December 19th, 1944

Battle of the Bulge, Medical Base

11:25 pm

"How much longer do we have here at the Bulge?" I heard one of the medics asked out loud as we were walking together with a couple of the soldiers who were escorting us to our areas where we were staying out in the forest. We were walking together, after another day of getting wounded soldiers back on their feet and back to the front of the battle. I've only been here for about 24 hours and already went through enough soldiers and their problems to make me have a migraine and a need to sleep. I only wished that I was back in England and no longer here in the cold, somewhere in fact where there is a sense of warmth and a sense of having feeling back within my fingers and toes. I thought the winters of Washington D.C. and how we would just get enough snowfall that would get us through the day. But this was worse, worse and bitter on us now as we were trudging through the snow together at the small tents that the buses were staying in near the edge of the camp.

"They told us that it's gonna be a long battle, and we're going to have to stay the whole time since casualties are coming in left and right." Another medic replied, having me hear the others around me groan as I was trudging through the snow even more, feeling my journal in my jacket sleeve and how light it felt since I started writing in it just a few days ago before I even came to the Battle of the Bulge.

"Christ, I miss having a warm bed, not the cot I'm on," Someone else muttered out in the cold now as I bundled myself closer with my jacket and m hair flowing in the wind now behind me. I tried to think something warm, the summertime back at Washington D.C., warm toast and fried eggs in the morning, and Joe. For some reason, thinking o him made me warm and feel like I was on fire again now just seeing his face on my head.

"I just want to get back to my husband, not being over here and freezing my ass off," One of the nurses replied in a gruff manner, yet I was tuning her out while we were going along the path that was made for us, the cold night was getting colder as we were getting farther along to the edge of the grounds that we were covering. I was ahead of the group, almost leading the way when I heard nothing around us, not at first which I thought was odd since I was used to hearing soldiers who were on guard walking to and fro along the border that was operating us from our campground and the rest of the first that could hold the Germans there along with anything else. I stopped walking, looking left and then to the right to see no one there.

We were all alone now.

"Guys," I said, the others were not talking to each other now and they were huddled behind me too as I took in a shaky breath, "Where are the guards?"

"What?" one of them asked, one of the medics there as he too was looking back and forth. For some reason, we were never thinking about it, how there were always guards there and we would kind of acknowledge them all the time when we would walk to and from the medical tent. But now it felt off like something was taking off of our routine. I was clutching my journal tighter now, way tighter now to my chest as we were all quiet and feeling the same set of uneasiness that was coming over each of us and threatening to choke us there in the snow now.

"We need to go back to CP and find someone to escort us." a nurse explained to us now in her own stammer, having me try to look through the darkness and see something there that could be watching us, but I saw nothing. It was making this whole situation worse and more intense for me to feel within my bones.

"I think we can handle a walk through the woods." one of the other medics said in a gruff now since he could tell we were all scared and not wanting to go on with the walk.

"None of us have guns on us in case something does happen." Another nurse protested in a fearful manner as I took another step back and let like I should turn around and run as fast as I could. This did not feel right at all now as someone gasped out like they were breathing for the first time or someone took their breath from their lungs.

"Shit….shit shit shit…" We all looked, seeing one of the medic now with white lights seen in his eyes and panic there on his face as he pointed to the ground, near one of the huge trees and all of us were looking at where his finger was pointing. I could see crimson on the snowy floor, and a body was there against the tree with a bullet shot right into the forehead now. We all saw it was one of us: an American.

We were in trouble now.

One of the nurses screamed out before I felt someone shove me to the floor and another gunshot heard. I was facing down to the snow, my head turned to the side now as I heard people running around and a hand shoved against my cheek to keep me down onto the ground. Another person fell tot he ground, dead with a bullet between his eyes, and I was about to scare when I saw a bag go over my eyes and a the butt of a gun shoved to my head and knocked me out.

I was swallowed into blackness.

"I don't know what to do with them since they were found on the edge of their camp!" I was dozing in and out from where I was, but I felt my hands were tied behind my back and my whole body was aching, not to mention my head was on fire from what happened to me. I didn't know where I was, and a hooded blanket or hood itself was over my eyes and having me panic a bit now as I was held in some kind of chair, my breath was coming in shallow breaths now and my own heart beating much more intensely now as I heard some more people talking in German.

