his thoughts circling back to her. Rubbing his eyes and slouching down in bed, he tried to concentrate on his paperwork, without real success. He was only half aware he was slowly nodding off over a report, thoughts of Lizzie even accompanying him into a much-needed nap. It seemed like he had only closed his eyes for a few minutes before he came awake at the touch of a warm hand on his shoulder.
"Good evening", Lizzie cheerily greeted him, tossing back the blanket from his bed, making him blink sleepily up at her. "No wonder you can't sleep at night if you doze away the whole afternoon."
She had not been around the whole day and Dick guessed that she had been busy elsewhere. By her smile he could tell that her optimistic professional front was back in place.
"Up you go. You wanted to stretch your legs yesterday, you can wander around now", she encouraged him, clapping her hands once.
"What about coffee first?", he could not hold himself back from asking, stifling a yawn and earning himself a pointed look.
"This isn't breakfast in bed, you know", she quipped, but her eyes twinkled with amusement despite her stemming her hands into her hips. "And you very well know you're still on a tea and soup diet. Coffee isn't good for you."
"Alright, alright", he relented with a sigh, letting himself be helped to his feet. A bout of dizziness made him reach out for support on the wall, but Lizzie's hands were firmly around his arms, keeping him from swaying.
"I got you", she softly told him, patiently waiting for his lightheadedness to abate. Dick could not help the feeling of shame warming his head. Darn it, it was ten days since the surgery and his body still felt weak as a kitten. When would it finally get better? And what did Lizzie think about his pathetic tottering?
He slowly set one foot in front of the other with her holding his arm as if he were some old dodderer, noticing with dismay the strain walking put on his body. Moving around still took way too much effort, he found himself out of breath as soon as he had managed to get up on his two feet. The times when he had been capable of running twelve miles in less than two hours seemed like a lifetime ago. Worst thing was that he could barely lift his right leg because of the pain this movement evoked in his side, making him limp and shuffle his feet. At least that completed the image of the dodderer. He also felt the strain it put on the stitches in his abdomen, it seemed like they would break open at any moment, so his hand was constantly pressed to his side. He did not actually think that he could prevent the wound from ripping open, but it still brought a slight reassurance.
"You're doing fine", she encouraged him with a supportive nod, while slowly walking beside him, probably noticing his mood darkening.
As much as Dick wanted to vent his rising frustration on someone, he managed to bite his lips from making a comment. It was not her fault, really, but he was getting fed up with the slow progress he was making.
"Alright, you're angry now, I can tell", Lizzie continued lightly, shaking her head at him. "You don't have any reason to be upset, you're body is healing really quickly. Ten days ago we thought we might save us the effort of surgery and bury you right away. Now look at you, up and about again."
"Burial would've been quicker", Dick muttered darkly, staring at the ground in front of his feet.
"Yeah, definitely!", Lizzie replied, a grin stealing on her face. "And cheaper, too. Can't really think of any reason why we finally decided against it… Oh, yeah, now I remember, you were still alive and many people would've actually missed you if you'd died."
Dick felt a slight squeeze on his arm where she supported him, and he lifted his gaze to look at her, the open smile on her face making it quite hard to still be irritated. She was really something. He had only met her a few days ago, but he had this feeling that he had known her his whole life. Maybe it was because she had trusted him with her story and the way she smiled at him, which was – as cheesy as it sounded – a bit like the sun rising in the morning.
"Oh, I see a corner of your mouth twitching, grumpy", she teased lightly, giving him a full-fledged grin. "Now just keep that small mouth of yours pursed or one could think you're starting to smile, shedding the dark and gloomy mood you like so much to wallow in."
Alright, she had won. Her smile was just too infectious and she looked so beautiful right now, with her dark hair framing her fair face and her eyes sparkling lively. He found himself giving up his sour mood and smiling back at her.
"I thought you said your teasing wouldn't work on me", Dick commented, trying to keep up his frown, but failing miserably.
"Seems like I was wrong", Lizzie replied, beaming at him. "Maybe you're not all that special, after all."
"You think I'm special?", he dug deeper, smilingly.
