...
The aid station was an organised but chaotic place. Lieutenant Jackson Neavles, one of the Regimental Surgeons, was in charge of the chaos. Neavles didn't tend to Blithe, Eugene Roe did – Roe was an Easy Company medic, a good man, who had a smooth and deep, Southern voice. Roe was confused at first because Blithe had no physical injury. In fact, Roe first assumed Blithe was faking an injury to get off the line. The Southern medic ordered Blithe to sit and wait it out for the time being, Roe was rushed off his feet with men who urgently needed his help. Nora's eyes followed Blithe sit down in the corner of the busy building, his back pressed up against the wall – much like how Nora had found him in Carentan…
She sat next to Blithe, deciding to keep him company. Nora said, "It's very busy here".
Blithe didn't reply, his jaw was wired shut as tears refilled his eyes. Nora suspected Blithe was scared to speak, in case he got tearful again. It made her sad, knowing Blithe was trying his best to remain strong and not break into pieces. Nixon was right, the men were scared. It was clear Blithe was scared – terrified. So scared, that he went blind. Roe came back with a diagnosis – hysterical blindness. Blithe's body shut down, his brain couldn't process the fear and terror that was going on around him. Nora's heart felt heavy for Blithe…
"He sounded disappointed…". Blithe whispered once Roe had left. Blithe sniffed. "In me".
"It's not your fault". Nora said to him quietly.
"I let them down…everybody…I let them all down". Blithe's voice broke. "I just wanted to be the best…I just wanted to be brave…I couldn't even do that".
"Blithe, I…". Nora faced the young man, her expression pulled into a sorrowful frown. "You did not let anyone down". She said, "You are reliable and…".
"I ain't that". Blithe cut Nora off. "I ain't reliable, Nora. I'm blind and I'm scared…and I let everyone down".
Before Nora could argue, the door opened, and Winters limped inside the aid station. Sharply rising to her feet, she watched the Lieutenant limp deeper into the building, where Roe soon met him halfway. Roe wiped his bloody hands onto a white sheet and gestured for Winters to take a seat on a table. Feeling her heart drop into her stomach, Nora moved toward Winters and Roe. Her face paled at the sight of blood coming from Winters's lower leg…
"Nora…". Winters greeted with a tight smile. "Not to worry, it's just a scratch".
Nora was having a difficult time swallowing but she nodded and whispered, "Okay, sir". Letting out a shaky breath, she stared up at Winters. "What happened, sir?"
Roe rolled up the bottom of his trousers after taking off Winters's boot. He examined the cut closely and said, "I can take it out, sir. I'll need to bandage it up after".
"Thank you, Eugene". Winters said kindly.
"Sir?" Nora prompted. "What happened?"
Winters sighed. "I let my guard down". He said, "I was standing out in the open".
Nora frowned softly and said, "But you're sensible, sir".
A tiny smile of amusement met Roe's lips at Nora's comment. He said, "I'll grab my tweezers, sir".
Winters gave Roe a nod before replying to Nora, "I usually am, yeah".
"You will be okay, Lieutenant Winters?" Nora asked, just to be sure…
"I'll be fine, Nora". Winters assured her. "It's just a scratch, alright? I'm not 'gonna bleed out". For the first time since entering the aid station, Winters noticed Blithe huddled in the corner. Staring at the young man, Winters watched as Blithe's eyes stared off into nothing. Looking away from him, Winters saw Roe had rejoined him at the table with a pair of tweezers. "Is Blithe okay?" He asked, "What's wrong with him?"
Roe sighed. "Well, nothing… except he can't see".
"He can't see?" Winters asked.
"So he says…".
Nora shot Roe a small frown before facing Winters. "He's distressed, sir…Roe said it was hysterical blindness".
Shortly after Roe had pulled out a piece of bullet from Winters's shin, the Lieutenant hopped off the table and limped over to Blithe. Nora leaned back against the table and watched with a small frown. Roe grabbed a cloth and wiped his hands…
"Once he's calm, he'll be fine". The medic said.
"Do you believe him?" Nora asked.
Roe shrugged and admitted, "I ain't seen it before…how should I know?"
Nora pointed out, "You're a medic…you're supposed to know".
Roe snorted quietly and said, "I worked on a shrimp boat, Clopper…I wasn't a medic before all this".
Nora didn't look pleased by Roe's answer. She said, "People who help people, are generally kind and understanding".
"Are you saying I'm not?" Roe questioned.
