We wait at the end of the square for Daniel and Mellish, and when they arrive we start moving again. Daniel comes straight to me and Long leaves my side seeing Daniel's got me covered.
We go down another street and turn into an alley. Hill stops at the corner and glances around the corner before pulling back. "Thunder!"
"Flash! Come on in," another voice says.
Sergeant Hill, Captain Miller, and Captain Dunne walk forward first and the rest of us follow, sticking to the right wall.
"You guys, we're looking for Captain Hamill," Hill says.
"Somewhere down there, across the square."
Miller goes forward and checks out the area before motioning for us to join him. I've taken a hold of Daniel's vest again and follow him down the alley into what appears to be a tower. Daniel scans the vicinity, his sharp eyes looking for snipers.
"Shaw," Dunne says, "Go get Captain Hamill."
"Yes sir," Shaw says and he disappears through the doorway.
"Right, so let's just camp out here for a while," Hill says, laying his gun down and sitting on some fallen wooden planks. "And I can get this goddamn hitchhiker out of my boot."
Daniel turns to face me, making me let go of his vest. I can tell my his expression that he's going to take this moment of relative safety to ask me the questions he's wanted to ask ever since he first saw me. "Lilly, not that I'm not glad to see you darlin', but what the hell are you doing here?"
Before I can answer, there's a loud crash as a stone wall falls behind Hill. There are shouts in another language, German, and Daniel spins around, his gun up and ready. He blindly reaches out and grabs my jacket, pulling me down behind him.
Both sides shout at each other, but we're at a standstill. Upham is trying to speak German, probably trying to tell them to put their weapons down.
Then gunfire erupts, the noise of it making my ears ring, and someone pulls me forward harshly. I land in the dirt on my stomach and someone covers me, laying their body over mine with their arms over my head.
The gunfire stops and the person shifts before rolling off me. I lift my head up and see Daniel lying next to me on his back. I look to see the Germans all on the ground, some dead, others moaning in pain. I scramble off the ground and Daniel reaches over to grab his rifle before getting to his feet too. He puts his hands on my shoulders, looking me up and down for any injuries besides the ones I already had. When he finds none he breathes out relieved and moves a hand to my neck, bringing me into a hug. He kisses my temple before releasing me and helping Reiben up. I give Upham a hand, who looks completely stunned, hauling him to his feet.
Wade follows Horvath into the building and goes to a German soldier, seeing he's still alive. I can see how passionate he is about preserving human life, and while I'm not so inclined to do the same if they're an enemy soldier, I move to help him. I roll out a bandage and Wade presses it to the wound as I wrap it up tightly.
"Wade! Lieutenant Jackson!" Miller shouts a minute later. "We're moving!"
One of Hamill's men comes and helps Wade get the injured German to his feet. I search out Daniel and move back to his side, stopping slightly behind him. We follow Hamill into the safest part of town as the rain comes to a stop.
"How was the route in?" Hamill asks.
"Scenic," Miller answers. "We lost most of our ammo."
"And one of our men," someone adds, but my head is starting to pound as the adrenaline wears off and the pain from my head wound and the multitude of bruises all across my body starts to set in.
"Lieutenant! Redeploy that bazooka to the right side of the road," Hamill orders. "And get Ryan up here."
Miller and Hamill stand off to one side and the rest of us, except for Hill and Dunne's men who have gone elsewhere to help, drift over to the left.
Someone starts calling for Ryan, and Daniel encircles an arm around my waist. Now that we're not in direct danger, he's not as tense, and so is comfortable doing something like that now.
"Here comes our boy," Reiben says as a soldier, who I assume is Ryan, runs to Hamill and Miller.
"Daniel?" I murmur. "What exactly is your mission here?"
"Ryan lost all his brothers, three of them. He's got a ticket home, we're here to make sure he gets there," Daniel explains. I furrow my eyebrows; that seems like a very… odd mission. There's a war going on, and the military spends time and resources on something like this.
"Sir, Private Ryan reporting as ordered," Ryan says when he reaches Hamill.
Daniel and I move to watch the following conversation. When Miller tells Ryan about his brothers, I feel genuine sadness for Ryan as he starts to cry. I press myself in closer to Daniel and lean my head against his chest. He holds me tighter and kisses my hair. I notice Reiben and Mellish looking at us and they seem confused and taken aback, which just confuses me.
"No, that can't be. That can't be, my brothers are still in grammar school," Ryan says.
"You're James Ryan?" Miller asks.
"Yeah."
"James Francis Ryan? From Iowa?" Miller questions.
"James Fredrick Ryan, Minnesota," Ryan corrects.
"You've got to be kidding me," I hear Reiben mutter. I look up at Daniel and see his disbelief and annoyance. They came here for nothing, and they lost Carpy on the way.
Miller leaves, telling Ryan this was just a mistake, but Ryan is still distraught, not convinced his brothers are okay.
