Women of War - A Band of Brothers Story

Walking Wounded

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for being so late again. The internet went out on us and my computer had some strange issues and on top of that, I managed to catch a bad cold (shockingly, walking through knee-high snow and then sitting in an office all day with wet pantlegs and boots is not good for your health...)

And the weather has just been insane the last two weeks. First, it threw down almost one metre of snow in one day and traffic descended into chaos. You'd think that living in a mountainous region, people would be more used to driving in snow... anyways, last week, the temperatures went from -9 to 15 °C in the span of two days and we had strong winds for half the week. And now it's back to heavy snow with temperatures around the freezing point.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It deals more with the emotional fall-out of the last chapter. The perspective bounces back and forth quite a bit, so let me know if it's confusing.

***

Any other day, Mia would have smiled at the way Luz's eyes turned the size of dinner plates when she entered the room. "Jesus Christ! What happened to your face?", he exclaimed, gesturing towards the angry mark blooming on Mia's jaw.

"Vest was very upset", she shrugged.

"I can see that." He inspected the bruise. "Does it hurt?"

"Only when I talk."

The deadpan reply didn't smooth out his frown, but it took away the edge of concern. He looped an arm around her shoulders as he so often did and casually led her towards the kitchen.

"Lipton looked better this morning", he told her as he had her sit down at the surprisingly clean table. "He's up and about, but Captain Speirs is gonna drag him back here sooner or later."

She smothered a yawn and grimaced when that sent a twinge through her jaw. "No doubt." Their new CO was – in his own way – almost as much of a mother-hen as their First Sergeant, who had already been given the moniker "Mama Lip".

"Oh, and Ana María went back to her platoon, she said she wanted to do something instead of just lying in bed all day."

Figuring that the Puerto Rican wouldn't have left if she hadn't felt up to it, Mia accepted it with good grace and a little nod. If her condition took a turn for the worse, the guys knew to send for a medic.

A steaming cup of coffee was put in front of her and Luz wagged a finger. "You'd better drink all that if you won't go upstairs to get some sleep", he mock-ordered in a close imitation of Catherine's exasperated tone that she always used when she had to compromise with patients who couldn't or wouldn't obey her recommendations.

"I can sleep when the work is done", Mia responded around another yawn, reaching for the cup and taking a scalding sip.

Luz shot her a grin that held an unholy amount of glee and threatened: "Yeah, but if you don't, Louise will sit on you until you do."

"I know."

***

Mia spent the day staying busy and avoiding people. She had always been one to seek solitude when she was overwhelmed or stressed, preferring to make sense of the situation on her own before talking about it. So she scrounged, bartered and traded for supplies, manned the aid station while Gene gratefully collapsed onto the ledge in the alcove for a much-needed nap, and grudgingly endured the probing inquiries of Colonel Sink and what felt like half the regimental officers as they questioned her on her family's background, character, and political leanings. It was nerve-wrecking and humiliating and left her feeling small and wrung out.