January 20, 1945
Jaclyn thought she was going to die. Not from pneumonia - she could handle that - but from boredom.
"Eugene, can I please go outside today?" she whined as he felt her forehead. "I promise to be a good and proper lady and only look at the pretty guns."
Perconte and Lipton snorted. Perconte had just returned from the aid station after being shot in the ass at Foy. "I bet you haven't been a proper lady once in your entire life."
Roe chuckled as she glared at Perconte, who shut up instantly, but grinned. "Outta the question. Your temperature is rising. And I can tell you haven't gotten much sleep. The dark circles under your eyes are growing."
"You sure know how to flatter a woman, Eugene Roe," Jaclyn muttered. He stood to go. "Doc, you've got to give me something. Make it go away."
Roe shrugged. "I already gave you penicillin. All that is left to do is for you to sleep. A lot." He saw Luz in the other room from the corner of his eye, pretending to organize the pantry.
Jaclyn grimaced. She hadn't been able to sleep more than a few fitful hours since Foy. "Not my fault that stupid kraut tried to drown me in an ice bath," she whined.
"Jesus, you have pneumonia because a kraut tried to drown you? What the fuck, Jackie. I didn't know that," exclaimed Perconte. Lipton even sat up to listen.
"Precisely. What. The. Fuck." She paused, her patience snapping when she saw Luz counting chocolate bars for the tenth time that morning. Two can play. A sweet smile spread across her face, taking her audience aback. "Only reason I didn't drown is because of George here."
Luz couldn't pretend he wasn't eavesdropping now. He looked up.
"Our George?" asked Perconte, motioning his thumb in the other room. Roe could feel the tide of the conversation turning, even if Perconte couldn't. He slowly tried to back away and out of the room. Lipton noticed and wished he could do the same.
Jaclyn could see that Luz was listening, and continued. "Oh yes. After the third time that he forced my head underwater, I was sure I was about to die. At that point, I was almost wishing for it." Her voice got quiet, remembering. She took a breath. "And then I thought of George. And I fought back."
The room was silent. Perconte wasn't even sure if he should breath. The tension around them was thick.
"You didn't tell me that," Luz said quietly, not moving from his place.
"That's because you wouldn't fucking listen if I tried, isn't it?" she said scathingly, turning her eyes to meet his. Her anger had returned with a vengeance. Now Perconte was sure he shouldn't breathe.
Just then, Spiers walked into the room and immediately rounded on Jaclyn and Lipton. "Jesus Christ, would you both just get to bed? You look like death."
Lipton frowned, abashed. "Just trying to be useful, sir."
Jaclyn nodded, her anger leaving her all at once. "Yeah, what he said." Roe snorted.
Spiers rolled his eyes. "You won't be useful if you're dead. Bed. Now."
Perconte and Roe helped her to her room before coming back for Lipton. Roe gave Luz a small, commiserating smile, but he didn't seem to see him.
The ice between Luz and Jaclyn seemed to thaw a bit after that over the next few days. Although they didn't actively speak with one another, they did make polite conversation when needed, which sometimes seemed to be worse than avoidance and silence.
A private in a clean uniform walked into the room. He turned to Luz and smiled. "George Luz, good to see you."
"Hey, look who it is," Luz replied.
"Come on, I haven't been gone that long," said the soldier.
"Jesus, yes you have," Luz replied, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth.
"How's it going, ma'am? Sir?" he said to Lipton to Jaclyn.
Luz answered for them as they coughed together. "They've got pneumonia."
"I'm sorry to hear that you're unwell, sir." Lipton waved him away, trying to breathe.
"What do you have to be sorry about?" said Luz, carrying a blanket to Lipton. "He's got a couch, a goddamn blanket, and a roof over his head. Snug as a bug." He moved to wink to Jaclyn before pulling back. Damn habit.
"I'm still sorry, ma'am. I didn't think anything could keep you down after Holland."
