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Richard Winters x OC

"How could something so pure, be tainted by blood?"

Are you still there?

/ Part 3 /

Later in the chapter, the medic names are made up from the fact that what names were common!

The following morning was interesting indeed. Lewis had been very productive and gotten me PT gear and my WAC dress greens, which included a hobby jacket, “garrison” cap and a pretty skirt. I was extremely grateful, until he gave me my OD’s, which of course were made for men. The issue of being unhappy didn’t come to place until he saw me in them. And he laughed so loud it startled the men who wear near our barrack. 

“Oh my, my, you look like you’re gonna spread your wings and take off like a flying squirrel”, he snorts coming over to me and playfully flaps the sides of my jacket. I look at him very unimpressed, and then quickly slap his hands away. But then sigh. “I should’ve kept the skirt”, I giggle. But all in all it isn’t so bad, I have my medics patch and good pants. They are a little tight on the hips, but nothing unbearable. 

And off we went, him escorting me to my first field exercise with Herbert Sobel. Oh boy. 

------------------

“Nurse Winters, what is the meaning of this, you look more unpresentable then any of these men!” 

The screaming of Sobel starts straight away as I stand with the men from the second platoon. “No excuse, sir”I say knowing he was commenting on my jacket. He looks ready to snarl, once again. “I’ll let you off, since you are only a woman after all, find a belt for tomorrow, or I will have to find an adequate punishment.” I just look ahead my eyes cold, so that’s how it is. “yes, sir.”

I feel like he assigned me with the second platoon just to torture my husband. And me. He was in for a surprise, if there was one thing me and Dick would not waver from, that was our duty. 

-------------------

I quickly started learning that I already had some knowledge to the matters we were going through. Enough for me at least. My main job for now was keep up with the men and when needed, have a plan on how to transport the “wounded” and if that was not possible, how to make a good long term plan for their health and the stamina and safety of the other men. 

I was thinking and whispering with Eugene Roe as two of our men: Joe Toye and “Popeye” Wynn were “wounded”. Joe had a shoulder wound and Popeye had an upper thigh wound. Both we’re now patched up with Popeye having a syrette tied to his jacket. 

“We have to take one man off the line, to help Popeye near the Jeep, and once we drag Joe far enough he can start walking. One of us has to stay here, in case there comes an urgent need for a medic”, I whisper. 

Roe looks at me little uncertain, but nods. “We’re gonna need to call the jeep towards the edge of the woods, but still near enough, we can’t wait too much, since Popeye’s wound is a heavy bleeder”, he backs up with his Louisiana drawl. 

We report our plan, and luckily, we get the knowledge that we just saved more than two men, we the good decision of one of staying near the line. 

“But Winters, Roe, next time call for back up, we need all the good men in the line, when someone needs to be carried, try and get help along with the jeep. Even if it feels obvious, remember clear orders”, Dick says nodding as he looks over our work. 

I feel pride swell up in my chest, not because we did surprisingly well, but because I got good objective critique. Learn, Sonja, learn everything you can. 

--------------------

When the maneuver is over,  everyone looks more or less annoyed. Sobel turned out to be the epitome of good in theory, terrible in practice. My thighs were also on fire, even if I had good physical training, the crouched running in high speed for surprisingly long distances is rough. 

“So, how does it feel now?”, Skip asks as we sit together to eat. I was once again chatting with Skip. It felt good to have people who actually reacted well to my arrival. 

Joe was apprehensive still, but yesterday when we talked, he realized that I was just a proper farm girl from Minnesota. Nothing fancy even I used pretty words, I was just a curious soul. 

I shrug: “I was scared it was going to be worse, with all you told me yesterday. Apart from the reprimands I got for my height and lack of muscle tone, I feel like I got very just treatment”, I smile and take a mouthful of the food on my plate. 

Skip snorts and looks at me like I had gone crazy. “The man screamed at you, because you aren’t able to carry a man thrice your size, but instead you dragged him, come on “, he shakes his head. I shrug once again. 

“I’m here to do a duty, I’m assigned with you because I was deemed fit, and if I want to be fit enough I have to work for it. He cannot let me off”, I explain my side. Sobel had yes screamed at me for dragging Denver Randleman when he was wounded, but Christ I was happy I was even able to move him. I knew I should do better, but for now I just need to work harder. 

Bill shakes his head : “You’re a fucking skirt, ain’t no man carrying Bull from this company either” And continues to shovel down his food. 

Skip grins at me. “you see Nurse Winters, we fight your corner, even if you are green and weak”. I glare at him playfully. I know that’s what most of the men thought, but Skip was not one of them. He really had been there for me today on the field. Him and Penkala. If I did something wrong, they quickly did something to make me correct it. 

But when it comes to others, it had been a tough day. Joe Liebgott was constantly on my neck, I heard the way he spoke about me, I heard the way him and some of his friends said I did not deserve my place here. In all honesty, I couldn’t blame him. I was a woman, it was easy for them to think that I was just some hussy who crawled up the right thigh. I needed to deserve my place here, i needed them to see that I was more then just big doe eyes and pinned up hair. 

“What will you do when we are jump training?”, he asks suddenly. I was not jumping into Normandy, so I was not taken in for the parachute training. I swallow quickly and answer: “I’ll be doing PT or then preparing at the hospital. I cannot believe how big that hospital is, it truly is wonder”

Skip smiles at my happiness. It was easy for me to talk to him like this. One-on-one. I was still too nervous to open my mouth when I was in the middle of all the men. “You really like helping people, huh”,he chuckles. 

I nod and continue eating quietly.

------------------

Couple weeks later, I was a new woman. I knew my routine and I was dedicated to make it perfect. I still had very few friends, but they all seemed to have accepted my presence at least. Skip was still my safety blanket among the men. Me and Richard had made the decision of being very chaste and professional, even in private. Lewis decided it was a good reason to tease us for being the epitome of purity, but we saw it as a fair and responsible thing to do. 

The men did not know about him being my husband either, for the record the army had so many people with the same name, that it was not surprising that they didn’t even suspect it. Although it was harder and harder for me every day to hear one nameless sergeant keep pestering people about my husbands calm and correct ways. 

