Thanks to the best reviewers ever, beth-rodrigues.77 (Thanks so much for your review, sooo happy to hear you think this story rewarding to read! Yeah, last chapter was a very sad one for Lizzie, and I'm feeling glad to know you thought it touching, I was struggling a bit with the emotional parts of it. And yes, Dick tries his best to console her, I think seeing her cry was hard for him, too. Thanks so much for reviewing, I always look forward to your comments!), ScarlettLeon (So glad I had you blubbering again... :-))) And yeah, I know how that feels, too, to cry into someone else's sweater, so I latched on my own memories there. Had a nice guy to lean on as well back then... ;-)), ChocAndSnow19 (I very much enjoyed to hear you were moved by this chapter, I put quite a bit of effort and my own emotions into it. ;-) Yeah, Dick is there for Lizzie, I think he's the best support you can get in such a difficult situation. And of course he's a gentleman, he's Dick Winters and all good manners! :-))) And I'm sooo happy to see you enjoy reading this story, and you don't think it too slow. I was a bit worried because I realized I took my time in developing things, maybe a bit too much. Thanks very much for your support! :-))), Jayden (Hey, welcome back! I was a bit worried I had lost you on the way, glad you're back. :-)) Yeah, Dick is finally getting out of hospital in this chapter. ;-)).
Here we go with chapter nine, hope you all enjoy! If you want to make my day, then leave me a review, since I love to hear what you think about it. And I'm always open for criticism, too.
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"Alright, everything fine", Dr. Paul Coombs declared, with his wife looking over his shoulder. "You're ready to be discharged, Lieutenant Winters."
The last examination had just confirmed what they had settled a few days ago. Dick was finally ready to leave the hospital.
"Very good", he answered, rolling down his sweater over a light bandage that covered the suture. He looked up to see Lizzie giving him an encouraging smile from where she stood behind the two doctors. Her face was pale and her eyes red, she had probably slept badly last night. But she was there and working, doing her best to appear as if nothing had happened.
"We are proceeding as follows", Dr. Coombs, the husband, continued in his monotonous voice, speaking more to the clipboard in his hands than to Dick, "you're coming back for a check-up every three days until the stitches come out in a week. No heavy lifting, no running or other strenuous activities for the next three weeks, after that you can slowly begin light training again. That's also when you'll be able to return to light duty."
Dick nodded, showing that he had heard the doctor, but in his head arranging for himself quite a different plan already. He really could not see why he should not be allowed to do some light work by now, sitting behind a desk could hardly be considered a strenuous activity.
"Paul, this isn't the right way to deal with this patient", Dr. Greta Coombs put in with raised eyebrows, looking intently at Dick and most likely seeing right through him. "Lieutenant Winters, I want your word on staying away from both light duty and bodily activities for the next three weeks. As far as I know you'll be rolling in the dirt with your men by tomorrow otherwise."
Dick could hear Lizzie snort at that. What was the meaning of this now, some last effort of cuddling? He almost had his freedom back and now they tried to restrict it again.
"I'll be careful not to overdo it, I promise", he replied slowly, pursing his lips.
"That's not the promise I wanted to hear", the female doctor replied, giving him a knowing glance.
"Well, I can't give you my word on not going against your orders. Doing my duty might be more important", he finally admitted with a frown.
"Well, then maybe it might be my duty to refuse that signature under your release papers", Dr. Coombs, the wife, replied pointedly.
Dick found himself glaring at the doctor. Come on, why did this have to be so difficult now? He would leave the hospital today, signature or not. It was not as if they could tie him down.
"It's alright, Greta", Lizzie piped in, of all possible persons, giving Dick an encouraging nod. "Just give him the signature. He's an adult and he knows the risks. If he still decides to go against your recommendations then he's either stupid or acting out of reasons unknown to us."
Dick had no idea where her sudden support came from, even less so what that last comment was supposed to mean, but he could not be picky of his allies at the moment. Giving her a smile of thanks, he looked questioningly at the doctor, crossing his arms.
"Fine", Dr. Coombs finally relented, sighing softly and motioning for her husband to sign the release papers. "Just try to take it easy, at least until the stitches are out, alright?"
