To everyone's hearts on the mend - especially ElixirBB, Higgles123, ccz, arielenicole and HP-LoTR-SW-HG - I'm sorry! :(
Would some Liebgott/Evelyn time help? Not saying it's the best circumstances, but...
For real though - thank you for your reviews! They really help whenever I'm stuck on something.
Word must have gotten around quickly, which it always did, about Hoobler. As soon as she was back with the men, they flocked her. After more than a dozen of them repeating that she did all she could, it wasn't her fault, it was the artery, she suspected her reaction to the situation had also been a topic of discussion. Or maybe they heard her screams.
Feeling the overwhelming need to be alone again, she tried to shrug them off and agree, but it was a long time before she was able to make her way towards the far corner of the camp. With a start, she realized the sun had set.
Evelyn knelt in the snow, just taking a moment to try and come together again, but the dried blood on her hands was shockingly crimson. They stood out against the bleak colors of the forest. With it, Hoobler's pained face came swimming back.
Just breathe, Ev. Breathe.
Her short, ragged breaths didn't stop, but only seem to shorten. Her stomach began to clench again. She didn't hear Lipton start to yell to get into a foxhole.
The blasts had begun again, just as they had in Bastogne. It took several moments until Evelyn realized what was happening.
"CASSIDY!"
Turning towards the voice, she began to run, but tripped on the pieces of trees that kept falling. Dragging herself to her feet again, she was almost to a foxhole, the face of the soldier there was blurred in the dust of the barrage. Twisting around a pine tree, she just about arrived to safety when another shell landed inches behind her.
At first there was no pain. She honestly couldn't figure out how she ended up on her stomach, eating snow and dirt. And then her body throbbed, and she felt it all over. It burned. All over.
She cried out in pain when arms dragged her into the foxhole. It felt like whatever hit her was tearing her skin.
"I've got you, Cassidy," yelled Liebgott in her ear. She fell into the hole against his chest. The blades inside her dug deeper.
He held her close, one hand on her helmet, trying to make her duck, but the other on her back. When the attack seemed to finally cease, his body slumped, relaxed, but she didn't move.
"It's over," he murmured.
She let a soft groan slip out and nothing more. Hearing the pain there, he moved the hand from her back to try and push her from him to see her face. Instead, the sight of his red palm stopped him. Eyes wide, he shouted, "Medic!"
Evelyn groaned again. "Jesus, Joe. That was in my ear." She remained slumped against him, face buried in his neck.
Her sarcasm sent a thrill through him. She was herself. Rolling his eyes, he replied, "Only you would bitch about that right now." He placed both hands on her shoulders. "Can you sit up?"
Clenching her teeth, she nodded. "Yeah." She felt him push her back gently, but the movement immediately made her cry out again. "Jesus fucking shit!" He instantly let her lean back against his chest, her legs curled awkwardly behind her.
"Medic!"
"Christ, Liebgott!"
"Sorry."
Evelyn couldn't help it. She chuckled. "Of course one of the few times Joe Liebgott apologizes to me is when he's trying to save my life."
Liebgott snorted. "Who said anything about saving your life, Cassidy? I just want my foxhole back."
Together they chuckled, and, for the moment, there was peace between them. The aura disappeared when Roe slid beside them.
"Evie, what is it, cherie?"
Liebgott answered for her. "She's got some sort of wound on her back, Doc. I tried moving her, but the broad can't handle the pain."
"You're lucky I don't typically carry a gun, Liebgott."
He grinned, knowing she couldn't see it, but he didn't know she could hear it in his voice. "So you've repeatedly told me."
"Evie," Roe interrupted. "I gotta take your coat off. I can't see nothin'."
Evelyn closed her eyes and braced herself. "OK," she said quietly. Slowly between the three of them, she sat up enough for Roe to carefully pull her thick coat from her arms and back. She immediately slumped back against Liebgott and shivered uncontrollably.
"Be a goddamn gentleman, Liebgott, and put your arms around me. I'm dying here."
With another smirk, he complied, careful not to wrap them around her back to allow Roe some room.
