The Soldier of Stars [1] - Band of Brothers

35 | the duty of a combat medic

" Thanks, Lizzie.' he said in a mumbled heap and Lizzie nodded. She looked up at Joe who watched Tip.

" Help me grab a few things?" Lizzie asked Joe watching him. Joe nodded slowly before turning and following Lizzie to where she had seen a bunch of boxes being stored, mostly of medical supplies. Lizzie arrived at a box and then turned to Joe.

" What happened, Joe?" Lizzie asked him.

" I shouldn't of left him in there, I though he was outside already." Joe said shaking his head as his face evidently paled and pure horror struck his features.

" Hey," Lizzie said, " hey, Joe, don't worry it's okay. Tip will be fine, now I'm just wondering if you will be too."

" I'll be fine, Doc," Joe told her meeting her eye, " it's just Tip, I thought he was out of the building."

" What happened?" she asked Joe, as she pulled out some bandages.

" We blew up to house because we thought no one was left inside when he still was." Joe said. Lizzie nodded gently.

" How about you go get some air, alright?" Lizzie said, " Tip will be fine here, I'll make sure of it." Joe watched her, and then he slowly nodded.

" Drink some water too." Lizzie called as Joe stepped out of the medic station. Lizzie turned and grabbed a few more things from the boxes before heading back over to Tip who lay quietly on the bed, groaning a bit with each movement. But what surprised Lizzie more was that Hazel and Tab were currently placing Lip down in the bed next to Lip.

" Lip?" Lizzie said as Hazel glanced her way, Tab's eyes following.

" He took a nasty hit right in the groin." Hazel confirmed, " We brought him here."

" Okay," Lizzie said, nodding," I'll get someone on him. Tip took a hit as well." Lizzie watched Hazel looked down and Tab follow and their expressions visibly saddened.

" Hey, Lip." Lizzie said as she approached him, to hopefully calm the NCO and the sniper.

" Let me just take a peak." she said and ripped open the hole a bit more to look at the groin wound.

" We'll get you taken care of, Lip." Lizzie said, rubbing his shoulder as Lip nodded, looking shell-shocked. Lizzie slowly stood wiping the blood from her finger tips.

" How about you two get some air? Lieb wasn't looking too good either." Lizzie said.

" What's wrong with Joe?" Hazel asked, taking a gentle step forward.

" Whatever happened with Tip's got him real shaken up." Lizzie said, with a nod, " I think you should just check up on him and make sure he's okay. I told him to drink but he was in a different world."

" I will." Hazel said with a nod, as she scratched her head.

" You'll be okay with these two?" Tab asked Lizzie.

" Yeah, yeah," Lizzie said, " I'll be fine, you two head out. I'm sure the men need rounding up."

" Yeah," Tab said and placed a hand on Hazel's shoulder, " c'mon Hazel." Hazel gave a glance back at Lip and Tip and gave a small smile before Tab lead her out of the med station. Lizzie turned to Lip and gently wiped the layer of nervous sweat collecting on his forehead.

" Hey!" Lizzie called turning towards some of the medics milling about, " Can I get someone to start cleaning him up?"

" Yes, ma'am." one of the medics from the 502nd called. He was the youngest out of them all, and when Lizzie first met him, albeit, skittish and a bit jumpy, but he meant well and Lizzie trusted his instinct.