Today was my day, well it was a field exercise designed for medics. Many simulated casualties so that we could practice our bandaging, improvising and so forth. 

“Come on, I’m wounded plant me just a little one”, George tried pursing his lips as I bandaged his leg, making a improvised splint. I shake my head and bring two of my fingers first onto my lips then plant them on his. 

“There you go”, I say as I finish the bandage. He looks at me in mock horror, “You just put your dirty fingers into my mouth!”, he gasps. I roll my eyes smiling. 

“I put them on your mouth, you’re wounded, you have bigger worries”, I reason and look at him like a mother would look at a misbehaved child. He just mouths words mockingly and pats my head like I was his best dog to torture. 

Then what I see next makes me freeze, some of the medics truly sedating Sobel. Oh Christ no. I stand up and job over to them. “What do you think you are doing?”, I ask sharply at the two medics, Webb and Jackson, who are now trying to pull down Herbert’s pants. 

“Fuck of broad”, they snort and try to keep going. I purse my lips and kneel next to them. “I may be a nurse, but I am a part of this company. You are risking this mans health, which goes against every vow you’ve made. You may think I am just an ignorant woman, who wants to play a soldier, but I’m here to do my job. You might not care about him, but this is not the way to go”, I quietly advice them. 

They look at me raising their eyebrows as if they had to care what I’m saying. Webb then shakes his head and snorts grasping the front of my collar to bring me closer. 

“Oi, hands off the lady Webb!”, comes a raspy voice. Behind us comes Joe Toye with a makeshift sling. Webb doesn’t move at first not thinking Joe could be series. 

But once Joe stands behind us and growls “What did I just say?”, the hand comes off right away. “Nurse Winters had the balls to tell you off. I don’t care the fuck you are doing to that on the floor, but you ain’t disrespecting her”, he says seriously while looking at Webb and Jackson both. 

“Sorry Winters”, they both mumble. I sigh and stand shaking my head. “Just don’t hurt him”, I whisper and go to help with the evacuating. 

Joe stops me before I can go. I smile at him tenderly “Thanks for that Joe, it means a lot.” He shakes his head and one corner of his mouth raises up: “Just fighting for your corner, Bambi” 

I walk to the litters with a smile on my face. The nickname is ridiculous, but hey, I was finally fitting in. 

--------------------

“So no one reported?”, Nixon asks as we sit on our bunks. I shake my head: “Nope, I tried to tell them off Lew I really did”, I sigh and look at my hands. 

He chuckles: “Don’t say that anywhere else, they’ll ask you to identify”. The door opens and Dick steps in. Straight from the latrines. I smile at him in my PT gear. It felt nice, the shorts. I was not really a fan of anything restricting me from the waist down. Oh no Sonja, do not phrase things like that ever again. 

He smiles at me too and then does something surprising, he walks over to me and lays a kiss on my forehead. “You really impressed the men yesterday, I heard what you did”, he whispers. I shrug, it was nothing he wouldn’t have done. 

“Wanna plant one on me just as congrats?”, I ask in a tender whisper. He chuckles and gives me a sound kiss. I grin widely and take a look at my book Seitsemän veljestä. The Seven brothers, a Finnish novel. My brother send it to me one Christmas. Now the spine looked torn, Sobel had had his fun looking at it while throwing our things all over the place. When I saw the state of my books I almost cried. Luckily one of the soldiers from F-company, David was his name, was able to tell me where to get some cheap books. 

“You sicken me you know, ever since she came in you’ve become a freaking dog”, Lewis throws from his bed. Dick once again rolls his eyes and starts to neatly fold his clothing. “She is my wife, Nix. And we have been perfectly professional, you of all people know that”, he grunts taking his boots off. 

Nix chuckles, the sound a strange thing on it’s own. “I hit a nerve”, he sings and happily plops down once again.

And once again thank you @iilovemusic12us ❤️

Are you still there?

/ Part 4 /

If I ever felt like my feet were going to fall off, it was today. I has just successfully passed my physical fitness test. I was feeling great, but I honestly couldn’t feel my legs. The whole night before I had been practicing to get over those walls over at the training obstacle. Which meant that that none of us in our barrack got that much sleep last night, with Lewis and Richard having been at the map exercise at dusk. 

But here I was once again, at night wondering around to find Skip. I wasn’t completely sure which barrack he was in, but I was determined to check up on his ankle, which had once again been bothering him today. I knew this was inappropriate, but I wasn’t going to drop this. He needed it supported for tomorrow for him to keep it from overexerting. 

“Nurse!”, came a call from behind me. The voice was so sharp it made me jump. When I turned around I was met with a piercing hazel gaze. It was the Dog company lieutenant, Ronald Speirs. 

“Forgive me sir, I’m looking for E-company, Second Platoon. A private needs first aid”, I quickly explain. He just looks at me with even more determination. He then offers me his hand, which I shake firmly. “Ronald Speirs”

I smile at little: “Sonja Winters”. At that the corner of his mouth turns up and he smirks. “I think everyone in this regimen knows who you are, Nurse Winters.” Then he once again turns serious. “You do realize that this could get you into some trouble. With the higher ups and with the men”, he scolds. It’s clear to see the irritation in his eyes. 

“As I said sir, I just need to check up on a comrade”, I reason. I knew he was correct, but I still wanted to make sure Skip was fully alright.

“Well then, Follow me”, he says and turns around. And we walk very very quietly. 

--------------

Once we are in front of the barrack, I thank him. But before I can even fully get my thanks out, he walks away. What an odd man. 

I knock on the barrack door timidly. When the door opens I am greeted by Bill. “The hell are you doing here, come in you mick”, he says and quickly pulls me inside. “You outta your mind Bambi, there are slimy men all over the place”, he then scolds. 

I look around the room and see most of the men in looking at me. I turn to Guarnere to ease my nerves. “I just came to see Skip, Bill. No one except Lt.Speirs saw me”, I softly try to calm him. 

His eyes almost bulge out of his head. “Okay let’s talk about crazy maggots then and not slimy men”, he grunts. Skip luckily comes to my rescue and bows with his hand out “Milady, how can I be of service?”