"I'll do my best", Dick promised with a small smile, making the doctor raise her eyebrows again. He got up from the bed, stooping down to get his bag, but his hand was swatted away by Lizzie.
"Maybe you should have your ears checked, they said no heavy lifting", she reminded him, shaking her head and taking the bag in her own hands.
"It's not heavy", he complained half-heartedly, making Lizzie and Dr. Coombs sigh in unison.
Luckily it was Nix saving him from further chastisement, joining their circle.
"Are you ready?", he asked Dick. "The Barnes can't wait to have you back, asked me since the morning when you'd be out of here."
"Yeah, I'm ready", Dick answered quickly, wanting to be away before anyone changed their mind to keep him for a few days longer.
"Thanks very much for everything", he told the two doctors, shaking their hands and at last receiving a reconciliatory smile from Dr. Coombs, the wife.
"You're welcome" she replied. "We'll see each other in three days."
Dick nodded, then turned to Lizzie, who was standing there with his bag in her hands, looking a bit lost.
"I'll walk you to the car", she said before he could open his mouth.
Dick nodded, then addressed Nix, "Could you take my bag from her, it's very heavy."
His friend raised an eyebrow at that, but took the bag nonetheless, while Lizzie rolled her eyes at Dick. At the same time, some of the old twinkle returned to her hooded eyes, Dick noticed happily. When they reached the car, they put in the bag, then an uneasy silence followed since no one really knew what to say. The situation was awkward for Dick, feeling Nix's watchful eyes on him, but wanting to say a proper goodbye to Lizzie all the same. Even more so because she appeared so frail today, with grief laying heavily on her shoulders.
"What are you waiting for?", Lizzie finally prompted, motioning for him to get into the car. "I've got work to do, you know."
Her cheerfulness sounded forced to his ears, but he knew by now that it was how she dealt with difficult situations. The wisecrack was part of her armor, she seemed to hide behind it whenever things got rough.
"Thanks for everything", Dick finally said, looking deeply into her eyes and giving her a smile. "I would have probably driven everyone insane if it hadn't been for you."
"You still did", she snickered, but at the same time her eyes started shimmering treacherously.
"Come here", he told her, pulling her into his arms and giving her a tight hug. The way her body snuggled against his felt very nice, his heart rate going up a notch. The scent of lavender wafted to his nose, he had never noticed her hair smelling so good before. He heard her sigh softly, then she disentangled herself from him, inconspicuously wiping at her eyes.
"Alright, it's not like this is goodbye forever, so you won't mind me cutting this short", she said hurriedly, already retreating a few steps towards the hospital and giving both of them a wavering smile. "Take care and see you soon."
With that she turned around and scurried back inside. Nix kept quiet, just giving Dick a long look, then holding the door open for his friend. They drove for a while in silence, Dick just watching the landscape flitting past him on their way to their billet, thinking of everything and nothing at the same time.
"Oh Dick", Nix finally said, watching him from the side. "Never would have guessed to see this happening to you."
"And what, please enlighten me, should 'this' be?", Dick asked back, puzzled by the serious tone of voice and the vague comment.
"Falling in love", Nix replied earnestly und unsmilingly, giving him another long look.
Dick found himself sputtering at that, sure he had misheard.
"Are you joking?", he asked, for once the one trying to make light of a situation, but seeing that his friend was serious. "I'm not falling in love. Where would you get that notion from?"
"Dick", Nix said slowly. "It's obvious, really. You and Lizzie. The two of you meeting every day, the two of you almost devouring each other with looks, the two of you hugging..."
"It's not like that, Lew", Dick tried to explain. "She lost her brother a few days ago, life is hard on her at the moment. She needed a friend."
"I don't know whom you're trying to fool", Nix answered in a level voice. "Probably only yourself. But that girl has fallen head over heels for you. And if you don't see it or don't want to see it that way, then maybe it's time to open your eyes."
