September 13th, 1944

Aldbourne England

It's been months since D-Day, months since the war has officially started for the American army and now we were just getting our hands dirty with the chaos of war. I had my fair share of working on wounded men and making sure that they were put back together to either get back on the line or go home. Most of the men that were brought to our hospital were only brought there from the overflow of other places and hospitals, but we treated them none the less and got them out there before they knew it. It was hard work, but it was better than waiting and twiddling my thumbs to do nothing.

Another then that happened was that Easy was back in Aldbourne.

After they had the jump into Normandy, which apparently went bad since most of them there separated and some were never seen again and not able to regroup with the rest of the men, they were successful in their fight in a town called Carentan and got back into England to hear where they were going to jump and when.

As soon as they got back into town in early right before September came around, I knew that I had to find Joe. Something inside me wanted to run out to find him even before he got out on the plane, but I also knew that I had my own job back at the hospital that was there and I couldn't just leave to go hunt Joe down and embrace him like a long lost lover. We both were on the same page when it came to this, to knowing that he was going to be in battle and I was going to be mending soldiers and patients that were affected in the war. He was going to be in more trouble than I was, and I thought I was okay with it.

But I wasn't.

He found me first, walking into the lobby of the hospital as I was getting another patient's IV ready. He walked through the doors when the patient was in his bed, having me look over at Joe and sigh in relief that he wasn't hurt at all. I didn't run to him, even when I wanted to. Just seeing him alive and well and looking back at me with relief written on his face was enough for me to get by. I walked over to him, not saying a thing and we hugged there in the middle of the ward now, seeing other nurse move out of the room to give us privacy. I breathed him in, smelling the fumes from the plane and his sweat on his brow, but mostly the scent of Joe to show that he truly was alive and this was no sick dream.

He was real, and he was here with me.

He told me all that happen, from jumping out of the plane and finding the others in France before fighting in Carentan and seeing his friend tipper almost blown to pieces but barely making it out alive. He saw more battle within days than other soldiers would in weeks, and yet he looked just as fresh and alive as he did before he left Aldbourne to get on the plane. In return, I told him about my own hours there mending the soldiers that were coming in by the truckloads, both American and British soldiers who were close by and got affected by the war. We both were just dipping our toes in the thought of war and what we were going to have to do, and it felt like we've only just begun with it.

On my night off, I was invited by Joe to hang out with some of the other guys in the local bar there in town as they were all getting together and having another round of celebrating before they were going to be moving out that morning to get their new assignment as to where they were going. It was almost like a going away kind of deal, all of the men in their greens and having a good chat with each other as I walked into the bar and sucked my way through the large crowd of men. They've been back for a few weeks now and it felt like they were just about to be comfortable before they were going to be leaving once more again, almost like a pit in my stomach was forming to have to say goodbye to Joe once again.

"Be careful what you say now. Don't take much to set my guys off," I could hear Denver "Bull" Randleman talking to some of the guys near the dart area of the pub, having me look over and see Buck Compton, George Luz, Johnny Martin, Joe Toye and Bull there talking with some privates whom I haven't met yet and Bull liked up and over at me. He grinned, waving he hand at me with the hand that was not holding the glass of beer.

"Georgie! Over here, Georgie!" He said in a grin with his accent, having me smile at him and weave my way through the crowd. I was supposed to find Joe in this place, but it didn't look like it was going to happen anytime soon now so I figured I would meet up the boys I do know.

"Babe, this is Georgie Kozloff, one of the American nurses here in town and a good friend of Easy," Bull said out loud as I approached the men now with a grin on my face, "Georgie, this is Edward Heffron from Philadelphia. He's a new private here in Easy."

"Call me Babe," The skinny redheaded private said to me in his Philly accent as we shook hands with each other and I cocked a smile at him from hearing the nickname he was giving himself.

"Babe?" I asked him, "You sound so sure of yourself."

"Jesus," Luz said in a chuckle now from my comment as Babe shook his head.

"Naw, That's my actual nickname, trust me. No one ever calls me Edward," he reassured me as I nodded at him and looked over at Bull.

