Kat, I love you, but respectfully, you're an idiot and we all know it haha. Double-update since i just got to a really good point in the fic and wanted to give you a little more!
Most days as a nurse were relatively boring, actually. It wasn't that there wasn't a lot to do—because there certainly was. There was the inventory, done every single morning and to ensure that they constantly had enough supplies. There were also physicals, which rotated weekly depending on the flight crews that came back and were passing through.
On an average day, the nurses were allotted an hour for breakfasts, an hour for lunch, and an hour for dinners. Along with a daily break of an hour, it cut their work day practically in half. That was if there weren't any missions or reconnaissance being run. If there was reconnaissance being run, the nurses were on call. It could be as short as a few hours and as long as three days—taking things in shifts was how you managed that time.
Then of course, there was Doctor Adler—someone who insisted on giving them all proper training at least once a day on seemingly random things. He preferred the practical application of tests and also insisted that the nurses change out the bed sheets, wash and clean the hospital beds, and practice the different drills.
All of this, of course, kept Kathryn and the other girls very busy on their feet. Idleness during a time of war was a sin, in a way. Not a single girl wanted to be caught out of line and face Doctor Adler's wrath. It wasn't that he was a cruel man in any way, just strict at times and demanding that they were the very best that they could be. Kathryn found that rather fair, all things considered.
At the moment, Kathryn was helping with the inventory of bandages. Laura was keeping count while Kathryn kept a tally on her clipboard. Laura's curls were bound back in a bun tightly and she glanced over at the other nurses, stifling a scoff.
"You're doing it again," Kathryn murmured, letting out a sigh and glancing up from her clipboard.
"Is it all they can focus on? The men?" Laura hissed, a frown crossing her normally rosy cheeks. "I mean, honestly! We're at war and all they can think about is having a good time."
"Oh Laur," Kathryn said, setting down the clipboard for a minute. "I don't think they mean it like that."
Laura just let out a huff of air, rolling her eyes and straightening her shoulders. "Does it matter how they mean it? Look at them! They can't stop flirting!"
"Sometimes, I think you're the only person with sense in this whole damn camp," Kathryn stifled a laugh of her own.
"That's because I'm the only woman here who doesn't want to sleep with your brother," Laura deadpanned, jaw tensing slightly.
At that, Kathryn had to agree. Almost every other nurse in the Hospital Wing was staring off into the distance as some of the higher ranking men walked by. "Well that makes two of us. I believe we were on 52?" Kathryn said, tapping on her clipboard with a soft smile.
Laura giggled at the words. "52 it is. You've got a strange sense of humor, Kitty."
"It's genetic. I wish people thought my brother was strange."
"He got all the charm, then, I guess."
Kathryn lightly tapped against Laura's arm, rolling her eyes. "Take it back."
"I don't think I will."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kathryn found that there was all sorts of exciting things to look forward to on base, but the best one was when pilots arrived or when they came home from a mission. There was equal parts excitement and dread with both groups of men—
The thing about new pilots was that they had fire. They were fresh to the fight and eager to get down to business. It was a great work ethic, though it paired with some of the more interesting attitudes towards the women that worked on the base. She had heard enough about it from Tatty Spaatz, the General's daughter. She had rather vocal opinions about the men on base—including Kath's brother.
The thing about men coming home from a mission was the fact that they had made it home. There was a certain sort of celebration to be had whenever someone made it home. It was rare to see someone who made it home over and over and over again—and it was exceedingly common to see boys and men who were bleeding or already dead being pulled out of those planes.
For the nurses, those were the times that were filled with trepidation and anxiety. Because if they didn't work quick enough, if they didn't do their jobs good enough—coming back to base wouldn't be enough. And it would be their fault that these boys didn't go home. The pilots would have done their jobs and the rest lay in the hands of Doctor Adler and the nurses.
Today though—
Today was an exciting day because the rest of the Eighth Air Force would be arriving from Greenland. Having finally completed the rest of their training there, they would be ready to move into the bunkhouses and start into the routine of doing missions.
