We Happy Few | Band of Brothers

Chapter 19: Rumors

Picking up a cloth from the counter beside her, Annie tried to wipe her hands clean even though most of the dirt and blood had dried onto her skin and would require some water and a lot of scrubbing to come off. 

After taking the town of Carentan, she and the other medics had set up an aid station in what was at one point a bar. While Eugene and Spina made the rounds, Annie spent most of her time next to Tipper. She had promised Liebgott that she wouldn't leave him alone, so she didn't. Annie set up her triage station, and in between each patient, she would check on the man. There wasn't much she could do besides give him morphine and keep him calm, but she would have sat there with him for hours telling him 'It's gonna be okay" over and over again if she had to. Tipper was scared and he needed her. 

When it was finally safe to move the injured out of the town and get them sent to the nearest hospital, Annie held Tipper's hand the whole way, only parting with him when he was loaded onto the truck. "You're gonna be just fine," Annie told him, her voice a low whisper as she brushed some of his hair from his forehead. "They're gonna take real good care of you."

As the truck rumbled away down the gravel road, Annie watched for a minute, her arms crossed over her chest. So far Tipper had been the worst she had ever seen, and it troubled her that even with all the training she had gone through, there wasn't much she could do. All she wanted was to be able to pull out a magic wand and make everything okay again, but all she had was morphine, sulfa, bandages, plasma, and her words. 

Exhaling, Annie turned around to head back to the aid station. There was always another injury to treat, always another man in need. Lifting her head, Annie's steps faltered slightly when she spotted Liebgott standing a few feet away. It was obvious he had been there to watch Tipper's departure, and it was obvious it was messing with him. 

Walking over, Annie stood beside the former cab driver and sighed. She was silent for a while, just letting him get used to her company. "You did a really good job," she finally spoke up. "You were so calm under pressure. You made Tipper feel safe. I could see it."

"I wish I could have done more." His voice was low and rough like those were the first words he had spoken in a while.

"Me too." The small medic placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and gave him a few reassuring pats. "He's okay now. He's gonna get fixed up and then he's gonna go home. He's okay."

When the silence between the two troopers formed once again, Annie took that as her cue to leave. She knew there were no words that would help someone after they had watched their friend almost die, so she parted ways with Liebgott, created a mental note to remember to check on him later, and headed back to the aid station. 

When Annie returned, the bar-turned-medic station had filled up even more. Eugene was digging a bullet out of Winters' leg, Blithe was sitting on the ground with a blank expression, and Margot was sitting on the table where Tipper had been lying before. 

"Why am I not surprised to see you here?" the medic shuffled over to her friend and sighed.

Margot began to lift her shirt. "Hey, you were the one who said you wanted to do regular checks on the wound. I'm more than happy to go back out there with the guys."

"No, no, stay right where you are." Annie couldn't help but chuckle slightly as she reached for Margot's shirt and pulled it the rest of the way up. Immediately she could tell the wound wasn't healing as she had hoped because the bandage was soaked through with blood.

"That doesn't look too good," Margot commented nonchalantly. "I thought I felt something wet earlier."

Annie didn't say anything in reponse. She knew Margot was in pain and she knew she was just trying to put on a brave face for the company. Getting taken off of the front lines, in Margot's eyes, was a failure and she did not accept failure.