"You looking for Liebgott?" Bull asked me before I could ask him if he knew where Joe was.

"I was looking for Joe, yeah. You've seen him around in here?" I asked as I heard Buck and Luz talking about making a bet with Babe and Joe Toye now.

"You know, it's a good thing we weren't gambling," Buck said in a remark to Luz.

"Oh boy, we would've gotten killed!" Luz replied back to Buck as Bull talked to me again.

"I'd check the bar, I think he's over there with some of the other guy swapping stories," Bull explained, pointing over to the back of the room where the bar was and I grinned at him.

"Thanks, Bull." I thanked him, moving away from him now and weaving my way once again through the semi-crowded room of soldiers, hearing conversations left and right from all of those around me. I even heard "Wild Bill" Guarnere talking to some of the new privates about a story involving Babe and a woman named Doris.

"Heffron's just staring up at the nose of the plane, because right on it, it painted this beautiful pin-up…" He went on with the story as I passed him by, getting more towards the back and seeing other locals and girls from the hospital talking to the soldiers and getting to know them too in such a flirting manner. I had to grin from what I was seeing, how they were asking for the heroic stories of D-Day while flirting with them at the same time.

"I couldn't let the guy out there to die, ya know? Half of his leg was blown off any who…" I could hear him talking to another soldier the story on how he found Tipper, having me gravitate to his voice ad find him there against the bar railing and having a beer in his hand now. He looked like he was a having a fine time there at the bar, a small smile sprayed on his face and his eyes were twinkling as I approached him and placed a hand on his back. He turned, looking confused at first as to who was touching him and then broke out into a huge grin from seeing me there.

"Heya, Georgie," He said to me now as I grinned back at him. As much as I wanted to hug him, I knew it would be inappropriate since there could be officers there and we both could be in trouble for something like that. So I just kept my hand there on his back and he pointed to the soldier whom he was talking to.

"You remember Muck?" He asked me, Skip Muck grinning at me and getting up to give me aside his now with his big grin on his own face.

"I could never forget this gal's face, good to see you, Georgie." He said to me with his toothy smile and I returned the gesture.

"Same to you, Muck. You guys look like you're enjoying yourself," I commented, seeing Muck grab his beer from the bar now and then point the large crowd again.

"I am, and I'm going to find Malarky and Penkala and see if they're drunk yet," Muck said to the both of us now and then disappearing into the crowd, leaving the two of us alone now as Joe took another drink from his bottle.

"I didn't think you would come out tonight," Joe commented to me in his soft manner as I stood a bit closer to him just to hear him over the loud noises of the bar from the other conversations happening around us.

"I had the night off and I decided to see what kind of trouble you would be getting," I replied to him, seeing him cock a grin at me before he shrugged his shoulders now and I moved my hair to the side.

"What makes you thin I'll get in trouble?" He asked in almost a low tone that was also almost challenging, having em roll my eyes at him now and hear him chuckle from that antic. We were always like this with each other, keeping it light and simple. He then eyed me once more, a more serious look in his eyes now.

"Wanna get out of here?" He asked me, almost in a low manner for just the two of us. I did;t know what he had in mind, but I bet it had to have something to do with the both of us being alone and that in itself was a rare commodity. Before, he was going through training and just getting ready for the war. Now, we were already in the war and who knew what was going to come next.

"Sure," I replied back to him, seeing him get up then from the barstool and then reach down to lace our fingers together and press the palms together as if he was trying to make them one. I knew he was kissing me, that was his own way of kissing me in how he held my hand. He was leading us through the crowd, having me stay close to him now as he was trying to find the way out of the crowded bar and into the open air of the night. As much as I wanted to talk to the others in Easy, I knew I needed to be with Joe a little bit more since I didn't know when we were going to see each other again in the future. Was it going to be near or far?

Once we were outside, the crisp night hitting our skin enough to make me jump within my skin and make me shiver and the door behind us slammed closed now, Joe was the one who whirled around and engulfed me in his arms. He was holding me close in out embark, digging his head into my neck now and breathing me in like he was going to try and ingrain my smell into his memory. I embrued him back, one of my hands in his hair and feeling how soft his short locks were within my fingers and pressing my head against his now.