"I'm fine…" Jaclyn croaked, pausing. God, what is his name? He has been gone awhile.
"Webster," Luz hissed in her ear before laying another blanket on top of her.
Jaclyn stammered when she felt his warm breath on her cheek. "I'm fine, Webster. "
Webster smiled. "Those krauts can't keep you down, can they Mack?"
The three of them looked up him in silence at the use of Luz's nickname for her. Webster coughed nervously, "I mean, ma'am."
Jaclyn swallowed. "It's Jackie. And they can try."
A wave of sadness washed over her after hearing her nickname, especially from someone other than Luz. She was suddenly exhausted.
She tried to stand up, but her vision tilted as she got to her feet. She reached out an arm in an attempt to steady herself.
Luz grabbed her hand in his before placing the other on her elbow. "Whoopsa daisy. Back to bed you go."
He slowly led her to the back bedrooms and towards hers in the corner. Holding her upright with one hand, he pulled back the blanket from the bed before helping her slip underneath. He rolled the blanket back up to her chin. "There you go," he murmured.
The silence between them grew to tension. He abruptly walked to the door. Her eyes burned as she watched him go until she couldn't stand it anymore and closed her eyes.
"Is it true what you said?"
Jaclyn looked to see him standing in the open doorway, facing her. "Is what true?" she wheezed.
Luz took a step forward. "Is it true what you said about when the kraut tried to drown you?"
Jaclyn tried with all her might to swallow the itch in her throat. "Yes, it is."
He looked at her a long time, only a white face peeking from a thick layer of covers. He moved forward again and sat on the edge of her bed near her feet. He remained silent, unsure what to say.
Jaclyn took a deep breath, striving for bravery. Funny how I can fight a giant kraut without a second thought, but give me George Luz, and my tenacity is sucked dry.
She took a second breath. "I thought I was going to die. The pain was so great. I was ready for it."
Luz nodded, remembering with a pang the relief he saw when she thought they were both dead after the shelling in Foy.
"But then I saw your face." He couldn't look away from her. "I think my life was starting to flash before my eyes, or some equal bullshit." He couldn't help but smile slightly.
Encouraged, Jaclyn continued. "And it was only you. I saw your eyes. And I heard your laugh. And I felt your touch, George." She took another shaky breath in, looking down. "God, I'm terrible at this."
"You're doing fine, Mack."
She looked up and smiled wide at hearing him say her nickname. "Can you say that again?"
Luz smirked slightly. "Which part? That you're fine or Mack?"
She rolled her eyes and laughed, which caused another long coughing fit. The smile dropped from his face as he looked at her, concern in his eyes. He waited for her to finish. "You need to take care of yourself. You heard what Doc said. You need sleep."
She coughed deeply again, wincing from a pain radiating in her chest. "Yes, sir."
He scooted closer to her, and raised a tentative hand to brush hair from her eyes. He studied her face and noticed she was doing the same. "Sleep, Mack."
She smiled again for a moment, but squirmed uncomfortably under the covers. "Do you…" she stopped, unsure.
"Do I what?"
"Can you…"
"Can I what? Jesus, spit it out, woman."
She grinned again. "Do you mind staying here? Until I fall asleep?" Her voice was small and childlike.
Luz smiled softly, stroking her hair again. "Not at all."
He stayed long after she fell asleep, just brushing her hair back and watching her face. Finally, he stood up and went back to the main room to find Winters, Spiers, and Nixon. Lipton attempted to join in from his couch. They took pity on him eventually and waved him over.
As the designated regimental pantry organizer and mail man, Luz had the happy coincidence to be in battalion headquarters most of the day. With it, he could easily eavesdrop on conversations.
The COs spoke for a long time about an upcoming mission before Lipton finally made his way back to the couch, wheezing. "No, to bed, Lip," said Winters.
"Yeah, to bed, Lip," said Jaclyn, emerging from the back rooms. She sat down on her couch with a sigh.
