Evelyn's Tale

-Twenty Six-

30th January, 1944

It had been five days since Evelyn had arrived in Bastogne. Three and a half of those days had been very long and very boring for the most part. Dutifully, and rather reluctantly, she had been the model patient and remained in bed for fear of upsetting Renee. Angry Renee was truly a force to be reckoned with as they had all witnessed just a few days ago, when a soldier, who apparently was feeling much better, decided to try and get a little amorous with the Belgian beauty and had pinched her on the rear. Renee had turned on him like a rabid dog. The language that came out of her angelic looking mouth would have likely made a sailor blush, and Evelyn was astounded that a woman who spoke English as a second tongue knew so many coarse words and phrases.

Evelyn had spent a little over two years constantly surrounded by men (not to mention a lifetime with much older siblings) and even she hadn't heard half of Renee's colourful phrases before. Needless to say, the man was properly contrite after his telling off and everyone else within the vicinity was terrified to anger the blonde-haired beast. Even Lieutenant Welsh, who reminded Evelyn a lot of George with his impish grin and witty comments, kept his mouth shut and pretended to be asleep for the first couple of hours after the whole incident.

Evelyn's eventual salvation came in the form of one grey haired Colonel who had arrived only the day before to jauntily inform them that they were able to now get some of the wounded out of Bastogne. Smokey had taken priority, given that he was completely paralysed, and so had Lieutenant Welsh. Despite Renee's expert care, his leg was showing signs of becoming infected and with the rapidly diminishing supplies in Bastogne, it was thought to be better that he received treatment at a proper field hospital. Much to Renee's dismay, Evelyn managed to persuade Colonel Sink that she was feeling much better and that her shoulder was healing well. She told him that she felt ready to go back to the line as soon as possible. And why should Colonel Sink not believe her when she told him that her wound was nowhere near as serious as first thought? She was after all a medic and therefore she knew what she was talking about. So it was decided that Evelyn would stay in Bastogne for a few more days, just doing light duties to get her back into the swing of things before heading back to the line the day after new year.

Two days into said light duties and Evelyn was feeling extremely unfulfilled. She kept reminding herself that no matter how mundane the task, it was far better than lying in a bed all day wanting to pull her hair out. But the problem was that Renee had sought her revenge on Evelyn for wriggling her way out of leaving Bastogne, and as such Evelyn found herself doing the most boring jobs known to mankind. It was strange to think that at one time, when she had first found herself plunged into this unknown world of the military, she had craved the peace and quiet of sorting through supplies and sterilising equipment. Now, though, she found herself wanting to be back running around ragged and back in the thick of the action.

"Ok, that's the last one," Evelyn flung the neatly rolled bandage into the crate with a sigh. "Now what can I do? And for the love of God, please don't make me polish the windows like you did yesterday afternoon. I don't care what you say. There is no way on earth that the men who are lying here wounded give a flying monkeys about whether there's a teensy little smudge on the glass or not. They're just grateful that they've even got glass, given the state of every other building in Bastogne."

"In that case you can empty all of the bed pans instead," Renee smirked.

"If I didn't like you, I'd call you every name under the sun," Evelyn tittered, scowling at Renee.

"Also, I'm in charge here so you know that calling me any kind of name would get you into a lot of trouble," Renee grinned. "Listen, I'm tired. Everyone is almost asleep and there is a bar of chocolate in my pocket that I am certain has our names written all over it. Shall we take a small break for a few minutes?"