Miller and Horvath go to talk to a soldier that may have an idea where their Ryan is. The others sit and wait.
"So, Jackson," Mellish starts. "When did you get married?"
"Three years ago," Daniel answers.
"And you never shared this because…" Reiben trails off.
"Told my last squad, they didn't believe me," Daniel says.
"Why didn't they believe you?" I ask.
He shrugs, trying to avoid the question. "Said I just didn't seem like the fella that could be married."
I make a note to ask him later in private, maybe he'll give me the real answer when we're alone.
"How'd you two meet?" Upham asks.
"I moved to Tennessee with my… father, after my mom died," I falter on the word father and Daniel's arm around my waist tenses, as does the rest of him. I rub my thumb in circles on his back and he relaxes a few seconds later. If anyone noticed they don't mention it. "I met Daniel when we were kids."
"And I'm guessing since you're here," Reiben nods toward me. "You don't have any little Jackson's running around."
My entire body goes rigid as my mind comes to a halt. Painful memories flash before my eyes and I vaguely feel Daniel shift beside me.
"Lilly, you alright darlin'?" he asks.
"Yeah," I say, forcing myself to relax. "And no Reiben, we don't have any children. Although Daniel's got a younger sister, Alice."
"Yeah, he told us about her. Was really worried when he got a letter from his ma saying she was ill."
"It wasn't just her, she got me sick too," I say. By how Daniel's posture changes, I can tell he feels guilty about not having been there and I squeeze his waist to tell him its okay.
"So how'd you end up here?" Upham asks. "I thought women weren't allowed to be field medics."
"They're not; I joined the army as a nurse. I was recruited for a… different kind of mission. The heavy causalities that were expected convinced the higher ups to come up with some sort plan to somehow get them medical treatment. With the beaches it's much easier, but with the paratroopers behind enemy lines, it was going to take a lot of time for help to come, and many soldiers would die in that time. So, they came up with a plan for a group of medics to be sent as well, to set up a field hospital the paratroopers could go to. But because all the male medics were in the field, treating soldiers on the battlefield, they opted to send women. I was selected, as were four others. We landed, set up the hospital, but Captain Dunne's medic was killed, and when he got orders to come here, he asked me to come with to replace the medic," I explain.
"He… invited you to come to an active warzone?" Daniel asks and I can feel his anger building.
"It's all active warzone, but yes, because he knew I'd accept. I probably would have asked to come if he hadn't offered; I wouldn't have let them go without a medic and there were only five of us, all women," I say. I'd rather have him be angry at me than Dunne.
Daniel pushes his anger down and everyone's attention turns to Shaw, who comes running toward us. "Jackson- our Jackson- the cap'n wants to see you."
I nod and look at Daniel. "Be right back."
I give him a quick kiss and follow Shaw down the street and into a building. Dunne is there with Henderson and Andrews, but waves them away when we enter.
"Ah, just the medic I was looking for," he says.
"Sir?" I ask.
"Right, well, seems you are in an unusual situation Lieutenant," he says. "As you know, family members aren't allowed to serve together. But… that really only applies to siblings and father son."
"Sir?" I ask, confused and hopeful.
"Look Jackson, I know how much you wanted to see him again, and I'm not going to be upset if you would want to stay with him," Dunne says.
"Are you telling me that I could… go with Daniel and his squad when they leave?"
"Yes I am. Captain Miller and I already talked about it, and since you both kept your focus earlier in combat, we both don't see a problem with you both being on the same squad," Dunne says.
"But, what about this squad, you'll be left without a medic," I point out.
"We're going to be staying here until our relief arrives, and they'll have plenty of medics and doctors with them. Until then, the medics that are here can take care of the wounded. But Captain Miller's team is probably going to be in far more danger, and it might not hurt for them to have an extra medic, and gun, on hand," Dunne explains.
I'm shocked into silence for a moment before clearing my throat and saying, "Thank you sir, thank you."
He smiles. "Not a problem Lilly. But if you really want to thank me, there is something you can do."
He waits for a second and scrunches up his face as he thinks. "When I first met you, I knew right away that you were running from something. I've seen the look in soldier's eyes before. The look that says they just want to keep going, keep busy so as not look behind them. And it ate away at you, night and day before you told me what had happened. But Lilly, it's still eating at you, and I don't think it'll stop until you tell him. So Lilly, tell him."
I open my mouth but close it, and just nod.
He smiles. "Alrighty then, get out of here, Miller's squad is moving out in three hours."
"Yes sir, and thank you sir," I say with pure gratitude.
He waves his hand, "Don't mention it, just… don't die."
I chuckle and say, "Try my best not to sir."
He nods and looks at a map on the table, letting me know he's got nothing further to say. I walk out of the building and recognize one of Hill's men smoking against the side of the building.
"Soldier, you know where Captain Miller and his men are?" I ask.
"Church," he says and points to the right. "That way, can't miss it."
"Thanks," I say and start walking.