I grin and take a cotton bandage from my pocket. “Not this again, I don’t need any bandages”, he groans. I push his shoulders and sit him down on a bed. “Private Muck, your ankle is acting up again, it needs to be supported so the twinge doesn’t come back and have worse causes! Do you want Sobel to have you out of training?”, I ask with my hands on my hips.

“Listen to Bambi, Skip. Better have it wrapped up now, than in a cast tomorrow”, Joe comments from his bed. I smile and nod at him. Sweet Joe Toye always having my back. 

Everyone goes back to their own things as I lower myself to bandage Warren’s ankle tightly. Once I’m done I give him a bandage roll. “Have this near, because with all the sweating we do, this probably will be ruined soon. Once you don’t feel hesitation to step on the ankle, take it off and save it for later. I know you don’t want to take a day off, but please be merciful with these skinny things”, I gently guide him. 

He just pats my head and smirks. “Okay Bambi, wouldn’t want to disappoint you.” I shake my head at his antics. “Think of Faye when you take care of yourself, God knows she wouldn’t want her sweetheart hurt”, I reason with a gentle grin. The way Skip talked about his sweet Faye Tanner was adorable. I actually gave him a couple romantic poems from my books so he could use them in his letters. It was a little secret of ours, the guys would ruin the sweetness of the gesture. 

I stay at the barrack for a little while. Chatting with Muck, Don and Penk. I mostly just sat and listened...and giggled. These boys lightened my heart with their jokes. 

“Let’s get you back before someone comes looking”, Joe says jumping up. I shake my head “I can find my way out”, I say and go to the door. Until Bill stoops in front of me. “You ain’t going outta this door without an escort”, he says tapping my nose. 

I roll my eyes smiling and wait for Joe to come. I gently wave at everyone and let Joe lead me out. Once we are out we start softly talking. With Joe it was easy, he was comfortable with silence, and he never saw the need to judge or lie. 

“You miss home yet?”, he asks while lighting a cigarette. I start thinking. Do I miss home? What is home? Me and Richard lived in a barn house in Lancaster. Desperately trying to gather money for our own lot. Do I miss it? Yes I do. In the end there was nothing better than sinking next to Richard after a long day, cuddling up to him in the chilly bedroom. It was not a fancy dream, but it was the nest me and Richard have started with, and that was enough. 

“I do, sometimes it’s just better to not think of it”, I answer. He nods in agreement. “You miss your husband? You seem so invested in Faye and Skip, it’s odd that you never talk about your own sweetheart”, he says blowing out the smoke. 

I gulp and wring my hands together. He seems to notice my nervous reaction and furrows his brows. “You ain’t gotta talk about it if you don’t want to”, he then adds. “But if he hurt you, he’s never walking again”

My cheeks hurt as I smile at him. After the Sobel incident weeks ago, he really had become a dear friend to me. He just needed to see that I was worth the effort. And I sure am happy that I was to him. 

“It’s not like that Joe, it really isn’t. He just..he is in the army too”, I tell him soothingly. His brows lift and he nods. Then he says something that makes me freeze:

“Yeah the LT seems like a proper fella”

My eyes bulge out of my head as I halt my step. “What?!”, I ask sharply. He just shakes his head and smirks. “You look at Winters like a lost puppy and he looks at you like a protective bear with it’s cubs. At first I thought it was nothing, but then I saw him help you with your gear and those looks ain’t just your regular ‘well thank you sir’”

I shake my head and my hands tremble. “Joe you can’t tell anyone, does anyone else know? Oh no they are going to see me as a hussy”, I almost start pulling my hair. It feels like a carpet has been just pulled from under my feet. All my achievements would mean nothing to the men from now on. 

“Hey, hey, Sonja! SONJA!”, Joe raises his voice making me halt. “No one has said a word about you two. I just happened to notice. What you told me made me guess. You two are so professional it’s hard to even tell if he likes you or not”, he soothes rubbing my upper arms. I bite my lip and look at the ground. 

“You are such a proper girl, not one of us would call you a hussy. You ain’t like that, Winters isn’t like that”, he continues. I look at him in the eye and only see kindness. Kindness and honesty in those button eyes. I nod and take one hand that’s on my shoulder. “thank you”, I whisper. 

For the rest of the walk we just walk while he sings softly. Once we come to my barrack he takes my hand again. “You can trust me Sonja, Joe’s cotcha”, he smiles and then takes off. I smile softly too. He and Skip just might be the only friends I’ve ever truly had. 

-------------------

The maneuvers with Sobel have been getting worse and worse. He is jumpy, he is unprofessional and most sadly: he does not know how to work theory in practice. 

Nix also got moved to the battalion staff. He was now packing the rest of his stuff. It felt odd, I had come used to spending time with the man. He was very odd company, but the more you get used to him, the more pleasant you see him. 

“What are you gonna do?”, Lewis asks as we discuss Sobel’s field work. I know it is very unprofessional of me, but my eyes almost become stars when I look at my husband in his Ike jacket. I shake my head and grin at the thought. 

“Nothing, just keep training the men”, Richard answers, just as a short fellow hops in. I quickly stand up too. 

“Am I interrupting?”, the man asks. As me and Nix look at each other. Richard answers for us as he rises up: “No, no. Lt. Lewis Nixon, Nurse Sonja Winters, Lt. Harry Welsh just in from the 82nd”, he introduces. I smile at Harry kindly and shake his hand. “Ahh the beautiful lady wife”, He grins with his tooth gap. 

I smile too, all the officers know the setting.It was easier that way and when things got serious, it was very practical. “Beautiful wife for a beautiful man”, I say knowing it would make my husband flush. 

Harry chuckles and moves to shake hands with Lew.  “Congratulations on the promotion”

“Ah, thanks. If you wanna call it that. You’ll learn them pretty quickly. She’s holy Mary, biblical little lady with a husband to match: No flaws, no vices, no sense of humor”, Lewis manages to hint. I glare at him and he just looks at me with a million dollar smile. 

“Just like your chums up at Battalion Staff?”, Richard quips. I grin at him and go to gently brush his jacket straight. Which it already was, but better be as neat as possible. While I do that Dick turns his head to Harry: “What’s up?”