"I didn't say that", she answered, looking slightly flustered. "Don't turn my words around. Just because you're an officer and probably look very respectable in your uniform doesn't make you any different from all these other sorry souls in here, trying to get back on their feet again."
It was on the tip of Dick's tongue to point out that this meant she was thinking about him in a uniform, but he restrained himself from adding that. It would probably just give her a wrong impression of him. Because she already felt so familiar, this did not mean that he actually knew her all that intimately. Maybe she had someone waiting for her back home, she could be married for all he knew!
Catching himself thinking in that direction, Dick mentally paused. Why was he even considering that? He had been thinking about her so often in the last few days, one thing slowly became clear to him: he was getting fond of her. And that might become a problem. Emotional attachments were not at all what he needed shortly before leaving for a war he might never return from. He needed a clear head in this late phase of training, as an officer even more so. So what exactly was he doing?
In the mean time, they had reached the far end of the ward and he slowly shuffled his way back to his bed.
"You don't have to turn all morose again", Lizzie said gently, misunderstanding the reasons that had wiped the smile off his face. "You are special. After all, you're the only patient in this hospital that hasn't yet tried to slap my behind."
Picturing that did certainly not help him keep his thoughts straight. He would be lying if he said that he had never thought about what she kept underneath that blue dress.
"As it seems, the rest of your patients just lack manners", Dick replied, frowning at the thought of some private touching her in an indecent way.
"Oh, that's sweet, now I finally have that older brother I always wanted", Lizzie teased, but the cheerfulness sounded slightly too forced.
Dick had to confess that his thoughts were not all that brotherly. They reached his bed in silence and she helped him lower himself back down onto his bed. When she drew back her hands from his body, he felt himself already missing her touch, the warmth of her fingers lingering even after she had let go of him.
"Speaking of family", Lizzie said hesitantly, reaching into her dress and pulling out a pink letter. "This came for you today."
Dick took the letter, scanning the handwriting of the address and already recognizing his sister's ornamental writing.
"Don't you want to open it?", she asked curiously, when he made no move to read the letter right away. "Maybe your sweetheart tells you that she has run off with the local police officer because his uniform is nicer than yours."
Although she meant it as a joke, Dick thought he could hear out a fine insecurity.
"I highly doubt that", he just chose to answer, giving her a smile, then ripped the letter open, scanning the pages. "It's from my sister. She got married two weeks ago."
"Oh", Lizzie answered, beaming brilliantly at him. "All the best wishes! Is she older or younger than you?"
"She's two years younger than me. I have another sister who turned thirteen last spring. Oh, and the lovely English family I'm quartered with in Aldbourne village have adopted an orphan girl that already feels a bit like another younger sister", Dick answered, lifting his eyes from the pages to look at her. "Like you, I wished for an older brother in vain."
"Yeah, being the oldest really sucks, you always have to be the responsible one", she replied quietly, staring at her hands and fiddling with her nails. Dick wondered if she thought about her brother who had joined the German forces. He put the letter down to finish reading later.
"Yes, that's true, although that part was never too hard for me", he answered her gently.
"I can see that", she replied with a knowing smile, then changed the topic. "I have the next two days off, so it'll probably be Jean or Tessa taking care of you. Do me a favor and behave, alright?"
Dick chuckled at her lecturing tone of voice.
"Now I can really picture you as a teacher", he answered lightly. "You were very strict, I suppose. And if your pupils didn't behave, you read a horror story to them."
Lizzie laughed, shaking her head.
"I was strict, yeah, but I was also a popular teacher", she replied, giving him a wink. "And no, the horror stories are a private pastime or I'd have had the parents breathing down my neck in the blink of an eye. It was quite a respectable school, you know."
"Do you miss teaching?", he asked softly, hoping that he would not rip open more painful memories.
"I do, but this here also means a lot to me", she answered firmly. "Maybe I'll even stay a nurse after the war. The thought of just going back to teaching as if nothing happened is quite strange. But let's first focus on the things at hand."
Dick nodded, then saw Dr. Coombs, the wife, coming up to them.