Luz walked over. "Why aren't you asleep?"
She shrugged. "I woke up."
"You've only been down for two hours," he admonished.
"Thank you, Doctor Luz. I can read a clock," she replied dryly, leaning back slowly. Internally, she was doing cartwheels.
Lipton tried to follow her lead, but Winters caught him. "I mean it, Lip. Go to bed." He turned to Jaclyn. "You too, Jackie. We need you both."
"Yes, sir," they muttered together. All three officers left the building.
Luz looked down at them from his place between both couches. "Don't make me sic Doc on you."
Jaclyn looked to Lipton. "Such a liar."
Lipton nodded. "He wouldn't dare."
Luz raised his eyebrows. "Oh I wouldn't? You think I won't go and grab Doc right now and tell him about you two?"
"Tell me what?" said Roe from the door. By the look on Luz's face, he wasn't serious about tattling on them.
"Thanks Luz," muttered Lipton.
"Yeah, thanks Luz."
Roe checked on Lipton first. "Your fever is gone, sir, and the crackling in your lungs is starting to fade."
Lipton brightened. "I can get back to work?"
Roe shook his head. "They are starting to fade. You have another few days at least." Lipton's face fell.
Roe moved to Jaclyn, already noticing the sheen on her forehead. He placed a hand there. "And your temperature is rising. What did I say about sleep, Jackie?"
She pouted. "I slept today, Doc."
"Two hours," called Luz from the other room.
"Traitor," she called back.
Roe tried to look stern at her, but he recognized the familiar smile on her face that he hadn't seen in weeks. He looked to Luz and saw a similar grin.
Trying to keep his own smile at bay, he rolled his eyes at Jaclyn. "Two hours isn't nearly enough."
"It's all I can manage, Eugene."
"Try harder." He stood. "Or else I will have to send you to the aid station."
Jaclyn muttered to herself as he left the room. She had been trying. Every night like clockwork, she couldn't find sleep. She'd toss and turn, waking up often and taking a long time before she'd doze once again. "Slept better in a damn foxhole," she complained.
Luz was cleaning up the desk before heading to his bunk across the street when he heard deep coughing from the back of the building.
Lipton held his hands up innocently from his place on the couch. "Not me."
Luz frowned, making his way to her room. She had left hours ago after he forced her back to bed, but her coughing persisted.
He knocked softly on the door before opening it. He found her buried underneath the mounds of blankets he'd placed on top of her in an attempt to warm her.
"Jesus, I didn't think you'd keep them all on you. I was trying to be funny."
"Ha ha," she chattered from the bed. He could barely see her face from behind all the layers.
Luz walked to the side of the bed and knelt down beside her head. "How in God's name are you still cold?"
He thought she must have shrugged, but he couldn't tell from all the shivering. Sighing, he stood up only to sit down in the chair next to her. He started to unlace his boots.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her teeth knocking together.
"You think I'd dirty perfectly good sheets with my disgusting boots? I ain't an animal, doll."
Jaclyn laughed before starting another coughing fit. Her chest felt frozen and pained from the act.
Luz stood again and removed his jacket before padding over to the side of the bed. "OK, scoot over. Make way."
Jaclyn hesitated for a moment. Sharing a foxhole was one thing. A bed though? She moved over to lean her back against the cold wall.
Luz slipped under the covers before removing the top half of the stack, muttering about death by suffocation. He leaned his head back onto the pillow before he seemed to realize the intimate situation he placed them in.
With a grin, "Don't worry, Mack. I'll keep my hands to myself." He opened his arms.
With a shy smile, she scooted over to him and leaned her side into him. The warmth engulfed her immediately.
Luz grinned again when he felt her lean her head against his chest. Just like old times. The thought both thrilled and concerned him.
He wrapped his arms around her and he heard her sigh. "Get to sleep, doll," he murmured.
Before she could respond, she was asleep.