“I’m hearing a lot of rumblings”, you can hear the concern in Harry’s voice. Lew catches on quickly: “Sobel? We were just talking about that”

“So he gets a little jumpy in the field?”, Harry confirms as I turn back to him and Lewis. “He gets jumpy and you get killed”, Lewis nods. I look at him with raised brows and a dry expression. “What?”, he asks. 

“Aren’t you just tactful”, I say pointedly. He chuckles: “haha, sorry Dick, I’ve rubbed up on her.” I roll my eyes, in his eyes you could see the pride of being bad influence. And I am in deep shame that I’m not immune to it.

Richard just continues with the topic of Sobel. “Listen, if we discuss it, it should be among ourselves”, he says looking at all of us very pointedly. We all quickly agree, and then the devil himself jumps in. 

We are moving out.

@iilovemusic12us​

Are you still there?

/Part 5/

Please, if you could. leave your opinions of this series in the comments :)

l yawned as I sat with Eugene Roe and Ralph Spina at the train wagon. My head was aching and my throat was sore. It was really getting tough to stay awake. I wasn’t going to ask for sick leave, but I felt like there was a spiky hairball stuck to my throat. So much for enjoying the train ride. No, Sonja, you are finally able to relax a little. I shouldn’t be ungrateful and take these moments for granted. 

I slowly take my cross pendant and give it a little kiss of thanks for the little moment of peace. Ralph raises his brows from across me. “You praying?”, he asks kindly. 

I shake my head: “I’m thanking God for being able to rest.” He nods and looks at me with a soft look. Eugene also smiles, they truly are a pair of truly empathetic men. “So you’re religious?”,Eugene asks. 

“Evangelical Lutheran”, I answer. “My whole dads side of the family is, with you know them being Finnish. I was actually confirmed there”, I explain. Religion was something I valued. It did not rule my life, but belief was something that gave me a feeling of contentment. I want to live a pure life, and as long as I keep my intentions pure, I want to belief that something out there is looking out for me. 

“Do you actually speak Finnish?”, the Cajun gentleman asks. I chuckle “Yhtä hyvin, kuin sinä puhut Ranskaa”, I answer and they look at me both very confused. I giggle at their expressions. “I just said that: As well as you speak French”

With Richard and Lewis

Richard Winters was calmly writing into his notebook as he heard a very familiar voice behind him: “Going my way?”

The red head stopped writing for a moment. “Where the train takes me”, he answered. Being the calm and collected man he was, he didn’t feel the need to pester his friend for information. Even if he seemed to be very adamant for him to take interest. 

“Where do you suppose that might be?”

“Haven’t got a clue”

“Yeah, come on. Take a guess. Atlantic, Pacific, Atlantic”, the button eyed officer hints. Richard continues writing to his notebook. He couldn’t deny being a little curious, but he could live without knowing. Lewis on the other hand couldn’t live without sharing. “I’m not the intelligence officer”, Richard interrupts his friends guessing game. 

“As such, I know, but if I told you, I’d have to kill you”, Lewis quips as he leans closer to Dick. 

“So don’t tell me”, Dick answers just as cool and collected as before. It truly amazed Lewis, the amount of self restraint the lieutenant in front of him had. It was admirable, but amusing as well. If your humor is sick enough of course. 

Lewis makes his way and sits in front of his friend. “New York City. Troop ship.England. We’re invading Europe, my friend”, he says seriously and pulls a flask from his back pocket. 

“Fortress Europa”, he salutes and pushes the flask towards his friend. Dick still looks as cool as before. “Since when do I drink”, he inquires dryly. The dry expression and amusement leave his face quickly after Lewis ends up admitting to hiding a case of his favorite whiskey: VAT 69, into his pristine friends footlocker. Dick was not sure which worried him more, the fact that his friend had just sneaked it in or the fact that his friend was so actively drinking. God knows he didn’t want to see Lew hurt. 

Dick looks very displeased as Lewis offers the flask to Harry, before a thoughtful expression takes over as he looks at the flask, making Lewis raise his brow. Was he really considering taking it?

“Sonja’s throat was sore. Might be wisest to get her here and offer some without the men seeing”, Richard says after a while. Lewis shakes his head: “She is a nurse! I’m not wasting my VAT on that” he chuckles. 

Richard raises his brow, looking very displeased again. “And since when was her health a waste”, he whispers looking very serious. Harry next to him laughs. “God Nix, go find her or he’ll be pissy all day”

Nix nods and stands up with a smirk attached to his face. Dick shakes his head, and people dared to say that traveling with friends was pleasant. 

Sonja

My brows furrow as I see Lewis Nixon make a very determined path towards me. And no there was no chance he was coming to see someone else. He locked his eyes with mine and you could see the mischief dancing in his brown orbs. 

He smirks as he stands next to me quickly nodding to Spina and Roe, before leaning closer and whispering into my ear: “Josef calls Mary, I repeat Josef calls Mary”

I pull a face and look at him like he had just gone crazy. He seems to be happy with that, and takes my arm helping me up, before taking a hold of my shoulders and literally pushing me where he wants. 

“Lewis, could you kindly explain, why you decided to kidnap me?”, I ask with mock kindness. “As I said, Josef needs Mary”. I roll my eyes at his joke. 

“You really aren’t as funny as you think you are”, I point out, before I let out a small cough. “Shut up, holy Mary, I’m absolutely hilarious. Though you sound a little rough”, he says and I do hear the actual care in his voice. 

I look at him tilting my chin up and smile gently. “Just a little sore throat. I’m a nurse I know how to work it out”, I soothe. He just shakes his head and says under his breath: “Don’t I know it”

When we make it to their seat Harry jumps up from next to Dick and he and Lewis maneuver me over to his old place. 

“Okay, Maiden fair rescued from the wolves, and Knight Lewis Nixon just got off the hook, thank you” 

So much for being subtle boys. I look around and see no alarming faces. With that I slouch a little and lean against my husbands shoulder. Richard seems to do the same check and brushes my thick brunette locks back before planting a kiss on my forehead. Harry is looking at us with a soft grin, he really was such a romantic. As was I, him talking about Kitty made me feel all kinds of joy for them.

Then he does the most surprising thing, he holds his hand out for Lewis’s flask. I open my mouth to ask why was he offering his teetotaler wife a drink, but I don’t get the chance. “Drink, it’ll ease your pain”, Richard whispers and holds the flask near my mouth. 