"What are you still doing here, Lizzie?", she asked, looking pointedly at her watch. "Your shift ended almost two hours ago. Get yourself out of this ward, I don't want to see you around here in the next two days."
A bit surprised, Dick looked at Lizzie, who got up with a long-suffering sigh. He had not known she had stayed with him in her free time.
"Fine, Greta, no need to get bossy", she replied lightly to her friend. "I'm already on my way out."
Then she gave Dick a last smile and a small wave with her hand, before leaving the ward.
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Since one of Lizzie's free days was a Saturday, she had wanted to go with Greta on a city tour to Oxford and then in the evening to the theatre. However, Greta had been unable to postpone her regular check-up with the gynecologist in Swindon and Lizzie had decided against going to Oxford all alone.
Instead, she spent all day in the room she shared with Jean in the nurse barracks, finally writing that letter to her father and reading a book on her bed. It was recreation, too, and she found herself quite immersed in an English translation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's The Devil's Elixirs, which she had first read as a teenager in German. However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to buy any books in German, so Lizzie had already been happy when she had found this English copy a bit more than a week ago in London.
In the evening, she began feeling a bit restless, after barely moving a limb for the whole day and she decided to go out all by herself to the local pub. She dressed in one of her sparse sets of civilian clothes and left the barracks and the base, walking through the pretty town of Aldbourne. It was around seven o'clock in the evening when she stepped into the pub "The King's Arms". She had been there only once before, shortly after arriving in England.
There were not many guests in the pub, she could see two grey-haired English men talking to the barkeeper, a man in his sixties with a friendly face. Around a table by the the door sat four American tank drivers, talking animatedly among themselves. Lizzie decided to sit at the far end of the bar, lowering herself on a stool.
"What can I bring you, Miss?", the barkeeper asked her politely, looking at her with curious eyes.
"A pint of beer, please", she answered, watching him raise his eyebrows.
"Are you sure you want a pint?", he asked again, probably thinking she did not knew how much that was since she was a woman and an American woman at that.
"Yes, exactly", she told him, forcing herself to smile at him. He shrugged his shoulders and left her to draw the beer.
The door to the pub opened and five soldiers stepped in. Lizzie could tell from their uniform that they were American, but they were too far away for her to tell what regiment or division they belonged to. The barkeeper came back with her beer and she paid him, leaving a tip on the counter that he accepted with a nod. Just as she started drinking her beer, one of the newly arrived soldiers came up to her, leaning on the counter and giving her a toothy grin. He was dark-haired with dark eyes that sparkled mischievously in the dim light of the pub.
"Hello there", he greeted her, tapping with his fingers on the counter. "Never realized that the local English ladies are so beautiful around here."
Lizzie laughed at that.
"Look, sergeant", she answered after quickly looking at the insignia on his uniform, "I'm as much a British town girl as you are an English gentleman."
He looked slightly surprised, but she realized that he was not one to be intimidated easily.
"So, you're one of us, huh?", he asked, grin back in place. "Even better. Nothing like a good old yankee girl, if you ask me. What are you doing so far from home?"
"The same thing as you, minus the killing part", she replied, drinking from her beer. "Serving my country."
"Okay", he said, not yet satisfied with the vague answer he received. "So you're working on the base?"
"Hey Bill, stop flirting and get us some beer!", one of his comrades, a rather short man with protruding ears, called out to him from the table.
"Yeah, yeah", the one called Bill muttered to himself, gesturing for the others to be patient.
"Go on, it's not nice to keep your friends waiting", Lizzie said, smiling slightly to herself.
"They can wait", Bill answered, flashing her another grin. "I see their ugly faces all day. So back to you. You're a nurse then?"
"Yes, I am", she confirmed, looking at his uniform again, slowly becoming aware of what division he was in and realizing that talking to him might actually come in handy. "And you're a paratrooper. I would just love to try out parachuting myself, it must be fun."
Bill laughed loudly at that.
"Yeah, it's fun", he admitted, being able to place his order with the barkeeper and then turning back to her. "And it would be even more fun if you didn't have to worry about being shot down."
"Makes sense to me", she replied, smiling at him. His five beers came and he motioned for her to follow him.