The medic was silent for a long time as he looked her over. Evelyn tried to look over her shoulder but the pain was too much. "Come on, Eugene. Just pull whatever the hell it is out so I can go back to work."
Roe bit the inside of his cheek. "I can't do that, Evelyn."
"I can feel it. It's right there, just grab it."
He sighed and gave Liebgott a look. "Can you carry her? I'll grab a jeep. Meet me by the headquarters."
Evelyn reared backwards but cried out at the movement. "What? No way, Gene. Tell me what's going on. I'm not going in any jeep."
Roe laid her coat back over her shoulders to try and help warm her before shifting to look her in the eyes. "Evelyn, there's more than one wound. I can't treat you out here. You know we don't have the supplies. You gotta go."
She gave him a look as if she was an abandoned puppy and sputtered. Liebgott saw it and rolled his eyes. Making sure her arms were wrapped around his neck and with a grunt of effort, he stood. Evelyn had to wrap her legs around his hips in order to hold on.
"Goddamn it, Joe!"
He only looked at Roe. "I'll see ya there." Roe nodded and left them before Evelyn could protest further.
Evelyn was slipping. She tried to drop to her feet, but Roe was right. Something was lodged in her thighs and it wouldn't allow her legs to straighten. "Jesus Christ, asshole, I'm going to fall."
Liebgott snorted and grabbed at her legs to hoist her up, but immediately stopped when she cried out again, cursing him under her breath. He tried her back next, but the same thing happened. With a filthy smirk to himself, he placed his hands on her ass and held on tight.
"Sorry, sweet cheeks. Need to support your heavy weight somehow."
Evelyn ground her teeth as he stepped up from the foxhole and began to walk. "I'm going to cut your hands off in your sleep, Liebgott. I swear to God." She winced when he gave her a squeeze. "Jesus Christ, careful with the left side." He dutifully moved his hand, albeit slowly.
"Ev!" Luz cried, running up to them. His eyes widened at the pain on her face. "Shit, what happened?"
Liebgott beat her to the punch. "She needed to feel like a woman again. She asked me to cop a feel, make it all better."
She took a huge breath of air into her lungs, knowing that until she found a weapon, he couldn't be killed properly.
"George," she whined. He jogged beside them, giving her a pained look.
"What can I do, sweetheart?"
Evelyn pouted. "Kill Joe for me. Do it slowly and make sure I get to watch."
Luz laughed loudly at that, knowing then she was OK. He glanced at Liegbott and caught the smile on the man's face before he remembered to wipe it away.
"I'll see what I can do."
Finally, they arrived to the area with Roe and the jeep, that was already waiting for her. With one more squeeze to her rear end and a hiss of a curse from her, Liebgott slowly peeled her off him and laid her on her belly onto the stretcher. The wool coat slipped from her back and fell to the ground.
Evelyn let a string of curses fly. Snorting, Liebgott was finally free of her. "Jesus, Cassidy. By the way you were complaining, you'd think that you were…" The words died in his throat when he caught sight of her back.
Her jacket and shirt were almost shredded to ribbons and dark with blood and dirt. His eyes scanned more wounds on her right upper arm, ass, and on both thighs. Chucks of wood and shrapnel peppered her skin. His breath left him.
"You're gonna be the one complaining when I'm done with you, Lieb."
Evelyn waited for his snarky comment back but none came. Her smile slid from her face as she watched him survey her wounds. "Joe?" He didn't answer her. She turned to Luz. "George? What's going on?"
Luz tore his eyes from her bloody back and looked her in the eyes. It was a struggle, but he gave her a wide smile before ruffling her hair affectionately. "Nothing, sweetheart. Just gonna miss your beautiful face."
Evelyn rolled her eyes. "As soon as they patch me up, I'll be back before you know it. Save me a spot in your foxhole." The slight pain on her back began to grow and throb. The adrenaline from the attack was beginning to subside. She tried not to wince.
Luz tried to laugh, but even he could tell it sounded off. "I promise, doll. Don't wanna cuddle with anyone else."
"Damn straight."
Roe hopped into the passenger seat of the jeep after securing her to the stretcher. He nudged the driver. With a nod to them, they were ready to go.
Luz leaned down and brushed his lips against her forehead. "Now do everything Doc tells you to do. You got me, Ev?"
She rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Anything for you, George."
"Good girl."
They turned to the uncommonly silent Liebgott. She raised an eyebrow. "If I knew the cure to shutting your mouth was a feel of my ass, Lieb, I'd let you grab it a long time ago."
That did it. He snapped out of it and smirked. Leaning down to her ear so that only she could hear, he murmured, "It's gonna take a lot more from you to make me shut my mouth, doll."
He straightened, and the smirk was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Evelyn cursed herself when she felt a blush begin to creep up from her neck. As much as Liebgott wanted to torture her about it, he held back and he wasn't sure why. His eyes raked hers just as the engine revved to life. "Take care of yourself, Cass."
She had no reply. And then the jeep pulled away, heading towards the aid station.
"Jesus Christ, Eugene. Absolutely not!"
Roe sighed again. This argument had been going on for the better part of an hour. "You heard the doctor, Evie. You have over a dozen wounds. You need countless stitches and at least one round of penicillin. You got no choice."
Evelyn harrumphed as best as she could, but being on her stomach, she couldn't do much but glare at her friend. Seeing that she wasn't going to win with her mouth, she tried tugging at his heartstrings instead.
She blinked several times, willing tears to come. "Eugene."
Roe saw right through her. "If you think that is gonna work on me, you don't know me well. My younger sisters gave up on the puppy dog eyes years ago."
Evelyn whined again. "But I can't stay here."
He nodded and smirked. "You're right. After you're safe enough to transport, you're headed for France to heal."
Her mouth dropped open again and this time she felt real tears prick her eyes. "Eugene," she croaked. "Don't make me go. I belong here. With you and the guys."
Roe frowned sadly. He sank down to his haunches and brushed hair back from her face. "You gotta, cherie. And as soon as you're better, you'll be back with us before you know it."
Knowing she was fighting a losing battle, she bit her lip and nodded. "Can you tell them all bye for me?" He nodded. "And George, can you tell George I'll miss him? You too, but you already knew that. And Toye, make sure he keeps walking to fight off that touch of frostbite. And Bill…"
Roe rolled his eyes. "I know, Evelyn."
She glared at him until he shut up. "I'm not done and I'm not going until I am." He sighed but allowed her to continue. "Remind Bill to keep drinking water. I don't care how much it hurts to piss. Captain Winters needs to keep moving too, or the man will become a popsicle. And Nixon needs to quit drinking. Alcohol is the worst thing he can drink in these cold temperatures…"
It had only been one day at the aid station, but already Evelyn was bored stiff. As soon as the splinters and shrapnel were out of her skin, the nurses had to wrangle her back to her bed several times already when she got up to help. If she didn't stay put, they threatened to tie her to the bed.
She frowned miserably. She was stitched up, but without anything to distract her, she itched like mad. She tried to keep reminding herself that it had only been a day; she can't go AWOL yet. She hoped the hospital in France had some other form of entertainment. Anything to stop her worrying about her friends in the field.
Just then there was a huge commotion near the entrance of the aid station. Biting her lip to stay in her bed, she watched as the nurses ran forward to assist in the two injured soldiers that were just brought in.
Evelyn studied the scene until she felt her heart stop. She had seen their faces.
Not even feeling the pain of her wounds, she jumped up from her bed and raced towards them. She pushed her way in until she was near his head, but far enough away to allow the doctors and nurses to work on his leg.
"Bill!" she cried, brushing a hand across his face. She turned to Toye next to him. "Joe!" It took everything inside her not to exclaim her disbelief when she saw the state of both of their right legs - or what was left of them.
Guarnere gave her a smirk; he had the sure sign of a morphine high glazed in his eyes. "Hiya, doll. Glad to see you up." He turned to Toye. "Ya get it, Joe? She's up, unlike us." Toye only grunted.
He couldn't fool her. There was a touch of wetness in his eyes unrelated to pain. She brushed her lips across his forehead before doing the same for Toye. "You guys sure know how to make an entrance," she murmured.
Guarnere winked. "Had to grab the attention of a beautiful girl somehow."