My mouth comes to the most loving smile as I look into his eyes. This caring angel of a man. “You noticed, huh?”I whisper tenderly.

 I raise my other hand to tip the flask with his and take a small ladylike sip. The taste is..not my favorite and I pull a face. It felt like those shivers you get when you drink cold tea from the bottom of the mug. 

“Thank you”, I whisper and we pass the flask back to Lewis. Who looks positively horrified. “I just gave you five star liquor and you pulled a damn face. No woman, you don’t say thank you. You apologize”, he scolds. I can’t even tell if he is serious or not. 

“oh forgive me oh lord of sin”, I say tiredly and lean against Dick even more heavily. “that’s more like it”, I hear the pleased answer. Richard takes my hand and intertwines our fingers. I sigh and sleep better than I have slept since I left Lancaster. 

Huge thank you to @iilovemusic12us​, our chats really mean the world to me! :)

Are you still there? /Part 6/

I sat quietly in our barrack in Camp Shanks, New York City. It was so surreal that tomorrow we would be going to set our foot out from our home country. It made all of this so sickeningly real 

Skip who had just been laughing with Penk and Don, decided to plop next to me onto my bunk.

 “Ahh!”

And in the process bump me onto the floor. The shocked look on his face was too hilarious. “Sorry, sorry, fuck sorry Bambi”, he mutters as he scurries up and helps me once again to plop next to him.

I giggle softly and shake my head. “Don’t worry Skip”,I pat his head gently as he too chuckles. Then he turns more serious and makes it clear that he wants to have a more private conversation. We both turn so that we are on our sides facing each other, with our hands under our heads like sleeping children. Luckily being private wasn’t that hard in the noise the men were making. 

“you seemed pretty bummed about getting the pass to the city”, he starts softly. “I mean you don’t drink, and you usually spend the free time in the base anyway. I’m just curious to what was so special now?”, He finishes. I sigh. I could lie to him and make up a believable story about how I wanted to see the city before stepping out, or then I could be true to him the way he has always been to me. 

“I was going to spend time with my husband”, I whisper. His eyes widen at my confession. “He’s here?”, he whispers urgently. I nod, my heart racing so hard it feels like it’s on run to my mouth. I gulp and reach into my shirt where lies a ring on a chain with my cross. And on the ring there is a small engraving of my husbands name. 

I gently take the chain off and pass the ring to him. He takes a little time to inspect it and get his eyes work in the bad lighting. Then his eyes widen and mouth opens. I quickly jump up and slam my hand onto his mouth. 

“What the hell are you two doing?”, comes the voice of George Luz. I turn sharply and grab my ring away from Skip. “Talking”, I answer quickly. He just raises his brows and blows out some smoke. Then makes a face and nods. I turn back to Skip with a serious expression and mouth: “No ONE”

He just grins and smiles. “Not gonna have my Bambi thrown to the wolves”, he says tenderly and boops my nose. I breath out and smile back. It felt good to let it out. Skip was so dear to me, it always felt so wrong to keep lying to him. 

It also felt very odd to be sleeping with the men. I was now officially put into their barracks. Sink’s orders: “You’re familiar now, safe to start blending in.” And it was true, I felt more in touch with the men now. Even if Bill laughed at me because I was too scared to come down from the top bed of a bunk bed. Which lead to Bull gently lifting me down:

“There we go ma’am safely on the ground”

“Please, if I ever get a daughter, let them marry a gentleman with your manners”

I take a hold of Don’s watch and see it’s already 7.30. Shoot, I need to find Joe. “Joe!”, I shout and in my turn plop down onto his bed, like the true lady I am sitting with my posture perfect and ankles crossed. 

“Ye ready to go, Bambi?”, he asks and I nod. He slowly gets up and stretches his back. “Well off with us then”. And so he starts singing once again. A strangely pleasant and soothing sound.

I had asked Joe to escort me to the officers barracks tonight. I wanted to see Dick before we leave. If this was the last time I saw him, I didn’t want it to be just a brief tender moment. 

Once we made it to Dick’s barrack, he was already sitting on the steps with his garrison cap on and the dress greens too. I was still in my skirt, but the cap and the hobby jacket were long forgotten. 

“Thank you, Joe”, Dick nods to Joe as a dismissal. “My pleasure lieutenant”, Joe smiles and takes off. I turn to my husband with a tender grin. 

“I’ve missed you”, I whisper and put my hand on his abdomen. Just to soothe me that he’s actually there. 

“We’ve been together most of the day”; he chuckles. I shake my head still smiling. “Not like we used to be”, I whisper a little strained. His brows furrow as he brushes my hair behind me ear. He then sighs and cups my face kissing me longingly. 

His lips are always so, so warm and soft. The warmth and softness wasn’t the concrete feeling maybe, but it was the feeling that brushed my heart. I didn’t notice the tears streaming down my face before he pulled back. My hands were still around his waist, and his now cupping my neck. 

“Don’t cry, darling, not right now”, he whispers and kisses my tears away gently. “We should probably go a little further, someone could walk here any minute”, he then adds. 

I nod and give him a small kiss onto his adam’s apple, before moving to grasp his arm. Moments like this reminded me so much of our first meeting, well first time we actually got the words out of our mouths. 

3rd of May 1936

It was an early morning as Sonja Savolainen was smiling and singing in front of a group of young girls who were singing along with her. They all had their hymnals and catechisms out and smiles on their faces.

Sonja was only 18 and now substituting her aunt as a Sunday school teacher. She was a young, timid girl with a sharp head on her shoulders. Teaching the small girls during the Sunday service was something she thrived on. She was always very lonely with the people her age, not really having the will to socialize, the courage chat and having a strange accent to go and to top that a strong interest in education and research, had quickly left her the odd one out. 

Her mother had always said that she is too curious for her own good, but Sonja never saw it as a flaw. She wanted to learn more about everything, and she dreamed of a husband who would support her and be ready to built a whole corner of the world just for them. 

She was as pure and proper as a young lady could be. She worked hard in her parents farm, she rarely cursed and tutored children. All in all, she was a kind human being. But with the standards she set for herself, she ended up being self-destructive. 