Dick would never have guessed he would one day be on the receiving end of some love talk from Nix. It was rather disconcerting. He had been so busy in the last few days to push out of his mind just any thoughts that had something to do with what he felt towards Lizzie, that he was surprised how fast everything caught up with him. He liked her, but he had always told himself he liked her as a friend. At the same time, this notion somehow rang wrong. Her presence tended to leave him slightly giddy and touching her was the most exquisite thing, causing his heart rate to pick up the pace. She had a beautiful smile, he loved to see her dimples, and her hands... He had to forbid himself thinking about what these soft, white hands would feel like on his bare skin. Even now he felt heat cursing through his body and he wrestled his thoughts back into the present, noticing Nix giving him an intent look and tsking his tongue.
"Dick, you're totally smitten, just admit it", his friend told him with a faint grin.
Dick's first urge was to deny everything and carry on playing clueless, but just as Nix had pointed out, whom did he want to fool, his friend or himself? Maybe he just needed to accept what he had come to realize inwardly as the truth for a few days.
"It doesn't matter what she feels or what I feel", he finally decided to say. "It's not as if it would lead anywhere."
"What about you staying together, marrying and living happily ever after?", Nix threw in, now with the familiar portion of irony.
"Yeah, right", Dick replied, at last feeling that they were returning to safer grounds. He could handle Nix's sarcasm, but he was not used to his friend meddling in any affairs concerning his heart. "With war coming at us and Easy in inept hands? I think I'm content with trying to fulfill the 'living' part of your saying."
"So, this means you won't allow yourself to fall in love?", Nix inquired, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah", Dick answered, trying to make it sound convincing, if only for his own sake. "Besides, I'm not sure Regiment would approve."
"Regiment?", Nix asked, disbelievingly. "You know what? Fuck Regiment. They're not the ones getting their heads blown off. We are. They'll be keeping their wrinkled asses safely behind the lines, watching us get killed. After the war they'll return to fuck their fat wives and live on their shabby lives for another ten years before they kick the bucket because of old age. We don't have this option, our chances to survive aren't that high. So do what you want to do now, because you'll maybe not have the chance to do it later."
His friend's rant took Dick aback. It had become something like an unwritten law for them, talking about the things they wanted to do after the war, evading any thoughts of losing their lives in battle. This did not mean that Dick was naive about the possibility of him getting killed in the following one or two years. That thought scared him as much as it did the next best man in Easy.
"Okay, I see your point", Dick admitted after a short silence, but frowned at his friend nonetheless. "At the same time your argumentation is selfish. What about her? You don't have any qualms about leaving behind not only your wife and kid back home, but also that little singer from London you hang around with lately, to worry about your survival. I don't want my girl having to check death rolls. I want to go to battle with no other attachment than family, for her sake and for my own."
"Yeah Dick, but not everyone is as detached as you in the face of war and carnage", Nix replied scornfully, making Dick understand that he had hit a sore spot. "We all know you're totally in control, always, even of your heart as it seems. Some of us actually have feelings and crave for human touch, you know." Then as an afterthought, he added bitingly, "I can see why they call you 'Red Machine'."
"'Red Machine'?", Dick spluttered, not knowing where that came from. "Who calls me that?"
"Your men", Nix answered, giving him another sidelong glance. "Behind your back."
Was that really how his men perceived him? Dick was at a loss what to say. It was not as if he experienced no emotions towards the men, quite the contrary. He had struggled so hard to keep his feelings at bay whenever it came to his men. Keeping the necessary distance to them did not come easy to him, he was always straining to keep personal sentiments at an arm's length in order to stay rational and professional. He had been a private before becoming an officer, he could feel with them on every layer. In many ways he was a 'half-breed', sensing a stronger connection to his soldiers and their way of living than to many of his fellow officers. And this was what they thought of him? A machine, just functioning, without any human emotions or anxieties?
"Well", Nix began more softly, sounding a bit worried about the prolonged silence and giving Dick a quick glance. "I'm sure they don't mean it all negatively. Your work is impeccable, no hesitation, no blundering. They know they can rely on you."
"Yeah, sure", Dick replied slowly, still not knowing what to make of his nickname. He would need to mull this over in quiet later. "How do you know about it?"
"Are you serious?", Nix asked, now back to his cocky self. "I'm the intelligence officer here, I have my ways of knowing things."