"How many men did they find there along the line?"

"Five men along the east line that curves into our border and only two more near their medical area."

"I thought we were going to get more from the line." I was glad that I knew German and I knew what they were talking about, whoever was speaking, It sounded like officers talking to each other, and since it felt like I was in smoking of room because of the stench of pipes somewhere above me and the musky scene of what would be a war enough room that would still give me chills.

"We were looking for more, but nothing else came through, sir."

"Let me see who they are. I want to see their faces." The old over my head was pulled off, having me breathe in harshly now as I was blinking from the new light that was invading my face now with such intensity. I had no real idea where I was and if I was even close to where I was supposed to me. Nothing looked familiar or safe now as I was facing two German soldiers in front of me. Another American soldier was next to me, silent and looking dead ahead like he himself was about t have a panic attack. God, the American looked so young, maybe as young as my twin brothers with the ripe age of 18 years under his belt. I felt like I was about to be sick.

For one second I thought they were going to draw the luger right at me and shoot me there since a Captain was right behind a table with a luger on the table facing another officer and me with my hood in his hand now. The caption was looking right at me, a curious look in his eye now as he almost looked shocked to see me.

"You brought me a female?!" he roared at the soldier now who was next to me, having me shiver a bit now as the soldier was looking link he was about to shit his own pants from being yelled at in front of me and in front of the captain now. The American looked over at me now as I kept my gaze on the captain.

"Are you stupid, let alone insane! We cannot have a female prisoner!" He yelled at the soldier now who was stammering.

"We thought she was another male with the others before we killed them off! Her hair was hidden under a bandana!" The soldier tried to reason with him as the Captain was now getting up and walking around to the other side of the table, right in front of me as he smacked the soldier across the face with the pistol and I saw blood spill out from the jaw as the soldier cried out. I squinted and scared out as the soldier fell to the floor now and he was trying to get back up. The American squinted but said nothing as he adverted his eyes from the scene.

"We could be in more trouble than what we are worth if we keep her here, now we have to kill her because she can't help us at all unless she's a Goddamn medical doctor!" The captain yelled down at the soldier now and I made the one mistake that I thought was going blow up in my face later in life, if I was going to survive this night because I was about to die at the hands of the Germans.

"I'm a nurse!" I said in a part spurt of panic now as he then froze from striking the soldier again who was still bleeding from his head. He looked at me now, placing the luger down on the table, having me see the luger now was bloody and having me be sick in my stomach now while he was watching me with intensity. The American was looking at me in shock now from hearing German coming from my mouth.

"You speak German?" He asked me now, sounding a bit more shocked and less angry since he was drinking in the discovery that I knew what he was talking about, all that he said. I nodded slowly now as he then cocked his head to the side and saw the name on my jacket now, having me freeze there and see him inch closer to read it with his eyes that I thought would kill my themselves.

"Kozloff…..are you Jewish?" He asked me, having me freeze and wonder why he would ask me that. I wondered why it would be so important for me to tell him if I was Jewish or not, and I would have to think that this would mean life or death that I would be a Jew or a non-Jew. What was I going to say to him?

"I'm an American, I'm not a Jew." I replied back to him in a shaky manner now as he then eyed me up and down once more. Was there some kind of look he was giving me to see if I was a Jew and lying to him. Well, technically I was both Jewish and Russian, but I was, in general, an American and I wondered if I ever had any other way tog et myself out of being shot in the head.

"You say you're a nurse…is that true?" He asked me now, his voice was still raw and almost cunning yet I could somehow see that he was slowly coming down from having rage within his stance. He was now interviewing me, it felt like it now since I was still tied to the chair and thinking that I was going to die that night. It felt like it, the longer I was sitting in that chair and more sure I was about to be shot in the head.

"Yes," I replied to him now, hearing the soldier whimpering next to me on the floor now and the Captain looked down at him. I was afraid that someone, mostly me, was going to be punched by these men, the enemy really since we have been gifting them the whole time. Now I was in their territory, I was part of their realm now and I never thought I would ever think my life would hang in the balance.