Everyone from the civilians to the mechanics to the higher ranking officers had turned up for such an occasion. As Kathryn watched the planes fly in from overhead and the loud sounds of engines filled her ears, she couldn't help but watch the planes ever so carefully. They always looked so sturdy from afar—like they were untouchable and unbreakable.
She knew that wasn't true though. She knew that those tin cans were barrels for fish to be shot in. Boys came out shredded like paper and bullets passed through just as easily as hitting a baseball. No one was invincible and nothing could protect them from the horrors of the war. Nothing.
"Well don't tell me you're going to watch from here," Bucky's voice sounded in Kath's ears and she nearly jumped at the sight of her brother standing behind her.
"And where else would I be watching them from?"
Bucky just flashed a winning smile. "You could always ride with me down to the airfield. I could...tell Doctor Adler it was to make sure that all the boys made it through okay."
"That sounds like an abuse of power."
"And?"
Kathryn wasn't good at saying no to her brother. He always seemed to get what he wanted in the end—and most of the time, that just meant that everyone was in a good mood and having a good time. Most of the time , anyway. And with that damn puppy-dog smile he was giving her, it was near impossible to say no to.
"Fine, I'll ride along." Kathryn finally relented and her brother seemed to brighten at the thought. She followed him over to his jeep—something that he had been given because of his rank and position. "Don't you dare go too fast, Johnny Egan." Kathryn insisted, climbing into the jeep with her brother lending a hand.
"Or what? You'll have me grounded?"
"You bet your sorry ass I will."
"Ooh, I'm telling ma' you said that."
"You wouldn't." Kathryn couldn't help the smile on her face. She glanced in the back seat and gave her brother a look. "Why did you get two bikes?"
"From the bet with Tommy. It's for racing. Obviously."
"Obviously—my mistake."
"You know, to keep morale up! It's good fun!"
"Do you ever slow down?" Kathryn questioned, giving him a knowing look.
"I only have one speed." His foot pressed into the gas and she nearly gasped at the sudden acceleration.
"You're the worst!" She declared, giving him an annoyed look as the jeep finally began to slow down near the runway's end.
Almost immediately, her gaze had landed on a beautiful—absolutely stunning—dog. DeMarco stood there with a dog in hand and Kathryn couldn't help it. Before her brother could even stop her, she had hurried over to the dog and began to pet him. He was soft and fluffy and a caramel colored husky.
"Aww, you're just a sweet dog, aren't you?" Kathryn murmured.
"You brought a dog into the air?" Bucky grinned and stared at DeMarco as if he had appeared out of thin air.
"He has a mask! Cost me three bucks, but it was worth it!" DeMarco answered, glancing down at the nurse and the dog, who seemed to be absolutely already in love with one another.
Bucky just shook his head. "Don't mind the kid sister. She likes pets."
"He's perfect!" Kathryn insisted, just as the dog licked her across the cheek. She grinned, finally getting to her feet.
"I don't know what you're talking about! He wouldn't stop howling!" Buck exclaimed, taking off his shades as he approached the group.
"He's part wolf!" DeMarco insisted.
"That wolf is part-dog!" Buck corrected pointedly.
"Does the gorgeous dog have a name?" Kathryn questioned, turning her gaze onto DeMarco.
"Meatball!"
"Welcome to the Hundreth, Meatball!" Bucky exclaimed, grinning at the dog.
"If he ever wants treats, the nurses will be happy to love on him," Kathryn insisted warmly.
DeMarco gave a grin. "Noted!" With that, he walked off and her brother pulled Buck towards the car.
"You miss me?" Bucky questioned, clapping Buck's hand.
"Like a stone in my shoe." Buck deadpanned, before letting a grin crack across his face. "How you been gettin' on?"
"Half our recruitment is yet to show up! I'm headed to amass some parachutes at the bridge!" Bucky explained.
"That's the air exec's job, isn't it?" Kathryn cut in, a pointed tone directed at her brother, who just stuck out his tongue at her.
"My opinion, they oughta can the guy!" Bucky insisted. "Also, get used to the mud!" He leaned forward, a frown on his face. "Your radio guy pick up any chatter from the 418th? We're missing Brady!"
