Love You Till The End (Robert Zussman x Reader)

17 - Y/N L/N

December 22, 1943
Fort Devens
Ayer, Massachusetts

I had finally arrived at Fort Devens. I felt exhausted and hoped I would get a better night of sleep now that I was at the camp. When I got off the bus, there was a man and a nurse waiting for me. Their friendly faces calmed my nerves.

"You must be Y/N L/N," the sergeant said and held out his hand, "I'm Sergeant Miller."

I shook his hand and smiled at the nurse. They both began to lead me to what appeared to be a medical center since the building had a flag with the Red Cross symbol standing in front of it.

I looked around and saw lots of men, both young and old. Some were in training uniform while others looked like they had barely arrived as well, holding their luggage and all. A few of them noticed me and stared at me curiously, probably wondering if I was a new nurse.

"The first thing we have to do is give you a medical exam. We usually have the men line up for one at the same time, but you'll be getting a private one. Nurse Suzanne here will be doing the exam. We want to also make sure we get your measurements right for when it comes to giving you your uniform, so she'll also be recording your body measurements," Miller explained. I told him I understood and he walked out of the room.

Although I didn't know Suzanne, she made me feel comfortable. Talking to her made the medical exam and measuring go by pretty quick.

"Most of the men receive a medical exam before coming to their training camp to determine their eligibility to serve. I've never done one on a new arrival," Suzanne explained, "but everything appears to look good. I'm glad I was chosen to give the very first woman soldier her medical exam. It's nice to see this type of change."

"Well, thank you so much. I will admit that this change in my life feels a bit scary, but it is an honor to be the first woman soldier," I said.

"I'm sure you are capable of serving our country just like any other male soldier," Suzanne said with a smile.

All of a sudden, Sergeant Miller came back into the room.

"All done?" he asked. I nodded and he asked me to follow him.

"Will I be getting placed into a platoon yet?" I asked him.

"No, not yet. That'll come later. You still have to do a few more exams just to make sure you're qualified to serve. The exams are always a pain in the ass, but once you're done with all of them, you'll finally be able to really get settled in and start training," he explained to me as we walked into a building near the medical center.

That made me feel pretty annoyed, but I guess it made sense. I could tell these next couple of days were going to be pretty damn boring though.

"We don't want you staying in a tent full of random men since some of these men don't know how to respect a woman. When you meet your platoon in a few weeks, you'll be moved into a tent with them where you'll hopefully grow some close bonds. After all, they're the people you'll be going into combat with. For now, you'll be staying in a room near mine," he said as he led me to the room. It was a pretty small room, but it had a bed and that was all I really needed since I felt like I could sleep forever.

"I don't know if you're aware, but I was one of the sergeants that helped get you into the Army alongside Sergeant Johnson. Just know I'm here to help you as much as I can. Don't be afraid to ask any questions, alright?" Miller told me.

"Thank you very much, sir. I actually do have a question. Is there any way I could mail this out?" I asked as I pulled the letter I had written for my parents out of my luggage.

"Oh, yes, of course. I'll take that to the mail office and get it sent out as soon as possible. You go ahead and settle in. I'll be back later so you can experience your very first dinner while in the Army. Be warned that it's not always great, but you didn't hear that from me," he said as he walked out of the room. I chuckled and laid down on the bed.

I decided I would take a little nap. As I dozed off, I felt much calmer knowing that Sergeant Miller was going to be here to help me out. So far, I feel good about being at camp. I especially am looking forward to meeting new people soon. After all, as Sergeant Miller had mentioned, some of these men might end up being my comrades in battle.