"We have something good to use with you after all," He replied to me, then placing the hood over my head again before I could ask him what was happening.

What was going to happen to me now?

December 24th, 1944

Aldbourne, England

Christmas Eve at the hospital was a bit slower than I thought it would be, since most of the soldiers were given a couple of days off to celebrate and they were off in town or doing who knows what. Some of the nurses were already smitten with the some of the other soldiers and I was just fine with what I was doing there on the base.

Training and working with the soldiers and nurses on the base was exhausting for me, having me fall asleep on my bed as soon as I lay down to read a book, or even yawning as I was doing my shifts there along with other nurses. I wondered when I was going to have any kind of rest within the hours I was working and sleeping.

Snow was falling all over the town like a winter wonderland now as I was sitting out front of the hospital, the rest of the nurses were gone now and celebrating on their own with their friends and their new lovers. I was once again alone on the bench now, wrapped in my nurse's peacoat and my hair being touched by the snowflakes since I was not going to wear my beanie that night. I have missed the snow of home, how light it felt and like it made me feel like I was in a fairytale kind of land. But then again I was used to this heavy snow and how it felt like it was weighing me down little by little.

My mind was racing back to Joe, it was always racing back to him since we've been talking constantly from the moment we talked all night back in September. It was almost every other day now that we would talk, walking to and from the hospital and even around the town, it was just the both of us most of the time now. I met some of his own friends though him since we were slowly getting closer like we were attached by the hip: he had a buddy named George Luz who can make anyone laugh at the drop of a hat, a bigger friend named Bull who was from Arkansas and looked like he could bench 200 pounds without breaking a sweat, a sweet young man named Shifty who had a better eye and better shot than anyone in the company, a firecracker of a man named Joe Toye who looked like he would kill you from one stare, and others came and went. They were all kind to me, and I could tell hey were going to tease Joe when I was not there with him.

Maybe it scared me.

I have only had one or two boyfriends growing up, harmless things here and there during high school that resulted in my first kiss when I was 14 years old and plenty of high school dances that were almost making me hate that I was too awkward for my own good. They never lasted more than a year and thank God I dove into studying medicine and not worrying about boys too much. After my mother passed, I felt like it left a void in my life when it came to being loved by someone since I knew I couldn't really go to my dad for some kind of romantic advice. I needed my mom for something like that, and yet I had no one else to talk to or really confide in. But with Joe, I wasn't worried about that. It wasn't that I wasn't attracted to him, because I knew I was, in fact, looking at him from distance glances and pondered thoughts. It was merely the fact that he was making it so easy to fall for him, with our talks and chatter with each other and how we were so comfortable with one another now.

"This is going to be the death of me," I looked over to see none other than Joe walking over to me with his own coat on and a cold look on his face, something shoved under his armpit and nestled within the jacket he was wearing. I grinned as he was walking to me with a pondered look on his face, "How is it that I find you alone all the time?"

"You know how I am, I like being alone from time to time," I reminded him, seeing him a nod.

"Yeah, yeah. I know how you are, Georgie." I perked up when he said that to me while he was sitting down next to me on the bench and shuffling a bit to get the snow off his jacket. I was shocked that the said that nickname to me like it was nothing, having Joe look at me now like he did something wrong.

"What?" He asked me, clearly not getting what he did to me, which was not a bad thing at all. I just stammered a bit in my spot next to him now, my fingers fiddling with each other on my lap as I tried to think back on the last time my own name was used like that, and it was by my own mother before she died.

"I haven't been called that since…since my mother was alive," I admitted to him in a small tone now, seeing him suddenly close his eyes in defeat and then I could see he was acting himself within that moment.

"Shit, I'm sorry about that," He said in sadness there next to me and I shook my head, "I forgot about your mother.."

"Hey," I said to him, trying to snap it out of him from being so hard on himself now and I placed my hand on his arm to get him to focus on me now, "It's fine, Joe. I don't really care about it, honestly. It just…threw me off on how I haven't heard that nickname in a while."