"Joe," I said to him, trying to find something to say to him that would make it all better for him since I knew what he was think and how he didn't want to really want to think about it, the thought of us being apart from each other again. He shook his head within my arms now, having me close my eyes now since I knew he was going to put up a fight wit me.

"I don't wanna talk about it," He mumbled into my skin, having me feel his lips against the skin of my collarbone move when he spoke and I pulled him tighter.

"We have to, you leave soon," I reminded him, seeing him sigh and move away from me and all the way out of my embrace now. I felt lost then, no longer whole without me holding him close. It was never lukewarm: either all loving and embracing me or cold and shoving me away.

"What if I don't want to talk about it?" He asked me now, having me sigh and close my eyes to concentrate in not ruining this moment I wanted with him. But he was trying so hard not to want to talk about him leaving, and I knew we had to or else our future together was not going to be certain.

"Joe," I tried again now, seeing him looking out of it as he was looking away from me in his stubborn state and I found my voice once more, "When you leave tomorrow, I want to be able to know where we stand."

"What are you talking about?" He asked in confusion, the loss of words was on his knitted brow now as he was clearly not getting what I was telling him.

"What's going to happen to us when you go off on another plane?" I asked him plainly now, seeing him think about it in his head and still look a bit shocked about and how I asked him. I had to ask since it was weighing on my mind since he came back into town if we were going to have to this have this kind of relationship where I was going to be left behind and he would eventually go to his death.

"What do you think is going to happen, Georgie?" He asked me now, trying to remain calm and I knew he was trying to really hard, "I'm gonna come back here,"

"You certain that's what going to happen?" I countered back with him, seeing him rub the back of his neck now and I moved the hair from my eyes, "Every time you jump out of a plane you're gonna end up back here?"

"Can't help but be hopeful, can't I?" he asked me, having me roll my eyes and hearing him sigh in frustration as I leaned back against the brick wall behind me, letting my head rest back against the brick now and try to level my head again. This topic was not an easy one to swallow down and direct with each other since he was more hot-headed about things than I was.

"Joe, what if you don't come back?" I had to ask him now, hearing nothing from him at first now as I looked ahead now with the dread filling me up within my chest and coming over me like a heat wave. There was a strong possibility that he was not going to be coming back here anytime soon when he goes off in another plane, being in another country or another part of the world that was a bit too far away for me. It was the reality of our relationship, on how we've tried to make this work as much as we could when we knew that one of us was going to leave the other either on purpose or on accident. I didn't know now if this as purposeful or accidental.

"Georgie," Joe said to me as he walked over to me now, having me see him from the corner of my eye and watch him and near me with more hesitance there than anything else, not like before when he was angry with me wanting to talk about this, "Nothing's going to happen to me while I'm away."

"You sound hopeful of it," I said to him in a low tone, already feeling negative about this than positive as I should.

"I know I'll be okay out there, nothing' gonna touch me," Joe tried again with me, making me finally look over at him now with stern eyes and wanting him to really know what it's feeling like for me since the war started.

"Bullshit," I glared at him as I said the terrible word that I would hardly ever say to anyone, seeing the shock on his face, "I have seemed more men coming through the hospital doused in blood, with blown legs and arms off of their bodies, and it's way more than I can count. They were all thinking the same thing: They are invincible. Joe, you're not even close to being invincible, neither is anyone in Easy Company. Don't you dare say that you're going to be fine, you're gonna lie to my face if you say that." I had to pause now, moving way from how now and seeing how quiet he was and how he was staring me with concerned eyes. I walked away from him over to the middle of the street, finding myself alone out there with no one there to run me down. It was bottling up inside now, all of the months away from him and all of those thoughts that were fluttering within my own head on how I was feeling about this.

