The Spirit of the Corps » Band of Brothers

28: She's A Tough One, Eh?

"All business around these parts, eh?" Whitlock joked once Charlie had dropped his hand. "Military formality and all that," he elaborated, grinning. "Got a lot to prove, I s'pose."

Charlie looked at Autumn, and Autumn stared back at Whitlock blankly.

After a pause, Autumn gestured behind him. "We're set up over there." Even though they were working under him, Doctor Whitlock wasn't formally part of the military, so they didn't have to salute. So, with that said, Autumn walked past him towards where Charlie and Autumn's tables had been set up beside each other, all of their equipment already laid out on top.

"She's a tough one, eh?" Doctor Whitlock said to Charlie after Autumn had gone. He spoke in a stage whisper, leaning towards Charlie as though they were conspiring together.

Charlie stepped away from him. "It's about to get busy. We should get set up."

It wasn't long before the sound of gunfire filled the air. They were too far away to hear any shouting or screaming, thank goodness, but close enough that when the Germans started firing heavy artillery, they knew about it back at the field hospital.

Charlie sat on one of the beds as they waited for the first wave of wounded to burst through the door, fiddling with her hands in her lap and gnawing on her bottom lip. She hoped desperately she wouldn't have to try to save anyone she really cared about. Working under pressure would be hard enough without personal attachment involved, and she was already overly conscious of the fact that she was the only nurse in her company who hadn't yet had to work on anyone under pressure. She could only pray she wouldn't freeze. She could only hope her training pulled her through. 

The first wave of wounded dragged themselves through the door without the company of a medic. Charlie had expected Eugene Roe to be delivering information, but it was the wounded themselves who spoke.

"I got shot in the shoulder," said one of them, hobbling over to the Dog Company nurses.

"In my arm," said another who was quickly led away by Mabs towards Doctor Remington.

The first wave of wounded had minor wounds. Gunshot wounds or shrapnel, debris, or glass embedded into their skin, mostly. The only urgency in the air was the nurses pressing them for information on how the battle was going, whether or not the Americans were winning and how much chaos they could expect when it finished.

"They got snipers everywhere," the man Autumn was bandaging up claimed. "Hit me as soon as I tried to run in. Didn't even get to enter the town."

Autumn nodded along, letting him know she was listening. Charlie watched them both with furrowed eyebrows and tensed shoulders.

"Tell ya what, that artillery don't sound good, though. I was already on my way here when it started but I guarantee there'll be a good lotta men needin' help after that."

Charlie's stomach sank, though she didn't know what she'd been expecting him to say. The artillery shook the ground even at this distance. It was so loud it made her ears ring. She could only imagine the damage it was doing in Carentan where men were running around with only a metal helmet to protect them.

The second wave of wounded was in much worse shape than the first. For the first time, voices were raised above normal speaking volume and pitched to shouts as the need for urgent care arose. Men spilled through the door in twos and threes, carrying men covered in blood and shouting in pain.

A medic Charlie recognised but couldn't name came hurrying in behind them. "Next wave of wounded is on the way! We got gunshot wounds and hits from grenades and shells. All of 'em have had one syrette of morphine." With that, he ran straight back out again, presumably to hop in a jeep and head back into the battle.