The Spirit of the Corps » Band of Brothers

52: Any More Requests?

"Shift's over, darlin'. Now get your ass outta my hospital."

Charlie looked up from her book and met Mabs' eyes with a small smile. Whilst it was true that life wasn't much different these days from when she was on shift to when she wasn't, being relieved of formal duty for a while was still a blessed thing.

Shutting her book with one hand and pushing herself up from the floor with the other, Charlie gave a dreamy sigh. "Now I can read my book while sitting on the floor in the OP instead of reading my book while sitting on the floor in here. It's a good day to be alive."

Mabs rolled her eyes. "Yeah, life's a dream. Send the boys my love, will ya?"

"I'll express your love in the form of a hug and nothing more," Charlie vowed. She tried to paint on a teasing stern expression but couldn't encourage her face to do it; it hadn't been very receptive to showing any sort of emotion since James had died.

"Aw, Charlie, you're such a prude."

Mabs squeezed her shoulder affectionately as she passed her and Charlie tapped the helmet on Mabs' head.

"One of these days we'll be put on shift together," Charlie said, this time sincerely meaning her longing. While she loved Autumn dearly she knew she worked better with Mabs - and, incidentally, the same could be said of Autumn and Boo. It was just a shame they'd been paired up with the wrong people.

"One of these days," Mabs agreed, giving Charlie's shoulder another squeeze. "Hey, give your dog a kiss for me, would ya? Tell him his Auntie Mabs is missin' him dearly."

Charlie smiled slightly. "Will do. Any more requests?"

"Sleep."

Charlie's smile faded for a moment before she pushed it right back up, less earnest but more sturdy. "I'll try."

"Yeah."

Mabs knew just as well as she did that trying to sleep and actually sleeping were two very different things. In their conditions no one was really sleeping well, but with thoughts of James swimming behind her closed eyes Charlie knew she looked even more exhausted than the others. She caught sleep haphazardly for minutes at a time, generally in the midst of conversation, much to her friends' annoyance, and never anything more.

As she left the field hospital with Autumn, Charlie called out well wishes for the shift to come and goodbyes to Boo, then placed her helmet on her head to begin the short walk to the company CP.

It was dark outside by now, the last threads of daylight lost to hours upon hours of idleness in the field hospital, and crickets were chirping in the grass nearby. The moon shone brightly overhead, spilling muted white light over the expanse of barren grassland all around them, and the stars twinkled absently around it.

The chill in the air chased out the humidity of the day and made Charlie's teeth chatter, her hands retreating into her sleeves and curling in on themselves. By the time she made it to the CP with Autumn trailing just behind her, her exhaustion had crept up on her. She hadn't slept properly in weeks, but just now she felt she could have fallen comatose for the next few days.

Pushing into the barn acting as the CP and removing her helmet at the same time, Charlie was surprised to find the CP so empty. Even in the middle of the night it was generally full of men whiling away sleepless hours with games of cards or casual chatter, but tonight there were only a few scattered groups of men milling around.

Charlie's eyes immediately found Trigger and her mood brightened considerably. Even dead on her feet as she was, she found enough energy within her to crouch down and hold out her arms for him, which he wandered into promptly.