"Every time someone came into the hospital, covered in blood and gasping for air one last time, in my back of my mind….I prayed to God that it wasn't you," I said to him so softly that it almost sounded like a sob. Joe looked at me with wide eyes on how I was feeling, "The more I tried not to think about it, the realer it felt and how it could happen at any time. How is that fair to me?" I felt tears stinging my eyes now and running down my cheeks, Joe now walking over in a brisk manner and was about to engulf me in his arms as I went on with gasps of air, "How is fair to know that one of those times, it's going to be you coming in and I'm going to see you die!" I was muffled by Joe's embrace on me, holding me close and having me dig my head into his shoulder now to calm myself down. Joe hushed me then, rocked me slightly there in the middle of the street and calming me down with his arms around me and lips in my hair.

He had to know what was going on and plaguing my mind, what was weighing me down in reality more than fantasy for the both of us. I knew then that I was too foolish to think that we would be able to survive something like this, the both of us and not think about the aftermath.

"It ain't fair, Georgie. You're right, it ain't goddamn far at all," Joe said into my hair and stroked my back with his knuckles to calm down, "You know fully well that I would never cause you any kind of sadness or pain. That's that last thing I would do, okay?" He asked me now, moving away a bit to dream my face in his hands and look down at me with the look of pain there within his own eyes. He could see that this was hurting me, and I could see this was hurting him too, bringing me pain that he did not an intent of doing himself really.

"I still have to do this, I signed my life away to do this and you signed your own life away too," Joe tried to explain to me so carefully now and I could hear the pain in his voice, "I don't want you to assume that I'll die out there, okay? You have to do that for me, Liebste. You have to trust that I'm going to do whatever it takes to get back to you and we can go from there."

"Why are trying to make this better?" I asked him, still sniffing a bit now from my only outburst in the quiet neighborhood. Joe just had to smile at me, of course, he did, and I could see he was going to say something that he's been holding in for awhile now.

"Because I'm in love with you," He replied, everything around me stopped moving now and it felt like time was frozen there when it told me that simple sentence. From all the talks, how we knew each other inside and out, and how we would hug each other and kiss one another like nothing else in the world was important enough for us. It wasn't that I was prone to not using the word "Love" with Joe, it was more of the opposite. I didn't know when it use it with him, and he had to be the one to beat me to it.

"You love me?" I asked him in a bit of disbelief now as he grinned at me. It felt like a sick trick that he was going to pull on me, but then again the way he made it sound it was like he was so serious about it.

"I do," He replied simply, having me break out into a grin with the tears there on my cheeks and my hands were shaking there now as I reached to place my hands on his jacket sleeves to hold onto something and keep me grounded.

"Why would you say something like that?" I asked him now with a chuckle on my lips.

"Because I feel like it would be better for me to tell you now instead of you not knowing," Joe replied back to me now and he rang some of his fingers in my hair and wae close enough for our noses to touch.

"If you think I'll say it back because you said it first, you are mistaken," I replied back to him now, no only angry with him but feel kiddish again now since we were close enough to kiss, one of the many things we would do with each other to have the moment be simple and caring but lost intimate and close.

"I think I can get it out of you without even trying," He said to me, having em roll my eyes now as he was pressing me closer to him and having those feeling within my stomach come back now.

"I'm sure you could—" He closed me off now with a kiss on my lips, sealing our conversation and having my eyes close then. It didn't matter that I wanted to yell at him, or even scolded him for action like he didn't want to talk about the heavy stuff with me. He had his own way of showing it, his own way or giving the fact that he too was scared for us and what was going to happen for the both of us in the future. All that mattered at that moment was the both of us committing to each other with what was going to lie ahead. Once he pulled away, our foreheads touched and we were just breathing each other before I uttered those three words.

"I love you."

Buchenwald Concentration Camp

December 25th, 1944

"Silent night….holy night…." I was awoken to the sound of Charles singing to himself in his cot in the other room, having me look up at the roof and see the stars there in the sky and how clear it was that night through the small holes in the roof. I didn't realize it was Christmas, forgetting the days as they were going on by me like a freight train now as I was just trying to wake up, get along with the soldiers and other POW's, and then go back to sleep in hopes that either I would die peacefully or I would wake up the next morning. Freezing there in my bed and my thinning clothes, I looked over at the cracked open door that lead into the men's room, hearing nothing else but the sound of the wind coming over the barracks and Charle's voice.