"Yeah, right, how silly of me to forget that", Dick replied, quirking a smile at his friend.
Nix grinned back at him, their previous short clash of opinions already forgotten.
They drove another minute or two in silence, before his friend spoke up again, "But about Lizzie, you need to know that you'll probably never meet another girl like her again. She's special, she's beautiful and she makes you happy. You're a grinning fool whenever she's around, for Christ sake! You might not get another chance at happiness. And she might yet prove your source of strength for the time to come."
Dick was surprised to hear his friend speak so highly of Lizzie, after hearing them bickering every time they saw each other. Well, yeah, Nix had a point, she truly made him happy, there was no sense in denying that.
"I'll think about everything", Dick just answered shortly, for their billet came into view and he was not in the mood to continue the conversation. Nix pulled into the courtyard and parked their car behind the house. It was an old brick house, the ground floor harbored a small store and the upper stories were the living area of the family they were quartered with.
As soon as Dick got out of the car, the house door already opened and the older English couple they were staying with stepped out to welcome him. Dick felt himself smiling when he saw them. They were wonderful people, very decent and affectionate, treating him for all the world like a son and not like a foreign soldier.
"My dear boy", Mrs. Barnes exclaimed softly, her eyes almost disappearing in the laugh lines on her face with the warm smile she was giving him. "It's so good to see you back on your feet."
She came closer and Dick almost expected her to tweak his cheeks, although she was such a small woman he was not sure she would be able to even reach his cheeks.
"It's good to see you, too, Mrs. Barnes", he told her warmly, feeling a bit like coming home, even though he had only stayed with them for something over a month before falling ill.
"Glad to have you back, son", Mr. Barnes commented, a cigar in his mouth while he shook Dick's hand. He had a firm grip, despite his age, and Dick noticed again that it was the hand of a man used to working his whole life.
"Diiick!", he was finally welcomed by a young girl, ten years old, that came running at him from the house. She looked like she wanted to throw herself in Dick's arms, but then stopped at the last possible moment, just standing there and grinning at him. Dick could not hold himself back from messing up her curly blond hair, making her giggle and trying to swat away his hand.
"How are you doing, Elaine?", he asked her, smiling down at her. The little orphan girl the Barnes had taken in was their whole joy, after the death of their only son more than a year ago in one of the many battles England had already fought against Hitler's troops.
"Fine", she replied happily, then gave Nix a cocky grin. "But Lewis still occupies my room."
"Aw, come on", Nix replied, raising his hands in a gesture of innocence, but his dark eyes twinkled with amusement. "You're just a midget, you fit better in that cupboard than me."
"I'm not a midget", she objected, giving her best pout, making Dick laugh.
"You are", Nix answered, unable to hold himself from adding childishly, "Midget."
While Nix and Elaine engaged in a mock fight, Mrs. Barnes gave Dick a long look, scrutinizing him from head to toe.
"Oh dear, you're nothing but skin and bones", she tutted, making Dick hide a small smile at her motherly attitude towards him. "Didn't they feed you in hospital? You didn't have all that much substance on you to begin with, now you look like the next gust of wind might knock you off your feet."
"It's fine, Mrs. Barnes", he told her, feeling like he had to come to the hospital's defense. "They took very good care of me, but the appetite is a bit slow to return."
"We'll work on putting a few more pounds on that bony rips of yours", she promised with a mask of determination, making it clear for Dick that fattening him up was now her ultimate goal. Resistance would be pointless. "Dinner will be ready in an hour."
Dick was a bit worried about the amount of food that he would find on his plate, since the Barnes had never been niggard with the portions they served.
"Go on, take a nap until dinner is finished", she shooed him inside, then cut him off when he wanted to say something, "And no, you can't help me with anything. Go and get some rest."
"Thank you, Mrs. Barnes", Dick then opted to reply, seeing that she would not tolerate any defiance. He exchanged a small smile with Nix, then slowly climbed the stairs to do exactly like he was told to do.
