Come Back With Me

Yours Forever, Jaime

The months drag on slowly for Lizzie after Bucky leaves

She throws herself into her work. She spends more time at the hospital then she does at home asleep.

The only time she doesn't work or sleep, she spends with Steve or Rebecca.

Rebecca is loving being a mom. Her little Charles had just turned one in January of that year and he is adorable.

"Have you got any letters from Bucky?" Rebecca asks.

"A few, he's very busy though," Lizzie says.

She knows that he is holding up his side of the promise to study and train but that doesn't mean she didn't miss hearing from him.

She spends a few more hours with Rebecca before deciding to head home and go to sleep. She starts her shift at the hospital at 3 am so she needs to get to sleep. But when she goes down to fall asleep, she can't.

After talking with Rebecca about Bucky, she misses him even more. She tries to avoid thinking about Bucky when she can because it hurts too much but it's nearly impossible because he is always near in her thoughts.

She decides to take out the letters she had gotten from him so far. She has reread them probably a thousand times but each time she reads them, she feels a little better.

She opens the first letter she got when he arrived at boot camp.

March 22nd, 1942

Dear Elizabeth,

I have just arrived at boot camp and can't say I'm all too impressed. There is over a hundred draftees in my group from all over the country. Some of them are putting on a brave face but I can tell that most of them want to be anywhere else.

The food is absolutely horrible. The only way it could be worse is if I cooked it. I really hope that I never have kitchen duty, I don't want to be responsible for poisoning the entire camp.

We haven't really done much training. They've just had us do some running and push-ups to see where we are athletically. Luckily, working at a gym has some benefits because I'm in better shape than a lot of people.

I have to go now but just know that I miss you already.

Yours forever, Jaime

April 30th, 1942

Dear Elizabeth,

I'm sorry I haven't written in awhile. I feel like they have us going nonstop.

We get up at dawn and run until breakfast. When we finish eating, we do some shooting. I actually really enjoy the shooting and I'm actually pretty good at it. They are training me to be a sniper.

After shooting, we run until lunch. After lunch, we do an obstacle course that will help us learn to navigate strange terrain. We usually race which can be fun as long as you don't think about what the obstacle course is really training us for.

Then we eat dinner and run a short mile before they send us to bed. As you can see, running is a common theme.

We get thirty minutes of free time before lights out. I always try writing you but I always fall asleep mid sentence. Hopefully our schedule will calm down soon so I can write to you again.

Yours forever, Jaime

June 2nd, 1942