"Charles?" I asked him out loud, but not too loud now as he stopped singing.

"Georgiana? Are you alright?" He asked me now, no longer sounding soothing with his singing and now his voice was back again.

"Is it Christmas?" I asked, not wanting to sound childish about it at all or even close to emotional. I had no idea that it was Christmas. But I wanted to know for certain, in case I was wrong of Charles was wrong. How could he be wrong?

I heard him moving around a bit, nothing else was heard from the others in the barracks now as he poked his head in and I saw him walk in slowly with his blanket draped over his shoulders.

"That it is," He replied, walking in to sit on my cot but leaving space for me, "I remembered that it was since I'm keeping the days logged in my journal. It is Christmas now, and feels like it too, don't you think?"

"How does it feel like Christmas, when we're here?" I asked him not, almost bitterly since he mad it sound like we were safe and away from the war and away for here in prison. He made it sound so possible and so real now, and yet here I was bringing us back to reality.

"Because, we are still alive and able to celebrate in any way that we can," He replied back to me with hope in his tone and in his eyes now as he looked right at me. I could tell he was trying to make sure that we weren't going to be giving up anytime soon, that we weren't going to want to die sooner than we were supposed to die.

"Tell me, Georgiana, do you believe in God?" He asked me now, having me raise an eyebrow to me now as he asked me like.

"As if my last name was not evident enough of my faith," I joked with him, hearing him chuckle now, "I grew up Jewish, but we never took it seriously."

"So you do believe in something out there bigger than you?" He pondered with me, the sounds of mother men getting up from their bunks now from our conversation was evident enough for me to know that we weren't going to be alone anytime soon.

"I used to when I was a child," I answered him, seeing him give me a pondering look now as I saw a couple more head poking into my room now to hear our conversation.

"But not now?" He asked me, having em think about it too when the last time I thought of God and where I was when I did. God was long gone from my mind, other things trinkling in that seemed more important at the moment in my life.

"God would have saved us," I replied back to him, almost feeling sorry that I did say that to someone like Charles who took me under his wing from the moment I came into this camp. I saw Anthony, Timothy, Nathaniel and a few others now in my room and they were listening in on the conversation now and they too were thinking about it.

"He already has," Charles reminded me now, having me look at me now in a pondering way as he once again smiled, as if my last comment rolled off his shoulder into the abyss, "He has saved us from death and has kept us alive thus far. It's never too late to remember that God calls us to be in trials in order to be reminded that He still protects His children. You may not know it, but God has your future planned out within His hands."

"You sound so sure there," Anthony replied from his spot at the door now with an unmasked look on his face.

"I have seen God work in many ways, Anthony," Charles said to him now, looking away from me and over to him with a kind look on his face. It felt like he was talking to the children around the fire and telling us bible stories, instead of being in a prison here and rotting away, "If there is one thing that I know of God, it's to never lose hope in Him. Hope will come for us, and maybe we won't be able to see it."

We were silent again now, having me drink in the notion of placing m faith in God again now since there was really nothing else for me to really rely on. I still had the thought of seeing Joe again, seeing his face and feeling him wrap his arms around me and tell me he loved me. Every girl in the world, whether they admitted it or not, would want to have someone there to hold them and tell them they were beautiful, to fall in love and have the feeling take over them like a drug and never fall back down on it. I missed having that feeling within me, and it all from the loss of Joe. If I was going to hold onto the memories and thoughts of Joe as a way of survival, then I was going to lose it along the way.

"We are still alive, so we should celebrate and sing to God for our chance to live," Charles said to us all, having the other men look at each other in almost an agreement to what he was saying. He had the truth behind him, we had to look on the upside instead of in despair, no matter how bad we had it in there. It was better than being dead.

"Silent night….holy…night…all is calm….all if bright," We all sang together in the hushed whispers of the night, listening to each other sing and let the other worries melt away now with our voices together, trying to think of past Christmases that I had with my family and ribbon me warmth that night. I only hoped that this Christmas would be something that I could see in the light, not in the dark.

If only.