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Dick managed to spend one full day resting after coming back from hospital. He had found a copy of The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides in the Barnes' bookshelf, from which he had already read excerpts in officer school and he now found the time to study the book more closely. It was not actually what one would call a pleasure read, but he found himself intrigued with the warfare of the Greeks two and a half thousand years ago and the very enlightening views of Thucydides on the relationship between politics and military. Since college, he had a great interest in all things concerning classical antiquity, it was stunning to see how up to date most of these texts still were and how clear the minds of these classical authors – especially the Greek – worked.
Beside reading, he found himself thinking about Lizzie frequently, often in the evenings, which had been their shared time in hospital. He really hoped she was coping with her brother's death, even though he knew deep down that she was strong and that she would eventually get past her grief. Nonetheless, he had been on the verge once or twice to ask Nix to drive him to her and make sure himself she was fine. But he was still confused about what he should feel or do when it came to Lizzie. Maybe some space would do them good until he knew what he wanted. Nix's point of view had not left him fully unaffected.
He had also found himself on the receiving end of some more pampering from Mrs. Barnes. Just as he had suspected, the portions of food he was served were enormous, making him not only struggle to clear his plate, but also feeling the twinge of his conscience, since the shortage of food was overall present in every part of England. Dick knew that the family was not exactly rich and they were not even bound by any engagement to provide food for them, after all Nix and he normally ate at the base. But since the Barnes were against Dick having to drive to the base and back again, they insisted on him eating with them. At the same time, he would have liked to contribute at least something, but when he had offered to pay for the food, he had mortally insulted the Barnes. He had needed the rest of the evening to get back on friendly terms with them.
Nevertheless, despite having everything he needed at hand and being able to spend some time with Elaine, playing chess with the little girl, he was getting restless, itching to see his men again. Two days after coming home, Dick was able to convince the Barnes to let him go back to the base for a film evening, but only after he had eaten dinner with them.
Dressing for the first time in weeks in his uniform was a wonderful feeling, although he realized with some alarm how right his surrogate mother had been when pointing out his thinness, his clothes were sagging on his frame. It was not the weight loss in itself that bothered him, but he had to come to terms with the fact that he had lost quite some muscle. There were days and weeks of sweat and soreness waiting for him until he would be back in his former shape.
Just before they were leaving, Mrs. Barnes remembered Dick for the umpteenth time not to come back too late, because he needed his sleep and so on, leaving Nix to smirk to himself the whole time. Dick found himself releasing a deep breath when he finally stepped out of the house with his friend at his side.
"I don't want to imagine the day when we actually have to go to war", Nix commented with another smirk while he got in the driver's seat of the car. "They'll probably tie you up in the cellar in order to prevent you from going."
"Yeah, don't mention it", Dick replied dryly, but nonetheless could not hold back the fond smile at the warmth he was receiving from the Barnes.
"We're already late, I think we'll miss the beginning of the film", Nix said, drawing his gaze away from the road and looking at his watch. "But you've seen Manpower before, I guess?"
"Yeah, at least twice in Toccoa", Dick replied, smiling at the memory.
They reached the base and Dick felt again a bit like coming home. It had only been something over three weeks, but it felt much longer since he had last set foot on the ground of the training camp. Just as Nix had predicted, the film had already started and they slipped into the darkened tent unnoticed. Seeing his Easy again, although it was only the back of their heads, brought a smile onto Dick's lips. God, he had really missed the boys. Nix tapped his arm and motioned for two free seats in the very back row, beside Harry.
"Hey, good to see you back", Harry commented in not so low a voice when Dick and Nix sat down next to him, already provoking some shushing from the rows in front of him that he ignored. "How're you doing?"
"Fine", Dick whispered, considerate of the men wanting to watch the film. "You?"
"Just great", Harry answered right away, flashing him a big grin. "I don't think I told you already, I met this girl in Bristol…"
There was some more shushing from the men, one of them – Joe Toye as Dick could see - half-turning his head warningly without really looking over his shoulder.
"What, Toye?", Harry asked loudly, voice good-natured, but challenging all the same. "I'm your officer, do you want to tell me off for talking? Are you put out 'cause you can't hear Marlene?"
Some grumbling was the only answer he received, and with a satisfied grin he turned to Dick again, who raised an eyebrow at his friend's handling of the situation.
