We Happy Few | Band of Brothers

Chapter 35: Everything in Stride

"What the hell are you doing with a loaded gun in your pants?" Buck snapped as Hoobler babbled about how he hadn't meant to and how he wasn't touching the Luger at all. 

Annie was actually sort of surprised that Hoobler was able to keep up such a coherent conversation considering he had just shot himself in the thigh and was bleeding pretty badly. "Okay, everyone needs to give me some room to work here!" Annie swung her arms out, forcing the men to jump back to avoid being hit. "Okay, Hoob, just stay calm, alright?"

"It hurts like a sonofabitch," Hoobler gasped as the men near his head held him down to prevent him from squirming too much. "I think maybe I hit bone."

"Keep him warm and keep him distracted," Annie directed the bystanders as Eugene popped up next to her. That man was impossible to find at some moments, but somehow always there when he was needed.

Reaching out, Eugene placed his hands on either side of the wound, holding the leg still as Annie worked. "Did you think it was a German leg, Hoob?" Eugene asked, some of Annie's light-hearted comedy in a stressful situation clearly beginning to rub off on the Cajun medic.

As the men took off their coats and covered Hoobler up as much as they could, Annie grabbed an old belt that she had been keeping in her bag for a situation just like this, tied it around Hoobler's thigh above the wound, and pulled it tight.

At that point, Hoobler wasn't having a conversation anymore so much as just blurting out whatever came to his head. He wouldn't stop moving, and for some reason, he wanted to watch everything Annie and Eugene were doing.

Lipton and Buck continued to talk to Hoobler, keeping him as calm as possible by reminding him that he was a good shot and that he was tough because he could jump out of planes. The sentiments eased Annie as well because it meant she didn't have to say them herself and could focus solely on stopping the bleeding. 

Pulling out her forceps, Annie made sure they were as clean as possible before getting ready to dig the bullet out. As Eugene stabilized the leg and held the wound open, Annie did her best to find the bullet as quickly and painlessly as she could, but it was in there deep and she just couldn't reach it. 

"How we doing, Doc?" Buck asked.

Annie shook her head in frustration as she tried one last time to locate the bullet. "I can't see a damn thing!" she hissed as her hand slipped on the blood-covered forceps. "We gotta get him to an aid station. I-I can't do this here."

Wiping her bloodied hands on her pants, Annie shoved the forceps back into her bag before pulling out a bandage. The blonde medic was working so fast that she hadn't even noticed that everyone else around her had stopped moving altogether. 

"Doc." Lipton tried to get her attention, but she was too caught up in her own thoughts. "Annie," he tried again.

"What?!" Annie's head snapped up, but the sudden burst of anger left just as quickly as it had arrived when she looked down to see Hoobler lying still, his eyes shut and head resting in Buck's lap. 

Annie couldn't believe it. He had been just fine seconds ago, talking and complaining in usual Hoobler fashion. Maybe she hadn't tied the tourniquet tight enough? Maybe she hadn't looked hard enough for the bullet? Maybe she could have saved him?

"Jesus." Lipton sat back on his haunches, Hoobler's Luger in his hands. 

As Perconte walked off to get a jeep and Buck covered Hoobler's face with one of the jackets, Eugene removed the belt and Annie dug out her scissors. Cutting away the fabric, the blonde girl realized that under all of the layers of clothing, Hoobler had been bleeding way worse than any of them had thought. The bullet had cut the main artery.