“Alright, alright, children. We can sing more next week, I will still be here. Ms. Miller will come back soon, I promise”, she grins. All the eight girls were so sweet, and such dedicated little things. There was this one girl Lena, who had hard time reading, but Sonja promised to tutor her on Friday nights while she still was in Lancaster. In a months time she would be going back to Ham Lake, Minnesota. 

Slowly the girls get picked up by their parents. Sonja getting numerous hugs from the children and thanks from grateful mothers and fathers. And bless Lena’s mother who had brought her a small piece of raisin bread as thanks for her teaching. 

Now only ones left in the room were Sonja and small six-year-old Ann Winters. “Ann, darling, isn’t your mother picking you up?”,Sonja asks softly and kneels next to the still brightly smiling girl. Ann cutely shows her teeth as she giggles. “No, Ms.Sonja. my big brother will come though, he’s probybly lost.” Sonja smiles and almost giggles at the way the girl pronounces probably. 

“Well we shall wait for him, I’ll stay with you until he finds his way. Maybe you can draw him a map for the next time?”,she chuckles. 

“ohh, It can be like a treasure map, ‘cept the treasure is me”, Ann giggles making Sonja’s heart warm with her adorable little idea. 

“What a sweet treasure you are”, she says and taps the little girls nose. Their chat is interrupted by a knock on the door. Sonja quickly rises and goes to open it. 

“Hello, you...m-must be Ann’s brother”, Sonja almost whispers the last part as she looks at the man before her. There stands a tall, red-headed man with the softest blue eyes. Sonja bites her lip, he was stunning. 

Richard almost as red as his hair, as he looks at the woman. He was never the most confident with girls and he hadn’t expected his sister’s Sunday school teacher to be a pretty young lady. 

“I-I am, ma’am. Richard Winters”, he says and offers his hand. Sonja takes it smiling softly “Sonja Savolainen, please come in”, she almost whispers again. His hand is so warm and big, in contrast to her own small and as her brother said it, delicate, but chubby hands. 

Ann almost screams as she sees Richard. Richard grins and helps his sister get dressed and takes her catechism for safety keeping. “Dick, imma make you a big big map, and you will find big big me!”, she giggles enthusiastically. Sonja’s heart pumps so fast as she looks at the man. He is so calm so soothing, at least from the five seconds she’s interacted with him. 

“Forgive me ma’am for keeping you waiting, is there anything I could help with?”, he asks as he takes Ann’s hand and tries to keep her from jumping to the roof. Sonja really can’t stop her heart from jumping like Ann. 

“oh, no no , Ann is a very well behaved girl. It was a pleasure”,she says and starts to gather her own things. “off you two go, I can manage”, she finishes. Richard smiles at her softly. His own heart beating so fast that he cannot get the words to of “thank you, truly” out from his mouth. 

“Goo’bye Ms.Sonja!” Ann says and waves. Richard smiles and offers his free hand to shake again. “Thank you ma’am, we-we will probably see each other again”, he gulps. Sonja bites her lip again and takes his hand. 

“Lets hope so”, she says and then blushes blood red. Why did she have to say that. My god, why did she have to be so forward. Richard takes one look at her warm chocolate eyes again, nods and then takes off with his little sister. 

The moment their eyes had met, their souls were bound. 

Present

I grin stupidly at the memory. We finally find a dark corner where we can sit and talk in peace. We take a seat on this big rock with our arms still wrapped together. 

“You alright?”, he whispers as he looks at my grin. I nod and cup his cheek with my free hand. “You seem to be awfully in your head tonight”, he then adds. 

“Just thinking of you”, I answer and giggle as he still after all this years manages to blush. “Do you think that the lot we were looking at could be free in a couple years?”, I suddenly ask. He shrugs.

“If we get enough money from here, we can start making an offer”, he says quietly. “But we still need some money to built the house, so we’d still have to live in the barn.” I can see the pain in his eyes as he says those words. 

I smile at him tenderly now stroking his brow and take his garrison cap off. “I don’t really care, the barracks are even more uncomfortable. And in the barn I’ll have you”, I try to soothe. He smiles a little strained as he seems too to be deep in thought. 

“I did carry you over that threshold”, he says. I give him a sound kiss. “yes, you did”, I grin. 

Then his face turns grim. “And next time I carried you we were both covered in your blood”, he swallows. My grin fades and the tears try to gather again. I shake my head and kiss him softly again. I leave my face so close to his that our noses are touching. “I’m still here, Richie, and no one is taking me away”, I whisper. He presses his forehead against mine strongly and closes his eyes. 

He then presses his lips to mine with urgency. He maneuvers me so that I’m sitting sideways on his lap, his hands firmly supporting my waist. I deepen the kiss and press as close to him as physically possible with our clothing on. His other hand goes to cup the back of my head as I tangle my hands into his fire red hair. 

It feels so good to kiss him, to feel his arms around me. But it’s torture, because I want him, I need him. And this was only stoking the already existing fire. 

 When he pulls away I can see his pained face. 

“I-I need you, but I can’t do this. Not like this”, he says his voice rough, his bedroom voice. I can feel him against me. It all makes me so needy that I almost feel ashamed. It would, if I didn’t love this man as a part of my soul. 

And that’s how we sit. For an hour and a half. Trying to calm ourselves, softly talking, kissing and praying. 

@iilovemusic12us​

Are you still there?

  /Part 7/

I am hot, I am sweaty, and I am crammed into a small cot surrounded by equally sweaty men. It was the 6th of September, and we had just boarded the Great Samaria a few hours ago. We were now on a journey to Europe. 

How they managed to jam us into this ship, I have no clue. It isn’t like there is 20 men over the capacity of this ship. No, this ship was made for 1000 passengers and now there were 5000 men from the 506th shoved in. I could have made the choice and went to the officers and made my stay there, I want to be near the men. 

“Joe, darling, your shoulders are like barn doors, I can’t fit”

Oh yes, as the passenger count was so high, the cots were shared by two soldiers. I was sharing with Joe. At first I also considered going to Skip, but then I came to a conclusion that I could stand Joe’s singing in this suppressed place, but listening to Skip talk non-stop would make me an irritable person. And I truly did not want to become that. These men are my companions and I want to treat the with the respect they deserve. I did not have the right to become rude even in these circumstances. 