"Her name is Kitty Grogan", Harry continued unperturbed. "A true Irish girl, I heard her singing at the bar she works, she has a wonderful voice. Hair blond like wheat, green eyes, and full, round…"
Now Toye, who had never been one to back down from an argument, seemed to have enough and turned around angrily.
"Sir, why don't you just go now and marry your gal, then at least we could watch the film in peace from…", Toye groused, then suddenly trailed off as he noticed Dick sitting beside Harry.
"Lieutenant Winters", he exclaimed in surprise, film forgotten and his own voice suddenly loud, too, causing a few heads to turn. "You're back!"
"Well, not really", Dick answered quickly, trying to tone down the hopes of him coming back right away, since he could already hear the murmuring of voices and more turning of heads in his direction. It seemed like the news of his presence spread like a wildfire through the whole tent. "Just trying to watch the movie, but that seems a bit difficult today."
Toye flashed him a grin, maybe not having heard the first part of what Dick had said, then turned to whisper something to his neighbor. The rest of the movie passed without any interruption, but as soon as the lights were turned on, Dick found himself swarmed by his men, sitting on the chairs or standing in between the rows in front of him.
"Rumor's true then, sir", he was welcomed by Luz, always the first to open his big mouth, "you're back from the dead. Looking better than last time we saw you."
"Yeah", Dick answered, finding himself grinning at the circle of Easy men around him. "Which isn't too difficult to manage, I guess."
"They put you back together alright, sir", Bull commented with a nod, smiling around the cigar in his mouth.
"Are the nurses pretty at the military hospital?", Perconte asked innocently, triggering some laughter.
Ignoring Nix's secretive smile, Dick decided to take it in stride, answering, "Depends on what you're looking for, Frank. There was a nurse twice as big as you with the temperament of a steam roller."
There was more laughter at that, some of the men slapping Perconte on his back. Dick looked through the rows of men standing in front of him, trying to give every one of them a smile. He noticed quite a few of them looking tired, some even looking gaunt since last time he had seen them.
"How was your return play in basketball against Able? You took them out, I hope?", he asked them, deliberately shipping around the more serious topic of how they were doing in military training. He was itching to know everything about their relationship with Shames, but he was loathe to spoil the good mood.
"Oh that", Liebgott finally answered reluctantly after a sheepish silence, "well, could've gone better."
"Oh come on", Dick replied, unable to hold back a grin, "don't tell me you lost against Able."
"They smashed us into pulp", Webster admitted bleakly, shrugging his shoulders. "But it wasn't our fault, we weren't allowed to train after Heffron sprained his ankle."
"Yeah, thanks for that, Babe", Malarkey added gloomily, nudging an apologetic looking Heffron.
This made Dick pause. That was really harsh, going so far as to dictate the men what to do and what not in their sparse free time. He already had a good guess who was behind it, which led right to the more unpleasant part of things.
"Lieutenant Shames?", he asked quietly, receiving a few dark nods. He burned to put himself clearly in one line with his men against Shames, but he knew that he should be the one trying to calm things down, not further stoking the fire. There was hardly anything less acceptable in the army than one officer undermining the authority of the other in the same company. However, he could not prevent himself from getting angry at this newest incompetence of said officer. Just another high-born airhead who had no idea how to be a good leader to the men and how these exceptional soldiers should be treated.
"Well, it won't be too long now", Dick instead chose to promise fervently. "We'll reserve some extra-time for basketball training, which I'll personally oversee. Can't have my men losing against Able, that's totally inacceptable. You're Easy. You're faster, you're stronger and you're much more clever than Able, you ought to beat them."
The uplifting grins and resolute nods he received in return told him a lot about the men's desperate need for some support from the sides of their officers. Hell, did no one bother to give them a pep talk every once in a while? They looked for all the world like beaten dogs.
"Sounds very good, sir", Roe replied for the others, giving him a rare smile that Dick returned immediately. The medic was a strong player and Dick could understand if he was impatient to get back to basketball training.
"What else did I miss?", Dick asked lightly. "You lost in a nighttime exercise against the Aldbourne kindergarten?"
