During the War, most women served in nurse capacities. Very few American women served as doctors and even fewer saw surgeries and went to the front. In fact, it tended to be British women that progressed the medical field for others.
It was in this capacity that Kathryn knew her place. It was in this capacity that a woman who went to medical school and was, in fact, a doctor, was referred to as a 'nurse.' It was in this capacity that she arrived at RAF base Thorpe Abbots with four other nurses in order to help a single doctor on the base.
His name was Doctor Adler and he was British Royal Air Force, but the only doctor in the vicinity. Kathryn knew that working under him would mean the difference between being on a base and being assigned to somewhere else. So she needed to make a good impression and keep her head down.
What she wasn't expecting—on her first day, mind you—was to immediately be pulled into a surgery by Doctor Adler along with Annika. She had no idea that on her first day on base that she would be forced to confront the actual horrors and realities of the war. Because staring at the boy—who could not possibly be any older than 19—who was covered in blood—Kathryn thought that she wanted to throw up then and there.
Her stomach churned at the sight of him. He had been rushed from his plane to an ambulance and brought directly over to medical. Where all of the nurses had no sooner placed their bags before being ushered into their various stations.
Still, she held her hands steady and she watched Doctor Adler carefully as he cleaned the shoulder wound. A bullet had entered through the shoulder and remained lodged inside, along with several shards of shrapnel. He had nearly bled out—and probably would have, had someone not thought of placing gunpowder on the wound to slow the bleeding.
"Scissors," Doctor Adler commanded.
Kathryn was quick to hand him the scissors, assisting Annika in holding down the young soldier. He writhed in pain and Kathryn wished they had something to give him—but any risk of him going out at this point would have surely ended in him not waking up again.
Finally, Doctor Adler stepped back. "Finish stitching him up. My work here is finished."
Annika was still shaking like a leaf when Doctor Adler exited the room—so Kathryn didn't hesitate. She moved seamlessly, hand steady as she finished up the stitch. "How are you...so damn calm?" Annika questioned, looking at her with wide eyes.
"I'm not. I'm just holding it in until we're done." Kathryn said pointedly, glancing at the girl.
Annika had never seen wounds before. Neither had Kathryn. The only difference was that Annika had frozen when Kathryn didn't. "Hell of a first day, I guess." Annika mumbled.
"Yeah. Hell of a first day."
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Kathryn had just made it to the bunkhouse for the nurses and to the bathroom. She was washing the blood off of her hands when there was a knock at the door. She peeked her head out of the bathroom, eyebrows piqued.
"It's your brother!" Laura called, sitting on the bed with her journal in hand.
"Thanks." Kathryn said, exchanging the same eye-roll with Laura and the other girls in the bunkhouse. Each one seemed to get excited at the thought of Major John Egan outside the door, but Kathryn securely shut the door behind her as she came face to face with her brother.
"You made it!" Bucky exclaimed, a grin crossing his features.
She didn't fail to notice the flight jacket or the dried blood that still stained his hands. But when he opened up his arms, she couldn't help but hug him tightly. "Jeez, sis, you'd think we haven't seen each other in years."
When she pulled away, she gave him a sharp punch in the arm. "You were up in the air."
"No?"
"Was that a question?"
"No. How'd you know?"
"You've got blood on your hands. Same as me." Kathryn said, eyes falling on his hands.
He promptly shoved his hands inside of his jacket. "You did surgery on him?"
"Assisted, you mean."
"Same difference."
"Not really," Kathryn fell into pace with her brother as they walked—more of a meandering pace at this point—along the field. "How many times?"
"That was three."
"God—you really do have a death wish, don't you?" Kathryn let out a huff, turning to face him with concern written in her eyes.
"No. I fully intend to bring the war to Hitler."
"You and every other person on this damn base."
"Language."
"Oh please," Kathryn blew a strand of hair out of her face. "We both know you've said much worse."
"You don't need to worry about me so much." Bucky insisted as they came to a stop under a tree. "Really, I promise."
"If I don't do it, who will?"
"Well—Buck will be here in a week and then he can do it."
At that, she rolled her eyes. "He won't like it any more than I do."
He just slung an arm around her and ruffled the bun atop her head, nearly causing her to punch him again. "I've missed you too. Are you liking England?"
"It's...different." Kathryn said, taking in the fields and trees around her. "I like it so far. But I've also only seen a man bleeding half-to-death."
He sobered for a moment. "Was it...was it bad?"
