Out of a Vacant Heart: A Band of Brothers Fanfiction

A Chance

From underneath a retreat of blankets and pillows, Cate's hand emerged. The black Bakelite telephone was rattling and ringing again even after she had ignored it the first time. She picked it up and dropped it back down, effectively silencing the racket.

With a groan, she rolled over and put her back to the empty room. Mira's empty twin bed by the window had been stripped and the sheets sent to be cleaned. Her friend's side of the closet was bare. For the first time since she had joined the Nurse Corps, she had a room completely to herself. The feeling was eerie.

Again, the phone rang. Cate sat up straight, rubbing a hand through her mussed hair. She glared bleary eyed at the telephone on the bedside table.

"Hello?" Cate finally conceded, swinging her bare feet onto the cool, wooden floorboards.

"You decided to pick it up this time?"

"I can't get rid of you, can I?"

"Not that easily," Mira replied curtly. Cate smirked when she heard muted bickering in the background. "Sorry, Anthony is just being... opinionated."

"Sounds like someone I know."

"So," Mira continued. "I know you asked me after the wedding not to mention all this again-"

"Mira, please don't tell me you told Roy that I was ready to go out on another date."

"No! This has nothing to do with Roy. Though I will say he does seem pretty smitten with you. Even after your best Bette Davis impression out in that downpour. This has something to do with someone else."

Cate shifted on the bed, her finger twisting around the cord. "What do you mean?"

She heard Mira take a deep breath on the other line. "Anthony thinks I need to mind my own business and honestly, he might be right. But don't tell him I said that. I found out where Don Malarkey is staying while he's here in Paris."

Cate stood and gave a nervous laugh. "How did you do that?"

"Oh, you know. I called in a favor."

Shaking her head, Cate bit her lip. She rubbed her fingers across her forehead and paced to the window. It was midmorning and the first time the sun had been out all week. She had spent the last five days kicking herself for not speaking to Don that night in the rain. She should have at least yelled at him for scaring her to pieces, making her believe he was dead for months. Rehearsing what she could have said over and over again in the wee hours, now that she had the chance to do it, Cate was hesitant.

"It's actually close to where you live," Mira continued tentatively. "You don't have to get the address from me if you don't want it. I understand. I just want to give you the option because-"

"I love you too." Cate picked up a pencil and the message pad by the phone. It couldn't hurt to have it on hand just in case. "Alright, let's have it."

Her curiosity got the best of her and an hour later, Cate stood outside the hotel. It was much nicer than the place where the Corps had put them. Cate squinted as she peered up at the impressive building. She stepped back, steadying her hat as she looked through the glass doors into the lobby. There was a good chance Don wasn't even there. Sunday lunch, he was probably out enjoying the city.

Cate took another step back and nearly sat down on the curb like a child. Why he had never written, but showed up by surprise at Mira's wedding? His abrupt appearance had to be more than mere coincidence. There was a good chance the answer was a simple one. Perhaps he was as confused as she was by the whole thing.

Impulsively, she wandered down the sidewalk away from the hotel. There had been too much destruction and grief. Too much heartbreak. In all likelihood, what they had been left with was exactly the thing Anthony and Mira feared would happen to them.