Juliet Coleman was said to have magic in her fingertips. Soldiers walked out of infirmaries as though they hadn't just been fatally wounded. Their lives were no longer hanging by a severed thread.
Tales of her became well known among the frontlines...
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One thing Juliet could never handle was silence. She didn't know if it originated from the battlefield, where she heard nothing but pained moans and gunshots. It could derive from her bustling home life in San Fransisco, where her parents chose the most inconvenient location for a family home. Instead of a rooster, Juliet's alarm clock were the roaring trains outside her window.
The silence that had gathered on that cold Christmas Day was enough to make Juliet's stomach turn. So she smiled politely, nodded a farewell and swivelled on her heel. The task was near-impossible due to the snow, but she felt claustrophobic from the suffocating silence.
"Wait!" One of the men called after her. Juliet metaphorically froze, her dark waves bouncing on her shoulders as a result. "I know you."
Breathing deeply, Juliet turned her body. Her fists were clenched, preparing to strike if she absolutely needed to. The smaller man stood with hesitance brushed across his face, his hand carefully outstretched.
"Yes, you were at the recruitment office," Juliet said quickly, shaking his hand and forcing a strained smile. "You were the only man who didn't dare pull a line on me."
This earned a bashful chuckle from Steve, who quickly got distracted as he remembered his best friend. When he turned his head, Juliet followed his gaze. They both landed on an awestruck brunet, who had become a mannequin.
"Why does your friend look gormless?" Juliet wondered aloud, tearing her eyes away and launching into medical mode. "Is he alright?"
Bucky stepped forward as he snapped back into reality, his foot gracing a slippery puddle of ice. He stumbled in his place, only to be caught by Steve and an instinctive Juliet. The man was still unresponsive, his mouth occasionally moving as if to suggest his mind was trying to conjure up
"Is your friend intoxicated?" Juliet asked, her eyes scanning his body for any signs of drunken behaviour. She helped him straighten, shifting her head so that she could launch into her normal examination. While his face began to tint a violent shade of salmon, Juliet was pensive and calm as she gazed over him. Nothing made Juliet Coleman uncomfortable.
"No ma'am," Steve shook his head, releasing his grip on his best friend once he had the audacity to resume his functioning senses. "Bucky's been struck dumb, I'm afraid."
Juliet furrowed her eyebrows, pressing two fingers against Bucky's neck to feel for a pulse. Underneath the thin layer of perspiration and the flushed skin was a heart that was pumping blood to the pace of a rattling thunderstorm.
"Goodness, you seem to have caught a bit of a chill," Juliet concluded, completely oblivious to the real cause of Bucky's squirms. "We ought to get you inside. Where are you boys headed?"