"Come on, I'll introduce you to the boys", he said with a grin, leading her to the table.
They all stood up when she came to the table.
"Guys, I found us some lovely company", Bill drawled when he presented her to the other soldiers. "Miss, this here is Carwood Lipton, Chuck Grant, Floyd Talbert, Johnny Martin and I'm Bill Guarnere."
She looked at the five men, noticing that all of them were sergeants, and gave them a smile.
"I'm Second Lieutenant Elisabeth Weiss from the Army Nurse Corps", she introduced herself with a smile, sitting down at their table. "But being an ordinary nurse I neither share the privilege nor the salary of a regular commission, so I don't see much sense in carrying the title. Just call me Lizzie."
"Weiss, huh?", Johnny, the one that had shown himself as quite impatient before, asked her with a long look.
"Yeah", she answered lazily. "But don't be afraid, sergeant, I'm firmly on your side."
This earned her some laughter from the other men.
"Lizzie works at the military hospital", Bill said with a grin.
"This means you have to watch your mouth, Bill, or the next inoculation might go wrong", Floyd quipped, tongue-in-cheek, eliciting some more laughter.
"So you're all paratroopers?", she asked, although she already knew that by looking at the insignia of the screaming eagle on their uniforms.
"Yeah", Chuck answered, drinking from his beer. "Best division in the whole army. We're the elite, you know."
"Of course", Lizzie replied, nodding mock-emphatically. "Thing just is that every soldier I treat always claims this title for his division, regiment or company."
"It's true", Bill stated. "We're Easy company, the best of the best."
There it was, she had confirmation of what she had wanted to know. They were Dick's men, there was no doubt about it.
"And what makes you so sure of that?", she asked them.
"We had the hardest training so far", Bill replied, receiving some nods from the others. "We had a heavy selection right from the beginning and it's a whole new division. Everyone of us worked his ass off to be where he is now."
Lizzie gave them a smile, looking at the men. Maybe they were slightly conceited, but she actually believed them when they said they were an elite force. All of the men seemed very young, but at the same time very determined. They really looked as if they could handle everything.
"So, what are you exactly doing?", Carwood asked her, addressing her for the first time.
"Well, nurse things", she replied dryly, receiving some grins. "I don't think you want to hear any details, it can get rather gory. I work at the military hospital with some other twenty-five American nurses. It's pretty quiet at the moment, but I don't think it's going to stay like that."
"One of our officers is being treated at the hospital", Chuck informed her.
"Really?", Lizzie asked, feigning surprise. "What's his name?"
"Lieutenant Winters", Chuck replied. "Do you know him?"
"Tall, red hair and as of a few days without an appendix?", Lizzie asked for confirmation that she did not really need, watching the others nod. "Yeah, I've seen him once or twice."
"Doesn't look like he's going to be discharged in the next few days, does it?", Bill asked her, for the first time without a smile.
"No", she answered, noticing again the impatience of the men to have their officer back. Maybe there was more behind it than she knew. "Not in the next seven days, as far as I know."
The others nodded, exchanging a few long glances, but otherwise staying quiet, confirming Lizzie's suspicion that something was off.
"So", she asked, not being able to hold herself back. "Is he a good officer?"
Now the Cheshire cat grin was back on Bill's lips.
"You like him?", he asked, eyeing her intently.
"No", she hastily replied. "Not me, but a close friend of mine is a bit sweet on him, although she's not all that sure about it yet. But she's also very shy and I promised to help her, if I could."
It was a blatant lie, but she could not have thought of something better in such a short time.
"Really? Winters?", Chuck asked her, disbelieving. "Tell your friend that she has picked herself the toughest nut to crack of all the men on the base."
"What's it with you girls and officers?", Bill drawled long-sufferingly. "What's wrong with a good-old sergeant? But for you, it always has to be an officer. Believe me, the higher up they are, the more difficult they get."
"I'll keep that in mind", Lizzie replied, a bit surprised at the answers she received. "We're not discussing my own personal taste here, it's my friend we're talking about."