She was silent, hands fiddling with the locket around her neck. Finally, she gave a shrug. "I mean—he's fine now. I just...wasn't expecting so much blood."
"Said the nurse."
"I went to medical school." Kathryn deadpanned with a frown. "It's not my fault they made me take a nurse course to come over here."
"Does it matter what title you have? We've gotta get you out more. Come on, I'll introduce you to a few good ones."
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Going to a party with the other nurses and her brother yet again seemed like one of the more tedious ideas of the night. Kathryn had no intention of finding a nice pilot to marry and she had no intention of continuing to be the person that women went to to get to her brother.
Still, there she sat, securely and quietly by what her brother called 'one of the good ones.' His name was Ken Lemmons and she wasn't quite sure what to make of him yet. He couldn't have been older than 20 and was a mechanic for the pilots here on base.
"Is he always like this?" Lemmons leaned forward, giving her an inquisitive look.
She just drank her soda and gave a nod. "Unfortunately," she stated. At the moment, Bucky was singing a drinking song and having a hell of a time with the Brits. "You should have seen him before basic."
"That's a sight I'm not sure I'd want to see, ma'am."
At that, she almost gave a laugh. "Oh you can just call me Kat. Most of my friends do, anyway."
"Alright then, Kat!" Lemmons grinned at that. "Your brother..."
"Is quite the character, I know. Where are you from?" She questioned.
"Arkansas."
"Ahh, a fellow midwesterner." At that, Lemmons gave a confused look, glancing between her brother and herself. "Don't let the accent fool you—he's never even been to New York!"
"Well I'll be," Lemmons said, shaking his head. "A wolf in sheep's clothin'."
"He just likes to think he's the most important person in the room."
"At the moment," Lemmons grinned. "He is!"
Kathryn just grinned at that. He wasn't necessarily wrong—but then again, Bucky always seemed to be the most important person in the room. He just took up the space that no one else did. He was larger than life, or at least, he pretended to be. But underneath all of that was the heart of gold that she knew existed.
"Are you married, Lemmons?"
"Yes, Kat."
"Ahh, so that explains it."
"Explains what?"
"Why he said you were one of the good ones!"
Lemmons raised a brow. "Well that explains the threatenin' I heard earlier."
"Threatening?" She questioned.
"Somethin' about the Major's little sister and how all the pilots should just leave you alone."
She just let out a sigh. "Typical Bucky."
"A common occurrence, I take it?"
"Too common, with my brother. Oh God—" She could barely watch as Tommy threw a dart at an apple atop her brother's head. Almost miraculously, the dart landed in the apple and cheers broke out. Kathryn just leaned back in her seat, shaking her head at her brother's antics. "Well on that note, I think I'm done for the night."
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Kathryn was writing in her journal later that night, dim lighting filling the rest of the bunkhouse. Something rustled and when she glanced up, Poppy was sitting on her bed. "It's colder here."
Almost instantly, Kathryn understood. She scooted over in her cot, gesturing beside herself. "Come on, then."
A grin spread across Poppy's features and she slipped into the bed beside Kathryn. "You're always writing, Kitty."
"I just don't want to forget," Kathryn mused. "A lot happened today."
"Oh I know," Poppy exclaimed. "I can't believe you got pulled into a surgery on your first day! Poor Annika's still having stomach problems because of it!" She gestured emphatically at the bathrooms, where the light was still on.
"Poor thing," Kathryn said, a frown on her face.
"Still, I'm a little jealous. You gotta go out tonight too!" Poppy said. "Was your brother trying to introduce you to someone, or what?"
Kathryn laughed, something that was clear and melodious. "No! No, definitely not. Bucky would never."
Poppy just rolled her eyes. "He adores you, plain as day."
"And he also knows that this is war. I think the last thing he wants for me is to fall in love with one of these guys. And it's the last thing I want too!" Kathryn insisted. "Not all of us came over here to find a husband."
"It's not my primary motivation, it's just a bonus!" Poppy pouted. "Besides, you really can't tell me that you don't find Buck Cleven all that. You two are always with each other when you get a chance."
"Only because—"
"I know, I know, because you both tolerate your brother's behavior!" Poppy stated in exasperation. "I'm just sayin' I think you should give him a chance."
"There'd have to be something happening for me to give him a chance, Pop." Kathryn said pointedly, then glanced over at her clock. "We need to get to sleep. We've got an early start in the morning."
"Fine, ruin my girl talk. But mark my words, Kitty Egan—you're gonna find someone and you're gonna fall in love!"
Kathryn Egan sincerely hoped not.