"Negative."
"Well, I got you a bike!"
Buck just glanced over at Kathryn. "Tell me he didn't do anything stupid."
"That depends on how you define stupid," Kathryn crossed her arms as they walked back towards the jeep.
"Why do I need a bike?" Buck pressed.
"Well it's a 20 minute walk from quarters to mess! You might as well beat the guys crawling through the mud on their way to dinner." Bucky explained.
"You just want him to thank you," Kathryn pointed out, hopping into the back beside Buck's bag.
"And don't count on that!" Buck agreed.
Just then, another hum filled the air and Kathryn turned her head, gaze falling on a lone plane in the sky. "I think I found your missing guy!" She pointed up at the plane and both men's heads snapped towards it.
"There's Brady..." Bucky murmured.
"Why's he not landing?" Kathryn questioned.
Buck's gaze just narrowed. "Looks like they're gonna crash-land."
"Hot damn. Looks like we DID need a nurse! Let's go!"
"By the time we get over there—" Kathryn started.
"Still validates your presence in the jeep!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kathryn had met so many men—she was certain that she was never going to get all of their names right. There was a Crosby and a Bubbles, and a Kidd and a Hambone and a Douglass—and she couldn't tell them apart in any way, shape, or form.
Half of the men seemed terrified to be introduced to her. She wondered what sort of horror stories Johnny had told them about her—or if he had just plain threatened them like he used to threaten the boys back home. The other half seemed undeterred by her brother's constant presence that loomed over her last name at every second.
Still, she supposed that the one thing she could count on for consistency was Gale Cleven. See, if there was one thing she knew about him, it was that he lived by a certain code of honor. Call it chivalry, or just being a good neighbor or gentlemen, she wasn't sure. But when she had stepped out, he had followed.
"The party's in there, Buck," Kathryn gestured at the full party that was in swing within the mess hall.
"Yes, but I'm told it's polite to walk a lady back home."
"We're not at home."
"No," He grinned. "We're not. But can I walk you anyway?"
She just let out a somewhat dramatic sigh and gestured all around her. "You know these plants are just so unsavory, I might just have to take you up on it." At that, he rolled his eyes and fell into line beside her. "You know, he got you a bike for a reason."
"Yeah, but you don't have one."
"You are something else, Gale Cleven, you know that?"
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Good, it's definitely good," Kathryn couldn't help the small smile that was tugging on her lips.
A comfortable silence fell between the pair of them and Buck cleared his throat. "Bucky mentioned you had a hell of a first day."
"Hmm, that's one way to put it." Kathryn mused, stepping over a rather large portion of mud. "Surgery in your first five minutes is always interesting."
"Sounds like it."
"I heard Greenland was cold."
"That's one way to put it," Buck gave a laugh. "Let's just say I'll take the mud over the snow."
"You say that now, but wait until winter."
"I guess we'll have to see, now won't we?" Buck questioned.
"Yeah, I guess we will." Kathryn's gaze landed on the nurses quarters just up ahead—intentionally placed close to the mess hall and medical wing, it was to cut their travel time nearly in half and keep them far away from the pilots. She didn't quite blame the architects for creating it this way. It just made sense.
She came to a stop, turning to face him. "You know, you really didn't have to walk me here?"
"I wanted to." Buck gave a shrug—and under the pale light of the moon, Kathryn was suddenly reminded of what beauty was. As if catching herself thinking that way, Kathryn let out a nervous chuckle.
"Well thank you."
"Anytime," Buck's gentle and warm smile seemed to permeate every single fiber of her being in a way that no one else's had ever done. And it was in that exact moment that she knew she was absolutely doomed—doomed because Gale Cleven was, in fact, one of a kind. And she knew it.
And there was no way that stories like this ended well.
She realized, quite awkwardly and hopelessly, that they had just been staring at each other for a moment. "Uh—goodnight, Buck." And with that, she slipped into the nurses quarters and tried to stop the beating of her treacherous heart. Because falling in love was for the foolish. And she was not foolish.