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April 13, 1945

The days passed, and Toye and Liz only grew closer. Although she did try and escape every few days, she spent the majority of her afternoons with him, whether it was playing cards, roaming the hospital, or people watching from the windows.

"I'm telling you, that one in the pink dress - husband-hunter. There was a girl just like her in Binghamton."

Toye chuckled and shook his head. "There's no such thing."

Liz gave him a look. "Please. Not only is she on the hunt, but she's not going to settle for any odd guy. She wants a soldier. Why else is she hanging around outside the hospital?"

He shrugged, studying the woman standing below them. "She knows someone here?"

"Then why isn't she inside visiting? Nah, she's on the prowl."

He laughed again but abruptly stopped when the young woman caught the eye of a jeep full of officers rolling by, and suddenly she looked innocent and cute. Sure enough, the men stopped to speak with her, their smiles wide. "Son of a…"

Liz smacked him on the arm and laughed, victorious. "Told you. You're trying to beat the expert. I've spent many a day watching anyone that passed by."

He got quiet. "Must've been lonely."

Her smile faded and she shrugged. "Sometimes." She took a breath before looking at him sideways. He was standing next to her, leaning on crutches, something new for him. "A little less now."

Their eyes met and they were silent for a beat before looking back to the street below together. With a little too much effort to guess about the little old lady that shuffled by, they were interrupted by Nurse Mindy. It was time for another therapy session for Toye.

He gave Liz a look that made her smirk as he turned away to follow the unrelenting woman. She watched them go, suddenly feeling that loneliness once more.

Liz stumbled into his room a few days later. She had successfully ensured that he didn't get assigned a new roommate, and he has had the luxury of having the room to himself since. Sometimes she hung out on Guarnere's old bed as they talked and laughed back and forth. Today, she looked as if she could use it to collapse into.

Her hands shook as she placed his pills on his table and her teeth chattered. Toye sat up when he saw her and started to hobble towards her, leaning against the bed as leverage. "Christ, Liz, is it another headache?"

With her eyes closed, she shook her head. "No."

Liar. "Then what?"

"I'm fine." Very convincing.

Toye rolled his eyes. He knew she hadn't had a headache for about a week, a new record, but he also knew she was the most stubborn person he had ever met, including himself. "Come 'ere." He grabbed her hand and tugged back towards his bed.

She pulled against him at first. "I am not having another headache."

He snorted. "OK, fine. You're not having another headache. Come 'ere."

With a quiet huff, she followed him as he hopped back. Sliding into the bed, he pulled on her hand again until she climbed in as well. She instantly settled against him. "If you tell anyone I got in your bed, Toye, I swear to you, you'll pay," she rasped. It would have been more convincing if she didn't look so small and feeble at the moment.

Toye rolled his eyes again. "You've got to have been in a foxhole with one of your men before. Basically same thing, but I'm nicer to look at."

She tried to laugh, but it hurt too much. "You're so full of yourself." But she sighed contently when his miracle fingers began working into the tense muscles at the base of her skull. "Nevermind. You're fucking gorgeous. An Adonis. The most beautiful man I've ever seen. Really, a perfect specimen of a…"

"Liz," murmured Toye. "I won't stop, you don't need to suck up."

Sighing happily, she leaned closer into his body. "Alright, Adonis. You got it."

April turned into May and with it came news of the German surrender. Cheers erupted throughout the hospital when it spread and Toye and Liz were no exception. After hugging one another, they were keen just to watch the hubbub from the their spot on their couch, a place they rotated to almost every day.

"Did you just see Nurse Mindy smile? I swear, it was there."

Toye snorted. "You must be imaginin' things, sweetheart. Can't be true."

Liz flushed a little at the endearment, and it wasn't lost on her that when Guarnere used one, it had the opposite effect. "I saw it. Cross my heart."

And before he could claim otherside, the imposing woman herself walked up to the pair, and there it was. She smiled. "Sergeants Toye and Brady, happy VE Day."

They mumbled it back to her, unsure where this was going. The smile only grew and they shrank back. "Sergeant Toye, I'm pleased with your progress. I believe after another month of hard exercises, and you'll be ready to prepare for the prosthetic and go home."

Toye nodded back. "Thank you, ma'am."

Liz tried to hide her frown at the thought of him leaving. Unfortunately Nurse Mindy caught it. "Don't fret, Sergeant Brady. You're well on your way as well." Before Liz could open her mouth in indignation at the implication of being sent home, the nurse cut her off. "It's been a few weeks since your last episode, yes?"

Liz only silently nodded, holding her breath.

"If this continues, I can happily send you on your way back to your regiment."

Now Liz gaped. "Are you serious, ma'am?" she asked. The nurse nodded before smiling again, and turning back to the celebration in the common room.

Liz turned to Toye, her mouth still open. "Did that just happen?"

He lifted her chin with a finger until her mouth snapped shut and he grinned. "Yeah, yeah it did. Now you just gotta behave long enough to let it continue."

She swatted at him and grinned. "Just don't give me a headache, Toye, and I'll be golden." Leaning her head against his shoulder, she continued to smile wide.

Brushing his fingers through her hair, he leaned his cheek against her. "Happy VE Day, Liz."

"Happy VE Day, Joe."