"Well, I hate it break it to you…but I kinda like that nickname on you," He said back to me, placing his own hand on my own on his arm and having me feel suddenly hot again on my skin, "It sounds unique, like how you are."

"Well, thank you," I thanked, seeing him grin at me for a solid second or two before he broke his eye contact from me now and then grabbed whatever he was holding underneath his armpit. I looked to see what it was too, Joe taking out a wrapped present that was how in both of his hands. He was looking at it with a hint of nervousness there on his face before he handed it to me now. I could tell it was a wrapping that he would do and I grinned at him.

"Merry Christmas," He said to me in almost a cheery tone and I traced some of the wrapping papers with my fingers. I had to look at him now in wonder since this seemed too good to be true for someone like him to do for someone like me.

"Where did you get the wrapping?" I asked him.

"Traded some smokes for it," He replied to me now, "Now will you open it and tell me how corny your present is?" I chuckled from how he was acting and I started to unwrap the present for him to watch.

"See now I feel bad for not getting you anything—" I was cut off by what I was holding in my hands. It was a brand new journal, small enough to be placed in a jacket pocket but it looked so pristine, almost expensive to be far since it was a deep red with a darker yellow timing along the sides and made from leather. It felt like it would have cost him more than a couple of bucks in his pocket as I looked at him with nothing coming out of my mouth and my mind was speed around as to why he would do this for me.

"Joe…How did you get this? This looks expensive." I said to him, seeing him shrug his shoulders now and stick his hands in his pockets now as he smiled at me.

"I did a lot of scrounging and trading to buy that for you from the bookstore down the street," He explained, having me place my hand on the top of the journal to feel it under my fingertips, "You always said you wanted one to write in."

"Yeah, I did," I admitted to him, "But Joe…this seems too much for me."

"I don't think so," He replied, having me watch him now with a small shy smile on my lips and how I felt like I just wanted to kiss him right then and there on the bench for doing something like this for me, "You were worth every penny that I paid for it."

"What makes you say that?" I questioned.

"Well for one, you're one of my closest friends I have in this place and friends are hard to come by these days with the war and all, and I enjoy spending time with you compared to some of the guys in Easy. You've never judged me or made me feel bad about myself, not once."

"I would never." I reassured him, seeing him smile widely at me now as he shuffled a bit closer to me to where out shoulders were touching each other.

"And plus, I had a bit of a crush on you." I was floored when he said that, blush was all over my cheeks now when he admitted that he had a crush on me and I grinned from ear to ear now when he said this, almost like I was glued to the bench now and was not able to move anywhere or run away. Joe Liebgott admitted that he liked me, as more than a friend, and it felt like the world was blazing how with energy that I could only describe as crazy.

"Really?" I asked him sheepishly, seeing him nod his head.

"Since you fixed my hand actually, I've liked you then," Joe replied to me as he leaned back against the back of the bench now, "I never got the nerve to tell you sooner since you're way more of an angel for me to talk to."

"That's not entirely accurate," I tried to reason with him.

"But it is to me," Joe countered back with a more serious tone,"I love talking to you, hearing all here is about you since our conversations are more enjoyable than the ones I have with the guys, and you're way too pretty for me to just walk by and not crush on." I felt him reach other to lace our fingers together, having me feel like it was like magnets that reached for one another and nothing these separating it. Our fingers felt perfect together, palm to palm and our eyes were connecting again. I was still reeling that he admitted that he liked me and thought of me as someone who was worth running after.

"You know, we could get in trouble for liking each other and doing something like…this." I reminded him since I knew soldiers and nurses weren't really supposed to be together because of the war and all that was happening. I didn't want to be like one of those nurses that would fall for another soldier within moments and they would proclaim their love for one another. But then again, Joe was making an acceptation to that rule now since he leaned over and kissed me there on the bench. I knew it was cold, and it was Christmas Eve, but it felt like the summertime back at home when we kissed and my whole body was on fire from the concept of young love coming over me again. I was once again proved wrong with the rules I gave myself when it came to love, because it all about a kiss on a bench on Christmas Eve.

Happy Christmas to me.

Author's Note: I underlined and used Italics for the dialogue that would be said in German since I had no real will power to translation it for you!

Let me know how you thnk of the story so far!