You'll Only Know Peace

Prologue

Elaine was laying on her back in a bed she knew she would miss. She was still dressed in her uniform, the duvet on the double bed was untouched and destined to stay ever so neatly folded that night. Her last one in Aldbourne; the small town had grown on her, its rough streets and quaint cottages a heavy contrast to the chaos that awaited her. The town began to feel like home after all the months Easy Company stayed there. The gentle rustling of the trees outside the window, usually so comforting, now felt like a reminder of what she was about to lose.

Desperately longing for a few hours of sleep, she sighed loudly at the fact that her eyes refused to close. Her mind was a battleground of 'what ifs'. What if this was the last night in a real bed she would ever have?

"Hey, did you even listen to me?", a familiar voice tore her from her thoughts. Her eyes slowly wandered from the ceiling through the small room until they landed on her fellow medic, Eugene Roe. He stood beside a wooden bench that was placed in front of the window, on which he carefully positioned the contents of their medical bags; a bit too neat, almost compulsive, in Elaines opinion. She glanced over the arranged bandages and syringes while sitting up and resting her head against the headboard.

"Sorry, what did you say?", she asked quietly, her eyes still laying on the bench. She shook her head slightly. "Also, what are you even doing, Gene? You should be getting every minute of sleep you can."

"Yeah, just like you", he scoffed. "I'm going through all our stuff, obviously. I just counted all of this, and you weren't even listening? Great, now I can start all over again."

Elaine felt the uncomfortable tension which was settling in the room. Eugene took a quiet breath, not looking up. "Can't sleep either it seems?" His voice was softer now, the banter fading into concern.

She pushed herself over to the other side of the bed and sat down facing her friend, ignoring his question. "Hey Gene, we've sorted this stuff about a hundred times already, and counted it at least a thousand times. We're jumping tomorrow...", she began to speak with a soft and slightly annoyed tone. As she mentioned the jump, her own voice got stuck in her throat. The discomfort began to also settle down into her chest.

"Alright, another time won't hurt, huh?", she sighed as she stood up and quickly got her hands busy. Eugene just chuckled at the change of demeanor.

———

As the two medics spent their last night in Aldbourne rearranging their medical bags and checking them over and over again, they barely exchanged any words. Elaine couldn't shake the feeling that this might be the last quiet moment they'd share. She dismissed the thought quickly, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand. Both their minds were full of heavy thoughts. Whilst Eugene tried to stay professional, thinking through their whole training again and again, Elaines thoughts were going different places. She thought about how the two medics used to stay up all night counting the medical stuff in the stockroom. And despite the overwhelming tension, it was just the same that night. The familiar procedure began to calm her, as her mind wandered to all the past things she experienced since she joined the Men of Easy Company.
Tomorrow, everything would change. But tonight, they were just medics counting supplies, like they did in Toccoa.

For a moment, she let herself believe it was enough.