We Happy Few | Band of Brothers

Chapter 26: Search Party

"Margot, I'm fine, really," Annie grunted as she plopped down onto the grass and started pulling her boot off to check on the bullet graze. The injury on her arm had been minor enough that it had stopped bleeding by the time Easy Company had high-tailed it out of Nuenen, but Margot kept insisting she check both wounds and get them cleaned up. 

If someone hadn't known better, they might have thought Margot was the medic instead of Annie.  

"You're the one who's always telling people that while things can often feel worse then they look, they can also be worse than they feel." Margot threw the small medic's own words back at her. 

Annie tossed her boot to the side before looking up at her friend and chuckling. "It's cute how much you care about me."

"Oh, shut up!" Margot laughed as she gently shoved Annie's shoulder. "Just make sure you're okay or I swear I will go get Eugene."

"Are you seriously threatening me with Doc Roe?" Annie cocked a brow, her tone almost challenging.

Margot narrowed her eyes and tilted her head like a small dog. "Is it working?"

Annie took a minute to weigh the pros and cons, and since she knew Eugene would fuss over the bullet grazes more than she would prefer, she reluctantly pulled her medic bag off of her body and opened it. "Yes." Annie dug out a bandage and a pair of scissors. "Yes, it is working."

Working fast, but also a little haphazardly because she was tired and only dealing with herself, Annie cut the bandage in two and started wrapping the first half around her foot. "Do you mind?" She gestured to the second bandage, knowing she couldn't wrap it tight enough around her own arm.

Before Margot could pick up the second half of the bandage, a pair of boots stepped beside the two women. "How's it going?" Luz knelt and inspected Annie's injuries. "You okay?"

"I am fine." Annie rolled her eyes, suddenly understanding what it must have been like for her patients when she hovered over them so much. "I'm not gonna die. Look, they've already stopped bleeding. Will everyone just stop asking me if I'm okay?"

Exhaling loudly to show how done she was with dealing with her stubborn friend, Margot stood up and motioned for Luz to take her place. "She's all yours."

As Margot headed off to have a smoke and hopefully find something to drink, Luz sat down where the machine-gunner had been and picked up the bandage. Without even asking, he just started tying it carefully, but firmly, around Annie's arm. 

"Hey, good technique." Annie was impressed with how well the bandage was applied.

Luz sat back and flashed a sly grin. "Guess I just had a good teacher."

"Mmm." Annie decided to play it dumb just to mess with the charming radioman. "Eugene is a very good teacher. Taught me everything I know, that guy."

"No, that's not what I-" Luz started before he picked up on the joke and stopped himself. "Look at you, you little class clown. Every day you venture further and further from that quiet, shy girl at Toccoa."

Annie shrugged as she packed the scissors away in her bag again. "That girl was boring," Annie talked about her past self as if she was someone completely different; which in a way, she was. "I think the new Annie is a lot more fun, don't you? Annie 2.0."

"I do ..." Luz trailed off as the silence of the night washed over the pair like a dark, deep wave from the middle of the ocean. It was a nice evening, weather-wise. Wasn't too cold, wasn't too hot. 

In the absence of conversation, Annie couldn't help but wonder about Bull. Had he been killed? Had he made it out unscathed? Was he still lying in a ditch somewhere, slowly bleeding out from his wounds? Annie hoped it was the middle option, but she feared it was the first or the third.