Nora shrugged faintly. "I don't really know you…but you'll likely be the last face some of these men will see before they die…I'd rather that face was kind, wouldn't you?"
Roe drew out a sigh and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Clopper…I work hard to keep these fellas alive. If I'm snappy right now, it's cause I ain't slept for days. It don't mean I don't care less about Blithe or anyone else".
Nora felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment. She mentally cringed. "Sorry".
Roe cast her a warm smile and said, "You're young, Clopper. You're still learning…".
"I'm okay…I'm okay, sir…". Blithe was standing up and rubbing his eyes. As if Winters had just cured the man from being blind, Blithe had suddenly regained his vision.
"You can see?" Winters asked, surprised.
"God, I don't know what happened…". Blithe confessed as he rubbed his eyes again. "I think I'm okay".
"Well, stay here a while longer and make sure". Winters said, "And then you can report back to your Platoon".
"Yes, sir". Blithe said softly before walking deeper into the aid station to locate a quieter spot.
Roe set a hand on Winters's back, guiding him toward the table. "Now can we get that bandage on?"
Winters huffed quietly and nodded. "Yeah". Sitting back down on the table, Winters allowed Roe to clean and dress his wound. Facing Nora, he said, "I'm enormously proud of Blithe. He could've taken the easy way out, I gave him that opportunity, but he wanted to stay with his buddies". He smiled. "Isn't that inspiring?"
Nora smiled back at Winters and nodded. "It is, sir". She agreed, "It truly is".
…
The sun made an appearance later on in the morning when the men sat around the broken city to enjoy a few bites of rations and a cigarette. Wounded men were in the process of being moved to a field hospital before being sent back to England. Nora said a small farewell to Lipton before he was transported out of the aid station with Tipper, who wasn't conscious. Nora wandered up the road and into town again, where she soon stopped outside a building with Sergeant Boyle and Guarnere. The trio were talking, mostly about how easy it had been to secure the town…
"Counterattack". Guarnere said, "That'll be next".
"Oh, I'll bet". Boyle agreed. "This was way too easy to take. They're 'gonna want it back".
Without warning, there was a huge banging sound. When the bang had settled, Nora heard ringing in her ears as she choked on dust and chalk. A shell had slammed into the building they were standing outside. A Panzer tank had rolled into one of the streets and shot a shell out of its 75mm cannon. The blast knocked them all onto the ground. Nora felt bits of stone and jiggered rock cut into her face and cheeks. Rolling onto her side, Nora continued to cough and choke on dust. Boyle was in the process of screaming out for a medic and Guarnere was by his side, applying pressure on Boyle's leg. Nora crawled toward her friends and rubbed the white chalk from her eyes while trying to evaluate Boyle's wound. It seemed a piece of shrapnel had cut into Boyle's left leg….
"Shit!" Boyle screamed. "Shit!"
Reaching into Boyle's front pocket, Nora brought out a syrette of morphine and quickly stabbed it into his right leg. In just a few moments, Boyle's screams quietened down. Guarnere called out for a medic loudly. Shuffling toward Guarnere, Nora took over his spot and applied pressure onto Boyle's left leg…
"Get help, Bill". Nora said to the Sergeant.
"Don't move, alright?" Guarnere clapped Nora's shoulder before rising to his feet and rushing off to locate a medic.
It wasn't long until Sergeant Grant and two others arrived on scene with a bazooka, to blast the Panza away. And running not far behind Grant was Roe, and Lieutenant Winters. Boyle was the most wounded, his leg was badly cut – so, Roe immediately tended to the Sergeant. Winters was crouched in front of Nora, checking over the cuts on her face. Cupping water from his canteen in his hands, Winters used his wet hands to wash off the chalk and dust from Nora's face. Once her face was clear, Nora stared up at Winters.
"Are you okay, kiddo?" Winters asked with a frown. He had a hand placed on the back of Nora's neck, keeping eye contact with the girl.
"This is not the first time…a building has tried to crush me, sir". Nora replied with a tiny smile.
Winters huffed out a faint laugh, relieved Nora was okay. "You got lucky".
"Sometimes…survival is just about luck, sir". Nora said with a faint shrug. She shrugged off Winters's hand on the back of her neck and got up onto her feet. Winters was soon standing as well and kept a close eye on Nora, making sure she wasn't hiding an injury. With her hands lightly against her hips, Nora drew out a sigh. From her position, she could see a roaring fire coming from the dead Panzer tank.
