Women of War - A Band of Brothers Story

Respite

A/N: Hey everyone, I'm still alive! So sorry for not posting last week. University and life in general just got in the way. I haven't had much time to write because I was so busy (bachelor thesis, aaaaah!) but I hope I can get some writing done this weekend.

Anyways, thanks for all your votes and comments, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Luz grinned gleefully as Louise joined their little group where they were lounging in the sun, eating a wonderful hot meal that actually tasted halfway decent. The blonde's OD shirt was open, flapping in the light breeze and revealing a slightly less grimy T-shirt underneath. Bandages peeked out from underneath the collar and bunched under the blood stains on the front of the shoulder.

"They let you go then?", he teased.

She smiled at him, balancing a plate of food in her right hand as she sat down. "Yes", she responded, shifting to get comfortable without spilling anything. "It's all healing nicely and the bandages should come off in a week or so."

The men expressed their relief, mostly through nods, smiles or the occasional "That's good".

Bull, who sat on her other side, offered: "Glad to hear that. Shoulder injuries can be tricky."

"Yeah, so I've heard", Louise chortled, shovelling a bite of her meal into her mouth and sighing blissfully as she chewed.

Exhausted as they all were, there wasn't the usual level of rambunctious talk and loud merrymaking going on. Instead, everyone was just content to sit around, eat and let conversation flow at a trickle, a comment here and a joke there.

All too soon, their plates were empty and a different form of tiredness encompassed them. Heaving themselves to their feet – and sometimes helping each other – the group returned their dishes and then made their way towards the tents where Easy was bunked.

Although they all wanted a shower, sleep had replaced food at the top of their priority list. And so they simply toppled onto the nearest free bunk, most of them asleep before their heads hit the pillows.

***

Morning found Theresa waking up more refreshed than she could remember being in a long time. She sat up and took a moment to just stretch, stifling a groan as vertebrae and joints popped and several aching muscles made themselves known. Judging by the dim, greyish light filtering in underneath the tent walls, it was still quite early.

Running a hand through her hair, Theresa pulled a face. Breakfast could wait. First, she needed a shower.

On her way to the showers, she ran into Esther Bowman from Dog Company.

"Morning", the other woman greeted. "Gonna get cleaned up?"

"Yeah. My uniform could probably stand on it's own, it's so dirty", Theresa replied, wrinkling her nose.

Esther laughed. "Mine too. I can't wait to get rid of all the mud and grime. And I think I still have pieces of brick wall in my hair."

They shared a look of silent commiseration, rounding the corner to the shower stalls.

"Hey, would you mind waiting for me?", Esther asked, biting her lip. "I promise I'll hurry."

"Sure, no problem. Take your time, Lord knows we gotta enjoy it whilst we can."

"True. Thanks." Esther smiled and slipped into the shower after checking that it was indeed empty.