Also, if I was put too high, Bull would have to carry me around like a baby monkey. 

“For God’s sake, just turn the other way”, Joe grunts as I try to maneuver myself without jostling the cot too much.  

“Joe, please move”, I whine and try to push him. He rasps and looks at me teasing smile on his lips. 

“you wanna continue trying, Bambi”, he teases. I scrunch my brows and pout. Why did he have to make this so difficult. Then I put on my most motherly glare. “Joseph Toye, this is not how you should behave”, I scold. 

He chuckles once again, but proceeds to move over so I’m finally able to fit in next to him on the cot. It was a tight squeeze, both of us were on top of the bed springs, but we tried to be so that it’s the least uncomfortable. Physically and mentally. 

“So you told Muck, huh?”, he whispers once we are in and he hears Skip talking while making his way around the ship. I nod as we both look at the cot above us. “You sure that was a good idea?”, he asks. I could hear in his voice that he didn’t doubt Skip personally, but he was just checking in. 

I smile. “He has been good to me since I came here, He won’t betray me now. And it does feel good to let it out”, I tell. He nods. 

“So, what do you think about going to Europe?”, he asks. I shrug. “I’m glad I’m here, maybe we can speed up the process of ending this war and Matias and dad can go back home”, I answer. Matias was my older brother. I think he is the reason I’m so fond of Skip and Luz, Matias was such a jokester too. It broke my heart to think of him out there somewhere, fighting for his life. 

“I’m glad we’re going to Europe too. Hitler gets one of these right across the windpipe, Roosevelt changes Thanksgiving to Joe Toye Day and 10,000 a year for the rest of my fucking life”, he says in a much louder voice. 

I look at him trying not to laugh. “Joe, I promise I’ll celebrate Joe Toye Day from now on even if you don’t succeed”, I manage to say without laughing. 

“What if we don’t get to Europe, what if they send us to North Africa”, Smokey points out from above us. 

The conversation doesn’t awfully concern me, till I hear these words: “ I like Winters, he is a good man. But when bullets start flying, I don’t know if I want a Quaker doing my fighting for me”

My head turns sharply up towards Bill’s bed. My blood starts running cold with the rage I’m feeling. He had the audacity to condemn someone by their religion and to add to that doubt MY husbands skills in combat. 

“How do you know he’s a Quaker?”

“He ain’t Catholic”

I’m about to jump up and teach the boy some manners when, Joe apparently notices my open mouth and shoves my head under a blanket. And by shoving, I mean shoving. Nothing gentle about it. I can only imagine the looks people are throwing at us. 

“Okay Bambi up we go” he then says and starts lifting me up, my head still covered. I can hear Liebgott and Bill still having a spat and am about to turn to go towards the noise, but Joe keeps me covered till we are away from the scene.

“You need some fresh air, you angry hedgehog, to he deck we go”, Joe says and pushes people around to make us way forward. He really saved me from making a mistake. 

With Richard

The Boat was far from comfortable, that was the only thing Richard Winters would say to the circumstances at hand. Last time he had been this hot, was while running in full gear in Toccoa. 

“They really filled this Troop ship to the brink”, Lewis says looking just as sweaty as his friend. “If I’m going to be this hot, I’d rather have 5000 ladies here. At least there would be something to look at”, Nix says. 

“Yeah, and by the time you’d make it to your destination they’d have eaten you alive, after finding out about Kathy”, Dick teases. Keeping your mind light in situations like this was the key to keeping your head together. His friend had his own lightness hidden in Dick’s footlocker. 

Lewis let’s out his trademark chuckle. “Easy for you to say”, he snarks back. Dick knows exactly what he means. It was easy for Dick to judge other men for seeking affection because his own wife was there. 

Dick only looks at his friend with a dry look and they remain silent for a while. 

“Never thought this day would actually come, of course I knew it was coming, but hell we’ve come a long way”, Nix says and takes a swig from his flask. Dick lets out a small huff. It really was a miracle that Sobel hadn’t found some way to get rid off them. 

“You think we can make it Nix, back home I mean”, Dick asks thoughtfully and plays with his fingers. It was a curious question, not one of sadness or fear. 

“That’s not for us to decide, but hey I’ll drink to the thought of seeing your children some day”; he says raising his flask in what was supposed to be a happy remark, but when he sees Dick’s face, all the happiness goes away. 

He furrows his brows and looks at his friend more closely. “You okay Dick?”, he asks while still studying his now pale friend. Dick just continues looking ahead like he was not there at all. 

“Yeah, Nix, I’m okay”, he finally whispers and they drop the topic replacing it  with silence. 

Sonja / Day 3 on the Samaria/

“Better out than in, there we go”, George says as he brushes some of my hair back. I had been throwing up for the last two hours. I wasn’t sure was it the sea or the smell of the fish soup that made me so nauseous. 

“I fe- ugh”, I puke again in the middle of my sentence. I was not the only one throwing up, no. But I felt very embarrassed to be in this situation. I was a nurse, not a patient. 

Suddenly a pounding of boots is heard and I feel someone place themselves on the other side of me. “There we go, a Hershey bar for the lady. Got it from Winters, tried scrounging and he was kind enough to offer when he passed”, Skip says as he opens the wrapper for me. 

And what I can take from his story is that, that he went to tell Richard I’m unwell and Richard gave him the bar. 

“Thank you”, I whisper and take the piece Skip snaps me. Luz takes the bucket from my hands and gives water to rinse my mouth.  “For a small lady, you sure puke your guts out like a grown man”, Luz teases. 

“Shut up, I’m only three inches shorter than you”, I grumble and lean against him while savoring the chocolate to get the taste of vomit out. He only chuckles and makes a mocking “UGH” noise. 

“Thank you boys for getting me out, I thought Joe was going to kill me”,I giggle softly. They both huff in laughter. “I mean you did puke on his chest”, Skip points out. I grimace, that I sure did. His chest and neck where running with fish soup after I retched on him. 

“Someone get her a bucket, fucking hell, if someone isn’t gonna help her, Imma kill every fucking one of you”

“Skip, go get us some cards, I don’t think she can handle the sweat level yet”, George says as he strokes my back, as I gag again a little. 