Some good-natured grumbling was the first response to that, then Talbert chose to answer, "Actually first platoon had a nighttime solo-maneuver with Lieutenant Peacock. We passed."
The rather sober description of the success from the sergeant did not surprise Dick. He had heard from Nix about the maneuver and Peacock's struggle to pass.
"That's good to hear, Tab", he answered. "I'm sure you did great."
A few shrugs were the only response.
"Our solo-maneuver with Lieutenant Shames is settled for tomorrow morning", Lipton then informed him somberly.
"What?", Dick exclaimed, not believing his ears and giving Nix a look of reproach that he only now heard about that, but receiving only a shrug from his friend that told him he had not known about it either. "Why is he getting a solo-maneuver with you? This doesn't make any sense, he'll be returning to Dog anyway as soon as I'm back. He should be training with them."
"Don't know, sir", Guarnere answered in a rather subdued voice. "But order came right from Major Horton and Colonel Sink."
Something was definitely off, and Dick did not like it at all. Second platoon was his platoon and these solo-maneuvers just existed because they were supposed to hone the connection and discipline between soldiers and platoon leader. The exercise was actually more important for the officer than for his men. So why did they think it favorable to let Shames lead his men in the solo-maneuver? All of this just reeked of Sobel's doing, Dick was sure of it. It was high time for a talk with Regiment.
"So, when will you be back, sir?", Bull asked softly and Dick suddenly found the undivided attention of all the present men on him, watching his every move.
Again this stupid, stupid question. It just burned on his tongue to tell them that he would be back in just a few days. But he was still recovering and could not make promises that he was unable to hold.
"The doctors need to clear me for duty", he replied reluctantly. "At the very soonest in three weeks."
The three weeks were the span the doctors had settled when talking about letting him go back to light duty, but he was sure he could speed up things a bit. They had said he was recovering quickly, after all.
Before his men could answer, the tent flap was pulled back and Sobel and Shames entered. The men still sitting snapped to their feet and Dick followed their example a bit more slowly. Sobel immediately noticed him among the men, a frosty smile coming to his lips as he came closer, Shames close on his heels.
"Lieutenant Winters, what a surprise", the captain drawled, eyeing Dick from head to toe. "I wouldn't have reckoned seeing you here already, after that nasty bout of sickness you suffered from."
The way Sobel said it one could get the notion that Dick had spent an evening in bed with a runny nose, not almost dying from an infection that had spread in his whole abdomen. Not speaking of the half-healed eight-inch scar that decorated his belly.
"I'm much better already, sir", Dick replied in a level voice, forcing all negative thoughts towards his CO from his mind.
"Good", Sobel answered coolly. "Be glad we have some soft-hearted senior officers or the pampering would already have stopped, Dick."
Dick felt himself bristling, but he tamped down on his irritation with all his might. Seeing Shames give him an insolent smirk did not help matters.
"Sir", Dick said clearly, but in a detached voice that he fled himself into whenever he was dealing with another one of Sobel's bouts of unfairness. "If you'd be willing to forego medical clearance for duty, I'd be happy to receive back command of second platoon tomorrow."
That at least wiped the smirk from Shames' face. But it was a risky game he played and as soon as he had spoken the words aloud, Dick already regretted to have let himself be goaded by Sobel. What if the captain actually accepted him back and had the whole company run twelve miles tomorrow? No way Dick could keep up with the rest of the men and he had that creepy gut feeling that Sobel knew it, too.
"No, Dick", Sobel finally replied in an inscrutable, rather soft voice. "You take your time to recover just as Regiment tells you to do."
Now that was downright scary and Dick had to struggle hard not to gawk at his CO. From anyone else these words would express caring towards him, but not from Sobel, it could not be. What game was the captain playing?
"Yes, sir", Dick just answered shortly, then saw Sobel turning around, quirking a very quick smile at Shames, before addressing the men, "Platoon one and three! I reschedule our training for tomorrow morning to 0430, instead of 0530. Second platoon will be ready to set out with Lieutenant Shames at 1100. Be on time."
After that short announcement he exited the tent with Shames in tow, leaving Dick to watch after him and listen to the groaning of the men.
-tbc-