"Yes, of course", Carwood answered, smiling foxily at her. The look he gave her had her quivering in her chair: he saw right through her, she was sure of it. At least the other sergeants seemed to buy her ruse.
"Well, what is there to know about Winters?", Floyd mused loudly. "He's very private, he's very dedicated to what he's doing. I don't think he's married, but I couldn't actually swear it."
"Yeah, I don't think so either", Chuck continued. "In Toccoa I saw him one evening talking to a pretty blonde, but that might as well have been his sister." He paused, then shrugged his shoulders, "If he even has a sister."
Alright, the men probably knew even less about Dick than she did, Lizzie slowly realized.
"I really don't think he's the type to fall head over heels for just a fling", Bill told her. "He seems more like the type to look for a decent girl and then settle down. After the war, mind you. I can really picture him standing in front of us and lecturing us about the distractions of any female company. The only thing he's thinking about is winning this war, I don't think there's anything else on his mind right now."
"Alright, I see", Lizzie answered, forcing herself to sound cheery despite her disappointment. "Then it's probably better to tell my friend that she should put that idea out of her mind right away."
"Just tell your friend", Carwood put in with a wink, "that Winters is a very good and decent man. Everything else she has to find out for herself."
"Thanks, I'll tell her", Lizzie answered, giving him a smile.
"What about you then?", Bill asked her with another grin. "Someone waiting for you back home?"
"No", she replied, shaking her head and sighing. "Seems like I only met assholes so far. The one who promised me undying love before I left for England was amusing himself with some blond in his bed when my transport was postponed for a day."
"Ooooh", Bill hissed sympathetically. "You gave him a piece of your mind, I hope?"
"Yeah, I did", she answered, actually thinking it quite sweet that he was placing himself so firmly on her side. "He didn't break my heart or something, we had only known each other for a few weeks before that. He was probably just seeing me because he knew that I would soon be gone anyway, no major commitment in sight."
"Not every guy is like that", Floyd promised her with trustful eyes, receiving a warning look from Bill that clearly communicated that the other sergeant should back off from what he probably already thought was his territory.
Lizzie smiled at that, but out of fairness had to be honest with them.
"I'm not looking for anything right now, I don't think this is the right place to start something", she told them clearly, watching Bill's face fall slightly. "Maybe this officer of yours is right and we should not let ourselves be off-tracked, but rather focus on the things at hand."
"You heard that, boys?", Carwood spoke up, giving her a smile. "She has more sense than the whole bunch of you, so listen to what she's saying."
Before Lizzie could answer, the door banged open, revealing a rather short man in the same Airborne uniform as the others. His blonde hair was cropped very short and his face was probably the most angular thing she had ever seen.
"Here you are, you lazy dogs", he spat, coming closer, while the five sergeants snapped to their feet and at attention. "When I gave you this evening off, I didn't mean for you to come here and get drunk. This is NOT the behavior I want to see from you."
"Sir", Carwood tried to put in. "We're off-duty and this is the first beer we had in weeks…"
"I don't care!", the other shouted, making Lizzie flinch just from the volume of his voice. "You're the sorriest excuse this army has to offer, you disgust me! You're weekend passes are revoked for the next fourteen days and you're running twelve miles tonight for insubordination!"
"Sir", the others murmured, giving each other some unhappy glances.
"What are you waiting for?", the lieutenant, as Lizzie could see, screamed. "Move, move, move!"
"Tell Winters to come back quickly", Bill whispered to her, before he left the pub with the others at a jog, while the lieutenant held the door open for them and then turned to Lizzie.
"And you", he addressed her in a sharp voice, coming closer. "Go back home, this is no place to be for a woman. Have you no decency?"
Lizzie could smell the alcohol on his breath and inwardly called him a damn hypocrite.
"I do as I please, lieutenant", she replied icily. "Last time I looked you had no authority over me."
"You keep your mouth shut, woman", he told her warningly, approaching her with a raised finger and making her retreat a few steps. Then he turned around and left the pub, while Lizzie sat down again at the table with six half-empty glasses of beer.
At least she slowly understood why Dick and everyone else was getting edgy for him to get back on duty as soon as possible.
-tbc-