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Riley had crossed paths with Liebgott when she returned from the showers and walked back to the house, which was now filled with stacked crates and other supplies waiting to be sent to the right place. She had normally planned to go to her friend first, but she was told to get in the showers, just before the others would turn up and give the only girl no privacy anymore. So, she had rescheduled her route and rinsed all the dried dirt and blood out of her hair and off her body. But now, it really was time for her to pick up the things, it was time to start preparing for the long night that had the big possibility to end with a lot of wounded soldiers or even death.
"Riles, I have new clothes for you. We've all got a new uniform, so our favorite medic was allowed to get one as well."
"I had noticed something different about you today," Riley stated, now realising that the army green jacket was replaced with one that was almost black. It matched his freshly washed hairs nicely, she really adored the outfit on him.
"I look even better than I did before, fuck."
"Who would've toughed that it would be possible?" she joked.
"I did."
Liebgott took the older jacket from Riley and handed her the other one. The set also came with a matching pair of pants and a long sleeved shirt that was a size smaller than the one she had on, but the young woman didn't want to change her clothes in the middle of the streets and was going to wait until she'd have some free time.
The black jacket fit her nicely, a stretchy elastic was sown inside the cuffs, an extra row of buttons were added next to the zippers. The pants were provided with a tin belt that got holes punctured throughout the complete band and even had some added loops. There had gone much thought in making the outfit as comfortable for Riley as possible and she was really thankful for everyone's help.
"Oh, Hershey bars ! Who are they for?"
"Not for you. These are for the hospital." Liebgott turned his head towards the medic standing against the door. A smirk crept on his face and he slowly shuffled back so that she would be right beside him.
"Riles?" he begged, his voice softer than what it usually sounded like.
"Ogh, Jesus Christ, Luz. Now I am going to have to deal with all these guys wanting chocolate."
"Sorry, Riley."
George ticked off the small box drawn next to the name Wilson and took the crate that had her name written largely on the side. He counted every supply once more, made sure that she had everything that was asked and gave her an extra bar of Hershey's famous chocolate. The box got pushed over the counter and fell in the medic's arms.
"Thank you, George."
"Want me to help with that? It must be pretty heavy for you," Liebgott asked while following every step she set inside the large living space.
"No Lieb, I'm fine."
"Come on, Riles. Don't you need a strong man to carry it for you?," he continued.
"A strong man, you? Keep on dreaming, love." The other soldiers standing around the couple started to laugh with her sarcastic remark and Joe's glare didn't help to stop the chuckling. Martin wasn't even trying to hide his smile, the others covered their mouths and kept as quiet as possible. The sergeant just straight on laughed in Liebgott's face.
"I just want a bit of chocolate."
"Which is exactly why you're not allowed to even touch the supplies."
"Give the man a Hershey bar," Cobb demanded, interfering with the conversation.
"No, it's not for any of you. We need it for inside the hospital and since none of you are wounded, you don't get any of it."
"Wait, why do they get chocolate?"
"Because they're hurt, Lieb. But you know what, I'm going to promise you something. If you get shot in the ass just like all the rest, then I'll personally come and bring you a piece. Agreed?" Riley placed the crate back on the counter and offered to shake hands with Liebgott, whom only laughed with what she was saying. He did accept the hand and the offer, but not without a smile on his face and that lovely happy shine reflecting in his eyes.
"It's still unfair."
"Can't make any exceptions, sorry Lieb."
"Not even for your favorite soldier?"
"Not even for you," she confirmed, grabbing the supplies back in her arms and making her way outside the large house.
Malarkey had spotted her struggling with keeping the door open while she was trying to pass through it, so he fastly ran towards the petite person and took the box from her grip. He wasn't going to take the sweets laying underneath the packages of morphine and trusted the sergeant enough to carry it all the way back to where Eugene was waiting for her.
Malarkey had been wanting to talk to Riley ever since the nights in Foy, but there hadn't been a time where he could sit with her in a foxhole and talk through his cold nights of being on the lookout for any German artillery or company. So now he took the advantage of the far stroll and started the conversation that he needed to have.
"How are you holding up, Riley?"
"It's been busy, but nothing to worry about. I'm doing better than before. Are you doing a bit okay?"
"I'm fine! Thanks for asking," Malarkey assured.
"I'm worried about you."
"Riley, that's really unnecessary, trust me."
"I know, you're a big guy who can handle life. It's just, I understand how hard it is to lose your friends and I want to make sure that you're talking about things. The reason why many men go crazy during war is because they're afraid to show their pains, they're afraid to be vulnerable. But emotions are great, it is good to have them."
While Riley was saying all those things to her dear friend, she couldn't help it but feel a bit bad about it. She's the one who had been stopping her emotions from even entering her mind, now she was telling others to openly talk about them. Getting of her pills was hard, but she had to keep on fighting against the urges. She couldn't help anyone with pain like she should, not if her mind couldn't even think about what emotions were and when the last time was that she truly had experienced them.
"That's why you've stopped taking those medicine?"
"You've noticed."
"I knew you took something and I know that you're different than before Bastogne. I just pieced the puzzle in place," Malarkey smiled.
