We Happy Few | Band of Brothers

Chapter 45: Reckless

By the time Annie got down to the shoreline, everything and everyone was in complete and utter pandemonium. Vest was shouting at the Krauts and waving his gun in their faces, threatening to shoot them. Martin was holding Vest back, telling him that if he shot one they would have to back for more. Jackson was screaming, Ramirez was struggling to get the injured boy out of the boat, Babe was calling for a medic, and Margot was lying limp in his arms. 

Gunfire was still flying from both sides of the river with the occasional mortar going off—which side it was from usually unclear. 

Perconte was by Annie's side, trying to help the men out of the boats the best he could. "Medic!" Babe cried out once more as he dragged Margot onto the dirt. At that point, the woman was more in shock than anything. Her green eyes were glassy and distant and her face was pale. All of her colour had drained away along with any sign of emotion, almost as if she had left part of herself back on the German side of the water. 

"Margot." Annie rushed to her friend's aid, her attention still split between the woman and Jackson. "What happened?"

"Grenade blast." Martin overheard the question and answered before anyone else had the chance. "Jackson went in too early. Margot tried to save him."

Annie looked down at her friend for a moment, barely able to recognize her under the blood, dirt, and sweat that had accumulated on her skin. She looked empty, a shell of a person. With one loud, sudden cough, Margot spat out more of the blood that had collected in her mouth. "I tried," she finally spoke, proving that there was indeed still some life left behind those sunken eyes. 

"I know." Annie pushed some of Margot's hair back behind her ear before standing up again. "Okay, I want all the wounded inside right now! Someone go and get Eugene."

Perconte nodded and rushed off to locate the other Easy medic. As his footfalls grew quieter and quieter, Margot was scooped up into Babe's arms once more and rushed into the nearest building and down to the basement.

Inside the confines of the cement basement, the frantic yelling was much louder, the voices bouncing off of the walls and echoing around. Margot watched out of the corner of her eye as the men who had been sitting and talking jumped up when Ramirez placed Jackson down onto the wooden table. 

Martin was still barking orders, directing Popeye to take the Kraut prisoners to the back of the room. Every few seconds though, the on-edge Sergeant glanced back at his fellow patrol leader, a deep desire burning inside of him; a desire to make all of her pain go away. If he could go back and change how it had all happened, he would do it in a heartbeat. 

Babe searched the room for somewhere to put Margot down, his arms beginning to ache from holding her. At the same time, however, he never wanted to let her go. As long as she was in his arms, she was safe. She was okay.

Jumping down the steps two at a time behind the rest of the patrol group, Annie darted to Jackson's side and dropped her medic bag down beside his body. "Hi there, Jackson," she greeted, her eyes flickering up to check on Margot, who was on one of the smaller counters, her body still cradled in Babe's arms. She prayed Eugene would get there soon and tend to her because she couldn't be in two places at once and Jackson had gotten the brunt of the grenade frag.

Jackson's mouth fell open as he gasped for breath, his entire torso lifting off of the table as he writhed in pain. Annie was trying to soothe him as she worked but the jumbled voices of both German and English were so loud that she could barely even hear herself think. 

"Webster." Annie looked up at the man across the table from her. "You have to help hold him down. I can't do anything while he's squirming like this."

Webster nodded, for once not trying to get out of completing a task. "Jackson, listen to me." He grabbed the smaller man hard by the shoulders. "You have to calm down or we can't help you."