Jane/Dave: Remember when Jane was a field nurse, and Dave almost became an early casualty of war?
She'd always thought her life in the nurse corps would be more like the one showed in South Pacific. She'd thought it would be fun to hang out with her fellow nurses, worrying about mildly unwanted advances from flirtatious officers and which soldier in the clinic was the cutest. Needless to say, it wasn't really that simple.
Three months after signing on for a short contract with the army, the United States of America went to war. The only blessing was that, for her, it didn't start out too bad. Basic training was hell, but with the company of sharpshooter Roxy Lalonde (an officer at base camp), it really wasn't so bad. In fact, before basic was over, she and Rox were the best of friends.
Roxy was sent overseas once training was through, her own take on a CO's gruffness landing her a position leading her own platoon. Jane wasn't deployed right away, instead being shuttled off to spend six months at a base near Killeen, Texas. There she fell in with Dirk Strider, a bomb specialist from Austin. It was truly unfortunate that Dirk was so dead set on wooing Jake English, a half Filipino from American Samoa, because her fellow nurse was very aromantic and socially awkward.
Between the troublesome threesome of Jake, Dirk, and herself, the six months in Killeen weren't nearly so bad. But her stay at the fort was over almost too quickly for Jane's tastes, and she soon found herself shipped off to a dusty base in the Middle East. Without the steady company of her newfound friends, Jane was very lonely.
Her days consisted of her duties in the critical ward, never the pleasantest of tasks, and whatever letters she received. Her letters from her cousin John revealed much. The young Egbert had just turned eighteen, and he along with three of his friends had enlisted. He mentioned his friend Rose, who had joined the nurses' corps along with another of his friends. He also mentioned his friend Jade Harley, who had managed to get herself into the marines.
John himself expected to remain just a normal soldier, which was severely worrying to his overprotective cousin. But because it was all in the past, Jane just urged John and his friends to be careful. And the long weeks trudged on.
It wasn't until nearly the end of her first tour that Jane had a horrifying scare. One of her coworkers, a strange girl named Aradia, very kindly informed her that members of her cousin's platoon had been medevac'd to the critical ward. She rushed, arriving nearly two hours early to her shift (she didn't care).
She searched through every file, but no John Egbert, the only name she recognized was one David Strider. Heart pounding, Jane barreled through the different beds before coming to a stop before the right one. Dave was conscious, but considering the state of his legs and his well…stump of an arm, he probably wished he wasn't.
"Dave?" Jane whispered, because God, all of a sudden her heart was in her throat. Christ, he looked so much like Dirk. The younger Strider's eyes flicked towards her, and she flushed when his eyes roamed downwards.
"Hey pretty mama, want me to whisper in your ear?" He rasped, winking raunchily for effect. Clearly, the pain from his shattered tibias and amputated right arm were being properly treated by whichever pain meds were being fed into his IV. Which was good, even if it meant putting up with his admittedly charming drugged flirtations.
"You were in John's platoon. John Egbert. Do you know…what happened to him?" she asked, suddenly certain she didn't want to know.
He didn't answer for a moment, just stayed silent while his eyes flickered closed. "He made it. Made damn sure of it too. Too bad the bomb that nearly got him, got me right?" Dave said, but then he laughed. "Better me than him, anyway. John's too good for this war.
"He's a goddamned hero, lady, don't let anyone tell you different." Dave demanded. Out of her mind with relief, Jane sunk down onto the hard plastic chair beside Dave's hospital bed. She held Dave's hand until he slipped into unconsciousness, and stroked the back of it with her thumb for a long while after.