Evelyn laughed and ruffled his hair. Her fingers stroked Toye's on the other side. "You hear that, Joe? Bill is trying to steal me away. What are you going to do about it?"
Toye winced. "Probably need to punch his lights out since I won't be able to kick his ass no more."
She could hear the bite there and tried not to cringe. It was obvious to everyone that neither would be going home with two legs.
Just when she opened her mouth again, a stern cry was sounded behind her.
"Sergeant Cassidy!"
Evelyn grimaced. "Now I've done it."
The lead nurse glared at her with her arms crossed and her toe tapping. "What did I say about getting out of bed?"
Evelyn sighed. "Not to do it," she muttered dully. Guarnere And Toye laughed.
"And what did you do?"
"I got out of bed."
"Correct," the nurse replied stiffly. She reminded Evelyn so much of her college matron it was scary. "Get. Now. And strip down when you do. You've torn your stitches."
Evelyn huffed and stood, but she sneaked in one last kiss to the boys before she walked away, her hospital gown sticking to the blood on her back. "I'll be back," she hissed.
It was nighttime when she got back to the boys, but when she did, she was careful not to make any sudden movements and harm her wounds further. The lead nurse scared her more than any soldier she had ever met.
Toye opened his eyes and smiled wide. "Hey beautiful." The morphine seemed to have made its way to him too. Both were flying high after their amputations.
Evelyn grinned. "Hi handsome. I heard a rumor that you boys are traveling to France with me in a few days. Shall we start with Paris or Versailles first? I'm thinking the country. Need to find a castle for me to live in."
"Always knew we catered to a princess, now we gotta find her a damn castle, Bill."
She stayed with them as long as she dared before limping back to her bed. As soon as the sun was up two days later, they were transported slowly to an Allied-occupied region of France and a huge Army hospital.
Evelyn's attempt to keep their spirits up became a struggle. The hospital was strewn with every type of injured soldier possible. Ranging from severe trench foot to multiple amputations and deadly wounds, Evelyn couldn't believe her eyes. No training could have prepared her for this.
After an incredibly long and increasingly louder argument with the nurse on Toye and Guarnere's floor, Evelyn was allowed to sleep and be treated nearby. Although their wounds were serious, after the amputations, infection was the main concern for them. They had a long journey ahead in physical rehabilitation, but if their wounds healed cleanly, they were going to live.
After getting caught checking their bandages a few times, the nurse took pity on Evelyn and allowed her to help when she could. It was hardly more than holding a plasma bag, but the sense of being needed was something for Evelyn to hold onto.
Two weeks passed by quickly when the boys were told they were headed to England next, to a hospital for wounded soldiers that were past the threat of death but who weren't going back to war. Although incredibly relieved for them, Evelyn was miserable once more. She didn't know if or when she'd ever see them again.
"Doll, if anyone is gonna survive this war, it's you," said Guarnere.
Toye shrugged, antsy because his phantom limb was itchy. "I dunno, Bill. If she keeps running into angry mobs, and mortar strikes, and gunfire…"
Evelyn huffed and rolled her eyes. "I told you already, I promise to be good!" The men snorted together and she grinned. "OK, better. I'll be better."
They snorted again but grinned. Just as they were about to give her more hell, a duo of soldiers walked in. "Sergeants Guarnere and Toye?" one asked.
They nodded. "That's us," replied Guarnere.
"Your jeep is waiting. From there, your ship will depart for England within the next few days. Are you both ready?"
They nodded again before turning to Evelyn in their wheelchairs. She was furious with herself that tears began to pool in her eyes. She bent down and hugged Toye first. "Take care of Bill, he needs a babysitter," she murmured, but loud enough for Guarnere to hear. He exclaimed his disagreement.
Toye chuckled. "That's for sure. Take care of yourself, Evie. We'll see ya in the States."
Evelyn hugged Guarnere next. "Take care of Joe. He's your babysitter, so be kind to him."
Guarnere cackled before kissing her on the cheek. "I'll do my best." He grabbed her hand and the laughter disappeared. "Don't do anything stupid, Evelyn. I want to see your beautiful face again."
A few tears escaped and she impatiently brushed them away. She smiled. "I'll do my best," she repeated.