"You should eat something". Winters said, "How about we sit down and break into our K rations?"
Turning away from the fire, Nora stared up at Winters and nodded. "Okay, sir". She didn't feel particularly hungry, but her body needed fuel to keep going. Almost being crushed to death by a building woke Nora up some, and she didn't feel as tired as she did before. When sitting down on a couple of steps outside a café, Nora placed her pack between her knees and began searching for something decent to eat.
"I'm hoping we'll get a good enough sleep tonight". Winters mentioned. "Even if it's in a foxhole, you'll have to try and sleep, Nora".
"I will, sir". She promised. Nora didn't think she'd last another day without any sleep. In the end, Nora brought out a small tube of squeezy cheese and a piece of stale bread…
"I think you might be right about Lieutenant Speirs". Winters suddenly announced.
Nora stopped squeezing her tube of cheese to stare up at Winters. "Sir?"
Winters sighed and told her, "There's a rumour going around that he shot one of his own Sergeants".
"Why?" Nora asked with a tiny frown.
"The Sergeant was drunk". Winters replied, "He was being noisy and giving away their position. I don't think Lieutenant Speirs had a choice…and apparently, the Sergeant drew out a gun first". Winters said, "It's not how I would handle the situation".
"Do you believe the rumour, sir?"
Winters said, "Had it not been for Speirs hosing down those prisoners on D-Day, I wouldn't have believed it".
The rumours about Speirs reminded Nora of something that happened in Poland, where a man was killed in his sleep in order to keep everyone else safe. Nora said, "I can see why he would do that…but it's grim, sir".
"I suppose war forces us to do things, that we'd never dream of doing". Winters said, "Some are for the greater good…others are just…unimaginable". He faced Nora and added, "I guess you saw the uglier side of war, Nora".
He wasn't wrong. It was like a veil had been lifted, and Nora saw something that no other human should have to see or go through. She still didn't fully understand how she survived when so many died. Nora wasn't remarkably strong or smart – at best, she was average and nothing special. So, how did someone so average survive something so brutal?
"I was lucky, sir". Nora said quietly. "That's all…just luck, sir".
Winters asked, "Did you ever think it was something more? That perhaps, something was watching over you?"
"Like God?"
Winters gave a faint shrug. "Maybe". He cast her a small smile. "Or perhaps you're a lot stronger and smarter than you give yourself credit for".
"Sir, I'd likely believe God was watching over me". Nora's lips faintly twitched with amusement.
Winters sighed. "You really have low self-esteem, Nora".
Nora's lips rubbed together in thought, while she stared down at the small dollop of squirty cheese on her stale piece of bread. She took a bite; the cheese wasn't pleasant, and the bread tasted like cardboard. But Nora chewed and swallowed, grateful that she still had something to fuel her body with for the time being. "I worked in a factory…". Nora began to tell Winters. "My job was to melt plastic. I kept on burning my hands and the burning made me sick. They didn't give us masks to wear, for protection against the chemicals".
"This was in Poland?" Winters asked.
"Yeah, sir". Nora replied. She said, "We used to walk to and from work…but the locals would complain when they saw us because we were dirty. So, they moved us onsite of the factory".
He asked, "You were paid? Like any other job?"
"We weren't paid". Nora said, "We worked for the Nazis…we worked right under their noses".
Winters frowned. "Slaves?" He quietly questioned.
"Slaves…criminals…I don't know". Nora said, "But we weren't allowed to leave the site, sir. We were locked up in there, like animals in a zoo".
Winters took a moment to process what Nora was telling him. He asked, "They imprisoned you and treated you as a criminal?"
Nora drew out a sigh. She stopped eating and faced Winters. "I've never been to prison, sir. But I heard Hitler wrote a book while he was imprisoned. If we had written a book, we would've been killed".
"So, you were treated unfairly?" He questioned.
Nora faintly shrugged. "I can't find the word to describe how we were treated, sir".
Winters sighed and his frown deepened. He mentioned, "You were very young when that happened to you, Nora".
"I was fifteen, sir". Nora said, "It all happened very quickly after Boris died".
Winters gently reminded her, "You didn't tell me how he died, Nora".
"The Gestapo murdered him, sir". Nora decided to tell him because it didn't hurt as much saying it a second time. "Right in front of me…they beat him to death on the streets".
"Why?"
Nora felt her eyes sting with unwanted tears. She said, "Because he was trying to protect me".
"From what?" Winters frowned.
She said, "From what happened to him, sir".