How long was I going to be stuck on this boat.

----------------------

The night was awful, I felt sickly and I noticed that Joe was turning more than usual, probably because of the back pain. We were lucky enough to fit on the cot so that we could both sleep in it, but nothing seemed to get me catch sleep. I was afraid of throwing up again. 

“Nurse”, I hear a whisper. I jump and look up. Even in the dim lighting I can recognize my husband. I carefully stand without jostling Joe too much, and gently put the blanket on him again, after raising it up a little to get a little cool air on him. 

“Yes sir?”,I ask professionally as I stand before Richard. He just nods his head towards the deck. 

As we make it to the deck we quickly and quietly find a corner with no one sleeping in it. He takes a look around and has a seat. Before taking something out from his pocket: chocolate.

“Richard, you don’t have a sweet tooth, how do you have all these”;I ask looking at him oddly. 

“I got this from Nix, he was willing to sacrifice it for I quote ‘holy business’“, I giggle at my husbands expression as he quotes Lewis. I take the bar from him and put it next to me. I honestly felt too sickly to eat it now. 

I look at Dick biting my lip. He seems to notice the softness in my gaze as he utters a gentle “come here”, and gently guides me to lay my upper body onto his legs. 

“Don’t worry, darling. I can keep watch, and if they ask more, I can say that I was just looking out for you as your officer”, he soothes and rubs his hand along my arms. Which feels amazing on my sore muscles. 

“I think it’s time to tell the men soon anyway. They need to get used to the idea before we jump, and I think that they know you well enough to not judge you”, he then brings up. I nod against his leg, this living in secrecy was starting to become more and more difficult. 

I then squeeze my eyes shut as nausea takes over me. “Richie I think I might puke”,I whimper. I always got very stressed when I had nausea, and sensitive. “I don’t wanna puke on you”,I say and try to rise, but in all honestly rising just made it worse.

Richard guides me back gently. “If you puke on me, then you do. Don’t worry about that. Let’s just get you comfortable”

----------------------

On the 15th of September we finally made it to Liverpool. I was still quite pale after the ride. Eating had really become a task, and without food, you lose strength. But with the threats from Joe and gentle urging from Carwood Lipton, I was able to get food down. 

“You feelin’ good ma’am?”, comes a familiar Arkansas drawl as I give a happy sigh to be on the steady ground. I chuckle “Aye, sir, better than ever”, I say teasingly. He mock salutes me and we start walking for our shelter for the night. 

I walk on Joe’s side keeping a firm hold of his sleeve as I had been told by Lip.

“We don’t want you getting lost, you are harder to find than most of us”

At first I had wanted to tell him that I am a grown woman with military training, but his truly caring gaze changed my plans.  If I could express in words, how thankful I was for that mans care I would shout it at his too humble face. Okay, these boys are really rubbing off on me, I wouldn’t shout, maybe gently lecture. 

Tomorrow we would be going to our final destination. 

-------------------

Aldbourne was vastly different from all the places I’ve had my training and from what the men told me, it was also very different to them. We were in the middle of a village! We could actually see other people. 

“Come on Sonja, please, please please”, Skip was begging on his knees. We had gotten our passes to go to Swindon for a Saturday night dance this weekend. The boys were all excited about being able to go and actually getting the passes this time. 

“Skip, you know I get uncomfortable with many people, also it’ll be nice to have some time alone”, I try to reason as he keeps pushing my skirt and blouse towards my hands. 

He looks at me with his green puppy eyes. “please, Bambi, for me, Joe is coming too. Aren’t you? Hear that Joe is there too”, he begs. I sigh and look at both of them. 

“Okay, but when I say want to come back, I will”, I say pointing at him. 

“Yes!!”

-------------------

I didn’t put on my skirt and blouse, instead I took out my light blue swing dress and let my hair down. It was nice to feel girly again, and actually have a reason to get dolled up. That was not the best part, the best part was actually putting my wedding ring onto my finger. I gave a small kiss to my cross and said a little prayer of gratitude before going to the boys. 

The boys were happy to have me, their lady with them. 

“Your husband is one lucky bastard”. George had said when he saw me. Bull had even blushed when I gave him a kiss on the cheek as thanks for helping me with my jacket. 

All the girls in the dance were dolled up too. I found the music in there absolutely delightful. It might have not been completely in my taste, but I appreciate it nonetheless. Also the sound of shoes clapping against the floor was beautifully relaxing. 

“Would my lady like to dance?”, Skip asks bowing at the waste. I shake my head at his antics but take his hand none the less. And boy did I make a mistake. I was tosses from Skip to George, to Bull, to Joe, to Don (who mind you, was an excellent dancer!) and god knows who. The Easy boys really decided to hit the floor. 

Once I was able to make a run from them, I found Joe drinking a beer at one of the tables. “You having fun?”; he asks and takes a long sip. I nod and smile widely. 

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve been able to dance so much! But I do wonder”, I bite my lip. “Am I a bad person to be here, without Richard?”; I whisper. 

Joe shakes his head. “You’re too good for this world. There ain’t nothing wrong with you being here. He trusts you and you trust him. And hell, you were giggling like a school girl when you realized you still had time to go to him after this. You aren’t committing any sin”, he soothes with a little teasing making me blush. 

Who can blame me, I just want to grab my Robert Burns poems and go read with Richards head on my lap. Was that really too much to ask for? He was my husband.

We continue our conversation, with me sipping a cup of water, until I hear a similar interruption as in the boat. 

Bill and Skinny make it to our table chatting. “He might be a good man, but Quakers aren’t meant for this shit” My patience had been running thin with these comments for so long and now my patience was all run out.

“He is not a Quaker”, I snap. Bill turns to me with an odd look on his face. 

“And how do you know that Bambi”, many of the Easy men were now near our table from hearing my raised voice. 

I don’t know what made it come out of my mouth, but this did anyway: “If my husband was a Quaker I think I’d be the one who knows that and not you”

I quickly realize what I said and plant my palm against my face, trying to remember how to breathe. I hear Joe sigh from next to me: “Well, now you fucking said it”

@iilovemusic12us​

@georgeparisole​